M3P Stealth: Origins

[Mayonayze]

i’ve now heard a number of stories about how the M3P Stealth came to be, but these two from two different Tesla employees are my faves so far:

1) They mysteriously shipped to Tesla delivery centers, no one knows why

2) When they had spare S motors, they put them in M3s to help meet deliveries. Some folks that ordered the standard dual motor unexpectedly received the Stealth, instead.

What are your favorite Stealth origins stories?

 

[Knightshade]

...spare S motors?

Wow.

 

[OCR1]

Many of the Tesla reps are not also Tesla enthusiasts so they don’t seek to learn this type of information. That is why it’s so much easier to get answers to Tesla related product questions from this forum rather than speaking with a Tesla rep.

 

[dmurphy]

i’ve now heard a number of stories about how the M3P Stealth came to be, but these two from two different Tesla employees are my faves so far:

1) They mysteriously shipped to Tesla delivery centers, no one knows why

2) When they had spare S motors, they put them in M3s to help meet deliveries. Some folks that ordered the standard dual motor unexpectedly received the Stealth, instead.

What are your favorite Stealth origins stories?

Someone once posted that they ran a batch thru and accidentally loaded the wrong firmware profile for a few days, and that's how the first batch of Stealth came to be. Not sure I believe that, but ... who knows?

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Nonsense but speculate if you must

 

[IDRVSLO]

Are stealth model 3's still a thing? Is it random at this point where you order the LR and hope you can upgrade later?

 

[Knightshade]

The P3D- was for some months in 2018 the actual order-able performance model 3- it was a $9,000-$11,00 upgrade cost over the LR AWD (depending when exactly you ordered as they adjusted the LR AWD price several times)

And during the order process on the website it gave you the option of adding for another $5000 the performance upgrade that added the 20" boat anchor wheels, red brakes, and sport pedals, and of course the spoiler (that nobody actually got in 2018)

Hence how we got the P3D- and P3D+ naming- it was indicating if the performance Model 3 in question was + or - that $5000 package.


Then late 2018 they made that 5k package standard/free and you could no longer order a car without it.

This pissed off a bunch of previous buyers- so Tesla offered them all $5000 refunds (though they had to give up the free unlimited supercharging they had received as early adopters to get it- a great trade for most owners).


Anyway, cut to sometime in mid 2019, and suddenly a batch of P3D- cars magically show up in inventory.... at the time there were a bunch of nonsense rumors that it was an "accident" or something and a one-off event.

But then batches kept showing up. Non-orderable, but you could buy em from inventory.

Same, physically, as the 2018s, other than the fact some of them were showing up with 19s instead of the 18s all of them came with in 2018... and they were not orderable- only available from inventory- in whatever color and interior you could find one in (most were rumored to be black interior, but certainly not all)

They were still available that way as of at least a couple weeks ago- unclear if they'll continue to be and if so for how long though.



Entirely apart from that there's been a few random folks in the last 18 months the P has existed that have experienced one of the following:

1) Paying for a P3D- but getting "just" a LR AWD on delivery, and then having Tesla flash the software to make it a P (since the original LR AWD was physically the same car- though this is no longer true)

2) Paying for a LR AWD but getting the P software without anyone noticing at the time

Presumably in both cases since the physical build was the same they just flashed the wrong SW at the factory and in case 1 corrected it later (we've seen reports of both at-delivery and a day or two later OTA pushes to fix it)- and in case 2 the owner wouldn't WANT it corrected.

 

[IDRVSLO]

Thanks for that explanation Knightshare. After ordering the P3 earlier this month I got to thinking what I could do if the car didn't come with the bigger rotors, lowered suspension, wheels, etc... But prolly not worth my time and would not have been able to get it in blue and white without a bit of luck and lots of waiting around.

 

[Cycle11111]

I have a P3D-. Performance with 18s and no big wheels or red calipers. I had been on the pre-order list from the first day you could place an M3 pre-order. Once details became available that you could get AWD in the pre-order I indicated that. Now once I could could actually configure I picked the longest range and performance but de-selected the the 20 inch wheels and the red caliper performance option - it seemed nuts to pay $5000 for red brakes and 20 inch wheels when all the reading I did indicated that finding snow tires would be tough (I live in Truckee CA) and range would suffer. The early brake fade scare in repeated panic stops seemed to already be a none issue via S/W updates so given I never intended to track the car, AWD with snows was very important to me and range due to my twice weekly Valley to Truckee drive the P3D- seemed perfect. The AWD 18s with snows have been great for Truckee.

Net net it was a configuration option for me, but it definitely appears to have been added and removed from the page randomly

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Thanks for that explanation Knightshare. After ordering the P3 earlier this month I got to thinking what I could do if the car didn't come with the bigger rotors, lowered suspension, wheels, etc... But prolly not worth my time and would not have been able to get it in blue and white without a bit of luck and lots of waiting around.

Do it!
P3- is amazing on good wheels/ tires
I ended up getting mine in the same or less time as my regular P3 order

 

[IDRVSLO]

Do it!
P3- is amazing on good wheels/ tires
I ended up getting mine in the same or less time as my regular P3 order

Right now I'm waiting for the blue/white interior 2020 P3 that comes with everything... If I went back and ordered a LR AWD 3, and I don't have the option to go stealth, I'm screwed. Right? Yes, P3- is the way i would have wanted to go but don't need to play the game if I don't have to

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Right now I'm waiting for the blue/white interior 2020 P3 that comes with everything... If I went back and ordered a LR AWD 3, and I don't have the option to go stealth, I'm screwed. Right? Yes, P3- is the way i would have wanted to go but don't need to play the game if I don't have to

The way it worked/works(?) Is you ask your advisor to look for a P3- that is unclaimed and see if they can change your order to that one.
Blue/white was not an option when I get mine though

 

[IDRVSLO]

The way it worked/works(?) Is you ask your advisor to look for a P3- that is unclaimed and see if they can change your order to that one.
Blue/white was not an option when I get mine though

Yeah, glad I didn't go the SA route...

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Yeah, glad I didn't go the SA route...

now would be the time try and get a P3- if you already have a car on order you just ask them to look if there are any coming available & they change your order to that VIN.
but if you really want red brakes

 

[IDRVSLO]

now would be the time try and get a P3- if you already have a car on order you just ask them to look if there are any coming available & they change your order to that VIN.
but if you really want red brakes

Chances of me finding one in blue and white? I don't have a car right now and already don't want to wait for the 3 I have on order.. Aren't the rotors bigger too? In a perfect world where I don't want to wait, can deal with a non blue/white combo, I'd hold out for a P3- and spend the extra money on Brembos, springs, wheels etc.. But alas I can live with the red brakes

 

[i11matic]

Chances of me finding one in blue and white? I don't have a car right now and already don't want to wait for the 3 I have on order.. Aren't the rotors bigger too? In a perfect world where I don't want to wait, can deal with a non blue/white combo, I'd hold out for a P3- and spend the extra money on Brembos, springs, wheels etc.. But alas I can live with the red brakes

You're in SF...you would get a Stealth before the car you ordered probably, as the Bay Area is last in getting orders fulfilled. Stealths were/are made in batches and production of them last quarter were made before cars that had been ordered Sept. and Oct. You may get your color combo choice, you may not, but you lose nothing by shooting an email or starting a chat with Tesla on their site to have an advisor look out for a Stealth for your RN. If they find one, they tell you and they can match the VIN to your RN if you want it, if they don't, you just wait for your ordered configuration.

 

[holmgang]

You see son, when a Performance car and Long Range car love each other very much......

 

[Stevewiz9]

i’ve now heard a number of stories about how the M3P Stealth came to be, but these two from two different Tesla employees are my faves so far:

1) They mysteriously shipped to Tesla delivery centers, no one knows why

2) When they had spare S motors, they put them in M3s to help meet deliveries. Some folks that ordered the standard dual motor unexpectedly received the Stealth, instead.

What are your favorite Stealth origins stories?

My favorite stealth story is the current acceleration boost update that is available to purchase. I hear it’s a true story !
Ts.la/steven40955

 

[IDRVSLO]

You're in SF...you would get a Stealth before the car you ordered probably, as the Bay Area is last in getting orders fulfilled. Stealths were/are made in batches and production of them last quarter were made before cars that had been ordered Sept. and Oct. You may get your color combo choice, you may not, but you lose nothing by shooting an email or starting a chat with Tesla on their site to have an advisor look out for a Stealth for your RN. If they find one, they tell you and they can match the VIN to your RN if you want it, if they don't, you just wait for your ordered configuration.

You all make good points and it wouldn’t hurt to shoot an email off...

 

[IDRVSLO]

FWIW, sales associate told me today those were available in September and December and they said they don’t see any in inventory.