Tuesday 23rd April

New Tesla Model 3 Performance gets 510hp

Highly anticipated go-faster variant was six years in the making, says Tesla - it shows

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The previous generation Model 3 Performance certainly made an impression on people. It reached more buyers at a much quicker rate than the slow-burn Model S (thanks to Tesla’s eventual mastery of mass production) and, for those who bought it as their first electric car, its 3.3-second-to-60mph performance was assuredly an eye-opener. But it wasn’t perfect. Tesla avoided over-complicating the model’s technical configuration while it got to grips with the thorny business of building many cars at once, so in many ways the first Performance merely did what it said on the tin.

Now, six years later, Tesla has finally put its shoulder into the job. Yes, the new dual-motor Model 3 Performance is quicker still: 0-60mph has shortened to 2.9 seconds thanks to the firm’s latest generation drive unit (dubbed Performance 4DU) on the rear axle, which contributes the lion’s share of 510hp and 547 lb ft of torque. Tesla says it delivers 22 per cent more continuous power and 32 per cent more peak power, and ‘drivers will sense more immediate and sustained acceleration out of corners’ - hardly something its predecessor lacked, but the result ought to be more rear-biased now. 

At any rate, that's not the Model 3’s special sauce. Instead that has been ladled onto the chassis, which, as well as sharing the general improvements made to the latest version, also gets ultra-high strength steel springs, stiffer suspension top mounts, a ‘multi-sectioned’ anti-roll, and, for the first time, adaptive dampers with hollow piston rods. All are indicative of a higher level of intent, but it is the latter that Tesla calls attention to because it means the chassis response is now overseen by Tesla’s in-house software in real-time (or at the flick of an on-screen switch). 

This obviously extends to its Standard and Sport settings, although it has also allowed the engineers to implement ‘a top-to-bottom re-calibration of handling balance, stability assist, region braking and ABS tuning’ in Track Mode V3, which now integrates motor controls, the adaptive suspension, powertrain cooling and the Vehicle Dynamics Controller under a unified system. Or, to put it another way, Tesla has joined everything up with the always-welcome intention of sending you around corners quicker - and hopefully happier, too. 

To this end, it has also fitted forged and staggered 20-inch wheels with Tesla-specific Pirelli P Zero 4 tyres, targeting better traction from the larger wheel size at the back while also improving roll stiffness. All while delivering a lower rolling resistance, which remains as important as ever - especially as the manufacturer claims to have found a 2 per cent reduction in energy consumption versus the previous Performance model. The UK customer site suggests you’ll get a 328-mile range, assuming you drive it the WLTP way. 

It also says you can expect to pay £59,990 - a £10,000 premium versus the dual-motor Long Range derivative. For that money, alongside the tangible performance upgrades, you also get new sports seats on the inside and a mildly tweaked exterior design that includes a different spoiler, front splitter and rear diffuser. It speaks to Tesla’s more meticulous approach this time round that even these subtle changes are said to earned the car a 5 per cent reduction in drag, a 36 per cent reduction in lift and a whopping 55 per cent improvement in front-to-rear lift balance. Assuming that hot pursuit of noticeable gains is reflected across the board, Tesla may have finally delivered a Model 3 Performance worthy of the name in more ways than one. 

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• Tesla Model S | PH Used Buying Guide
• Tesla Model 3 | PH Used Buying Guide

[David87]

Been waiting on this car for ages… had an OG 2019 Model 3 Performance and it was a spectacular everyday car - I had wanted to upgrade to a Model S Plaid (until they made it LHD only and killed my order!), so been patiently counting down the days until this arrived. Now that it has though, two things:

1. See the images below from Tesla’s US and UK websites. Seems cars out of the Shanghai factory have 50hp less than the California ones. Or do they as the 0-60mph times are identical?! The batteries are certainly different and that could impact performance or it might not. YouTube, do your thing.

2. My OCD is struggling with the naming convention here. Top Model S is called Plaid and features Plaid badging. This has Ludicrous badging (one rung below Plaid) but is called Performance?! Either change the badging or change the name. The latter makes more sense to me and aligns it with the S and X.

That said, it still looks like a mega package though - if the depreciation isn’t horrific (it will be) it even looks like pretty good value.

[David87]

Doesn't say much for how interesting this new car is when one of the biggest subjects of the thread is my usage of the term "OG".

[David87]

drdino said:

Yeap, I've seen similar references to the differences between US-built and China-built cars:
510hp & 741Nm vs 460hp & 723Nm
82kWh Panasonic battery vs 79kWh LG
2.9s vs 3.1s for the 0-60, although I am not sure if this is because of the rollout difference when they measure the accelaration in the US.

3.1 is the 0-100 km/h time; the UK car is advertised at 0-60 mph in 2.9 (same as the US). Both times are with the 1ft rollout subtracted.

[David87]

Durzel said:

I can only surmise that people feel threatened by them

That's how I felt. I remember driving into a motorway services years ago and seeing my first row of Superchargers and, as a lifelong car enthusiast, I felt genuinely put out.

Then I drove one.

Now have one of these Model 3s ordered... it'll be my third Tesla.