Very tough question to answer. I'll be honest, my M3LR has been a FAR better car than I thought it would be even with a lot of experience with my Y. The 3 replaced the Y. I thought I had a good handle on the 3/Y platform since I owned the Y, but I think the 3 is an all around better car. It was supposed to be for my wife since she liked the Y in general but thought it was too big hence the 3 to replace it. Even though we got the S before the 3, the 3 already has 4 times the miles of the S. One thing to note is we have boost on the 3 and that extra punch makes it a lot more fun to me. Maybe not so much fun for my wife but our child loves it.
As for the S, overall I like the platform a lot. I don't want to bash the stalkless yoke, but it has killed a huge amount of my enthusiasm for the car. I hope swapping out the yoke for a wheel can regain a lot of it. The S is a lot better in so many ways. I love the cooled seats. It is quieter. The adjustable suspension is a big plus as I can raise the ride height. There are a lot of very big dips here. The S has a big nose and it would hit them if I didn't raise them. The Y cleared a lot of them but not all and I had to be very careful. The 3 is lower than the Y and about 50% of them I have to be extra careful with. The S on high height and not an issue. It remember them for next time. I can also raise it so the nose doesn't hit the parking curbs. Maybe not high enough for all but the fast majority. The 3 is a lot easier to hith them.
The range is very good. It just feels nicer. I love having the hatchback. The acceleration alone is an eye-opener after getting out of the 3. If I had the Plaid, my wife would never ride with me. I've taken her on one of my hyper bikes (think quicker than a Plaid) and after just one burst, I think her nails made it all the way through my riding jacket. So the SLR is on the limit of what she'll barely tolerate in acceleration already but it doesn't level off as much at higher speeds like the 3/Y P do. Since most of the time the entire family is in the car, extra performance would almost never be used from a Plaid.
I'll veer a little bit into the M3P. I shopped (drove) this car and the MYP extensively before going with the MYLR originally. Drove several M3P's again before ordering the M3LR. I am probably going to be in the minority here but the only performance version Tesla that is significantly different from the other base models is the Plaid. Whether the Plaid is worth the large price increase to you is a subject thing. Basically in with the 3/Y P models, all you get is basically a 0-60 time improvement and above that nothing. At least with the Plaid you have a gain to 60 and and improvement even in 60-130. So for me it made no sense to buy the 3/Y P, especially at the price delta when I was shopping them. Their might be a better argument for the YP as the price delta shrank a lot. I don't care about the ugly, inefficient wheels or the other bolt ons that anyone can do. I am focused on the pure performance dynamics. So buying the boost for the LR's made a lot more sense as they are all pretty much the same once you are above 60 mph. The only real benefit in acceleration for a P over a boosted LR model is the immediate launch and to about 25 mph. If the P was significantly faster from say 50-90 than a boosted, LR, I'd have bought it but it isn't. You get exactly what Tesla tells you, a quicker 0-60 time. The quicker 1/4 mile is just because of the initial sprint to 60 is quicker but there is not a hug difference in trap speeds between a boosted LR and a P, or even from a normal LR. It is like your little JATO rockets flame out at 60 mph and not really helping you beyond that. Great marketing tactic by Tesla. I have not a single day regretted getting the LR with boost over any of the 3/Y P versions. So I'd say just go with the M3LR and boost it rather than a P. Buy wheels that are lightweight and add a spoiler if you want.
As for If I would buy the S again, it really comes down to environment for me. That has a huge impact and brings out the flaws of the yoke's implementation for me every day. When I lived in Florida, near me the roads where more open I probably hop on 95 and shoot down to Miami or I4 to Orlando/Tampa. The roads where I lived near St. Augustine where generally less congested, not as tight, and people going higher average speeds. The faster you able to go, the more I think the S really comes into its own. Now I am stuck in bumper to bumper traffic with pretty low speed limits until I get to the highly congested N. Central Expwy in Dallas. Then I have to drive downtown where the roads are pretty crappy even if not NYC bad and a lot of tight turns (more than about 90 degrees of wheel movement), backing in an out of the parking garages (3 each day; wife, kid and my work) and the yoke is just a POS in these situations for me.
So would I buy the S again. The differencee would be I would dump the yoke ASAP. I tried to like it. I spent 20+ years flying planes with a yoke so I wasn't a yoke hater. The S is going to sit as much as possible until the wheel comes. I've ordered some S3XY buttons to remap some other controls. They just added support for turn signals. I am going to map a button on each side, on the backside of the wheel, probably for doing a left and right turn signal. Maybe they'll figure out how to map the gearshift. I'll put one on for the turn signals. If I lived back in Florida, it would be less of an issue than in cramped Dallas surface streets with a lot of congestion. Probably a longer answer than you were expecting but an honest one. I think the yoke was truly an unforced error on their part given its totally crappy implementation. It is the one control you touch constantly besides the throttle. You need to get the primary controls right and they didn't in this case. Thankfully there are wheel options or I honestly would sell my car and maybe buy back in later when Tesla has fixed this cluster truck. The rest of the car is very good to excellent but the yoke just destroys that for me because I use it continuously in an environment where it isn't the ideal tool. Even in Florida, I don't think I would have every loved it but at least its shortcomings wouldn't annoy me so much every day.
So if you aren't opposed to spending the money, buy the S and get a wheel for it. I'll give an honest assessment once I get the wheel and install it. I've already marked on the calendar when I hope to have it.
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