Why Model 3 is the better car than Model S

[Saghost]

7. Model S has no smartphone entry system.
With Model S, you must always take a key fob with you. I don't like that. Leaving my home with just my smart phone (or NFC watch) with me is more appealing, as I can enter my home withouth key already. The Model 3 entry system looks more attractive to me.

As I understand it, the Phone only approach is based on Bluetooth. The S and X have Bluetooth in all the cars, right back to 2012. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Tesla rolls that functionality out to the rest of us in an OTA update at some point this fall - as far as I know there's no hardware reason we shouldn't be able to get it. (The RFID card as a backup is obviously a different situation, and I'm not planning to ditch my keys anytime soon.)

 

[CalBlue 85D]

Warning, don't feed the trolls.

 

[Timo]

If I could afford an S, I wouldn't be pestering you fine folk here in the Model 3 forum. Holy mother of acceleration and 21" wheels, why must you forsake me?

 

[tescroft]

As I understand it, the Phone only approach is based on Bluetooth. The S and X have Bluetooth in all the cars, right back to 2012. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Tesla rolls that functionality out to the rest of us in an OTA update at some point this fall - as far as I know there's no hardware reason we shouldn't be able to get it. (The RFID card as a backup is obviously a different situation, and I'm not planning to ditch my keys anytime soon.)

That would be nice - though I highly doubt it. Tesla would have enabled this feature for a long time if it would be possible in a usable manner. Model 3 likely has better antennas / signal range optimized for this use case.

 

[Shock-On-T]

There's no indication that is what the camera is for. If that were truly its usage, you would think it would be directly in front of the driver, not on the rear view mirror



Have you driven both the S and the 3? And 1 second quicker 0-60 isn't anything to ignore. A new base Model S does 0-60 in 4.3. Base Model 3 does it 0-60 in 5.6.

To see which handles better, you'll have to have actually driven both.



Again...need to see this side by side.



Disagree. My favorite version of any Tesla is the refresh'd Model S. The 3 is growing on me, but I wish they would have integrated the "grill" into the front.



This is like any car. For some people, a bigger car makes more sense, for some people, they should get a smaller car.



Again....very subjective. It's a neat feature on the 3...lets see how it is in practice. I think people might be mildly annoyed when they just want to move the vent a bit and have to go 2 menus deep to change it.



You can use a smart phone to unlock and start a model S. I've seen people lock their fob in their car and do just that.


On a straight spreadsheet, the Model S is a better car

Bigger engines, better available range, more space, higher end features. Off the top of my head, the Model 3 doesn't have

-Self Presenting Doors/Handles
-Bigger, brighter primary display
-2nd display for AP/Speed/Charge
-Heated Steering Wheel
-Sub 3s Performance Mode (we'll have to see what the Performance 3 looks like...my guess is that its a sub 4 second)


Now, will there people that PREFER the Model 3's simple inside and smaller footprint? Absolutely. But...does that make it a better car? No..thats a preference.

OP is from Europe. If you've lived there you'll know that a Model S sized car is annoyingly large, and there are many many neighbourhoods and parking areas simply inaccessible for a car that size. For Europeans, the size of the 3 is superior. Driving a Model S-sized car in Europe is exactly like driving a 4.5T removalists truck in a country like the US, or my own dear Australia.
The test drivers from the event mentioned that the hood is lower and you see more of the road than their Model S.
it's reasonable to assume the 3 handles better than the S, due to its lower weight and similarly low C of G.