-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Wall Street Journal Model 3 AWD Performance Review-Buckle Up
- Thread starter Hasbro1
- Start date
3inthree
Member
"I’m no financial analyst, but I do know cars. If you were hoping Tesla would fail on account of the Model 3 I’ve got bad news: This thing is magnificent, a little rainbow-farting space ship, so obviously representative of the next step in the history of autos. I know there are a lot of Tesla bears, haters and cynics out there. Tesla boss Elon Musk makes it easy. But in the spirit of charity I think we can all agree many brilliant people are putzes."
Love it!
Love it!
Other highlights:
"In the Performance version, two motors north and south equal 335 kW (450 hp) and digitally mastered all-wheel drive, with corner-exiting acceleration that will leave average BMW M4s with a soft auf Wiedersehen."
"The Model 3 is more than futuristic. It’s optimistic. This is what ordinary cars should be, which is to say, better than they are."
"But the car is a star. Doubters will have to bring it. Show me another car with an all-glass roof and five-star rollover crash rating. Point out another $80,000 sedan that out-clouds a Rolls-Royce, out-punches a Porsche Boxster and gets an electric equivalent of 116 mpg. You can’t, unless you’re building something in your garage we don’t know about."
"Build quality: Beta-phase Model 3s had pretty awful panel-gap tolerances—even the show car at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show....
But the cars I’ve driven are very straight, with uniform panel gaps. The wind noise around the windows that some early testers had noted was nowhere to be heard. Looks like the robots got the memo."
"In the Performance version, two motors north and south equal 335 kW (450 hp) and digitally mastered all-wheel drive, with corner-exiting acceleration that will leave average BMW M4s with a soft auf Wiedersehen."
"The Model 3 is more than futuristic. It’s optimistic. This is what ordinary cars should be, which is to say, better than they are."
"But the car is a star. Doubters will have to bring it. Show me another car with an all-glass roof and five-star rollover crash rating. Point out another $80,000 sedan that out-clouds a Rolls-Royce, out-punches a Porsche Boxster and gets an electric equivalent of 116 mpg. You can’t, unless you’re building something in your garage we don’t know about."
"Build quality: Beta-phase Model 3s had pretty awful panel-gap tolerances—even the show car at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show....
But the cars I’ve driven are very straight, with uniform panel gaps. The wind noise around the windows that some early testers had noted was nowhere to be heard. Looks like the robots got the memo."
ℬête Noire
Active Member
We've been hearing rumblings around here by the race track crowd that the square 20" option was unlikely to cut it on the track against the M3 because of a lack of width (thus contact area). I think this is an unsurprising comment, seems fair for what the Performance is aimed at and capable of.
Last edited:
I swear this just sounds like a general description of the standard model 3 suspension bits... Am I wrong, or is the performance 3 actually getting an upgraded suspension? And yes, many of us had a feeling that the square 235 tire setup would be weak.
AlexanderAF
Member
I'll play a bear.
We had plenty of good reviews. They will not change the situation drastically. We need:
1. Sustained 5K. Currently not happening per
Found a LOT of Model 3's in a Tesla lot - Pictures inside
We Set Out to Crack Tesla's Biggest Mystery: How Many Model 3s It's Making
Tesla Pushes Up Delivery Schedule For New Model 3 Orders
2. Manifestation of new strong demand from outside the reservation line. This is TBD.
Bears point is that w/o the tax credit nobody will be able to afford the car. Plus there's no demand outside fanboys.
It will be very interesting to see order dynamics in Q4, once there's less tax credit expectation and there's been more marketing exposure from test drives and Q3 deliveries. Q3 I feel may still be a question mark as far as future dynamics.
Ive never heard the RWD shocks referred to as "twin tube" (but then again, I never heard the RWD shocks talked about at all). Also, the aluminum upper A arm would be different since I think last I saw, the RWD upper A arm was not aluminum (more like plastic?)
ℬête Noire
Active Member
It's some sort of polymer over a steel core, I believe. Which, yes, is weird.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
Yes, mix in some recycled factory process FUD and more "they'll run out of money", and that's likely to be the new set of talking points because they have an air of plausibility to them.
Goal post move, sorted.
JeffK
Well-Known Member
Similar threads
- Marketplace listing
- Marketplace listing
