Same with "built like a Swiss watch" and "built like a tank", None of these really apply these days but seem to linger on.

 

Swiss Watches are still in production today, but, of course, are mostly electronic rather than with the extremely-fine-tolerences of the gears/internal workings that made them famous. My late father had a Swiss Rolex, from the 1950s, that he got in Europe (at a probably lower price than here) when the Army sent him there. It had a manual wind-up feature (a little **** on the side), and you had to wind it every day. But it ran....well, like a Swiss Watch, for at least 25 years., into the late 1970s.

IMO, though overall reliability is much better, few vehicles, today, are built with the same kind of material-solidity that we saw decades ago. Of those few, IMO, the Mercedes G-Wagen, Lexus GX, Toyota Land-Cruiser/Lexus LX, Toyota 4Runner/Prado, and perhaps a few others come closest.

 

I know about Swiss watches, tanks and screws. My point was these all are tired, but harmless, old expressions that linger on.

 

Well, so is the term..............."Oldies but Goodies."

 

This is another old trope that we should be rid of. Those old heavy Impalas and Buicks with their armoured steel body panels that you worship so much may have felt and sounded like bank vaults but they gave you nothing in crashworthiness. I much rather drive a 2019 Camry with its paper-thin body panels, tinny-sounding doors and lightweight, cardboard-like plastics than a 1950s, 1960s or 1970s large American land-yacht.

 

Ok enough about old times again... this thread is about the thoroughly modern tesla 3 and we don’t need to compare it to cars from a half century ago.

 

The vehicles I specifically mentioned, in response to a question, were ones that are still being sold today. Another poster linked it to the old American land yachts.

I agree the Tesla 3 is modern......but I have rarely seen a more complex car to figure out the screen-controls for the uninitiated, though, with time, drivers will probably get used to it. At least the power windows, wipers/washers are conventional...and the shift-stalk on the steering column fairly conventional.

 

Good review Mmarshall! Your review was fair and unbiased as far as reviews go. One of the reasons why I deliberately didn't want to get a Model 3 even though I reserved one the first day reservations opened back in 2016 (I think), after sitting in one two years later, I immediately cancelled my reservation. It was a bit small - shoulder room wise and I didn't like the "tall" look of the car. Personal choice obviously. If you see a Model 3 parked side by side with a Model S, the 3 is actually taller. I also didn't like the central screen (although I could get used to it I'm sure) and no display in front of the driver. Even if they just had a HUD for speed and navigation, that would have been enough.

Those were the main reasons, I got an S instead. Your comments about the instant and addictive torque and speed apply to the S as well and not having all your senses prepared for the speed (no gears shifting down, no exhaust sound etc) makes the speed feel even more than it is. Coupled with AWD and no wheel slippage, I constantly have to watch the speedo. The feeling is just mind blowing. Whenever I describe this to anyone who hasn't driven one, its hard for your listener to really appreciate what you're saying until they drive one, and then they are converted. I now have a permanent "Tesla grin" all the time.

 

Thanks. It both confirmed and contradicted some previous views I had had of both Tesla and their products.


The 3, of course, is a fairly small sedan to start with, and, coupled wth the RWD layout and the large amount electric-drive hardware fitted in, is generally not a car for NBA-size guys. At my size (6' 2") I found the back seat and headroom quite cramped.


Agreed. That would probably have been a deal-breaker for me, too.


You, like me, are apparently a responsible driver, and know how to use that kind of power safely, with common sense. As I stated in the review, the problem with this kind of power comes with people who are not responsible, or drag-race-addicted teen-agers, or people who drive with their heads down too much into their Smart-phones, or simply those who don't pay attention to what they are doing. With most cars, if you get carried away with the gas pedal a little, you can often catch yourself before any real problems happen. With a Model 3 (and, as you note, presumably, other Teslas as well), press that throttle-pedal a little too much and you had better have a lot of clear road in front of you.

 

Mike, did you notice that the rear passengers sit with knees raised high up, because the floor lacks depth due to the battery pack?

Also, would you say that the springs were soft, while the dampers were firm and taut?

 

I noticed that the back seat room, in general, was lacking, partly due to its nature as a compact sedan, but also due to the way, as you note, that the battery pack encroaches on some seat space. The drooping, humpback whale roof line in back (common on many sedans today) certainly doesn't help either.

The comment I made about the softness was in the seat padding, not the suspension. As for the suspension-damping, from what I remember, it was somewhat on the taut side. On this test-drive, I was on smooth roads most of the time, so I didn't really get much of a chance to see if the general ride comfort level made it uncomfortable over bumps or not.

 

You took some nice photos.
Such a sexy looking curvaceous side glass canopy, and a nice behind; pity the slightly duck-like nose.

Not a bad car at all.
I don't think EV's will outsell ICEV's by 2025, but I could see EV's overtaking ICEV's by 2035...

 

Thanks, but give Google the credit...it's their images.


One thing, of course that makes it look cleaner, is that, being a full-electric, it needs no grille in front for engine-cooling.


One of the biggest factors, like I said before, is simply getting an adequate charging infrastructure for all those EVs. They told me, for example, at this Tesla retailer, that, despite having several chargers in their shop, they don't routinely charge vehicles at customer request, even for a fee (they save the chargers exclusively for vehicles being worked on in the shop). This, to me, sounded incredulous....if you cannot charge a Tesla at the place that actually sells and services them, that doesn't say much for the company.

 

The ride is similar the my IS350 F-Sport...maybe a little firmer due to the Performance suspension. The chassis is extremely stiff. Feels way stiffer than the BMW 340 and IS350. I think that's due to it housing that battery. It's definitely not as stiffly sprung as an M3 though. On really hard cornering, if it hits a bump, it bounces a bit but the AWD sorts it out quickly. The limits on it are extremely high and the pull out of the corners is intoxicating.

You can feel the weight of the car for sure. It's a fat pig at 4000 lbs.

 

A significant part of that weight is in the battery pack.