Tofu Shop Model 3 →

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Carelessly chuck the Model 3 Performance into a corner, pick out a fixed point in the distance, and let Tesla's computers figure out how best to get you to that point. In Track mode, you've got an additional option, a SpaceX-age take on using lift-throttle oversteer to initiate a drift. Give it a try and you'll find yourself yelling "I am Tsuchiya!" as you bomb Portola Valley Road on your way home from work at Google. We suspect that more than a few of these cars will be rolling around Silicon Valley wearing Fujiwara Tofu Shop decals on their doors before the year is out.

Track Mode for me! I want me a Performance Model 3 or bust!

Tesla’s Model 3 Rattles European Fast Car Hierarchy →

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Let me explain something you're not going to believe, but trust me on this. After having driven and tested perhaps 7,000 vehicles, sometimes I don't need to drive very far to get the idea.

Remember that freeway onramp we "missed" before Nelson took the wheel? It's a sweet 700-foot short-chute that whips into a right-hander I know very well, and I wasn't going to simply wait for the next freeway entry. "Hang on," I'd told everybody, whipping a U-turn and stamping the accelerator. Even with four aboard, the Model 3 DMP surged ahead so startlingly that it stopped conversation. Except maybe for an uttered "Oh my god." I braked pretty hard and arched up the on-ramp toward the freeway. It was a flourish more akin to swiping a navigation route on your phone than driving a car on the actual road. Carol might have been upside down by the time I backed off.

In maybe 120 wheel revolutions, a high-performance hierarchy has been rattled. The European marques perennially atop the sport sedan podium are about to have trapdoors release beneath them. Although nothing has fundamentally changed with the car's steering or suspension (besides an imperceptible but CG-lowering 5-10mm drop in ride height), the dual motor and all-wheel drive give the compact Tesla a tensed, hair-trigger potency for leaping ahead or around whatever's in the way. It's pure jungle cat. Our testing to come will explore whether its lighter Brembo brakes stop better and how much the now in-house vehicle control software lets Tesla directly tune the car's handling poise (without a supplier interpreting it). A track mode, which is still in development, dials up regenerative braking to lessen heat load on the friction brakes.

Yea... only P for me; that is after I put all three kids through private school and college. But seriously, Elon has put the gas motor heads to sleep with this 0-60 in 3.5 beast! I’m betting he gets it easily in under 2.9 if he really wanted to.

Consumer Reports on Cars They Haven’t Even Driven →

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Consumer Reports released reliability scores on Thursday for a number of new cars, many of which they haven’t seen yet, like the new Kia Stinger. The organization gave the Stinger an “average” score, basing this in part on drivers’ experiences with current Kia models. CR gave the same score to the Tesla Model 3, which they have also not driven, prompting a lengthy, angry statement from the automaker, who has contended for some time now that CR has singled them out for bad coverage. CR has emphatically denied the charge.

Fake reviews and scores shouldn’t even be allowed. It’s ridiculous reporting and scoring. Consumer Reports really hurts their credibility with acts such as this. It’s like saying, based on the past models, the new iPhone 11 is great!