Why I sold my Tesla Model 3 Performance & went back to gas

[Cuzoe]

I should note I'm a member on exactly zero Tesla forums and I do not so much as crack a window on the rare occasion that I go to a supercharger (twice since September). I even plug in at the furthest charger away from anybody else to minimize the chance that one of us will talk to me.

On the other hand, I post quite a bit on the GolfMk7, TDiClub, Ross Tech, and Vortex. Forgive me for my other car, I beg of you.

 

[SnailPower]

Love your write up man. A lot of things I always thought in my head you basically nailed to answer my questions.

I'm always a driver at heart first and the performance of the vehicle can take a step back if the rewards of the experience are a let down. I call, Teslas, iPhones on wheels. They're for the I don't care about driving my car, I rather it drive me while I can show off all the awesome amazing features it advertises... Meanwhile, some of us, as shocking as it might, may actually enjoy rowing the gears, feeling the engine, getting the response and feedback from the car based on what you're doing. This will be a dying afterthought in the future, but I'd like to hold on to it as long as I can for now.

I've always said, if they can make an EV that can simulate a manual car just for fun, I may be interested, but for now, EVs are the anti car guy. Let's also be real, there is no way the entire world gets on EV anytime within the next 50 years when a lot of 3rd world countries can barely power their own street lights, let alone have charging stations...

 

[GTIfan99]

Love your write up man. A lot of things I always thought in my head you basically nailed to answer my questions.

I'm always a driver at heart first and the performance of the vehicle can take a step back if the rewards of the experience are a let down. I call, Teslas, iPhones on wheels. They're for the I don't care about driving my car, I rather it drive me while I can show off all the awesome amazing features it advertises... Meanwhile, some of us, as shocking as it might, may actually enjoy rowing the gears, feeling the engine, getting the response and feedback from the car based on what you're doing. This will be a dying afterthought in the future, but I'd like to hold on to it as long as I can for now.

I've always said, if they can make an EV that can simulate a manual car just for fun, I may be interested, but for now, EVs are the anti car guy. Let's also be real, there is no way the entire world gets on EV anytime within the next 50 years when a lot of 3rd world countries can barely power their own street lights, let alone have charging stations...

I think then not being able to meet the needs of drivers, yet, is the issue, not so much transmission choices. By your logic, DSG and PDK drivers are real car people.

 

[Cuzoe]

I'm not sure EV's are the anti car guy - car. I've easily put 10k+ into modding/adding/retrofitting things on my manual TDI. Many of them things I could have had from the factory but I was set on 6MT, last (probably) of the diesels, no sunroof because I want to keep the car for a really long time. Those things all speak to the car-guy part of me. I love the Tesla all the same. It leans to the tech part of me that would love some of the Tesla features to be in every car.

Some EV's might make traditional car guys feel that anti-car guys are coming into their hobby. But that's only a function of many EV's having car guy levels of performance at everything below 3/10, which is where 90% of driving occurs. A Chevy Bolt does 0-60 in about 6 seconds, same as a 2022 GTI 6MT . On the street a 5000+ pound Model X will easily/repeatedly gap a huge majority of car guy cars. An EV drivetrain can solve the car guy power/transmission/drivetrain issue in one go. But all the other car guy problems remain, some of them even more difficult to solve... cooling for example.

The addition of carbon ceramic brakes and track mode (which improves cooling and should allow reduction of the nannies) on the plaid should make it a capable, albeit very heavy, car for some track work. A Model 3 Performance with upgraded brakes, adjustable coilovers (and other suspension work) and track mode (or the MPP party box that allows disabling nannies) would be very capable as well. It weights ~260 pounds more than a BMW M3 Xdrive... not nothing but not crazy. I'm not saying the M3P drives like the M3, but there's nothing anti-car guy about setting up a Tesla for track/canyon carving use.

I think the closest you'll get to manual simulation would be if Porsche/Audi let you paddle shift from 1-2 (and back) on the Taycan/E-Tron GT. The second gear for highway driving makes sense intellectually, same concept as an ICE vehicle. But I think the Plaid/Lucid Air are now making the case that acceleration (even when already going 60+)/highway efficiency (500+ mile range) respectively, don't require a 2(+) speed gear box in an EV. I do realize the Lucid has ~13% larger battery, but with that it has ~28% more range. Why add complexity while also taking away an advantage?

 

[bentin]

I actually like EV's more than automatic cars for exactly the reason stated. With an EV a computer isn't robbing my left foot of the fun and the revs aren't changing and reminding me that I'm not as quick as the computer. Plus the regen brakes are pretty fun and make for a different experience. An automatic car is only different because it does the shifting for you, otherwise, it's still the same engine, makes the same sounds, it just does some of the work for you. An EV is a different experience, nearly every aspect is different and I'd rather drive one than an automatic. I suspect my Mk8 R will be my last new manual, which also makes it my last new ICE car. I'm okay with that, I'll gladly buy an EV somewhere down the road, but I'll almost certainly have a manual car of some form in the garage until my left knee (and possibly the rest of me) stops working.

 

[GTIfan99]

I actually like EV's more than automatic cars for exactly the reason stated. With an EV a computer isn't robbing my left foot of the fun and the revs aren't changing and reminding me that I'm not as quick as the computer. Plus the regen brakes are pretty fun and make for a different experience. An automatic car is only different because it does the shifting for you, otherwise, it's still the same engine, makes the same sounds, it just does some of the work for you. An EV is a different experience, nearly every aspect is different and I'd rather drive one than an automatic. I suspect my Mk8 R will be my last new manual, which also makes it my last new ICE car. I'm okay with that, I'll gladly buy an EV somewhere down the road, but I'll almost certainly have a manual car of some form in the garage until my left knee (and possibly the rest of me) stops working.

My dad is 82 and still drives manuals. A Mazda 2 and an ND2.

 

[sterkrazzy]

My dad is 82 and still drives manuals. A Mazda 2 and an ND2.

My grandpa dailys a manual c7 lol

 

[bentin]

Yeah, my dad's 81 and dailys a manual SLK320. Anyone that thinks our manual is sloppy has clearly never gone near a manual MB.

 

[GTIfan99]

Yeah, my dad's 81 and dailys a manual SLK320. Anyone that thinks our manual is sloppy has clearly never gone near a manual MB.

Drive a Porsche 914 then hop back into a mk7. The mk7 is a precision bolt action rifle in comparison.

 

[bentin]

Drive a Porsche 914 then hop back into a mk7. The mk7 is a precision bolt action rifle in comparison.

Ha, yeah, any VW cable shifter from that era is a hot mess. The 914 and the Super Beetle probably have the same basic linkage.

 

[Corprin]

Rod shifted Mini anyone?!?

 

[GTIfan99]

I loved my VR6 Corrado, but the shifter felt like a plunger stuck to a tile floor. Vague is an understatement.

 

[GTIfan99]

We're pretty spoiled with modern cars. Even some of today's worst cars are better than nostalgic favorites.

 

[oddspyke]

Really enjoyed reading this write up. Interestingly, I think it has convinced me that my next daily might be an electric. The drawbacks are real, but I think I'm in a unique situation in that I have a dedicated "fun car" already (manual, convertible) and would keep my wife's Tiguan for road trips (30+mpg with 4 people, plus 2 dogs and a roof cargo box). This sort of highlights that the current crop of EVs don't make a great "only car" though; I would never consider one if I wasn't in a position to own multiple cars. There are ways to make one work as an only car, such as just renting an ICE car for the occasional road trip, but depending on how often you do that, it can erode any gas savings you get and it's really inconvenient.

 

[GTIfan99]

Really enjoyed reading this write up. Interestingly, I think it has convinced me that my next daily might be an electric. The drawbacks are real, but I think I'm in a unique situation in that I have a dedicated "fun car" already (manual, convertible) and would keep my wife's Tiguan for road trips (30+mpg with 4 people, plus 2 dogs and a roof cargo box). This sort of highlights that the current crop of EVs don't make a great "only car" though; I would never consider one if I wasn't in a position to own multiple cars. There are ways to make one work as an only car, such as just renting an ICE car for the occasional road trip, but depending on how often you do that, it can erode any gas savings you get and it's really inconvenient.

Yeah, it's hard to make a case as an only car, but as a daily commuter that gets plugged in at night, they work well. I have a buddy that commutes in a Leaf. He said it's been fantastic and dirt cheap.