Crashnburn80's Tesla Model 3 Performance Longer Range Build

Got the car back today, quick turnaround.

New bumper
New passenger headlight (under warranty for failed DRL)
Repaired hood scratch and minor dent from large rock



On the upside, the hood is now aligned better than it was from the factory.
On the down side, the bumper is just slightly worse alighted. Between the two an overall improvement as the hood alignment was more noticeable than the bumper.

 

That narrative seems common with 3rd party charging stations. I can only imagine that would be stressful, especially with manually having to map this all out. With the Tesla charger network and car integrated together in one mapping system it is all a non-issue. And I think that is one of Tesla's greatest strengths.

I always believe in competition and think the EV market needs more of it. But 2x the price for a car that is due out next year which does 0-60 0.1 seconds faster than a 3 year old Tesla model and doesn't have the supercharger network doesn't sound incredibly appealing. At a 2x price difference I don't really see these as competing products in anything but performance numbers for large EV sedans.

 

Just got back from traveling across Europe. Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and France. One of the things I found surprising is along the major highways, every gas station we stopped at also had high speed chargers. All the highway signs that would say gas at this exit also showed that chargers were available at that exit.



The cities also had chargers along street parking.


Washington (where I live) is the 3rd highest state in EV adoption per capita behind California and Hawaii, and Europe seems to be doing a vastly better job mainstreaming the EV infrastructure than we are.

 

Did you rent a Tesla over there?

 

No, I travelled ultra light with just a backpack. Private bus, train and on foot.

 

Finally gave the Tesla a little TLC today. On a whim I used something different and pickup up

$19 Mothers 05566 Ultimate Hybrid Ceramic Wax, 16 fl. oz.

Mothers Ultimate Hybrid Ceramic Wax. Hand buffed.





Tesla paint quality is crap. I can usually buff any car to a mirror finish where I can take a photo of myself in the door, and it looks like a mirror.



Ugh that orange peel is so bad.



Here is another in black and white to try and eliminate the red effect. Pathetically awful.

By comparison, here is my Ex's Ford.

 

Interesting air cannon. I hadn’t seen that before. I usually just take mine for a short spin afterwards to air dry it with speed, obviously not as perfect.

I’d normally do multiple wax coats, but I claybar’d some things off the car and was fighting a losing race against the sun set. So one it was. I also went against the owners manual and applied rain-x to the windshield and the entire top/back glass. The manual states to not use it because of the automatic wipers, but the auto setting is worthless anyway.

 

Hit up the electrified expo today.

Toyo’s track car. If you look closely, we run the same rotors.


Lots of Tesla shenanigans. Teslux was there but I couldn’t bring myself to talk to them, too much cringe.



Toyota’s own EV was present and available for test drives. But yawn compared to the competition.


Sitting in many EVs at the show, it seemed all felt the need to be so busy inside. Porsche’s steering wheel with floating buttons and controls was just a bit much. I really appreciate the minimalism of Tesla, though I’d not go as far to say that on the latest 3 which eliminates the stalks of the steering column.

 

Porsche has garbage paint quality too. You'd think for the price...

I saw a white model 3 the other day with a modified front and rear bumper and rear spoiler. I see so many Tesla's out and about near me and they all look the same. This one was neat that it was different. I finally figured out it was the Ascension kit from Unplugged Performance.

https://unpluggedperformance.com/model-3/model-3-exterior/

 

My friend has that front bumper on his M3P. I did contemplate it when I was having the bumper replaced, but I just don’t love it. I do agree that Teslas all look pretty much the same. I like many of the rear diffusers. Pretty far down on my list though.

 

Took the Tesla across state again, over the passes to my condo in Chelan, and again charging for free in eastern WA. My brother met us with his model 3 rwd long range as well. Some definite missed photo ops on the trip, as I didn't take any pics. Canyon carving with the explosive M3P on the windy 2 lane mounting highways while not paying a dime for gas just doesn't get old.

 

I knew I would procrastinate too long and this would happen, but not this bad.

The Tesla is still running the ultra high performance summer Pirelli P Zero PZ4. Same ultra high performance summer tire model run by some Lamborghini models, minus the eco sound deadening. The tire will crack in temps below 42 degrees, meaning the tire must be changed out for winter. The Tesla is garaged and I'll low heat the garage to keep temps reasonable, so this isn't typically an issue for low overnight temps, just daytime temps. This weekend overnight temps are supposed to hit the high 20s for the first time and we'll be traveling, so the car will be parked outside. Ugh. I can try and rush order and swap the Pirelli winter tires I was planning on, swap my old all season tire setup (which I still have) or risk damage to the expensive and sensitive summer only tires. Or drive the Tacoma. Given the limited time frame I'll likely swap to the existing all seasons for the weekend then order the winter Pirellis.

 

good plan

 

I swear, every time I'm looking at tires it is for a just released rare tire with limited vendor options on the latest tire tech.

Once again Tire Rack was one of the few to be first that had the new high performance Pirelli winter tires in stock in the EV noise reduction version. Weighs 1lb less than the summer Pirellis, and is one of the very few high performance winter tires designed for performance cars, and the only one in this size that is designed for EVs. If I can swap them before the weekend great, otherwise I'll sport the All Seasons for the weekend. Due in Friday.

Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3

 

The Pirelli winter tires arrived at Discount Tire today, a day earlier than expected. I swapped the old all-season setup back on and took the summer wheel/tire setup down to the local tire shop to have the summer and winter tires swapped out. Looking like I'll pick up the wheels/tires tomorrow.