10k review (M3LR).

my initial impressions review: 1 week review (M3LR).

just hit 10k miles and wanted to give an update on my thought thus far.

1. autopilot
this is probably the biggest surprise for me. when i initially tried AP i had significant phantom braking on the highway and it was terrible (nausea inducing) in stop and go traffic. the phantom braking alone was enough to not trust the system and i stopped using AP altogether for a while. both of these have changed to an unbelievable degree over the course of the various updates. i have now done ~100 mile trips with AP engaged without issues, no nausea inducing hard accerleration and braking in stop and go / slow traffic. it really has become a huge positive for the driving experience on longer trips for me.

2. driving experience
still love getting in the car and still making excuses to go on a drive. with the lack of standard gears the car just feels ridiculously smooth and really makes driving an ICE car jarring in comparison. ended up getting acceleration boost within the first week of ownership. car feels very planted in corners. hardly use the physical brakes. cabin is quiet enough and on par with my previous cars. visibility overall is great.

3. interior
this also surprised me -- coming from audi's i was a bit worried/skeptical about the interior but have grown to really enjoy the minimalism. don't miss the physical buttons at all.

4. touchscreen / OS
didn't take long to get used to the touch screen controls and OS and don't have any major complaints. the constant updates are welcomed.

5. charging
i have yet to use the supercharging network. tesla charger at home and 50 mile round trip commute to work. scheduling works great.

6. efficiency
surprised at how much weather and speed play into "tesla" miles. i also was pretty shocked when i carried two road bikes on my 1up hitch rack -- charged the tesla to 280 "tesla" miles. actual miles for the roundtrip was 120 miles and ended the trip with 90 "tesla" miles.

7. sound system / audio interface
i was initially dissappointed in the audio interface and lack of seamless connection with a mobile device (iphone). i ended up getting a tidal subscription and either downloading my playlist in hifi in my garage over wifi before departing or connecting my phone as a hotspot to allow hifi playback on the go. i would say the overall sound is on par with what i have had as premium sound systems in my past cars. the tidal app is a bit clunky and lacking features but it gets the job done.

8. maintenance
none. no issues whatsoever (hopefully i'm not jinxing myself). will get a tire rotation soon but other than that, very happy.

all in all love the car and would purchase again -- it is crazy to know that the price has gone up ~10k since when i took delivery!

 

[XPsionic]

with the lack of standard gears the car just feels ridiculously smooth and really makes driving an ICE car jarring in comparison. ended up getting acceleration boost within the first week of ownership

Great update and review. To me this is one of the best features. It gives me hope that we'll love all kinds of EVs as more of them become available. Everytime I drive an ICE car, even ones with a great engine sound and gearbox like my Porsche, I can't help but feel that it's so old school and outdated in comparison. The Model 3 feels like what people say about Rolls Royces, effortless and smooth, you can't feel the drivetrain at all. The ride on the other hand is anything but smooth, lol.

The actual range of the car in real world uses are always quite a lot lower than the spec sheet number. Between driving at 75mph on the freeway, leaving sentry mode on, and preconditioning while not plugged in at the house, and only using 80% of the battery (from 10 to 90% charge), all of that combined means the car needs to be plugged in quite often. Definitely wouldn't recommend an EV to anyone who doesn't have home charging.

 

[Stevewaclo]

You may want to buy a depth gauge and check your tires across the treads before rotating. My 2020LR shows even wear and I’ve skipped rotation (13 k miles on new rubber. OEMs gone in 10k).

 

[Shelburne]

I think there has been a substantial improvement in autopilot. Almost everyday, I drive on an undivided state road with a 50mph speed limit. There is a broad, sweeping right hand curve on this road. In my first year of ownership (10/1/20 - 10/121) I would experience strong phantom braking on this curve almost anytime there was a car coming in the opposite direction. Sometime in the last year, I noticed that the car rarely applied the brakes on this curve - a significant improvement.

 

[phaheem]

ended up getting acceleration boost within the first week of ownership.

How has your experience been with Acceleration Boost? Was it a worthy upgrade? What differences have you noticed?

 

[3sr+buyer]

I think there has been a substantial improvement in autopilot.

Yes, it does seem that the traffic aware cruise control has been improved in software updates since early this year:

• No or much less phantom braking.
• When approaching a slower vehicle ahead, slows down gradually instead of racing up to the following distance and slowing suddenly.

 

[refusedmd]

How has your experience been with Acceleration Boost? Was it a worthy upgrade? What differences have you noticed?

i was between the P and the LR and the ability to get acceleration boost (for me) was the deal breaker. i only cared purely about acceleration -- i did not want track mode, larger wheels, different suspension or the battery efficiency hit you take with them nor did i want to go through the trouble of exchanging those components if i got the P. it really depends on what you want.

acceleration boost feels/is significantly faster at basically all (reasonable) speeds.

 

[phaheem]

i was between the P and the LR and the ability to get acceleration boost (for me) was the deal breaker. i only cared purely about acceleration -- i did not want track mode, larger wheels, different suspension or the battery efficiency hit you take with them nor did i want to go through the trouble of exchanging those components if i got the P. it really depends on what you want.

acceleration boost feels/is significantly faster at basically all (reasonable) speeds.

Was acceleration boost a noticeable difference in speed/acceleration versus before you purchased the software update?

 

[KenC]

Thanks for the update. I can't say I've noticed much change in phantom braking since February. I'm wondering if your cameras were in the calibration process when you were having so many issues. Glad it's better.

 

[Destiny1701]

Was acceleration boost a noticeable difference in speed/acceleration versus before you purchased the software update?

I can attest to the difference being quite noticeable across all speed ranges…
0-30, 30-60, 60-90 etc .it just pulls harder and as if the throttle has been let loose finally. The car feels likes its 500lb lighter in my opinion.

I have a 22’ LR boost and my cousin has a 22’ non boost LR. I took his out for a spin last weekend and I actually felt the ‘sluggishness’ of the non ABoost..if one can ever call a tesla sluggish. It just felt as though it was being limited?

Anyway for me worth every penny!

 

[phaheem]

I can attest to the difference being quite noticeable across all speed ranges…
0-30, 30-60, 60-90 etc .it just pulls harder and as if the throttle has been let loose finally. The car feels likes its 500lb lighter in my opinion.

I have a 22’ LR boost and my cousin has a 22’ non boost LR. I took his out for a spin last weekend and I actually felt the ‘sluggishness’ of the non ABoost..if one can ever call a tesla sluggish. It just felt as though it was being limited?

Anyway for me worth every penny!

Sold.

 

[Steve446]

6. efficiency
surprised at how much weather and speed play into "tesla" miles. i also was pretty shocked when i carried two road bikes on my 1up hitch rack -- charged the tesla to 280 "tesla" miles. actual miles for the roundtrip was 120 miles and ended the trip with 90 "tesla" miles.

Good review thanks. I had exactly the same experience with autopilot, got put off for 2-3 months but no problem now. Honest remarks regards range too. It just goes to show how much driving conditions of all sorts can impact an EVs range (any EV in fact and not just Tesla!). I wish other reviews, including some journalists would be more realistic when it comes to that point. I find that the M3 has an efficiency level rather more than many other EVs (measured as Wh/Km or mile) but carrying bikes is a killer and also for ICE cars too. Last question, I was curious to know why you added acceleration boost?

 

[Cho22]

Good review thanks. I had exactly the same experience with autopilot, got put off for 2-3 months but no problem now. Honest remarks regards range too. It just goes to show how much driving conditions of all sorts can impact an EVs range (any EV in fact and not just Tesla!). I wish other reviews, including some journalists would be more realistic when it comes to that point. I find that the M3 has an efficiency level rather more than many other EVs (measured as Wh/Km or mile) but carrying bikes is a killer and also for ICE cars too. Last question, I was curious to know why you added acceleration boost?

Acceleration boost is generally for the fun factor

 

[Steve446]

Acceleration boost is generally for the fun factor

Sure I understand. I must say thought that the performance of my LR AWD is already way over for most day to day situations and the traffic on the road and I love it! So to get a thrill yes of course, but to exploit it in normal everyday driving, I am not so sure

 

[palt]

How do you like your hitch? I'm still undecided if I want a hitch or the roof rack for my mountain bike. Our previous car had issues with the hitch being too low so we hit the ground all the time with these gigantic ditches here in UT.

 

[refusedmd]

Good review thanks. I had exactly the same experience with autopilot, got put off for 2-3 months but no problem now. Honest remarks regards range too. It just goes to show how much driving conditions of all sorts can impact an EVs range (any EV in fact and not just Tesla!). I wish other reviews, including some journalists would be more realistic when it comes to that point. I find that the M3 has an efficiency level rather more than many other EVs (measured as Wh/Km or mile) but carrying bikes is a killer and also for ICE cars too. Last question, I was curious to know why you added acceleration boost?

yep mostly for the fun factor. although it is nice to know you can easily overtake or accelerate yourself out of a bad situation if need be -- it has saved me in a few situations.

best on unsuspecting victims in the passenger or back seats -- really wish you could record from the interior camera.

How do you like your hitch? I'm still undecided if I want a hitch or the roof rack for my mountain bike. Our previous car had issues with the hitch being too low so we hit the ground all the time with these gigantic ditches here in UT.

love the hitch -- using the stealth hitch. really nice that its easily removable so the car can look stock when not using the 1up rack. if you were bottoming out on your previous car i would also be worried about the same thing on the M3. i haven't had any issues since i only road/gravel bike and haven't had to take it into any challenging terrain. it does sit pretty low.

 

[splffgates]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Good to see autopilot is improving.

 

[CDennis100]

Was acceleration boost a noticeable difference in speed/acceleration versus before you purchased the software update?

As Aretha once sang….”drop the pedal and go. Go.”

It never gets old…and I too just crossed the 10k threshold, and I too bought the boost a week in. No brainer.

 

[Destiny1701]

Acceleration boost is generally for the fun factor

Agreed. At all speed levels.

Sure I understand. I must say thought that the performance of my LR AWD is already way over for most day to day situations and the traffic on the road and I love it! So to get a thrill yes of course, but to exploit it in normal everyday driving, I am not so sure

Uh…fully exploitable normal day to day. The sub 4 sec sprint is one thing sure. It’s the quicker throttle response and the extra juice across all speeds which really makes this update truly worth it.

It feels like the motors were unleashed

And for what it’s worth, the extra power even coming out of a turn is fantastic. Adds to the sportiness factor.

 

[RSpanner]

put in chill when driving up Telegraph Ave.