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Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

motortrend.com

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Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#181

Post by skoocda »

kumarvvr wrote: post #112
izacus wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * every 7,500mi: rotate tires What's that?

You change the position of the tires. The front ones are removed and fixed at the rear and the rear ones are removed and fixed at the front. Allows for uniform wear and tear for the tires. Some even interchange the left and right tires.

Left right interchange doesn't really happen anymore since radial tires have become standard on most vehicles.

Radial tires are unidirectional, so if you go left -> right your tires will be rotating backwards, and then they won't be able to channel water out from the treads.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#184

Post by drawnwren »

kllrnohj wrote: post #67
drawnwren wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what world is a sub 6s 0-60 sporty? The WRX gets 4.6, and I'd consider that the edge of sporty (also cheaper than the 3).

The WRX is 0-60 in 5.5s. You might be thinking of the STI which is 0-60 in 4.7s (STI starts at $37k, too). But 0-60 is not what defines sportiness, it's the total package including handling and driver engagement & feel. Case in point: The Miata is one of the all time great sports cars, and it does not accelerate quickly.

Car and Driver lists the WRX at 4.8 with a launch 5.0 w/o . http://www.caranddriver.com/subaru/wrx Interestingly, they list the STi at 4.7.

Also, the Miata is also widely considered a unique sports car. Sure, handling plays a role - but most people consider Camaros and Trans-Ams sports cars also. If the 3 is as nimble as the miata, it could earn a spot in the sporty list through its agility- but the original post referred to the 3's 0-60 as the reason to consider it sporty. Case in point, no one considers a CRX 'sporty.'

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#185

Post by jhayward »

acomjean wrote: post #119

Rear wheel drive? For those of us in snowy places....

Remember that the battery and lack of front-mounted motor give the Tesla a much different weight balance than cars you are used to. Add in extremely good traction/torque control and very quick response and you can have a well-driving RWD vehicle even in snow.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#186

Post by martin_bech »

falcolas wrote: post #135
martin_bech wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wipers are automatic, volume, stations and fan speed are on the steering wheel (aling with voice control at other setting. at least on my Model S)

I love automatic wipers. They turn on in the wierdest situations. Particularly when you've been on a road trip and your windshield is covered with a nice smattering of bug guts.

They are pretty good on the Tesla, and i believe have even gotten better, with over the air software updates :).

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#187

Post by ubiyubix »

samnwa wrote: post #103
Roritharr wrote: post #46

I really hope the German government does something to make it more desirable for employees to want the Model 3 or similar cars as company cars. Just to explain the involved costs: There's two ways the government taxes company cars for employees, either you get to write a driving log, that then marks each route as either private or business and then you get the privately driven part taxed as income OR you just get 1%…

Yes, but the Tesla looks cool so even business owners can see that.

Tesla 3 doesn't look any different from a run-of-the-mill Japanese or Korean car. It is certainly not cool.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#188

Post by falcolas »

fulafel wrote: post #173
falcolas wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Especially really torquie rear wheel drives, where the slightest bit too much pressure on the gas will send your rear end zooming around. I'm to the point where I only ever want to drive AWD vehicles in the winter. A safe and predictable commute is worth the slight markup.

Safety comes from all-wheel braking, not all-wheel acceleration. As long as you have traction/stability control, AWD is not really any safer unless you're on a winter rallye track (=want to accelerate into corners). See eg. this study: http://indexsmart.mirasmart.com/25esv/PDFfiles/25ESV-000260....

That paper acknowledges that AWD does provide more traction than 2WD, it just says that drivers can become overconfident as a result of that extra traction.

Their data also shows that for cars, across all types of cars, AWD cars are in fewer overall (though more severe; the focus of the paper) accidents than 2wd cars.

Given my own experience, even considering this paper, I still want an AWD.

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#189

Post by ranit »

prostoalex wrote: post #180
ranit wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what makes Model 3 appealing compared to ... Everything that the reviewer wrote.

The reviewer went out of his way to emphasize the test drive is for a fully-loaded version. > Franz’ car is a loaded version—a Premium (add $5,000), meaning better-grade materials, wood-veneered dash, 12-way front seats, 12-speaker sound, heated rear seats, side-by-side inductive phone chargers, and that panoramic glass ceiling > paired with this car’s $9,000 long-range battery > Tesla Model 3 is available with Enhan…

The review of the basic model might be very different ... or might be similar, I don't know. I was just trying to answer your (perhaps rhetorical) question:

> If autonomous driving is out of the question, what makes Model 3 appealing compared to a Chevy Bolt, Chevy Volt or a plug-in Prius?

The reviewer didn't mention anything about testing autonomous driving features. He raved about the car performance, from a driver perspective. Responsiveness, vibration on the steering wheel, how stable it is, etc. That is, he was looking for a features of a car that needs a driver, not what an autonomous car would provide. Therefore an answer to your question: "If autonomous driving is out of the question, what ..."

Perhaps I misunderstood your question?!?

Re: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review

#190

Post by falcolas »

mikeash wrote: post #137
falcolas wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Especially really torquie rear wheel drives, where the slightest bit too much pressure on the gas will send your rear end zooming around. I'm to the point where I only ever want to drive AWD vehicles in the winter. A safe and predictable commute is worth the slight markup.

The EV drivetrain lets Tesla have amazing traction control. As long as you don't hammer the accelerator in a turn, it's fine.

Have you tried it on ice? Or just dry/wet roads? AWD/FWD/RWD all behave very differently on ice/snow, regardless of traction control.
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