Test Drove Still Researching [whether to purchase a Model 3 performance or LR]

[Knightshade]

Agreed. My LR and P test drives were a few days apart, and I easily felt the difference from low speeds.

From highway speeds I couldn't really tell any difference though.

From roughly 60 mph up there really isn't much of one.

(or from ~45 up for the LR with boost)

 

[TexasTezla]

Sure. You are in Texas. You don't have the brutal winters, frost heaves, potholes and you probably never heard of "spring thaw" prohibitions on heavy trucks. Come to Wisconsin in April and you would change your mind about the 20s.

I envy your roads.

And that's my point...people talk of the 20s being so prone to damage etc but they don't take into consideration the geography. 20s are fine here in Texas. I imagine they are fine in California too. Wisconsin, likely you have a point...

 

[THXULTRA]

And that's my point...people talk of the 20s being so prone to damage etc but they don't take into consideration the geography. 20s are fine here in Texas. I imagine they are fine in California too. Wisconsin, likely you have a point...

Exactly. I bought a set of 18s for the winter here. The 20s have summer tires so if you live someplace with cold/ snowy winters you are going to need a set of all weather or winter tires.

 

[Birdsfan]

I've been driving nothing but BMW's for the better part of 20 years and the last three were coupes with run flats. Living north of Philly we have pretty bad roads in the winter and I've only had one one mishap with a rogue pothole, took out two rims/tires. I ended up running a completely separate all season tire/rim package on the BMW's and just purchased the same thing for my M3P. I opted for the 19" instead of 18" for aesthetically pleasing reasons only but I figure I'll extend the life of both sets of rubber so it should offset some of the cost of the second set up.

 

[tm1v2]

And that's my point...people talk of the 20s being so prone to damage etc but they don't take into consideration the geography. 20s are fine here in Texas. I imagine they are fine in California too. Wisconsin, likely you have a point...

Not fine at all in California, unfortunately. About 1.5 years into Model S ownership this happened on a stock 21", which used the same sidewall height as Model 3's 20s.

Sure the road was bad, but nobody else got a cracked rim. And I never got a cracked rim ever in my life before or since those wheels.

 

[TexasTezla]

Not fine at all in California, unfortunately. About 1.5 years into Model S ownership this happened on a stock 21", which used the same sidewall height as Model 3's 20s.

Sure the road was bad, but nobody else got a cracked rim. And I never got a cracked rim ever in my life before or since those wheels.

Seems like you were going way too fast for a 'bad road' to me! I've driven my 3P all over Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado...not a scratch...but then I am very observant of potholes and drive according to conditions of the road...

 

[MarkThisDay]

Just looks like too much rubber and not enough wheel for me...2 years in and zero damage on my 20s!

No chance of that in the

 

[Not That M3]

Seems like you were going way too fast for a 'bad road' to me! I've driven my 3P all over Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado...not a scratch...but then I am very observant of potholes and drive according to conditions of the road...

Sometimes accidents just happen and there are unforeseen potholes or hazards that you didn't anticipate. This can happen anywhere, it just happens more in cold climates that have issues with potholes due to winter/winterizing. There are some giant potholes in Los Angeles as well as country roads here in Texas.

 

[jackmott]

I recently test drove a model 3 performance and enjoyed the ride but I still am unsure of certain items.
When driving the car on the screen their was grayed out images of cars around me in traffic, is that feature part of autopilot or FSD?
I definitely would consider the dual motor but not sure if I would want LR or Performance, how did you decide between these?

The power difference between the Performance and LR is only at low speeds, its a fun party trick but that is about it. The handling isn't really any different, the performance just comes with stickier tires, you can always change that later. The only thing that will be very important for some people is that the Performance comes with track mode. So if you want to do autorosses or track days or drift events, that is almost a must have.

The performance has better brakes as well but, they aren't really good enough for a track day still, and don't make any substantive difference in street driving. So mostly a for show thing, imho.

 

[jackmott]

Get whatever YOU prefer. They are pretty much the same car. P for performance and LR for longer range...whatever is more important to you...

You can get the same range from the performance if you put Michelin MXM4 tires on it.

 

[E.Potter]

if you plan on modding the car...I'd say go for the Long Range

 

[Apprunner]

The power difference between the Performance and LR is only at low speeds, its a fun party trick but that is about it. The handling isn't really any different, the performance just comes with stickier tires, you can always change that later. The only thing that will be very important for some people is that the Performance comes with track mode. So if you want to do autorosses or track days or drift events, that is almost a must have.

The performance has better brakes as well but, they aren't really good enough for a track day still, and don't make any substantive difference in street driving. So mostly a for show thing, imho.

I felt the Performance brakes also had better brake feel. The Performance also had a slightly stiffer suspension in 2020 and under models but I believe the new Performance cars have the exact same suspension as the LR. One super important difference is that you can only do drifts in the Performance model

 

[KieranTS925]

I went LR as range was a bigger appeal than the quickness. To each their own.

 

[E.Potter]

I went LR as range was a bigger appeal than the quickness. To each their own.

and you can always get the speed boost!!!