To the untrained eye (and perhaps even the trained one) the top-spec Tesla Model 3 Performance looks like every other Model 3 on the road. Subtle visual differentiators exist of course, but they are easily missed.
There is a mildly reprofiled front bumper with slim vertical cooling ducts at its outer extremities, a more pronounced diffuser under the rear bumper, a discreet carbon fibre lip on the boot, restyled 20-inch forged alloy wheels and a 10mm reduction in ride height.
Oh and a tiny rectangular bootlid badge that looks like the Union Jack redrawn by Van Gogh at his most manic. No flared arches or big wings here, nor try-hard bumpers wildly distended by yawning (and often fake) intakes and vents. Frankly, the Performance looks as menacing as a Prius.
It’s hard to tell the Performance model apart from its regular siblings. (Photo: @freemanflies)
LOW-KEY SPORTY
Get in, and here too it feels almost indistinguishable from a standard Model 3, the only hint that this is no ordinary 3 being the cosier bearhug of its front sport seats. Everything else is standard Model 3, from the airy cabin to the lowline, starkly minimalist fascia dominated by a 15.4-inch central touchscreen, and the utter lack of switchgear which will befuddle and intimidate the first-time user.
The nonsensical steering-mounted haptic indicator buttons and absurd virtual gear selector slider on the touchscreen remain; eventually you get the hang of it all, but never to the extent that it feels intuitive.
But hidden somewhere within the touchscreen submenus is an option for “Insane” throttle response, and for once this is not hyperbole. A 3.1 second sprint time is genuinely supercar-rivalling, but the sheer manner of its delivery is equally mind-boggling – plant the throttle and the instant EV torque just teleports you to the horizon without the drivetrain needing to gather itself or draw breath, and the immense thrust simply doesn’t taper off, at least up to whatever speed I dared to take it to.
Gratifyingly, Tesla has not seen the need to resort to some sort of synthetic “engine” soundtrack to accompany that warp-speed performance. It’s clearly confident enough to let the astounding acceleration from this unassuming family car speak for itself.
Photo: @freemanflies
POWER AND PERFORMANCE
Like its Model 3 Long Range sibling, the Performance is all-wheel-driven thanks to dual electric motors, but those motors are all-new and much more powerful. Juice comes from a 78kWh battery pack which is located entirely within the wheelbase and on the floorpan for ideal weight placement, and range is quoted at 528km.
As is Tesla’s practice, the battery pack doubles as an integrated, stress-bearing member of the body for added rigidity. Tesla Singapore is coy about the car’s actual output, but working backwards from the whopping $6698 annual road tax figure, the Performance looks to be rated at 461kW, or 618hp.
Oddly, the declared output of the Performance in other markets ranges between 453 to 510hp. But whatever the true number, there is far more urge on tap than you could ever need or want on anywhere other than a racetrack.
It’s not all straight-line go either. The Model 3 has always had the ideal fundamental recipe for a sports sedan. Sophisticated (and costly) double-wishbone front and multilink rear suspension, scalpel-sharp and quick-geared (2.2 turns lock to lock) steering, near-perfect (48 front/52 rear) weight distribution, modest kerb weight (1854kg) and an ultra-low centre of gravity (thanks to the floor-mounted battery pack) meant it always felt deliciously agile and planted.
A FUN, WELL-SORTED CHASSIS
The first-generation Model 3 had an uncompromisingly stiff setup which delighted the driver but jiggled passengers on rougher roads. That issue was resolved with the 2023 “Highland” facelift, which introduced some much-needed ride compliance while still preserving most of that deliciously sharp handling. The lesser Model 3 variants always felt like their chassis had much more potential to shine, and the latest Performance model proves it.
There is some improved hardware, to help its cause. Antiroll bars are thicker, suspension bushes are revised, the springs are firmer and a touch lower, and tyres are sticky Pirelli PZero PZ4s with staggered widths front (235-section) and rear (245). And to cope with the extra pace and power, the brakes are beefed up. There are adaptive dampers too – a first for the Model 3.
The firmer setup of the Performance, especially with its dampers set in Sport mode, sharpens the 3’s corner-carving prowess. It scythes into turns even more incisively now, without that initial touch of front-end softness present on other Model 3 variants.
The fat Pirellis grip tenaciously, and you just rip through and out of bends, with both ends working equally to both propel the car and keep it planted to the chosen trajectory. Thank that low CG and ideal weight distribution for letting this Plain Jane sedan corner like a mid-engined sportscar.
A revised, more configurable Track mode setting lets you choose between 100% understeer, 100% oversteer, or anything in between. If you’re feeling extra brave you can also reduce or kill the stability assist entirely.
Suffice to say that the upshot of a 100% oversteer, stability-off setup (kindly left by the journo who had the car before me, probably as a prank) was terrifyingly hairy on a damp road. More sensibly-chosen settings would certainly result in a lovely rear-biased feel, without things getting out of hand.
But that quick-geared steering, accurate as ever, still remains aloof and uninvolving, not chattering to you endlessly about the surface conditions and grip levels like the helms of the best sportscars do. Effective but workmanlike is probably the best description for the Tesla’s tiller.
Incredibly despite its sportscar-like dynamics, the Performance’s ride remains supple enough to make it absolutely feasible as a daily family runabout. There is real magic in that chassis, with tight body control somehow co-existing with an ability to caress small bumps into insignificance.
Even more surreal is the fact that the sticker price for this ridiculously accomplished sports saloon is just under $149,000 excluding COE. Adding the COE at current prices does bump the figure up to about $255,000, but even that is a bargain considering the sheer performance and dynamic range on tap.
Wave a cheque for this number at the BMW or Mercedes showroom and you’d be lucky to be offered a base model 3 Series or C-Class. To paraphrase Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men, let’s not question how Tesla delivers so much for so little, but just say thank you.
Tesla Model 3 Performance (A)
MOTORS Dual electric motors
MAX POWER 461kW (618hp)
MAX TORQUE 730Nm
GEARBOX Single-speed
POWER TO WEIGHT 248.7kW (333.3hp) per tonne
0-100KM/H 3.1 seconds
TOP SPEED 261km/h
BATTERY 78kWh
RANGE 528km (WLTP)
CONSUMPTION 6km/kWh (16.7kWh/100km)
PRICE EXCL. COE From $148,981
AGENT Tesla Singapore
