Well yes they are great value for money amongst EVs. It’s no surprise it’s bestselling. That has always been a driving factor for the majority of the public. Just like Toyota is also a mass producer. And they serve a purpose, undoubtedly. Not my cup of tea though, just find them cheap, not that great to drive, not luxury, not sporty, not refined. But that is fine, as you say, Model Y has been a best seller. And they will be again with multiple anti trade measures again Chinese build vehicles. Competing on price alone doesn’t bode well for the future in my opinion.
The Model Y was a top global seller last year before any China specific tariffs; and the US trade measures floated this year is not yet in law; it was high seller before the China-battery rebate exclusion; and obviously it sold well in Europe too.
Point is, it's not been selling because it's the cheapest, and it doesn't need to be the trackiest to continue to sell.
If Tesla never stated the Model 3 Performance is track capable, I wouldn't be here saying what I am. Because there would be no point in complaining about a car that wasn't designed to do track days not being able to do track days. I am not complaining that the Camry is not a trackable car. Because Toyota has never said it to be able to do track duty.
I don't care what 99% use it because this is a discussion of how Tesla designed and stated the car is capable of. Would it be ok for Apple to state, " The iPhone 16 Pro Max can run the most demanding game at 120 FPS!" and when you actually run that demanding game, it can only do that 120 FPS for 10 seconds before it throttles down to 30 FPS because the A18 overheated? Even though 99% of iPhone users won't be using their iPhone that way?
And the listed vehicles are sold as road vehicles that are capable of going on the track. I would be curious how you view them as POS on the road? And please don't state personal tastes like it isn't fuel efficient, or the rides are not buttery smooth because this whole discussion has been about how they were designed, not what personally appeals to you.
I am sorry, but for those who see a car as nothing more than a Point A to Point B tool tend not to be car enthusiasts. No gate keeping about that. Nothing wrong with it as everyone has different tastes, hobbies, etc. But it's annoying to have people with those views talk down to people who have interest in cars and performance and how they drive, etc. Maybe they want a car they can take to the grocery store on the weekday and track on the weekend. And you bringing up how Tesla is going to have the best selling car is just that talking down attitude.
My wish wasn't for more sporty EV's. It's them taking performance more seriously. Stop bragging about the hero laps. Either focus on being economical transport and forget about performance and bragging how the car can do on a track, or actually put the effort in to make the car track capable. The end. Simple.
Type R is criticized for very harsh road ride. The Mustang GT is... uh... far from a Grand Tourer.
Your constraints on what qualifies something to meet a track claim is truly your constraints. Because few cars without a Porsche badge will reliably track without a minimum amount of mods. Brake lines, and pads, if not the entire rotors too, are extremely common upgrades, even for ///M cars. Mustangs often address cooling in the aftermarket. Golf R is sportier than GTI, but is still not "track".
You're gatekeeping who can be in the conversation (
...only an enthusiast would know...), and what the conversation is about (
i only care about track, dont talk about anything else).
The irony is, you even implied that most Ferrari and Corvette owners dont track their cars.
So all of this boils down to the summary that you gripe a car for not doing what 99.9% of owners and 99.5% of buyers don't want to do. Until Lotus and Caterham sells a million cars a year, there's a good reason to believe nobody should pay attention to this gripe.
www.theguardian.com
