2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance Review with @EngineeringExplained

I'm Jacob. I'm Yuri. I'm Jason from Engineering Explained. And we're going for a drive. Engineering Explained's Tesla Model 3. Performance. With track mode. Alright, so it's as fast as every Tesla we've ever driven, which is only one. I feel like the other one was a little faster. Which one did you drive? P90D Ludicrous. Well, you've got me in the car. I'm pretty heavy. Okay, let's start with the horsepower and torque. When this came out, it had 450 horsepower and 472 pound-feet of torque from two motors. But what does it have now? They added 5% in an update, so I don't know. Whatever 5% times 450 is. So you actually got more horsepower in a download. Yeah, yeah. Just over the air, which was very cool because it was like I didn't pay for anything and suddenly I got an upgrade. So 5% power for doing nothing is a neat reward. And for those of you who don't know, this is Jason. He has a channel called Engineering Explained. And he's got a whole bunch of videos on Teslas, including buying a Tesla, trading it for this Tesla, everything about batteries, pretty much anything about anything engineer car related. And not just Tesla stuff. And he's at 2.3 million subscribers, so let's get him to 3 million? Yeah, hit subscribe on his channel. So first of all, we wanted to review a Tesla Model 3. Well, we wanted the performance one, and Jason happened to have one. So he came to visit us because I also had a crazy idea for something that I wanted to do with my Raptor and a Tesla, which I'm not going to spoil it because it'll be on Jason's channel. You can spoil it, so they go. Jason, spoil it for them. Oh, so what we're going to do is two things. First of all, we're going to see if you can tow a Tesla and recharge it that way. The second thing we're going to find out is whether or not it's more efficient to move your Raptor from one spot to another or use your Raptor to tow a Tesla to recharge it to then move to another location. And that's how we're going to save the environment by using a Raptor and a Tesla combined. You're welcome, people. I don't think it'll be better, but I'm very excited to see what will happen. I think it might. I was like messing with the numbers yesterday, and I think it actually might be more efficient to tow rather than just drive there directly. And before we keep going, we know a lot of you guys are watching without subscribing. The more subscribers we have, the more cool opportunities we have to review cooler cars. So we're going to test it out through Cliché Corner, but first, punch it for me. It's pretty good. Once you get going, it's not as good as it is off the line. But it's got that instant torque, and you had a big problem with your older Model 3. Yeah, so originally I got the Model 3 mid-range, and it doesn't have sport mode, and it also only has a rear permanent magnet motor. And so you notice a significant delay in when you put your foot down and when you actually get all that torque. So the performance doesn't have that problem. You didn't have this feeling. No, no, and it was kind of sad. Actually, I liked the Leaf's response more than the Model 3 mid-range. They have since made updates to it, so I don't know if it's still the same as when I bought it. But yeah, it was a little disappointing. So we've got track mode in this one. I'm going to test it out through Cliché Corner, and let's see what this will do. So it doesn't understeer as much as I thought it would, and in track mode, you can oversteer. This is honestly a really well-handling car. It doesn't body roll that much, and it doesn't understeer, so it almost kind of feels rear-wheel drive-y, but you kind of have the front to kind of pull you through at the same time. We did have that guy give us a ride at the Speed Academy meetup. Yeah, for Mountain Pass Performance. So he tuned Tesla Model 3. Hacks. Hacks, yeah. He's got a party box, I believe is what he calls it, so he messes with the traction control system. Can you slide it for us? We'll try, we'll try, we'll try. What? But they don't sell anything, do they? I don't know yet. Let us know. But that thing was crazy, and he skidded it too. So overall, it does handle really well, from what I can tell with my short time with this, and the steering doesn't feel weird. For being an electric car, there's nothing weird about it. Like, sport mode feels like it should, and then you can obviously put it in comfort, and it's pretty relaxing. This is one of the most normal-feeling cars, considering it's electric and you can't hear anything. And even, like, the regen and stuff like that, which you can also change in track mode, is totally different, but when you're driving normally, you can change it from standard and low. Yeah, so they reduce regen when you're in track mode so it feels more normal, so that when you let off the throttle, you're not all of a sudden hit with the brakes, because most cars, you don't have that feeling, and when you're on a track, you want it to be very predictable. So they've changed the way regen works in track mode versus normal. And in non-track mode, regen always works when you let off, but there's two modes, one that does a lot and one that does less. Correct. There's, like, a standard and a low. And there's nothing that happens with your brakes for regening. Right, so the brake pedal is purely hydraulic mechanical brakes. There's no regen associated with the brake pedal, so that's nice, in my opinion, because you don't have that weird crossover that some electric cars have where it's like, okay, there was regen, boom, there's your mechanical brakes. Have you driven a bunch of cars with that kind of feeling? Yes. Isn't it the worst? It's terrible. Yes, it's awful. And who's the worst offender? Volvo! Oh, Volvo, yeah. I was gonna say Nissan with the Leaf, but no, Volvo, that was bad. And so the final main driving mode that we have is chill and sport, but it's stuck in track mode. When you have it in track mode, so you can't actually adjust it. But if you have it in normal mode, you can go to chill and it makes a huge difference. What did you say? It totally sucks in chill mode. Like, it just, it feels wrong. It feels like the BMW i3s or something like that. But if someone who's not ready to drive this accidentally pushes a little too much. That's what I like. But, like, somebody who's not ready for that acceleration, they don't want to be able to push that button. Yeah. Like if a senior citizen bought this car. Exactly. Right? They want to stay in chill mode because maybe they can't handle sport. Yeah. And talking about sport and suspension modes, there are no suspension modes because this doesn't have air suspension like the Tesla Model S. And I believe the Model Y as well. Correct. Yeah, there are springs, standard springs, standard shocks, nothing fancy there, no adjustments, not electronic. So, yeah, typical car suspension. But it doesn't feel bad or anything. It's not stiff. Like, it's not overly stiff. It feels like it's really well damped. Yeah. One of the things I think as far as the suspension, I feel like the performance is fairly stiff. But because the seats are so well cushioned, it doesn't feel like that bad of a ride quality. But when you do drive in areas that have terrible roads, you do start to notice it is a bit stiff. So, obviously, there's a lot to talk about with the interior, the gadgets, because we haven't even touched on the screen or anything. So far, just the driving. So let's get you into the driver's seat. But one last send. Oh, we're going to get another concussion or something. Hey, Jason, how tall are you? I am 6'1". Are you actually 6'1 1⁄2"? You're an engineer, right? I'm 6'1 1⁄2". But, see, I don't like overstating my height. So I say 6'1". And then people that are shorter than me say, no way, you're 6'3". And then they say that they're 6'2". And then I have to point out that, no, they're not. They're not that tall. So, anyways, I'm 6'1". So, for the record, Jason is 6'1 1⁄2", exactly the same height as me. And I am actually comfortable back here. I'm, like, super comfortable in these seats, too, like you were saying earlier. Yeah, the seats are really good in this car. It's one of the things I do really like because you don't have any choices. This is the seat that you get, but it happens to be pretty well cushioned. And I think they're way more comfortable than the Model S seats. And more comfortable than those Lincoln seats that we recently drove in. Oh, God, perfect position. Have you tried those? I don't think I have. It is a nightmare. There's, like, a million different things you can set up, but it's hard to figure out. 64-way adjustable? I think even more. I don't know. They're bad. But before we keep talking about the interior, I've got to do a little laundry. Obviously, send it here. Okay, so light on the brakes when you come to a stop. Okay, now it's on hold. Take your foot off. And then just quick... Okay, the electric sound is pretty cool, too. It's like... It's fairly muted compared to, like, the Jaguar I-Pace. Yeah, I think Tesla doesn't really care about, like, doing whatever anyone else wants them to do. The only time you'll actually really hear it is when you start to pull into a supercharger. It'll start preheating the battery, and it does that by putting the motor in an inefficient state. And so it starts to get that whine, which is kind of cool, but you only get it when you're about to charge. Okay, but let's talk about all the gimmicks in here. First off, there is no gauge cluster behind the steering wheel. We just have this screen. It's like a Yaris. They took inspiration from a Yaris. And we've got our speed here on the very left, so it's kind of, like, right in your field of view, so it's not awkward. There's pretty much no learning curve to not having gauges. Yeah, I was actually surprised as well because everyone's like, I'm going to hate it. It's not right in front of me. And very quickly, it was like, oh, I don't mind, actually. It's right there. It's very easy to see. And then on the other side of the screen, we've got our map and music and pretty much anything else we need from the menu with all the little buttons at the bottom. How do you like it? For the most part, I do like it. Like, it's responsive. You know, like, zooming in and out, it works. It doesn't have, like, much lag to it. One thing that I don't like is, like, say you want to change your music, it takes up the entire screen rather than splitting it with, like, half nav, half music. And so there are certain things that you can be doing where you're searching for something that then your driver doesn't have access to his map. So I think there are ways that it could be improved. But overall, it's very easy to use and it's quick to find everything. Hey, Yuri, what's one thing that you think they can improve with the music? They don't have satellite radio. They've got their built-in streaming service, which you said works pretty well, and you can search whatever. There's cool playlists, radio stations, and karaoke. Karaoke, you can now, what's the Old Town Road? Old Town Road. And you can do it while you're driving, which is good fun. It's super insane. That's pretty crazy. And then we've got built-in Spotify, which is cool. If you hook up your phone, you don't have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. You just have Bluetooth. But I guess their map interface is pretty good to use. Yeah, it's not actual Google Maps, but it's kind of good enough, Jason. Yeah, it's good enough. Like, in high-traffic scenarios, it's not going to reroute you as well as something like Waze would, but it is good enough. And the nice thing about it is you don't have to think. So you say, where am I going? And it'll automatically plug in the superchargers so that you get to wherever you're going. You don't have to think about, where do I stop and charge? It takes care of that for you. And that's probably the best part about Tesla as compared to any other electric car company because, like, how much of a nightmare is everything else trying to use their onboard stuff to find a charger? I wouldn't have driven here to meet with you guys if it was a different electric car because it would have been a pain getting here. So tell us about your trip here. How long did it take? How many chargers did you have to do? So it's about a four-and-a-half-hour drive. I stopped for maybe 25 minutes about halfway through, and that was it. And you just plugged it in, and it took care of everything for you. Yep. I went to the bathroom. I came back. I washed it a little bit so it looked real pretty for you guys. And then, yeah, it was ready. And I got here with 35%, so I had plenty when we got here. And then the rest of it we just charged up while we ate, and it was done too early. Yes. Yeah, I went and had moved it because they do have a fee. If the charging station is halfway full or all the way full, there is a fee for leaving it there, which is smart so that you don't just park there and leave it. Don't you feel like Tesla's kind of the smartest company for cars? They figured out so much stuff. I don't want to say that because then you're fanboy for life, and that's all you get. Well, it's not a fanboy if they did it right. Yeah, no, there's a lot of very clever things that they did, a lot of very clever things. Like they sucked a lot of the air out of an electric car can't work because, and Tesla's like, nope, we did that, nope, we did that, nope, we did that, nope, we did that. So they take a lot of it and make it easy. Hey, Yuri, I've noticed you've been driving yourself the entire time. Could you do me a favor and just put it into autopilot? No, I don't think so because somebody didn't spring the extra. Tesla without autopilot? Somebody didn't cough up the chink. I don't have the cool summon party trick. I have no street cred. Yo, can everybody tweet Elon to get Jason some features? Enable it. It's just over the air. Elon, come on, man. You can do this for him. But anyways, this doesn't have all the self-driving stuff, but you have used it before. I have. They did give you a one-month free trial to kind of try and convince you to buy it. And I think I was more convinced after that month. Like, I don't really need it. I like driving. I do genuinely like driving. So to me, using cruise control on the highway is not a big deal. Maybe you don't have as much rush hour traffic as we have in Toronto. Maybe. It's mind-numbingly bad. But this lane keep is really good. It can pass traffic and stuff. But you need to put your hands on the wheel more often than not, right? Yeah, and you do have to leave your hand on the wheel. So my biggest thing with autopilot is if I am liable, I don't really care about it. If Tesla is liable, then it makes me more likely to use it. Because I don't want to be in a situation where autopilot screws up, and then obviously it's on me because I didn't correct whatever it did wrong. So I like the idea of, you know, until it is the car companies are liable, I will take responsibility. I will turn the steering wheel. And then on that fact about putting your hand on the steering wheel, the Genesis G90, I can keep my hands off the steering wheel for eight minutes in stop-and-go traffic on the highway. So as far as I'm concerned, Genesis still has the best lane keep. So does the Palisade. And so does the Telluride. Yep. Facts. So we'll end off with a couple more gimmicks. We've got sentry mode in this. We do have sentry mode. And it pretty much watches all the way around while your car is parked. And then if you feel something happen or someone walks by it, it'll tell you? Yeah, so it's looking for motion. Basically, that's it. And so whenever there's motion that's fairly close to the car, it records it. And then you can take a little USB stick and plug it into your computer and see what events happen. So when you get back in the car, it'll say six sentry events occurred. And it's like six people keyed your car or six people just walked by, which is more likely. But I've been watching a lot of videos on Twitter of people scratching Teslas and getting caught. Like, that's the most insane thing, but that's one of the features that should be on every car with 360 cameras. Then you also have a dash cam mode as well that they just added. Yeah, so it's kind of, it came, I feel like it came out with the sentry mode around the same time. But basically, as you're driving, it's always recording, but always kind of deleting. And so you just hit this button, and then it takes those last 10 minutes and saves it. So then you can go back and review that footage. So you get in an accident, you just hit that button, you've got it all saved, all your cameras, and you can review it. But you can't review it on the screen. You cannot review it on this for right now. But on the screen, you can watch Netflix as an app and YouTube and browse the web, which is insane. That's insane. Yep. And then you can also play games. You can play a car racing game where the steering wheel and these pedals control it here. Yep, you can even plug in, like, an Xbox controller and play some of the games on this screen. It's revolutionary stuff, man. I feel like they've made the meme society into, like, a car. Yeah. Like, they've embraced everything, and they made it work. Yeah, and one of the things, like, I've heard parents say, hey, like, my kids are going to get so bored while we're charging. Like, no, your kids are going to be stoked to play video games while you're sitting there charging, or you'll go eat. But, like, either way, there's entertainment possible. All right, now I think it's time for you to get into the driver's seat, talk about all the rest of the stuff we haven't talked about yet, and we'll probably start with a visor test. Visor test. 3, 2, 1. Yes! Is that your first visor test ever? Yeah, I think that is my first. I did not know that it did that. Well, it passes, so it's an improvement from the Model S that we drove. So now that we've done the visor test, let's talk about this interior, which is very basic. Yeah, there's not a whole lot to it. There really isn't. There's a bunch of vents up here, but you can't control them physically. They're all through the infotainment. Yep, so it's one, like, long central vent, and then you can change where you have the air from that central vent kind of blowing around in here. And it's kind of plastic-y up here, but who cares? It's way up on the dash. And we've got pretty nice wood grain-looking stuff over here. I don't mind it at all. Yeah. You know, a lot of people complain about the interiors and say it's a little cheap, a little too simple. I am a very cheap, simple human, and so for me, like, I think it's perfect. Like, there's nothing that I don't need all over the place here. And you've actually modified this interior very slightly, and may I compliment you on what you've done because you've deleted the gloss black. Yes, I got rid of the gloss, which is kind of annoying and reflective, and it gets all your fingerprints. So there is matte finish on all of the, like, glassy areas, so it looks, in my opinion, better. My favorite part of this whole interior is this ceiling roof thing. Yeah, that's pretty fancy, actually. From outside, you don't realize that it's all glass. Yep. And, like, when you're inside, it makes it look so much more impressive. And they're all like that too, like, even down to the base version, which I think initially there was some discussion of not having that panoramic roof. But any Tesla you buy, Model 3, they're all going to have this really cool glass roof. And then sitting in the back here, I guess because it's electric, there's more room. In the middle, my feet can go forward, and there's a ton of room. Well, there's no driveshaft because we've got dual motors because it's all electrons. Oh. And like we said earlier, the seats are really, really comfortable. Overall, the materials, I know people have complained about them, but I don't find them that cheap or anything. Like, everything's pretty nice to the touch and all that. I agree with you there. I mean, I think most of the locations where you actually put your body, touch things, you're actually touching nice materials. Once you start to get away from that, that's where you can start to find the cheaper materials used. And what do you think of the steering wheel with the only two buttons? I don't like busy steering wheels, and I really like this little scroll here. It's really nice for manual cruise control because you can swing it down, and it goes down 5 miles an hour, kilometers an hour. And then you can just do individually one. So it's actually really easy to adjust cruise control while you're driving down the road and, like an idiot, control your own power. So you ended up getting the Model 3. Why didn't you get the Model X or the Model S? Cost is, I guess, the, like, simple reason, but I wasn't ever really into the Model S or the Model X. They're just giant, heavy vehicles. And this is still heavy, but it's about 1,000 pounds lighter than the Model S. I think that's really cool. It's kind of the nimbler, fun little brother of the Model S. So I prefer it over the S personally, even though, like, that's easy to say when it costs less because that was a big part of it. Weight aside, do you like the looks of any of the other ones more? Like, up doors. How could you not want a car with up doors? Okay, the doors are pretty cool on the X, except when I did try one out, they were so finicky, and, like, half the time they would not go up all the way. And I'm not exaggerating when I say half the time. Like, they were so buggy when I tried it out. That was a couple years ago. Maybe they've improved, but when I was using it, it was really tough to get in and out of because half the time it would just go, and then just stay there. So before we talk about the actual exterior of this one, can you give us a little send through Cliché Corner since you're here, and tell us what you think of the car through here, and of Cliché Corner itself? Cliché Corner is awesome. So I don't have many great roads around where I live now, and so it's a little sad, and this is kind of nice to have. I mean, the elevation change is awesome, and then kind of the sweeping nature to it. It's actually very cool. It's well paved. I'm a big fan of Cliché Corner. And it lets you test the car, and, like, you kind of know what it's going to do, and, like, there's a lot of stuff going on, right? Yeah, there is. It's a brief moment of, like, pure driving bliss. Exactly. And what is the location of Cliché Corner? It's in New Mexico. Perfect. Thank you. Yeah, you got it. So before we get to the price, let's quickly finish this off with the looks. What's your favorite angle on it? Favorite angle is, like, lower front three-quarter. Yeah, I totally agree. The back end doesn't really work for me on this car. Yeah, it's a little weird because it's all arrow-shaped. So I actually really like the back end, how it's kind of, like, hunchbacky, but it looks like it should be a hatch, but it's got a normal trunk. It would be cooler if it was actually a hatch. Totally agree. And then we've got a trunk at the front, which is nice for storage, but it's not that big. Yeah, you can fit a single carry-on bag up there, so it's useful, I guess. Now, what do you think of the headlights? Are these your favorite Tesla headlights, taillights across the whole lineup? I guess I'm not— I don't pay attention to headlights as much as I think you want me to for this question. Okay, I don't really like them as much as I like the Model X. I think these are my least favorite headlights. Jacob, how about you? Taillights, headlights? No, I totally agree with you. I think the Model S has the best headlights. Oh, whoa. He's in a cliché corner. He's back through a cliché corner. He loves it. I'm going to set up shop here. Yep, that's good fun. And I really like the red color on this. What's this paint color called? It's a very sophisticated name. All right, that works. Was that a deal-breaker color for you? You needed to have it in there? I had to have red, but it was mostly a thumbnail thing, if I'm being honest. I do really like the color. I also like it in white. The blue is too dark for me, so I don't like the blue. I agree. And the wheels? You changed the wheels. I did change the wheels. What happened? See, the thing is, I was driving with a friend, and said friend hit a pothole, and it turns out hitting a pothole can cost you nearly three grand. So I swapped the wheels to thicker tires. Functionally, I know why you did that. I disagree. I really like the original wheels on this. I still think the turbine wheels on the Model S are the best wheels that Tesla's made, but I know why you did it. Functionally, it makes sense. And what is the Continental recommended tire for the Model 3 performance? The Extreme Contact Sport. For everyone who's driving this winter, put on winter tires as soon as you can. Don't be the person who causes an accident because you got stuck or slipped out. So overall, is this the best-looking Tesla? I don't think so. I think the Model S is the best-looking Tesla. Yeah, I would think artfully, which one has a more sophisticated, beautiful appearance. I think the Model S is a better looker. I do like this, though. All right, so now let's get to the price and finish off this video. Well, I'm going to let Jason say exactly how much you paid for this. Okay, so total price, including destination, no incentives, is $67,700. U.S. dollars. So in Canada, the performance starts at $75,990, and this one, as specced, would be $78,590. And since this is an electric car, you can get electric incentives depending on where you live, so we're not going to get into that. And if you wanted to get the autopilot stuff, that's an extra $7,900 Canadian, which I think you should spend. Yeah, Jason, you should have spent that. And just have Cliche Corner done by autopilot. Yeah, exactly. No thanks. I was hoping. Yeah, we wanted to try it, but maybe next time. So overall, are you happy with the price you paid for it? And is there any other cars that you would consider instead of this? I am happy with the price that I paid for it, and there was a $7,500 tax incentive behind that. But the other thing is, the pricing is a little weird because these cars get cheaper and cheaper as time goes on. So my exact spec car now is under $60,000 and comes with autopilot. So the pricing changes. Do you think Teslas and electric cars in general are kind of like phones where the technology passes so quickly that they get so much cheaper as a used car? I think that's part of it. I think part of Tesla is trying to make a cheap, fun, cool electric car because so many of them now look kind of silly and don't have that much range and don't have charging infrastructure. And Tesla's trying to kind of normalize EVs and make it useful for more than a very small niche group. But as far as the phone thing, they've already had newer computer systems come out for this. So this is already kind of a slow processing system versus a Model 3 that you buy today. And is there any other electric car you considered instead of this? Actually, I was looking at i3 and I was looking at e-Golf and 500e all because they just depreciate like crazy. So you can get into, you know, the e-Golf, the i3, like $15,000 for still under warranty, you know, not many miles on them. And then you can get into the 500es, like $6,000 or $7,000, like really cheap. So there's a perk to them and they're fun. And those ones probably wouldn't have as bad of like panel gaps and build quality issues as this one does, right? You know, perhaps not, but they won't put the smile on your face either. As big, I think they are genuinely fun, but you know, it's hard to beat. So Jacob, is this your favorite electric car now? I think the Model S is going to be my favorite, the P100D specifically. But in general, Tesla's... In general, Tesla, 100%. I wouldn't even consider any other electric car. I love all the features. I'm rattled that they don't have satellite radio. I'm rattled that they don't have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and that you can't use the 360 cameras all at once, even though they have 360 cameras. They figured out the infrastructure. That's the biggest thing for me. Obviously, the power and the handling and how it looks makes a really big difference, but the infrastructure for charging is number one. Yeah, and I love this car. Like, it's amazing. There's so much cool stuff. So don't forget to subscribe. Hit the notification bell. Hit the notification bell and subscribe to Jason's channel. Oh, thanks, guys. Patreon.com. Smash the straight pipes. Join our YouTube membership and Teespring for shirts. And stick around for his video, because he's actually going to be posting the Raptor and Tesla towing video.