{"id":34770,"date":"2025-07-24T14:52:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34770"},"modified":"2025-07-24T14:52:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:52:43","slug":"payne-second-gen-tesla-model-3-performance-takes-big-leap-forward-and-a-step-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/payne-second-gen-tesla-model-3-performance-takes-big-leap-forward-and-a-step-back","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Second-gen Tesla Model 3 Performance takes big leap forward (and a step back)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Detroit News columnist Henry Payne traded in a gen-one 2019 Tesla Model 3 Performance (left) for a new 2025 Tesla Model 3 Performance. The new car was, remarkably, lighter-weight and cheaper than six years ago (adjusted for inflation), but the residual value of the 2019 car with 14,000 miles had dropped 65%.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n

Charlevoix<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 After not touching the steering wheel on Full Self-Driving for an hour and a half up I-75, I exited the freeway at Gaylord. Turning on to the M-32 twisties, I took back the controls \u2014 my left thumb searching for the turn signal \u2014 from Autopilot. ZOT! The sedan rocketed past 60 mph in less than three seconds, its colossal 554 pound-feet of torque burying my spine in the seatback.<\/p>\n

The second-generation Tesla Model 3 Performance is here, and it\u2019s two steps forward \u2014 and one step back.<\/p>\n

Or maybe I should say leaps instead of steps. As the most innovative brand of the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century commandeered by the most mercurial CEO since Henry Ford (imagine the blowback to Ford\u2019s building WW2 bombers for FDR in today\u2019s political climate), Tesla hasn\u2019t been shy about trying to reinvent the automobile, whether design, autonomous driving, or electric power. I\u2019ve owned both generations of the Model 3 Performance and they have been a nonstop, exhilarating, nerve-wracking journey on the cutting edge of auto tech.<\/p>\n

Happily, the journey is now shorter to pick up a new car.<\/p>\n

Leap forward.<\/strong>\u00a0Six years ago, I picked up my 2019 M3P at Tesla\u2019s Shaker Heights showroom outside Cleveland … because Michigan, um, banned Tesla showrooms. Today, thanks to a Whitmer administration initiative, Tesla has four showroom\/service centers in Michigan \u2014 including in my West Bloomfield backyard. The no-haggle, online purchase process is easy-as-pie.<\/p>\n

Leap forward.<\/strong>\u00a0I was excited for the new 2025 Performance model for no other reason than designer Franz von Holzhausen has cleaned up the design. With its wide hips and coupe-back roof, M3 was always a looker from behind \u2014 but, oh, that face!<\/p>\n

Determined to be different (Tesla\u2019s North Star), the American startup\u2019s first mass-produced car (it has sold a remarkable 2 million units since its 2017 introduction) scrubbed its front end of any trace of a grille. The result was a featureless face that reminded me of the Harry Potter villain, Voldemort. Eek.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
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The 2025 Tesla Model 3 Performance is the second-generation model with big upgrades in horsepower (to 510), torque (554), suspension and chassis refinement.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

Gen 2 is a dramatic improvement. The nose is sharper, more sculpted \u2014 its lean theme extending rearward with thinner headlights\/taillights and more toned stampings. Always distinctive, Model 3 is now the peer of its handsome European competition.<\/p>\n

Leap backward<\/strong>. Over those six years, I put just 14,331 miles on the odometer as an auto critic testing over 60 cars a year. No matter. The residuals of Model 3 Production models are through the floor (an EV affliction).<\/p>\n