Some stupid Mustang tried to overtake Model 3

[JetFalcon]

So I was entering a freeway onramp, from local road to freeway. It was a two lane onramp merging into a one lane, before you can enter the freeway. And some stupid idiot with his Mustang tried to overtake me and cut in front of me even though he was way behind me, like pretty far. A sensible driver would just figure to drive normal and stay behind the car, then lane change once he's on the freeway and speed away. It was late night, no traffic, so the guy must have been on some kind of joy ride with his Mustang. Probably some mindless idiot who thinks he's in Fast & Furious.

I figured out what he was doing and I wasn't going to slow down, so I just accelerated the moment I saw the Mustang barreling towards me. He just wanted to be an asshole picking and bullying other cars around. Maybe he thinks Tesla Model 3s are puny cars that are slow, or thinks its a Toyota Yaris. But I showed him up and didn't let the Mustang overtake me at dangerous speeds. I just accelerated the moment I saw the Mustang barreling down so we would have matching speeds by the time he caught up to me. And when he caught up to me, I already reached the merge point first so he couldn't cut in front of me, even though he really wanted to.

I have no idea what this Mustang owner was thinking, like EV cars are inferior to his V8 Mustang. I assumed he saw a puny looking car and thought he could overtake it. And yeah, do some gear heads intentionally hate Teslas or electric cars, even though they have superior acceleration? I rather have a performance electric car over any gas cars, gas cars lag alot when you want instant acceleration from stand still, and they need to be in motion if you want instant acceleration. I used to have a BMW M3 Lime Rock, but the Model 3 accelerates more efficiently than the M3 ever did.

It seemed like a newer Ford Mustang GT, or whatever performance models they sell. It was a newer one and one fit for an asshole driver with money and mods. But if he truly wants to overtake people, EV cars are much better at acceleration than gas cars. The only thing his Mustang will do better in is top speeds, but then he will just end up with a speeding ticket, especially with an aggressive looking car.

 

[MrG_NY]

Don’t cry when you wreck for being an idiot. You should have just let em go.

 

[JetFalcon]

Don’t cry when you wreck for being an idiot. You should have just let em go.

I would have let him go if I wasn't so close to the merge point. But I was really close to the merge point and he was barreling down like a maniac from the starting point of the on ramp, like he was going to try pass me in a non existent lane, rear end me, or expect me to pull over to the right in the emergency lane. There really was no where for me to let him go unless I wanted to be pushed off the road. And I wasn't going to resort to stopping in the middle of the road for this guy to have his way and put me in danger.

Best option was to match his speed so if he did hit me, it just be a slight tap than a hard hit. And he would have time to react since we had matching speeds rather than way different speeds. He was way behind me so I had the advantage to match his speed by the time I saw him.

He just wanted a cheap thrill at the expense of other's safety. Just to have a close call like he was playing a video game.

 

[JulienW]

Not defending the other driver or disagreeing with you but just posting some info for consumption.

If it's a GT350 (0-60/3.8) it will be quicker that all but the Performance Model 3 and faster on the roll.

A little OT but.....the about to be released 2020 Mustang GT500 is a beast and will do 0-60 in the mid 3 second range with 700HP. So this will be about the same as the Performance Model 3 0-60 (likely harder to launch) and will be faster on the roll.

[dreaming]Sure would LOVE Tesla to make a Model 4 (coupe) with that kind of performance.[/dreaming]

 

[wenkan]

When GM making C8 the supercar for everyone, Ford is just making jokes.

 

[johnnyS]

Recently I was just cruising along and we hear a loud engine at a stop light of a Dodge Challenger/Hellcat/whatever. Wife gives me this look, so I stomp on the accelerator. Within a second or two the Dodge is way behind and we no longer have to listen to him reeving his engine.

 

[Dan203]

When I was younger I use to care when this sort of thing happened and would speed up and try to mess with them. Almost caused a few accidents doing it. Now that I'm older I just let it go. No reason to cause an accident just because of ego.

 

[BrownOuttaSpec]

Not defending the other driver or disagreeing with you but just posting some info for consumption.

If it's a GT350 (0-60/3.8) it will be quicker that all but the Performance Model 3 and faster on the roll.

A little OT but.....the about to be released 2020 Mustang GT500 is a beast and will do 0-60 in the mid 3 second range with 700HP. So this will be about the same as the Performance Model 3 0-60 (likely harder to launch) and will be faster on the roll.

[dreaming]Sure would LOVE Tesla to make a Model 4 (coupe) with that kind of performance.[/dreaming]

Paper numbers are one thing, real world is another. Having a single gear, AWD and instant power make up for a lot of discrepancy. When you put the pedal down in a Tesla (3,S,X) you GO, there is no waiting for traction, or engines rev into the power band or gear changing...whoosh and you're zipping away

Maybe you haven't heard but there is a Model S that does 0-60 in 2.4 and a soon to be roadster in 2020 that does it in 1.9sec. Not sure if they've released numbers on a performance version of the Y yet.

 

[luke68bird]

Camera footage would help the story, sounds like two bad moves.

 

[jboy210]

Surprised you had this encounter. Up here in Norcal people know Teslas are quicker than their Mustangs or Vettes and back off when they see a Tesla merging.

 

[DJVoorhees]

It seemed like a newer Ford Mustang GT, or whatever performance models they sell. It was a newer one and one fit for an asshole driver with money and mods. But if he truly wants to overtake people, EV cars are much better at acceleration than gas cars. The only thing his Mustang will do better in is top speeds, but then he will just end up with a speeding ticket, especially with an aggressive looking car.

It's good you like your Model 3, while good off the line, on the highway even the performace model isnt that impressive. The mustang probably could have passed you with ease, are you sue the Mustang owner was aware you were trying to make a point?

 

[T3SLAROD]

Model 3 is great from a standstill, 80 and above just pull over to the right lane. Let the Sports cars go by....

 

[woodisgood]

The older I get the more I see the wisdom in having robots do the driving.

Assuming we can make the robots competent, that is.

 

[JetFalcon]

I think these google street photos will clear up how this situation came out.

First photo forward is about where I am when I suddenly see this Mustang barreling down the road in rear view mirror, in right lane. And you can see there's like no where to even pull over, unless this guy wanted to offroad the divider on the left. Or expect me to grind the right side of my car against the guard rail. He was attempting to barely squeeze by when he reached me at the merge point, like a video game. So that's why I decided to accelerate, to match his speed by the point he go to me.

And the Mustang was like way behind, like near the start of the on ramp where he didn't even turn in yet. And he was barreling in like a maniac, like no car was there. Or gave no shits to any car that was there. Trying to pass by on the left.

If you wanna google map this exact location, its the Jamboree (north facing part) to I-5 south on ramp in Tustin CA.

 

[Mrcarcrazy]

I only have ecoboost mustangs trying to race me...mostly people just gawk. I swear this car gets more attention than my bright blue Lotus Elise. (And the Tesla is more common than the Elise here).

Anywho, I felt like passing someone today and just did a quick press of the go pedal. Quickly got to ~5over from ~7under. What quickly appears in the lane? No other than a Texas State Trooper. I think to self “fuuuuck, really?” But checking my speed I’m like “oh his radar must have gone crazy so he got in the open lane and just saw a sedan tootling along and thought “weird”. He then passed me as I stayed at my speed. A quick sigh of relief was had. (Police are so thick you can stir them with a stick in my area of Texas.)

 

[M109Rider]

So I was entering a freeway onramp, from local road to freeway. It was a two lane onramp merging into a one lane, before you can enter the freeway. And some stupid idiot with his Mustang tried to overtake me and cut in front of me even though he was way behind me, like pretty far. A sensible driver would just figure to drive normal and stay behind the car, then lane change once he's on the freeway and speed away. It was late night, no traffic, so the guy must have been on some kind of joy ride with his Mustang. Probably some mindless idiot who thinks he's in Fast & Furious.

I figured out what he was doing and I wasn't going to slow down, so I just accelerated the moment I saw the Mustang barreling towards me. He just wanted to be an asshole picking and bullying other cars around. Maybe he thinks Tesla Model 3s are puny cars that are slow, or thinks its a Toyota Yaris. But I showed him up and didn't let the Mustang overtake me at dangerous speeds. I just accelerated the moment I saw the Mustang barreling down so we would have matching speeds by the time he caught up to me. And when he caught up to me, I already reached the merge point first so he couldn't cut in front of me, even though he really wanted to.

I have no idea what this Mustang owner was thinking, like EV cars are inferior to his V8 Mustang. I assumed he saw a puny looking car and thought he could overtake it. And yeah, do some gear heads intentionally hate Teslas or electric cars, even though they have superior acceleration? I rather have a performance electric car over any gas cars, gas cars lag alot when you want instant acceleration from stand still, and they need to be in motion if you want instant acceleration. I used to have a BMW M3 Lime Rock, but the Model 3 accelerates more efficiently than the M3 ever did.

It seemed like a newer Ford Mustang GT, or whatever performance models they sell. It was a newer one and one fit for an asshole driver with money and mods. But if he truly wants to overtake people, EV cars are much better at acceleration than gas cars. The only thing his Mustang will do better in is top speeds, but then he will just end up with a speeding ticket, especially with an aggressive looking car.

You only live once. Glad you’re having some fun.
Sounds like you were safe and in control.
Enjoy those moments. They always put a smile on your face.

 

[ICUDoc]

If someone else is driving like a dickhead, then the right thing to do is stay legal, stay safe, and stay out of the way.
Mods please delete this thread as it is a terrible example of driving practice.

 

[boriszima]

cool story bro. Have fun with the car, it is a pleasure indeed.

 

[JetFalcon]

If someone else is driving like a dickhead, then the right thing to do is stay legal, stay safe, and stay out of the way.
Mods please delete this thread as it is a terrible example of driving practice.

Like how would I stay outta the way? Did you check the picture like after the starting thread? There literally was no place to let this asshole pass safely, he was either going to rear end me or be very close to if I chose to continue at my normal speed or pull over with barely any room for him to pass. He came outta nowhere so fast and seem like he had road rage or just an adrenaline junkie who didn't care about other people's lives.

I would have pulled over if there was no guard rail. If I had the room, I would have let him have his way. But I'm already at the point of reaching this merge point, this guy knew it, and he still wanted to challenge the idea of barely squeezing by.

I had no other choice but to match his speed, so he had time to slow down instead of rear ending me because he wanted to cut me off with barely any room to pass. Or he can drive into the left divider and pass me that way, but he chose not to, he wanted to tail gate me or pick a fight with another car.

 

[camalaio]

Today, I took my new Mustang out late at night to have a bit of fun in the new car. Handles beautifully and tons of power by the way.

All was going well until I came across this car that was going a bit slow in the right lane (two lanes) before a merge onto the I-5. There was nearly no one else I was in the left lane going quick already so I decided to keep on accelerating (too fun!!) and clear him before merge point.

Suddenly as I'm about to pass this guy (legally on the left, mind you), he guns it like he's offended that I'm passing him, causing me to nearly shove him into the guardrail! I slam on the brakes, ABS is going nuts, but I barely avoid hitting him. And then I see it: the Tesla badge. Another Tesla fanboy who just can't handle a gasoline car also having some fun on the roads at night, and decides to risk his life and mine, not to mention ruining the fun for both of us. But I guess that is how they have fun, by "shaming" us at every chance they get.

===

So obviously, I wrote that for some perspective. I'm not the 'stang driver. My other vehicle is a Honda Fit. You describe him as "barreling down" the road up to you. He likely had no clue you were driving a Tesla, with no opportunity to know it until he had to get right on your bumper because you decided to cause the actual danger in this situation instead of just letting him safely past. You also say he was "like pretty far", but then your later streetview example shows you only saw him just before the merge point. So what, you were going 20 mph before merging onto a freeway? Because unless he was going 150, "pretty far" and "just before the merge point" don't equal him nearly shoving you into the guardrail.

Let them have fun. You can have fun too. Just don't do it at someone else's harm or expense, please (and also keep yourself safe!). People who drive gas vehicles (even performance ones) are not driving around looking for every chance to throw an EV into a guardrail.

And as a final note, gas performance vehicles absolutely can be "much better at acceleration" at highway speeds than EVs, even Tesla. It's just we're that we're not typically driving at speeds where that difference matters much.