Tesla Model 3 Performance "Highland"

Joined
Nov 7, 2010
Messages
7,089
Location
Wisconsin
I'm so freaking close to pulling the trigger. I know I talked crap about the brakes and the battery heat issues flogging it, but lets face it I haven't made it to a track in years. It's far from how the car will be used other than the random blast for giggles. It's really how I use the GTI, some backroad blasts.

I did the math with the tax credit and this is the same money as a new VW Golf R and where else am I going to get this much power for the money? My wife is all for it too. Full green lights everywhere. I can't figure out why I'm hesitating.

@JeffKeryk any words of encouragement? 🤣
 
do you already have a 50amp in the garage?
I have 240V/30amp in the garage. It's set at 24amp with my current setup. I already have one Tesla. It's good for 6-8 hours to full. That part I'm not too concerned with at least. I wouldn't do this on 120V and I wouldn't recommend it with two EVs either. The current Model 3 we have only charges once a week with its use. I'd charge 2-3 times a week with this car with my driving demands.
 
@Torrid My car cost over $71K out the door; it has FSD. I don't know your financial situation, but that's a chunk of change. Please check yourself...

If it is in the budget, perhaps drive one. Personally I just ordered mine because prices went up $2K shortly after release, so I jumped. There is no need to repeat my earlier posts, but I will tell you I am more satisfied with our car than any car I have ever owned. It's that good.

The range upgrade vs our 2018 RWD Mid Range hits the sweet spot; beyond that the car is better in every way. 95% new parts; the 3 has grown up. One thing: larger drivers may struggle with the bolstered seats...

The Insane Mode acceleration... No one needs this. We are talking Supercar levels. Have you ever been in a true 10 second car?
Don't bother with YT videos, the only way you will understand the pull is experiencing it.

The suspension is so compliant; not rough like the earlier cars and you get adjustable dampers. It's really good.
There is simply nothing else like it for $55 large. Here's what all the other so-called performance cars will see:
1722828176745.webp
 
The plan is to not do FSD, I’ve just not been a fan of the system when I’ve tried it. I qualify for the tax credit so I’m only looking at $48k. It started looking at the Long Range when I realized the current pricing on the Performance. This is the price I was looking at for a new Golf R next year when the new model was to release. My wife brought it up when she mentioned the Long Range RWD being less than we paid for her car. Honestly the M3P comes out to $1k more than we were out the door for her car. That’s a crazy statistic looking back now. It’s a lot of car at that price.

For the same money as the car I was waiting for I can’t see a reason not to do it. I’ve driven some insane cars over the years, but EV power delivery is another thing altogether. It decimates anything I’ve ever owned and completely eclipses where the Golf R sits and the plan was to spend more tuning it as I have with the GTI and it still wouldn’t reach that level. I also don’t have to deal with the service costs of the twin clutch transmissions or fancy LSDs I do now with the GTI or with a Golf R.

The M3P becomes a bit of a performance bargain at the base level which gets the credit for qualified buyers. The sensible part of me says to just buy the long range RWD, but I basically have that driving experience in the garage as it stands now with the standard RWD. I’d probably keep the GTI if I did that. The Performance makes that a bit redundant so the proceeds of selling the GTI would go towards the M3P.

The financial, sensible stuff has been worked out. It’s just now actually making a decision. It’s still fresh right now so this is a lot of thinking out loud if it’s what I actually want. It just ticks the boxes the RS3 does for me for $30k less, which is convenient because I ruled it out due to cost.
 
@Torrid My car cost over $71K out the door; it has FSD. I don't know your financial situation, but that's a chunk of change. Please check yourself...

If it is in the budget, perhaps drive one. Personally I just ordered mine because prices went up $2K shortly after release, so I jumped. There is no need to repeat my earlier posts, but I will tell you I am more satisfied with our car than any car I have ever owned. It's that good.

The range upgrade vs our 2018 RWD Mid Range hits the sweet spot; beyond that the car is better in every way. 95% new parts; the 3 has grown up. One thing: larger drivers may struggle with the bolstered seats...

The Insane Mode acceleration... No one needs this. We are talking Supercar levels. Have you ever been in a true 10 second car?
Don't bother with YT videos, the only way you will understand the pull is experiencing it.

The suspension is so compliant; not rough like the earlier cars and you get adjustable dampers. It's really good.
There is simply nothing else like it for $55 large. Here's what all the other so-called performance cars will see:
View attachment 233876
The HI5N once it gets discounted a bit will smash the m3p in everything but 0-60 romps, which will be determined by driver reaction times.
 
I'm so freaking close to pulling the trigger. I know I talked crap about the brakes and the battery heat issues flogging it, but lets face it I haven't made it to a track in years. It's far from how the car will be used other than the random blast for giggles. It's really how I use the GTI, some backroad blasts.

I did the math with the tax credit and this is the same money as a new VW Golf R and where else am I going to get this much power for the money? My wife is all for it too. Full green lights everywhere. I can't figure out why I'm hesitating.

@JeffKeryk any words of encouragement? 🤣
HI5N in a few months should be moving for mid to upper 50s. Much better performance car and better quality.
 
HI5N in a few months should be moving for mid to upper 50s. Much better performance car and better quality.
I just don’t like that it’s a crossover. I’ve tried to get past it and it just hasn’t happened. It’s also $10k more if that’s where it’s sitting now.
 
I'm so freaking close to pulling the trigger. I know I talked crap about the brakes and the battery heat issues flogging it, but lets face it I haven't made it to a track in years. It's far from how the car will be used other than the random blast for giggles. It's really how I use the GTI, some backroad blasts.

I did the math with the tax credit and this is the same money as a new VW Golf R and where else am I going to get this much power for the money? My wife is all for it too. Full green lights everywhere. I can't figure out why I'm hesitating.

@JeffKeryk any words of encouragement? 🤣

Buy it, you only live once. 😉
 
@JeffKeryk how long did you wait from order to delivery? It’s estimating by the end of the month to early September currently. I didn’t know if you got pushed back at all. I have not made it official yet.
 
@JeffKeryk how long did you wait from order to delivery? It’s estimating by the end of the month to early September currently. I didn’t know if you got pushed back at all. I have not made it official yet.
A little Tesla background... The Model Y is built for North America in Austin and Fremont. The Model 3 is only made in Fremont, as well as the S and X.
So the 3 is built in big batches for delivery to a given area. If they are not building for your area, you have to wait but if they are building for your area the wait is short.

I ordered the car a few weeks after the release, and was pushed back a few months. The end of Q2 was approaching and Tesla wanted to make their numbers; I got and email saying I could get my car in a week; it was the last Saturday of June. I have to believe other parts of the country got pushed. Remember, Tesla reports deliveries to actual buyers, not dealerships.

So the estimated delivery day may change. Remember, Elon's wack and is on Elon time.
My advice to you is, come to CA and take my car for a spin. Or just go to Tesla.com and go click-click-click.

I am not sure how far you are from a store, but they may have better insight into delivery times. Things change. Sometimes buyers back out at the last minute and a car is available. Ya never know.
 
A little Tesla background... The Model Y is built for North America in Austin and Fremont. The Model 3 is only made in Fremont, as well as the S and X.
So the 3 is built in big batches for delivery to a given area. If they are not building for your area, you have to wait but if they are building for your area the wait is short.

I ordered the car a few weeks after the release, and was pushed back a few months. The end of Q2 was approaching and Tesla wanted to make their numbers; I got and email saying I could get my car in a week; it was the last Saturday of June. I have to believe other parts of the country got pushed. Remember, Tesla reports deliveries to actual buyers, not dealerships.

So the estimated delivery day may change. Remember, Elon's wack and is on Elon time.
My advice to you is, come to CA and take my car for a spin. Or just go to Tesla.com and go click-click-click.

I am not sure how far you are from a store, but they may have better insight into delivery times. Things change. Sometimes buyers back out at the last minute and a car is available. Ya never know.
The wait isn’t a huge deal, just curious what your experience was. I have to drive to Illinois to pick it up anyway. The biggest issue buying a Tesla for me is the pickup location is over 2 hours from home, but I still have a service center 30 minutes away.

I’m debating a lesser model for a few reasons. It’s going to be fun finding snow or all season tires with a staggered setup on this car. I know the Long Range is a better fit as a year round daily. I really wish they offered the Performance stuff with a more street/weather friendly tire. It would give up a bit of 0-60, but I think that’s a reasonable trade off.

Heck the 19” Novas would be great on the Performance.
 
The wait isn’t a huge deal, just curious what your experience was. I have to drive to Illinois to pick it up anyway. The biggest issue buying a Tesla for me is the pickup location is over 2 hours from home, but I still have a service center 30 minutes away.

I’m debating a lesser model for a few reasons. It’s going to be fun finding snow or all season tires with a staggered setup on this car. I know the Long Range is a better fit as a year round daily. I really wish they offered the Performance stuff with a more street/weather friendly tire. It would give up a bit of 0-60, but I think that’s a reasonable trade off.

Heck the 19” Novas would be great on the Performance.
Buy a set of winter wheels and tires. I will replace the P-Zero tires with something like the Michelin Pilot All Season tires.

Long Range AWD vs Performance? Dunno about you, but if I settled for the LR, I would always regret not getting the M3P.
I knew exactly what I wanted this time; there was no question.
 
Buy a set of winter wheels and tires. I will replace the P-Zero tires with something like the Michelin Pilot All Season tires.

Long Range AWD vs Performance? Dunno about you, but if I settled for the LR, I would always regret not getting the M3P.
I knew exactly what I wanted this time; there was no question.
That’s exactly my feeling. I said the same to my wife last night. My concern is that if I go only with my head on this one I buy the LR, but I know it’s not the one I truly want.

I would keep the GTI over buying the LR. The fact that I have no qualms over parting with the GTI for the Performance tells me what I needed to know. Sometimes it helps just to put it in writing.
 
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