Top Gear Magazine: Model 3 Performance is faster around a track than the BMW M3!

[Zcd1]

Not really a surprise to most of us, I suppose, but it's nice to see it verified by an independent resource:

Tesla Model 3 Performance Crushes Fossil BMW M3 Around Race Track | CleanTechnica

Tesla Model 3 vs BMW M3: new issue of TG magazine out now!

BMW M3's acceleration is "glacial" by comparison - LOL!

 

[SR22pilot]

BMW is feeling the pressure. Reading Bimmerfest is interesting.

 

[MagnusMako]

Will be fun to see this up against the upcoming g80 bmw m3, which I'm thinking will probably edge out the P3D around the track.

 

[Zcd1]

Someone posted a scan of the article itself:

BMW 3-Series and 4-Series Forum (F30 / F32) | F30POST - View Single Post - Tesla Model 3 beats the M3?

 

[Lhshockey24]

BMW is feeling the pressure. Reading Bimmerfest is interesting.

I posted there a month or so ago that I had just returned from the M Performance School one-day class in Palm Springs. Even though we drove literally the best cars BMW can engineer, they still felt downright boring compared to a P3D. The almost "zero turbo-lag" of the new $120K M5 to me felt like waiting 5 seconds for the torque to kick in. The M2 was a blast to sling around the track, but it felt sluggish and about as quick as a long range Model 3. The M4 was the most disappointing of the bunch, slow, heavy, and boring. The ONLY thing I'll give the big M cars is those carbon ceramic brakes. REALLY fun to smash down on those going 90+ into a turn.

In summary - driving any of these BMWs felt like an obituary to the past of the auto industry. We, my friends, are driving the future.

 

[SR22pilot]

Thank you. In 10 years people will look back and wonder how blind people had to be in 2019 not to see the handwriting on the wall.

 

[SR22pilot]

In summary - driving any of these BMWs felt like an obituary to the past of the auto industry. We, my friends, are driving the future.

What a great way to sum it up. BMW's will be fun but they will be fun the way an old MG-B is fun.

 

[remlemasi]

...BMW M3's acceleration is "glacial" by comparison - LOL!

Except that’s not what was written, was it?

 

[SR22pilot]

Except that’s not what was written, was it?

Correct. They said the throttle response was glacial.

 

[Zcd1]

Except that’s not what was written, was it?

"throttle response....glacial"

Correct.

 

[remlemasi]

Correct. They said the throttle response was glacial.

"throttle response....glacial"

Correct.

Bingo. It’s crazy how often I surprise myself, let alone my poor passengers, when I snap the pedal down because racecar. And I only have a 3LR!

 

[WilliamG]

I posted there a month or so ago that I had just returned from the M Performance School one-day class in Palm Springs. Even though we drove literally the best cars BMW can engineer, they still felt downright boring compared to a P3D. The almost "zero turbo-lag" of the new $120K M5 to me felt like waiting 5 seconds for the torque to kick in. The M2 was a blast to sling around the track, but it felt sluggish and about as quick as a long range Model 3. The M4 was the most disappointing of the bunch, slow, heavy, and boring. The ONLY thing I'll give the big M cars is those carbon ceramic brakes. REALLY fun to smash down on those going 90+ into a turn.

In summary - driving any of these BMWs felt like an obituary to the past of the auto industry. We, my friends, are driving the future.

You can quote me for quoting this in years to come.

There have been a few times in my life where I’ve experienced something that had me say, wow - that’s the future right there. Among those moments, - the original iPhone, the Sony Reader (the Amazon Kindle before the actual Kindle), and now the Model 3 Performance Edition.

Everything else is boring compared to the Model 3 P, and I’ve driven a LOT of high performance cars in the past.

I’m not even saying Tesla survives. I’m saying once you go electric - EVERYTHING is a snooze by comparison. People talk about the sweet sound a supercar makes. I used to be that person. Not anymore. Now you can hear the tires more easily and be that much more involved in the limits of performance.

Anyway, this is the future. BMW needs to join the party.

 

[WilliamG]

Bingo. It’s crazy how often I surprise myself, let alone my poor passengers, when I snap the pedal down because racecar. And I only have a 3LR!

It’s polite to tell passengers to put their heads back on the headrest in electric cars with this much performance, before you gun it. I gave my 70-year-old neighbor whiplash (for real) when I test drove the P3D.

 

[stickman]

It’s polite to tell passengers to put their heads back on the headrest in electric cars with this much performance, before you gun it. I gave my 70-year-old neighbor whiplash (for real) when I test drove the P3D.

It’s true. My friend tweaked her neck because she was looking sideways when I punched it.

 

[BigMskiman]

It’s true. My friend tweaked her neck because she was looking sideways when I punched it.

Right, head straight & back to headrest, and start from a complete stop. The memory of the accel in that 1st 2 seconds lasts forever.
EV rocks!

 

[Zcd1]

People generally roll their eyes when I warn them, but then are left speechless afterwards!

 

[AltLogic]

I wonder how much a spoiler would have helped. The track times are a good example of what the average driver can get out of the car.

If Elon wants to get serious about lap times he needs to make a “competition package.” This package could include top of the line, wider street tires on wider wheels (whatever is setting the fastest “lightning” lap times) and competition brake pads. He could also require a waiver signed at delivery addressing the temp range of the tires and brakes, the rapid wear on aforementioned items and the reduced range.

 

[laalves911]

I have a 911 Turbo (996) and from a couple of weeks ago a Model 3 AWD LR. Love the Tesla, the most fantastic geekmobile ever (I am a self assumed geek 100%). Love to drive the M3 and its instantaneous response, silence, spaceship feeling and all the absurd geekiness of it. Also test drove a P3D. Enjoyed it thoroughly. It's a clinical driving machine.

BUT

Nothing touches the 911. The absurdity, explosiveness, thrashy behaviour around a corner, the nose lifting, the eagerness to just go, noise (God! the noise!), vibration, the responsivess of the steering, all of that is something else entirely.

Two different worlds, love them both for totally different reasons.

Also have a BMW r nineT roadster bike, another crazy petrol bugger. Would love to try a proper E-bike to compare, haven't got around to do that yet.

 

[AltLogic]

A huge advantage a 911 has over a model 3 is steering feel/feedback.

I always think of the following when someone tries to romanticize the negative aspects of combustion engines to justify their superiority: one can drive a screw into a piece of wood in many ways, a sledgehammer is a very satisfying method but a cordless driver is more effective.

 

[laalves911]

A huge advantage a 911 has over a model 3 is steering feel/feedback.

I always think of the following when someone tries to romanticize the negative aspects of combustion engines to justify their superiority: one can drive a screw into a piece of wood in many ways, a sledgehammer is a very satisfying method but a cordless driver is more effective.

That's why I have both!