He said the tweet about the awd came out yesterday (IIRC) maybe Saturday- can’t recall, but it’s not yet clickable as an option when you go on the site to build the car.
website is having trouble jym. On another blog, someone reported that s/he was able to place an order for AWD, but it took awhile to get through.
Also, its entirely possible that the AWD and Performance models will be available to current owners first. (That was how the M3 rolled out.)
Given that the site wasn’t allowing the AWD as a clickable option fo those with reservations , that probably explains the inability to get through on the phone today.
DS said where he lives no one has been able to take one (a 3) for a test drive, as they sell them as soon as they get them. Did others have that problem? I will call locally here in the next few days.
jym626, Make sure the test drive is with a 3. Last Fall I got an email stating they were taking appointments (S.F. Bay Area) for a test drive, where you could arrange online. Well… the test drive was using an S and not a 3, but that wasn’t mentioned on the email or when booking the appointment.
No test drive is available, but they finally have a couple at the showrooms here in my neck of the woods. Same story as with the S and X which appeared at the showrooms only and then became available for test drives as the production ramped up.
H got the 3 at the end of April. A first electric car for us. Yes we stood in line for the first day to put down the deposit 2 years ago, He totally enjoys it. We have 4 wheel drives so lack of this is not an issue. Had a Tesla charger installed in our garage and already tried a Tesla supercharger on the highway. I am not very good at getting used to new cars but this one was very easy to drive. It helped that the first drive was long and by him as I learned the dashboard screen.
They are only allowing test drives with the S or the X, but they say the S is closer to the 3 in driving operation than the x. Will be taking one out in a week or so.
Did some review just come out criticizing the braking distance? It flashed by yesterday but I didn’t read the whole thing.
Yes, consumers reports came out and said they could not recommend the 3 because of braking distance. Tesla said that they have a fix and they should be able to do it with software (remotely, I think it said).
Tesla also said, IIRC, that CR tested an older model and newer ones have better responsively with the auto braking.
Except for the braking distance, CR did not really say that much that was different from what others have said. E.g. sporty handling, very firm ride, back seat is rather low, etc…
Correct.
Also correct, but note that the suspension has been softened up from the early production models. The tires are also rock hard (for maximum mileage), and by deleting a few pounds of air, rocks in the street are much less noticeable.
“Was looking into a Lexus RX450 hybrid, but I just can’t get past the ugly grill”
LOL I think all new Toyota/Lexus look like they were designed for Darth Vader. Great vehicles but I can’t get past that prejudice.
Car and Driver also said the emergency braking distances in their testing was wildly inconsistent. I understand there’s software-managed braking due to recharging, but you’d think that emergency braking would be handled purely mechanically - i.e. by the old-school pads and rotors.
Brakes systems in general are well-sorted out. I imagine pretty much every single car on the market for the last few decades is able to lock up all four wheels during emergency braking (ABS override aside). Seems like a very strange engineering choice to me that the model 3 isn’t designed to do the same.
Anyway, Car and Driver rated it 4 out 5 stars, IIRC.
Man I put my deposit down 26 months ago and all this wait just to see this CR report? Geez…
“LOL I think all new Toyota/Lexus look like they were designed for Darth Vader”
Nailed it!!! Mr. B called those ugly grills “the biggest fly catcher” he has ever seen. 
We looked at a white Model X, and I said it looked too much like a Stormtrooper helmet from the front.
That was my first thought too, but I guess Tesla is not alone:
http://www.thedrive.com/news/12186/volkswagen-recalls-766000-cars-globally-for-brake-issue
fwiw: Tesla uses a top brake manufacturer (Brembo) for its brake assembly, so the hardware shoudl be good.
To be fair (if I’m reading your quote correctly), ABS failure is not the same as mechanical braking failure. When ABS fails to engage that just means your tires would lock up under emergency braking. Kind of the opposite problem Tesla is having - too much brake force rather than too little.
Interesting tidbit on Brembo. Sounds like the brakes are adequate but the software is lacking an override for emergency situations, or maybe just not calibrated correctly. What a brave new world we live in!
“Sounds like the brakes are adequate but the software is lacking an override for emergency situations, or maybe just not calibrated correctly.”
Or they could have programmed in a bit of a lag on the braking immediacy to generate maximum regeneration for the battery, assuming the 3 uses regenerative braking.
Not sure why it should be a difficult problem to solve, since regenerative braking has been around in consumer cars for many years (hybrids as well as fully electric cars). Indeed, Tesla has solved the problem twice before, since the Model S and Model X have good brakes.