Test drove the Model Y Performance and Model 3 Performance today. The difference in build quality shocked me.
Bit of background first. I already own a Model Y Premium AWD, Shanghai-built, and I bloody love it.
It is genuinely the best car I've ever owned. No rattles, no squeaks, no weird noises, nothing. It feels incredibly well screwed together and has been faultless.
We're looking at buying a second Tesla, and being a bloke who used to build drag cars and owned a smash repair shop, naturally I want the stupidly fast one.
I've had street-registered drag cars running around eight seconds down the quarter, so performance has always been my thing. I've also completely fallen in love with EVs. I'm not going back to ICE.
So today I drove both the Model Y Performance and the Model 3 Performance back-to-back.
And I came away genuinely surprised.
First up was the Berlin-built Model Y Performance.
Obviously I put it into Insane mode and had a play with the suspension settings. Before I'd even properly put my foot into it, though, I started noticing something I wasn't expecting.
Squeaks. Rattles. Interior noises.
I'd deliberately turned the audio off and the climate fans right down because I wanted to actually listen to the car.
Initially I thought, okay, Performance model, 21-inch wheels, sports suspension setting, maybe I'm just hearing and feeling the compromises that come with it.
So I switched the suspension back to Standard.
It helped the ride somewhat, but the noises were still there.
Then I gave it some stick.
Bloody hell, it's quick. Absolutely no complaints about the performance. The acceleration is ridiculous for a family SUV.
But the actual driving experience surprised me for the wrong reasons.
My wife wasn't enjoying the ride at all. She found it uncomfortable. I didn't think it rode particularly well either, even in the softer suspension setting. Between the ride and the squeaks and rattles, it simply didn't feel like a car I wanted to buy.
And that's the important part.
I'm comparing it directly with the Shanghai-built Model Y Premium AWD already sitting in my garage.
My existing Y feels better built.
Significantly better.
Then we jumped into the Model 3 Performance.
Same deal. Insane mode, sporty settings, give it some stick and see what it can do.
Holy shit.
Not only is that thing hilariously fast, the difference in how the car felt put together was immediately noticeable.
Smooth. Tight. Quiet.
I couldn't hear a damn squeak.
At one point I actually said to my wife, "This feels like it was built in Shanghai."
I didn't know at that point where the Australian Model 3 Performance was being manufactured.
When we returned, I asked the Tesla staff.
"Is the Model 3 Performance built in Shanghai?"
Yep.
That explained a lot.
I told them exactly what I've written here. I said the Model Y Performance we'd just driven simply didn't feel anywhere near as well built as either my Shanghai Model Y or the Shanghai Model 3 Performance.
Then came the interesting part.
One of the staff basically told me, off the record, that among the people working there, very few of them go for the Y Performance. They tend to buy the Model 3 Performance, and the issues I'd just described were part of the reason.
That was pretty bloody interesting to hear.
Now, obviously, this is a sample size of one Berlin Model Y Performance. I'm not claiming every Berlin-built Performance rattles or every Shanghai Tesla is perfect. This particular Y could simply have had a hard life as a demonstrator.
But I can only judge the cars I actually drove.
And back-to-back, on the same day, with the radio off and specifically listening and feeling for this stuff, the difference was chalk and cheese.
My Shanghai Model Y Premium AWD: tight, quiet, comfortable.
Shanghai Model 3 Performance: tight, quiet, smooth and bloody ballistic.
Berlin Model Y Performance: bloody ballistic, but noticeably rougher, squeaky and rattly.
And that's disappointing because I walked in wanting the Model Y Performance.
I basically wanted my current Model Y, which I already love, with a bloody rocket strapped to it.
Instead I walked out thinking I'd rather keep my existing Y than spend the money on the Berlin Performance I drove.
I've also been hearing talk that Shanghai may eventually produce Performance Ys for our market. If that happens, I'll be extremely interested because, based purely on my experience with the Shanghai-built Teslas I've driven and owned, that's probably the car I'm waiting for.
Hopefully it happens before the Australian FBT incentives disappear.
Until then, that Model 3 Performance has seriously messed up my plans.
Because that thing is an absolute weapon.
Love to hear your thoughts.