NEW 2025 Tesla Model 3 PERFORMANCE Review: Supercar Slayer | 4K

a few months ago we hit the streets to

bring you a review of the updated Tesla

Model 3 which brought with it improved

looks efficiency and luxury but Tesla in

their Infinite Wisdom forgot one thing

the fun Factor luckily they've been

working overtime and they've now brought

us this the new Tesla Model 3

Performance as you'd expect from the

name it's a model 3 with a lot more

power 5 110 horses to be precise an

increase from the previous versions 450

Tesla wanted to create something that

wasn't only usable dayto day but also

that you'd want to jump into and drive

simply for fun not just in terms of

straight line acceleration but also in

terms of dynamic

ability this isn't just a one trick pony

but being a Tesla it does have that one

very very impressive trick which is now

arguably more impressive than ever

apparent L the new model 3 Performance

will do na to 60 in 2.9 seconds 2/10

quicker than the previous generation car

so let's see what that feels like shall

we

yep ah painful painful painful is what

it feels

like it managed the Sprint in 2.9 and

that compares very favorably with its

rivals a BMW M3 takes 3.9 seconds with

the manual box and 3.4 with the

automatic in fact the new model 3

Performance will see off even supercars

like the McLaren artura to 60

MPH and the cool thing is you don't have

to do any launch control or cheatah

stunts to get the thing to fly down the

road all you got to do is come to a stop

mash the

throttle and there you

go it's ridiculously quick every single

time how's it making all that power well

it uses the same front motor as the

standard model 3 but the extra grunt

comes courtesy of Tesla's fourth

generation Drive Unit which offers more

power and torque thanks to Precision

grinding on the gears hair pin windings

instead of simple coils and a new

inverter providing more current 950 amps

versus 830 on the previous car that

makes for a 16% increase in Peak torque

20% more overall torque and 30% more

Peak power but there are some changes on

the outside too let's talk about the new

design changes on the model 3

Performance this is actually apparently

the first time that Tesla have been able

to differentiate between a standard and

performance version of their car all

model 3s have a reprofiled front end new

headlights but the three performance now

comes with this very delicious looking

front splitter and a duct at the side

that channels air around the front

wheels and those two work together to

reduce lift by around 35% now at the

side wheels these are now staggered for

the first time 19 in up front and 20 in

at the back and what's really cool is

that you get these Arrow blades which

improve Aero efficiency or you can rip

them out completely to reduce a bit of

weight although this does look a bit

ugly if you do remove these so I

personally recommend that you leave them

in they actually look quite cool

the rest of the car is pretty much

standard Tesla Model 3 you won't be able

to really tell this is a model 3

Performance until you get to the back

where you'll find this very impressive

looking carbon spoiler and a new rear

diffuser and also if you look closely

back here that it might look like a

Tesla Model S plaid badge but it's not

this is Tesla's new performance badge

which does look like the Plaid badge but

I'm reassured it's not a plaid because

the Plaid is only reserved for Tesla

Model A s and x with the three motors

but yeah there you go one more thing

actually noise we all think electric

cars are meant to be super silent but

especially the performance versions of

electric cars they can be really noisy

listen to this I forgot to show it to

you earlier but never

listen you hear that that I think is one

of the cooling fans working overtime to

try and keep the batteries and the

motors cool and this car has actually

been sat here for quite a while there is

a mode that you turn off the fans but

seemingly never completely so it is a

little bit on the noisy side should we

say on the inside the changes are subtle

but significant in places you now get

new seats which feature more supportive

bolsters without losing the heating or

cooling functionality more on these in a

moment you also get Carbon Trim on the

dashboard as well as the other upgrades

you get in the latest generation model 3

including ambient lighting and double

glazing all around

check out our review of the latest model

3 long range in the link below and if

you want to buy or lease your own model

3 visit the site for the very latest

deals also in the link down

below normally when you get into the

performance version of any standard car

you can identify that you're in the

sporty one pretty much straight away

everything usually feels a bit more

angry and that involves the sound of the

car the steering the suspension but you

don't actually get that in the new Tesla

Model 3 performance if anything it kind

of feels like the standard model 3 but

that is actually by Design Tesla wanted

this car to feel like a nice usable

daily that anybody can jump in and use

for normal

Journeys the car comes as standard with

adaptive suspension unlike the normal

model 3 that allows you to have a soft

setup during normal driving and a

stiffer one with improved body control

and less roll when driving sportily the

the dampers feature Hub mounted

accelerometers that sense what's

happening during driving allowing the

suspension to adapt on the Fly improving

primary and secondary ride in other

words big bumps as well as small bumps

lighter forged wheels with a lower

unsprung Mass help here as

well I'd have to say the suspension is

definitely one of my favorite things

about this car the suspension in the

previous version of the model 3 felt

quite harsh and unsophisticated in many

ways there isn't air suspension and it

doesn't feature the latest multiv valve

dampers but the ride you can't really

argue with it it feels nice and plush

and in fact I struggle to think of many

other 500 horsepower cars that have

suspension that feels as nice as

this the other thing I've got to give

immediate praise to are these seats as

soon as I jumped in I was like wow this

feels a lot better I don't know what the

hell took Tesla so long but these are an

absolute Game Changer they stop you

flying into the passenger seat and

they're actually pretty comfortable as

well and better seats mean you can push

harder in the bz here the car feels much

more settled with a suspension firming

up nicely and working with a

multisection stabilizer bar and stiffer

top mounts to allow Superior Body

Control new pelli p04 tires have a

stiffer sidewall which again reduces

unwanted movement at the back but with

bigger tires all around 23535 9 up front

and to 7530 r20s at the back there's a

lot more grip and

traction I would say that's both a good

thing and a bad thing it's good in the

sense that there's pretty much no under

steer to speak of you can go barreling

into a corner and the thing just hangs

on and holds its line but on the flip

side there's also no over steer the

thing is just so planted as soon as you

come out of a corner you can hammer it

and pretty much be confident that the

back end is going to stay in line great

for the track because it means lap time

but on the road is it a bit less fun

potentially don't get me wrong you can

play with it but that often requires a

fair amount of commitment shall we say

and ultimately I don't think it's quite

as accessible in terms of fun as some of

its Rivals specifically the tyan rear

wheel drive it sounds like quite an odd

thing to say but I am going to stand by

this a bit less grip and a bit less

traction and a bit less tire would make

this car yeah a bit slower but

ultimately a bit more fun to

drive this new Drive Unit at the rear is

something else sayla reckon it can

deliver 32% more Peak power and 16% more

Peak torque and it's believable cuz you

put your foot down and it just wants to

headbutt The Horizon it is rapid and

that is not an overstatement in the

slightest believe

me I've been driving this thing pretty

much all day now and even on a lowest

Factory at 50% it's still doing 60 pulls

in just over 3

seconds it's just

ballistic the steering is one of the big

highlights in this car there isn't a lot

of feel or feedback from the front axle

but it's very direct very quick you

point it and it just goes where you want

the brakes are also really impressive

they're not using carbon Ceramics in

this car they probably don't need to

because it is a road car but they have

switched the brake pad material from

adhesive friction to abrasive friction

similar in concept to what they did on

the Tesla Model S Track Pack you can

look up the difference between abrasive

and adhesive friction one day on the

internet if you're bored but what it

means essentially is that the brakes are

now very very consistent I'd like to

feel what they feel like on track and

whether they hold up to repeated hard

stopping but on the road yeah they work

really

well now as I'm sure some of you will

agree this simply wouldn't be a review

of a Tesla if I didn't have a moan about

the steering wheel yep it's a circle so

big tick on that one it's not the

ridiculous yoke however they have tried

to reinvent things by getting rid of the

stalks and replacing them with buttons

and onscreen controls for selecting

drive neutral and park it's not a deal

breaker but it isn't as good as the old

system bring back stalks and things

would be a lot lot more user friendly

and

intuitive the car features numerous

Drive settings including a track mode

that lets you choose where most of your

torque ends up front or rear and how

much traction assistance you have don't

worry though it never usually feels

completely front-wheel drive in the way

that a hot hatch does or completely rear

wheeel drive like some tians might but

it's nice to be able to set the car up

for your driving taste and experiment

with your setup as I mentioned one of

Tesla's OB objectives with the model 3

Performance was to make it not just fast

but also fun have they succeeded in that

last deliverable well in some ways yes

the speed is often hilarious and there's

a laugh to be had if you go looking for

it but personally speaking the

experience of driving the model 3

Performance did at times leave me

cold I've been trying to Rack my brain

trying to work out what it is this car

is missing what is that X Factor that

missing ingredient that would take it

from good

to great and I think it might be noise

you know not the noise of an internal

combustion engine necessarily but just

any noise the kind of noise that you

might get in a tyan or a hyundi ionic 5

or any number of this car's Rivals which

makes some sort of sound to indicate

that you're making progress or you're on

the brakes tell what it's like it's a

bit like dancing with no music yeah it

might be fun to throw your body around

but it's a lot more fun when there's a

banging tune to accompany it

does the extra power affect efficiency

Tesla doesn't think so in fact those new

tires despite having more contact patch

have a lower rolling resistance leading

them to claim a 2% increase in

efficiency expect range to be around 290

mies and expect recharge times to be in

the region of 30 minutes going from 10

to

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80% so what's my verdict on the new

Tesla Model 3 Performance well I think

they've done a fantastic job with this

car they really have not only is the

straight line performance absolutely

blistering but it's also very very good

through the corners one of the best

things about this car is the Dual

personality that it has it's quiet it's

refined you can drive it on a highway

without feeling like you're in a 500

horsepower car until you get to a set of

twisty switchbacks and then you power

into a bend and you realize that not

only is it really handling it but also

excelling in those Corners is it lacking

a little bit in fun Factor arguably yes

particularly if you come from a

background of enjoying the internal

combustion engine but I think the more

time you spend with this car the more

you're going to learn to love it it's

rapid it handles well it's full of tech

it's got tremendous range it drives

itself to be honest with you I think

it's got an awful lot going for it and

might just be the best all round car

that Tesla have made today and that's

saying something

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