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2024 Tesla Model 3 vs 2023 Toyota Camry

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Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model 3

$51,999 - $79,800

2024 price

Toyota Camry
Toyota Camry

$27,990 - $53,880

2023 price

Summary

2024 Tesla Model 3
2023 Toyota Camry
Safety Rating

Engine Type

Inline 4, 2.5L
Fuel Type
-

Premium Unleaded/Electric
Fuel Efficiency
-

4.2L/100km (combined)
Seating
-

5
Dislikes
  • Looks a bit dull
  • Steering too light
  • Still feels cheap inside

  • Low-quality camera system
  • Synthetic-feeling trims
  • Amenities in back row are low for a top-model
2024 Tesla Model 3 Summary

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.

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2023 Toyota Camry Summary

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!

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