OP again, I decided to rent one on Turo and take it for a spin and home tonight. It is a 2018 Model 3 with full self driving capability. It has been a blast so far. Here's what stuck out to me the most.
It's a very easy vehicle to get used to. I got used to driving it at low speeds within about two miles of city driving, and I got used to the touchscreen after about an hour or so. The map is wonderful, and I *never* use nav/maps. Playing music is a little fumbly but not a big deal. It all gets the job done and it's nice to not have a shitload of switches.
Back to driving - the car 'feels' like a manual in that 'idling' is just sitting there, so you can let off the brake and scratch your ankle if necessary. That's kinda neat. Also, it's nice to use the rapid deceleration of this vehicle to your advantage in stopping (this was not just my 1st EV but my first regen. braking vehicle). That felt like hyper-miling to the max. I found it to actually be an excellent vehicle for an urban environment. The lack of an engine is 100% a value add for me, allowing to be hyper aware of noises outside of the vehicle around me.
Getting onto the expressway really is a rush, it's just linear instantaneous torque. Can't quite explain it, it's almost like a roller coaster but smoother. Transmissions are irrelevant and forgotten. It's like you nail it and say to yourself 'this is acceleration' - it just makes total sense. I will not ever forget how this felt.
I got rid of an R230 SL recently. Sense of speed was diminished in that car... it is more so in the M3. I wonder how much of that has to do with lacking of an engine and how fast it accelerates - and how easily it passes - probably a lot. The screen showing other cars and trucks is a huge value add to check your own scanning of the road briefly. Also, people are very curious how fast these are, I think I had two or three people come up to the side of me.
Once you're up to speed and not playing with the accelerator, it feels like a very good highway vehicle. It doesn't feel quite as tank-ish as an old-school Benz, but it was tighter than my E90 335 for sure.
As for Autopilot, tried it and it worked well, very easy to get used to, I'd need to try it on a road trip to give any real feedback. But, I may not initially buy FSD. I haven't been on a road trip in 12 years and can't currently justify the extra $7k expense - that may change before I order based on more reading and research.
I will need to do a little more reading, as well as drive an M3P to make sure I really want to do this, but the first pass is yes. It is fun to discover something new, and I take no guilt in researching my purchases. There's something about Tesla that I think has made a lot of people very impulsive, and I'm very grateful you guys have been so helpful so far.