Top Speed of M3 Perfomance vs Performance plus

[Peteski]

I can drive on Snow, or Ice, on Summer tyres ... we all used to do that 30 years ago ...

Maybe 30 years ago when "low profile" meant 60 series tyres! I think from memory my Golf GTi Mk2 was on 185/60 r14, which could manage "adequately" on snowy hill roads. My previous XR3i had similar rubber too and coped pretty well in the snow without winter tyres - which were pretty much unheard of in those days in the uk.

But I've had plenty of cars more recently that couldn't even get off my driveway on performance summer tyres. Last failure was my wife's 2WD Qashqai on 225/45 r19 Bridgestone summer tyres. It was going nowhere in the snow on those tyres. But later on a set of Vredstein winter rubber it happily drove through some serious snow we had a couple of years ago. Even effortlessly passed a stranded Range Rover on blingy wheels with summer tyres that was stuck on the steep driveway of a local hotel. I had a similar experience with our previous Volvo V50 on 17" low profile summer tyres i.e. virtually no grip at all in snowy/icy conditions, but night and day better on winter tyres. Our 4WD Porsche 911 was also pretty awesome on Nokian winter tyres, while seriously compromised on summer tyres in the same conditions.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Maybe 30 years ago when "low profile" meant 60 series tyres!

back then "low profile" meant low profile ... now it seems to mean "no profile" !

 

[goRt]

If you are not happy with the ultimate grip level of the stock 18" tyres, just fit a set of performance tyres in the same size. For example the Michelin PS4 that comes with the 20" wheels is also available in the 18" size.

The tyres that Tesla fits are the MPS4S, these are not available in 18". The MPS4 is a much inferior product and is as you say available in 18".

I've had a lotus where the standard tyres are 45 profile and you can feel that soaking up the surface like nothing else.
It's my intention to get lighter aftermarket 19" rims should the p3d ever materialise. Again shod with MPS4S.

 

[Peteski]

The tyres that Tesla fits are the MPS4S, these are not available in 18". The MPS4 is a much inferior product and is as you say available in 18".

I would disagree with the PS4 being "a much inferior product". It's just a slightly different compromise optimised more for road use. Here's a great review of the PS4 vs PS4S vs Cup 2 back-to-back on track. Go to 11:00 for the summary. Basically the PS4 is the best overall tyre for road use (based on wet performance, ease of handling, noise and comfort), the Cup 2 obviously best for dry track use (slowest in the wet), with the PS4S somewhere in-between - but much closer to the PS4. If you are seriously into track days then you would want the Cup 2 anyway, probably best on 19" on the Model 3.

So I'm still definitely going with the 18s on my 3P for road use (no track days) as I think it's a much better compromise for our bumpy backroads. Best ride, lowest noise, better rim protection, most efficient, safest in the wet, more choice of winter tyres and cheaper. I would switch to MPS4 when the original tyres were worn for a more sporty feel. If I was planning on doing serious track days I would take the performance package (reasonable value at £3700) and put a set of Cup 2s on, but mainly for the brakes and lower suspension. The PS4S is not really a serious track day tyre, although adequate for casual use or on a wet track. But for road use I think the performance package is too much of a compromise unless you particularly like a harsh ride and plenty of road noise!

 

[Roy W.]

I'm not sure if they will or not! So far insurance still only seems to be from a few companies (and LV can't quote online despite all their 'specialist EV insurance' chat!).

I’m currently with LV, so I headed to the LV stand at Fully Charged Live to give them a grilling about the lack of M3 on their systems. They explained that before they can list the car they need a complete list of parts prices in order to calculate the risk. Most manufacturers supply this list well in advance of the car’s availability. Surprise, surprise, Tesla are very slow at providing this info! He said that Directline have a “special relationship” with Tesla, hence they supposedly have that data.

He also thought that P- and P+ would all be lumped together as P, so attract the same premiums, mentioning that the lower spec on the P- is more than offset by the lower performance tyres and brakes.

 

[rontheman]

First post here so Hi to everyone.

Collected my P- this week and it has PS4 tyres on 18” aero wheels. Have googled reviews of this tyre and although it is classified as a summer tyre it actually came 1st in a comparative test in the all weather tyre category.
2018 AZ Summer AND All Season Tyre Test - Tyre Reviews
I still have to check the 0-60 time but although the car has the underline below “Dual Motor” on the boot lid, the car shows as Long Range without the underline on the screen. I was told this was because only the P+ have the screen underline.

Do other P- owners have the same?

 

[Daverh]

stranded Range Rover on blingy wheels with summer tyres

I never appreciated the difference until I used my Koleos (original one that used Nissan's X-Trail 4wd) to pull a stranded car up a steep hill in the snow. I had struggled to get up the same hill in similar conditions the previous year on summer tyres even with 4wd

 

[WilliamG]

First post here so Hi to everyone.

Collected my P- this week and it has PS4 tyres on 18” aero wheels. Have googled reviews of this tyre and although it is classified as a summer tyre it actually came 1st in a comparative test in the all weather tyre category.
2018 AZ Summer AND All Season Tyre Test - Tyre Reviews
I still have to check the 0-60 time but although the car has the underline below “Dual Motor” on the boot lid, the car shows as Long Range without the underline on the screen. I was told this was because only the P+ have the screen underline.

Do other P- owners have the same?

Do you have Track Mode option?

 

[VanillaAir_UK]

I still have to check the 0-60 time but although the car has the underline below “Dual Motor” on the boot lid, the car shows as Long Range without the underline on the screen. I was told this was because only the P+ have the screen underline.

I would have thought that you didn't need to check the 0-60 time. Simply putting your foot on accelerator for a brief period and how your body feels would be enough?

What colour is the underline on the badge on the boot?

Some inventory cars delivered to US customers that were subsequently converted from LR AWD to P- via overnight software update. M3P- lots of info in that thread including what clues to look for.

Worth taking a photo of the rear motor to help the thread Model 3 Motors on the Tesla Parts Catalog

 

[Ryder35]

Do you have Track Mode option?

Interesting question, I htought track mode was part of the performance upgrade pack but my P- has that option in the menus.

 

[VanillaAir_UK]

Interesting question, I htought track mode was part of the performance upgrade pack but my P- has that option in the menus.

I think its always been up in the air and changes over time. The UK configurator shows a number of inaccuracies - the fun of having a car that is configurable in software. Certainly US spec P- cars have been shipping with it recently.

 

[rontheman]

Do you have Track Mode option?

No track mode option. My understanding and the Tesla website states this is only part of the performance upgrade pack.

 

[rontheman]

I would have thought that you didn't need to check the 0-60 time. Simply putting your foot on accelerator for a brief period and how your body feels would be enough?

What colour is the underline on the badge on the boot?

Some inventory cars delivered to US customers that were subsequently converted from LR AWD to P- via overnight software update. M3P- lots of info in that thread including what clues to look for.

Worth taking a photo of the rear motor to help the thread Model 3 Motors on the Tesla Parts Catalog

The underline is red.

The whole issue seems to be more convolutwd than it appears as there seem to be different interpretations of the P- spec, eg with or without track mode, top speed 145 or 162 etc. For my part the only appeal was the quicker acceleration. I did a test run using the FastR iPhone app, and this recorded a 0-60 time of 4.0 secs. I'm assuming a normal dual motor LR couldn't achieve this.

 

[Fraank]

The underline is red.

The whole issue seems to be more convolutwd than it appears as there seem to be different interpretations of the P- spec, eg with or without track mode, top speed 145 or 162 etc. For my part the only appeal was the quicker acceleration. I did a test run using the FastR iPhone app, and this recorded a 0-60 time of 4.0 secs. I'm assuming a normal dual motor LR couldn't achieve this.

3.2 for Performance and 4.4 for the LR. Allowing for some potential inaccuracy with the iphone app it sounds like you may not have the correct software loaded, especially with the screen not showing the line also?

 

[Ryder35]

3.2 for Performance and 4.4 for the LR. Allowing for some potential inaccuracy with the iphone app it sounds like you may not have the correct software loaded, especially with the screen not showing the line also?

having said that I am sure I have read that Tesla used a rolling start for the 0-60 time on the performance models?

 

[VanillaAir_UK]

Yes, apparently they used rollout for performance timings and not for other models. Rollout, so car is already rolling when clock is started, is worth about 0.1sec.

If underline is red on both main screen display and rear Dual Motor, then its a performance. If its not on screen, then its probably still LR AWD mode and needs a software tweak. There are other ways of telling like chill/standard or chill/sport settings - latter being performance.

 

[WilliamG]

No track mode option. My understanding and the Tesla website states this is only part of the performance upgrade pack.

Track Mode is in all 3P models, regardless of pack.