Hi all,
Thought I would post some thoughts on switching to a P3D- from a SP90DL.
Delivery: Ugh. Rushed. Dirty car (bird droppings on headlight was the highlight). New delivery advisor that was nice but not knowledgeable. Several small paint chips. Scratches and paint transfer on bumper. Water damage in lower trunk. Some kind of weird paint defect on front passenger door jamb. I took the car because the panel alignment including hood, trunk, rear taillights and charge port door was great, and the interior was close to perfect. Totally disappointing experience for the price of the car and Tesla has to do better if they want to succeed. I'm not doing a delivery like this again in 5 years if there is a competitive vehicle.
Drive: Surprisingly don't miss the power of the P90DL, so happy with that. S was certainly faster, but I would say the P3D does not give up much usable power in everyday driving. The 3 certainly feels easier to control under hard acceleration. Drove a friend's non-P AWD, and glad I got the performance, but don't blame anyone who doesn't who wants to save the cash. Handles well, nice parking and driving a smaller car in the city/ramps/etc.
My one complaint is that coming from an S, the model 3 rides rougher and louder - particularly more tire noise (I'm on 18's / primacy tires vs 19s and SAS in the S). I found the S very relaxing to drive, not so with the 3 really. It's certainly fine, but just not as nice. There are roads I drive everyday that if you had closed your eyes in the S it would be difficult to tell that you were even moving. In the 3, the ride is certainly smooth on these roads, but there are vibrations and bumps transferred through the steering/chassis that were not present on the S. Smoother ride and sound deadening would make the 3 amazing.
Front visibility is better. Rear visibility is .... different. Side view mirrors in the 3 are quite small. Overall I feel like "lane changing" visibility is about the same as the S. With the 3 being smaller and more nimble, gives it a slight edge in traffic - but not as much as I thought it would to be honest.
Interior: Much prefer the 3. White interior all the way. Seat is just better than the next gen's I had in my S. Center console vs the yacht floor is so much better. Finally have a place to put things. Prefer smaller steering wheel of the 3, but the S wheel felt more comfortable and of better materials. Front passenger space doesn't feel much different to me. I feel higher in the 3 - S felt more cocoon like. Don't miss the 2nd screen from the S - I think this is highly overrated in 3 vs S comparisons. I do wish the 3 screen was tilted towards the driver.
Exterior: See pics of stealth wrap below. 3 looks good/fine, I think the S looks better.
Post Delivery:
- Xpel stealth. I looked at 3million pictures/videos prior to doing this trying to get a feel for it. In the end I like it, and am glad I did it - but it's different. Since I had the same color on my S, the differences are pretty apparent to me. I was surprised that online no one had commented that the stealth wrap makes the car tend more towards gray/navy blue /black, and that the non-wrapped MSM looks much more blue. FYI for those considering it.
- Painted calipers. One thing I wished I could have had from the P3D+ package.
- 50% side tint (nothing on rear/front). legal limit here. Didn't want liability from darker tint.
- Ceramic pro coated.
- Center console wrapped with Kenriko matte white from amazon. This looks good. Texture is fine but not great. Might replace with something glossy with better tactile feel in the future. Feels like white printer paper TBH.
Thought I would post some thoughts on switching to a P3D- from a SP90DL.
Delivery: Ugh. Rushed. Dirty car (bird droppings on headlight was the highlight). New delivery advisor that was nice but not knowledgeable. Several small paint chips. Scratches and paint transfer on bumper. Water damage in lower trunk. Some kind of weird paint defect on front passenger door jamb. I took the car because the panel alignment including hood, trunk, rear taillights and charge port door was great, and the interior was close to perfect. Totally disappointing experience for the price of the car and Tesla has to do better if they want to succeed. I'm not doing a delivery like this again in 5 years if there is a competitive vehicle.
Drive: Surprisingly don't miss the power of the P90DL, so happy with that. S was certainly faster, but I would say the P3D does not give up much usable power in everyday driving. The 3 certainly feels easier to control under hard acceleration. Drove a friend's non-P AWD, and glad I got the performance, but don't blame anyone who doesn't who wants to save the cash. Handles well, nice parking and driving a smaller car in the city/ramps/etc.
My one complaint is that coming from an S, the model 3 rides rougher and louder - particularly more tire noise (I'm on 18's / primacy tires vs 19s and SAS in the S). I found the S very relaxing to drive, not so with the 3 really. It's certainly fine, but just not as nice. There are roads I drive everyday that if you had closed your eyes in the S it would be difficult to tell that you were even moving. In the 3, the ride is certainly smooth on these roads, but there are vibrations and bumps transferred through the steering/chassis that were not present on the S. Smoother ride and sound deadening would make the 3 amazing.
Front visibility is better. Rear visibility is .... different. Side view mirrors in the 3 are quite small. Overall I feel like "lane changing" visibility is about the same as the S. With the 3 being smaller and more nimble, gives it a slight edge in traffic - but not as much as I thought it would to be honest.
Interior: Much prefer the 3. White interior all the way. Seat is just better than the next gen's I had in my S. Center console vs the yacht floor is so much better. Finally have a place to put things. Prefer smaller steering wheel of the 3, but the S wheel felt more comfortable and of better materials. Front passenger space doesn't feel much different to me. I feel higher in the 3 - S felt more cocoon like. Don't miss the 2nd screen from the S - I think this is highly overrated in 3 vs S comparisons. I do wish the 3 screen was tilted towards the driver.
Exterior: See pics of stealth wrap below. 3 looks good/fine, I think the S looks better.
Post Delivery:
- Xpel stealth. I looked at 3million pictures/videos prior to doing this trying to get a feel for it. In the end I like it, and am glad I did it - but it's different. Since I had the same color on my S, the differences are pretty apparent to me. I was surprised that online no one had commented that the stealth wrap makes the car tend more towards gray/navy blue /black, and that the non-wrapped MSM looks much more blue. FYI for those considering it.
- Painted calipers. One thing I wished I could have had from the P3D+ package.
- 50% side tint (nothing on rear/front). legal limit here. Didn't want liability from darker tint.
- Ceramic pro coated.
- Center console wrapped with Kenriko matte white from amazon. This looks good. Texture is fine but not great. Might replace with something glossy with better tactile feel in the future. Feels like white printer paper TBH.
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