Not the typical Performance vs. LR topic

[jackmott]

For me track mode was the more important difference between the performance and LR than any power delivery difference.
The tires on the performance are the primary cause of it having less range. If you want the performance with LR range you can sell the factory wheels and tires and get some 18s with lower crr tires.

 

[gearchruncher]

For me track mode was the more important difference between the performance and LR than any power delivery difference.
The tires on the performance are the primary cause of it having less range. If you want the performance with LR range you can sell the factory wheels and tires and get some 18s with lower crr tires.

This is an interesting desire for a M3P. You don't care about the power, and you worry about efficiency enough to consider much less grippy tires.
Yet you are willing to pay $6K+ for track mode.

What's your use case for track mode where you don't care about speed, grip, or brakes?

 

[jackmott]

This is an interesting desire for a M3P. You don't care about the power, and you worry about efficiency enough to consider much less grippy tires.
Yet you are willing to pay $6K+ for track mode.

What's your use case for track mode where you don't care about speed, grip, or brakes?

One can run efficient tires daily and race tires/wheels at the track/autocross. The factory 20" wheel/tire are not a competitive combo anyway so it isn't as if that gains you anything.

And brakes are similar, the performance brakes still aren't good enough for track use. And the LR brakes are fine for autocross.

But without track mode you cannot even have fun without a relatively risky electronic work around.

 

[gearchruncher]

The factory 20" wheel/tire are not a competitive combo anyway so it isn't as if that gains you anything.

Yeah, but the non 3P power isn't competitive either (at least in AutoX, the SCCA treats all Model 3's the same). I was mostly surprised you said you didn't care about the power but still wanted track mode.

But without track mode you cannot even have fun without a relatively risky electronic work around.

A 3P without track mode is faster than a LR with track mode. I've run with LR's and I've run without track mode. At a 60 second AutoX, track mode gets me maybe 0.5 seconds, but an LR is 1+ seconds off the pace, and with less power, the LR will benefit less from track mode.

It seems your use case is "going sideways" more than going fast by the clock? I find my fastest laps are ones that would barely tickle any kind of electronic aid. The instant the car is sliding you're losing time, you can feel it. The speed in a Model 3 comes when it's hooked up and you can actually accelerate.

Drift mode is damn fun if you have the space and the $$ for tires though

 

[CosmosMpower]

I had the same dilemma and ordered LR instead of performance. I normally buy the top model car and replacing a F80 BMW M3. When I ordered there was talk about possible tax credit which would make the gap 14K but now that it's dead it's back to 8K (6 after buying acceleration boost). I didn't like the 20" uberturbiines so would get rid of those anyways. I'm not going to track this car so don't care about track mode or the brakes either.

The LR with AB will be close enough in acceleration for a daily driver and I'll spend the rest of the money to buy aftermarket wheels, carbon spoiler and suspension with some $ left over.

 

[AdventureVan]

Better be sure you don't want 20" wheels, lowered suspension, or upgraded brakes cause parts + install is going to cost $2k or more each.

Also, Tesla can't remove boost from the car when it gets a new owner.

except they definitely got rid of the "lowered suspension" so that's no longer part of the added value for the extra money...

The P isn't worth the extra $8k in terms of what you get for the money. It costs more up front, will cost more to own, and will depreciate more (percentage-wise). The LR is the smarter choice. That said, I got the P.

 

[nstig8]

Anyone considering both will almost certainly buy AB if they get the LR, so the real difference is $6k. Then if you factor in resale price when you are done with the car will at least be a couple k higher for a M3P the difference ends up being $4k or less. It's a no-brainer unless you were already reaching too far to get the car in the first place.

 

[DayTrippin]

Our M3 LR will be here next week. The price delta between the P and LR always seem to be in flux but lately somewhat stable. It was definitely easier to pass on going with the M3P as our S delivery timeline was looking pretty good. Since getting the S, staying with the LR was the right choice. It isn't a slow car to begin with. It will be about as fast as our Y was with boost and I can't say we ever needed more acceleration that that thing was capable of.

I think the only thing I might miss from the M3P would be the track mode. Not sure how much I could really use it anyway. It is great that we have so many choices.

 

[Knightshade]

Anyone considering both will almost certainly buy AB if they get the LR, so the real difference is $6k. Then if you factor in resale price when you are done with the car will at least be a couple k higher for a M3P the difference ends up being $4k or less. It's a no-brainer unless you were already reaching too far to get the car in the first place.

You forgot the $ to buy good 18" wheels and tires to replace the 20" fragile boat anchors the P forces on you. I suppose that can be mitigated some if you find a sucker to buy em locally.

More seriously, back when I was buying the difference was $11,000 to upgrade to the P3D-, and $16,000 for the P3D+. I certainly could afford either, but what you got for it didn't seem remotely worth it, and 3 years and an AB later I've seen nothing to make me think I was wrong.

If one could get the P3D- today for only like 4k net of AWD+boost I'd probably do that- but just not at all interested in those 20s.

 

[nstig8]

You forgot the $ to buy good 18" wheels and tires to replace the 20" fragile boat anchors the P forces on you. I suppose that can be mitigated some if you find a sucker to buy em locally.

Personally I've always run dedicated summer and winters, so I was planning on buying a second set of wheels/tires either way and it's nice that the set from Tesla was already on summer tires. You can easily get over $3k for the uberturbines with tires though, which you can put toward a wheel/tire set of your choosing rather than the aeros everyone has. TSportline has some nice choices - I bought the TS5s for my winter set. There are so many companies to choose from now though that it's easy to find something you like better under 3k.