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It is highly unusual to drive around in a bed, but that’s what it felt like we were being asked to do with the new and terribly exciting Tesla Model 3 Performance.
Tesla doesn’t do media launches, nor traditional marketing, so everything about this event was predictably peculiar, but when we were told this new car was causing so much excitement that we should pull a sheet over it every time we stopped, to avoid people photographing it, or touching it (“if someone tries, just politely ask them to stop” as we were advised) we hit peak weirdness.
Eventually, they did agree to pull the sheet off one and let us have a look at the most exciting car Tesla has ever made that’s not a Cybertruck.
The Performance is the Model 3 Tesla engineers and designers always wanted to make. Clearly, it was going to be called the 'Ludicrous', because some staff kept stuffing up and calling it that. It’s a shame the name wasn’t used, but at least it still gets an 'Insane' mode.
They really wanted to go all out with the original Performance version, but “a guy called Elon” didn’t want to add all the complexity that required at the time - he was focused on quality issues and ramping up production - but this go around he has let them have their heads, and encouraged them to go hog wild.
That means an entirely new power unit at the rear, staggered 20-inch wheels for sportier turn-in, aerodynamic changes for more downforce and less lift, new seats and the fitting of active dampers to a Model 3 for the first time, to help provide proper, track-ready handling.
We set out into the embrace of the adoring Los Angeles public (truly, no city on Earth boasts so many Tesla owners, they are everywhere) to find out if all the fuss is worth it.
Ah, the Toyota Camry. A beloved sedan that has been the benchmark for reliability and family-hauling ever since the nameplate arrived on our shores in the early 1980s.
Adored by grandparents and commercial drivers everywhere, the newest iteration upholds the traditions while carefully positioning itself for a modern market.
I'm very happy that the champagne paintwork of my dad's 2001 Camry is no longer in fashion but that the practicality remains.
In an SUV-heavy market, sedans seem few and far between but it still has some strong competition from the Honda Accord, Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Passat.
I've been driving the Camry SL Hybrid with my family of three to see how it stacks up. Keep reading to find out!
The Model 3 Performance is one of those cars that’s undeniably impressive in almost every way, and hugely fast in absolutely every way, and yet can somehow still leave you feeling slightly cold. Or at least damp with fear sweat.
It’s not my kind of sports car, but if you love speed, and EVs, and Tesla, you’re gong to think it’s the Queen Bee’s knees.
Publishers: Please place the following in BOLD after the verdict:
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
The Toyota Camry SL Hybrid offers good practicality for families and has a handsome road-side presence. It's well-specified but some of the tech is being outshone by its rivals now. I love the price tag and the ongoing costs because in this day and age, every penny matters! But it's the driving experience that's the highlight for me and this earns an easy 9.0/10 from me.
My son loved the blue colour but was a little annoyed that our morning school run conversations were constantly interrupted by those school zone alerts. He still enjoyed this one though and gives it a 7.0/10.
Tesla’s design folks waxed long and loud about how they’d finally been able to visually lift and separate this Performance Model 3 from the basic one and they point to the new front and rear fascias, more aggressive styling, aerodynamic flicks, integrated cooling ducts, rear diffuser and carbon-fibre spoiler, which are there not only to look good, but to to “optimise lift balance and high-speed stability”.
Now, I’ll grant you it’s better than a normal Model 3, and that we were regularly approached by excited Tesla fans asking “is this the NEW PERFORMANCE OH MY GOD I WANT ONE NOW?!?"
But honestly, I still think it’s a bit subtle, and that includes the strange little 'Performance' sticker/badge on the rear, which does look a lot like the Ludicrous symbol that Elon loves, from the awful movie Spaceballs, but Tesla staff insist it’s not, nor is it Plaid.
Clearly, the design tweaks are there for a reason, and train spotters will note the differences immediately, but it’s still just not the most exciting car to look at, nor is it anywhere near as exciting to behold as it is to drive.
The Camry is easily recognisable on the road. It has that 'Toyota-ness' with panelling and lights managing to look sharp and curvy all at the same time.
The full LED exterior lights and cool faux intake vents at the rear makes it look steadfastly handsome.
It has a lot of road-side presence due to its sheer size. It's 4885mm long, 1840mm wide and 1445mm high. That translates to roomy cabin space, where practicality rather than sexiness has taken the design reins.
The dashboard's centre curves towards the right, making it feel very driver-centric but not necessarily passenger friendly when it comes to accessing the charging ports or utility tray.
There are a multitude of soft touchpoints which combine with the panoramic sunroof to add a sense of refinement to the cabin.
Inside, the big news is the new seats. Tesla was happy to admit the pews fitted to the previous Performance just weren’t up to the job of holding humans in place when applying so much G force.
The new 'Sport Seats' feature enhanced side cushioning and side bolsters for better lateral support during dynamic driving. And they can also be heated and ventilated.
Elsewhere, there’s some carbon-fibre trim on top of the dash, with a Tesla-first weave pattern to further help the Performance stand out within the Model 3 line-up.
Other than that, it’s pretty standard Tesla sedan, which will be familiar if you’ve ever caught an Uber in Los Angeles. Spartan, minimalist, slightly cheap-feeling.
As for the practicality of the tech, I'm still against the giant 15-inch tablet-style touchscreen, for everything, the replacement of an indicator stalk with buttons and not having a speedo right in front of your eyes, where you need it.
The interior is quite practical and boasts a roomy cabin. I have plenty of head- and legroom in both rows, so taller passengers will feel comfortable.
Up front, the leather-accented seats are well-padded and are electric with heating and cooling functions, but the trim can feel a bit too synthetic for my liking.
It's easy to clean, though, which is always handy when you have kids or pets around.
Individual storage options are quite good with a 7.3-litre middle console, a glove box, plus two cupholders and a skinny drink bottle holder in each door.
The phone utility tray is great as it hides a second storage area underneath that's large enough for a wallet and keys.
The 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system is simple to use but is starting to look a bit old compared to its rivals.
There is wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as, built-in satellite navigation which is always a bonus.
The 7.0-inch digital instrument panel is very easy to read and the coloured head-up display is clear, too.
Charging options are okay but not awesome for a top-model. You get a single USB-A port and 12-volt port up front and two USB-C ports in the back.
But there's no wireless charging pad or USB-C port in the front, which would provide faster charging speeds.
In the back seat, individual storage is average with two map pockets, two cupholders in the fold-down armrest and skinny drink bottle holders in the doors.
The amenities are a bit bare for a top-model and there are no additional luxe factors to add some comfort for older kids or adults, like heated seats or climate control. I do like the directional air vents and reading lights, though.
There are ISOFIX child-seat mounts on the outboard seats and three top-tether anchor points but two seats will fit best.
There is plenty of room for front passengers when a 0-4 rearward facing child seat is installed, too, but with the lower height of the car, you may get a sore back bending down all the time to buckle in an infant.
The boot is large at 524L but typical for a sedan, meaning the aperture is narrow. You might struggle to fit bulkier items.
There's a temporary spare wheel under the floor and while there's no powered tailgate, you probably won't mind because it's so light to open.
Tesla says the price for the Model 3 Performance will be "starting at" $80,900, plus on-road costs. There's no word on whether there will be different spec levels and the company does not like answering questions or providing information.
What we also know about Tesla is that the price quoted could move down, or up, at any time, quite randomly, so if phrases like "residual value" or "depreciation" are of interest to you, it can be a challenging brand.
That side swipe aside, this sounds like astonishingly good value for this much performance from your Model 3 Performance. A Hyundai Ioniq 5 N would give it run for fun and involvement, if not brand fans, but it's $111,000, while a Porsche Taycan kicks off at $164,000 (it is a lot more car for the money, but it might struggle to keep up with this Tesla, at least in base model form).
In terms of equipment, it's pretty much standard Model 3 fare, other than the fast bits and a spot of carbon here and there.
You get 'Autopilot' included, of course, but you can't use all of its 'Full Self Driving functionality' on Australian roads. Not yet, anyway.
There are four models in the Camry line-up and the SL sits at the top, with a price tag of $50,320, before on-road costs.
That makes it more affordable than equivalent versions of its rivals, with the Skoda Octavia 180TSI being the closest at $53,090, the Volkswagen Passat 162TSI Elegance coming next at $57,790 and the Honda Accord Ti-LX Hybrid blowing them all away with a $61,900 price tag (all before on-road costs).
As you'd expect for a top-model, the SL is well-specified. Both front seats feature eight-way power adjustments, plus heating and cooling functions, as well as adjustable lumbar support.
A panoramic sunroof and JBL sound system with nine speakers rounds out the luxe factors while comfort gets a good look in with amenities like dual-zone climate control, electric tilt/telescopic steering wheel, keyless entry and leather-accented trims throughout.
You do have to fork out a bit extra ($590) for all but one paint colour but otherwise, you get a lot for your cash here.
If you’ve ever driven the previous Model 3 Performance you’ll know that it could well have come with Space X badging (arguably Elon’s more impressive engineering achievement), because it really did thrust rather than accelerate.
But this time the engineers wanted to go all out. Customers appreciated the incremental performance they got from the last Model 3 Performance version, but they told Tesla they wanted more.
With many enthusiasts among Tesla's engineering and development team, they looked to unlock the performance potential of the platform.
So, that meant a whole lot more madness and torque thump. It comes from a new Performance 4DU, an all-new drive unit - featuring an entirely new rear motor that uses bar-winding technology - unlocking 22 per cent more continuous power, 32 per cent more peak power and 16 per cent higher peak torque delivery.
Overall figures are 380kW and 740Nm, but looking at them written down, they seem big, yet not as big as they feel in this car, as it’s shoving you from a standing start to 100km/h in three seconds flat.
It feels faster. Sick-making fast, even.
This model has a 2.5-litre, four-cylinder hybrid engine with a maximum power output of 160kW but Toyota doesn't quote a combined torque figure.
I was very surprised by the power – it's got some serious grunt when you need it.
The SL is a front-wheel drive and has a continuously variable auto transmission, which is so smooth as to be almost undetectable for gear changing!
Despite being heavier and gruntier, Tesla claims the new Performance Model 3 manages to be more efficient than the one it replaces, albeit delivering just a two per cent reduction in energy consumption. Claimed energy usage is 16.7 kWh/100km.
Tesla claims a total range of 528km on the WLTP, which is obviously going to drop if you drive it the way its makers clearly intended.
Using a Tesla Supercharger, you can add 228km in 15 minutes and... that's all Tesla will tell us. There are no official figures available for how long a full charge takes, on either a Tesla charge or a home wallbox of your own.
So, how's that hybrid efficiency? The official combined fuel cycle figure is 4.7L/100km and my real-world usage came to 5.5L/100km.
That's great for this size sedan! I covered a combination of open-road and urban driving this week, so I'm very happy with my result.
Based on the combined fuel figure and the 50L fuel tank, you should be able to get a driving range of around 1064km, which is stellar.
Toyota recommends a minimum 95 RON petrol to be used for the Camry.
Very occasionally, one drives a car that makes the human body feel inadequate to the task. I would have worried that I’m getting old, that my body is simply too flubby and my brain too broken, to cope with the kind of wild acceleration and brutal g-forces the Model 3 Performance delivers.
But, fortunately, I had a videographer in the passenger seat, a much younger man who loves fast cars, and he kept threatening to vomit when I drove it hard, too.
I’ve driven quite a few cars that you can use make your passenger sick, or hurt their necks - one obvious competitor in the shape of a Porsche Taycan Turbo S comes to mind - but it’s very rare that a vehicle is so intense it can make you, the driver, feel bilious.
Yes, you do bring this on yourself, by choosing to push this Performance anywhere near its limits through particularly sharp and intestine-shaped roads like the canyons outside Malibu Tesla chose to launch it on.
On longer, sweeping bends it was far more of a joy, and less physically punishing, but in the tight stuff it often felt like corners were being thrown at you, as if you were driving behind the Millennium Falcon and being pulled along in its wake.
The brakes, special new sporting ones with track-ready pads, were up to the task, even though it often felt like they couldn’t possibly pull you up from the speeds you were doing.
And yes, it was entirely my fault that the very first time I even gently prodded the throttle and it launched me ahead past a California Highway Patrol officer, that was my fault too. Three minutes into the drive, holding an American fine, I had already deduced that perhaps this car was too fast for my own good.
But lots of EVs are fast in a straight line, you’re really comparing the length and depth of your “oooophhh” sounds at this point, but where this one succeeds is by being a lot better in the handling and ride and cornering departments than most.
Tesla’s stated goal with this car was to move beyond straight-line speed, to become more than a one-trick pony, and to do that it’s given the Performance a stiffer structure overall and updated the springs and stabiliser bars.
Aerodynamic changes have reduced drag by five per cent, delivered a 36 per cent lift reduction, and a 55 per cent improvement in front-to-rear lift balance.
Tesla’s own, in-house version of adaptive dampers, not an option but included in every Performance, work with the car’s 'Vehicle Dynamics Controller' through its various modes - 'Insane' and 'Track' being the most… ludicrous - to immediately respond to driver inputs.
The Performance rides well on LA’s awful concrete freeways but feels absolutely nailed down when you attack even a bumpy driver’s road.
This version also has a lot more power going to the rear wheels, to help it feel more sports-car playful and to fire out of bends the way an enthusiast’s car should. And make no mistake, I met them, the people behind this car are serious driving enthusiasts (although they demur, slightly, on whether their boss is one).
Track mode will allow some serious adjustability, drifting ability and fun, so the kind of people who want to hurl around a racing circuit in silence will love it.
Perhaps the only let downs are that it still feels a bit austere inside, just not very special, and that the steering is just a bit digital, soft and uninvolving, compared to the cars they clearly benchmarked against - BMWs and Porsches.
I fell in love with this car once I started driving it because it's got to be one of the smoothest cars I've driven! It totally has your back when it comes to ride comfort, too.
The suspension feels well-tuned for Aussie roads but doesn't feel springy. It will still hug the road in a hard corner, making it a pleasure on my winding coastal journeys this week.
As I've mentioned, the power delivery surprised me and I had no trouble keeping up with traffic or overtaking. It's also very responsive accelerating from a full stop, which isn't always the case for CVTs.
The cabin is whisper quiet, even at higher speeds and the engine noise around town is all but mute.
The visibility is good from my driving position and despite its larger size, it's super easy to park. It has a 360-degree view reversing camera but I was disappointed with the image quality. Serves its purpose, though.
Tesla provided no information about safety for the Performance Model but it is assumed it will be unchanged from a standard Model 3.
Aside from Autopilot that means auto emergency braking, lane keep aids, and instead of blind-spot monitoring, it gets the surround radar view and blind-spot cameras when you indicate.
The latest Model 3 has an additional centre airbag for a total of seven, as well as additional bolstering where the doors meet the body in response to requirements in its American home market.
It should be able to carry its maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, which the original version achieved in 2019.
The safety features are extensive on the Camry and I really like the automatic collision notification. If airbag deployment or a serious collision is detected, Toyota's emergency call centre is notified and if you need assistance or if you don't respond, they will notify emergency services to your situation and location.
Other standard safety features include daytime-running lights, blind-spot monitoring, SOS emergency call button, stolen vehicle tracking, forward collision warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane keeping aid, lane departure warning, AEB (with car, pedestrian and cyclist detection), adaptive cruise control with stop and go, intelligent seatbelt reminders, traffic sign recognition, 360-degree view camera, as well as, front and rear parking sensors.
The Camry was awarded a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating but it was done ages ago in 2017. There are seven airbags but it's missing the front centre airbag we're starting to see on newer cars.
This also has a lot of road alerts, for example when you are approaching, in and exiting a school zone (yep, an alert for each scenario) or approaching a speed/red light camera.
The settings are buried deep in the menu and I ended up turning most of them off given of how intrusive they are.
My Dad likes this feature on his Prado but I'm not a fan at all.
Again, we've been asked to assume the Performance will come with Tesla's standard four-year/80,000km warranty and roadside assistance. And that the battery and drive unit will fall under an eight-year/192,000km warranty, whichever comes first.
Tesla says it monitors its cars to ascertain when they need servicing, and so it is based on a case-by-case situation. Every 12 months/20,000km is recommended for a general check-up, and includes tyre rotation.
Wiper blades, brake fluid and cabin air filters need replacement every two years while the air-con service is every six years.
Of course, there are no oil changes, filters or spark plugs to replace, and even brake pad wear is less than on an ICE vehicle because of the regenerative braking system. Although it will likely be higher in the Performance variant.
The on-going costs are great on the Camry Hybrid. It comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty, but you can get up to 10 years warranty on the hybrid battery if you service the car at a Toyota dealership.
It has a five-year capped-price servicing plan and services are a flat $255 per service, or $1275 over the five-years – which is cheap compared to its rivals.
Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.