Tesla Model 3 vs BMW M2 Competition // The $60,000 Question

Hi, I'm Thomas. I have a Tesla Model 3. James, BMW M2 competition. Well, mine's electric, so, actually. Okay, you know how many turbos mine has? Two. Which means it can walk that little Prius all day. Prius? It's a Tesla, and it can do 0-60 in... See, all he cares about is speed, whereas I represent heart. Did you know that the heart is actually the battery of the body? What does that even mean? Exactly. What? Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. I don't mean to interrupt, because you guys were doing a great job. But, Thomas, don't you drive an older Accord? And, James, don't you share a Corolla with your mum? You're watching Throttle House, and my name is Thomas. And I'm James. And today we actually have a very relevant question. Yes, both of these cars have massive cult followings. And we want to find out, if you had $60,000 US or $79,000 Canadian-ish, which one should get your money? So, if you're looking for spec sheet regurgitation, look elsewhere. Because today we're going to find out which one of these cars is more fun to drive, which one is more exciting, and which one feels more special. Let's get to it. What do you want? The key. No key. No, for the Tesla. I want the key. I'm driving the Tesla. Why? I want to drive the Tesla. You're going to hate on the Tesla. I'm not going to hate on the Tesla. I want to drive the Tesla. You're worried I'm just going to talk about quality control. That's what this is about. Yeah, you are. You think I'm going to bring up things like how the Tesla will have its rear bumper fall off in a light rain. Or that occasionally a Tesla is shipped with one round door. That's what you're worried about. I'm driving the Tesla. You've got to stop talking before you upset everyone. If I'm being totally honest, this was a car that I was never really that excited about. However, I'm eager to give it a fair go. Because there are a few things that really interest me. One, this is the long-range all-wheel drive. And the electric motors are towards the center of the car, giving it a near 50-50 weight distribution. And a 496 kilometer range. It also has 346 horsepower. 225 of which goes to the rear wheels. So it's a rear biased all-wheel drive system. Today, I'm going to do an in-depth look at the performance and interior design before I hand the keys to James. But one thing needs to be said. The looks really grow on you. I've come around to the exterior styling already. However, the fact that the entire center console is piano black makes me want to have a long chat with Elon. Thankfully, this owner has done what many have done and wrapped it with something else. In this case, it looks great. But poor interior material choices aside, I'm here to find out if the Model 3 will be able to take my money over this. It's a good thing the M2 now has competition in the name, because it's certainly up against an intimidating adversary here. But it's not a couch potato either. With its new S55 engine and twin turbos, this car's 0-100km time reads 4.2 seconds for the DCT. And a smidgen more for the manual we're testing today. With that inline-6 sending 405 horsepower to the rear wheels, it's probably going to feel pretty good. It looks the part too, with its new enlarged air inlets and the full-length kidney grille dominating the front. The addition of those gothic M wing mirrors aren't too shabby either. So make sure you subscribe and stick around to hear which one we'd spend our money on. Okay, the 2019 M2 competition. Now putting out 40 horsepower more than the original and 406 pound-feet of torque, up from 343. What that means is, this is a very fast car, actually. In fact, it's 0.1 seconds, allegedly, quicker than that Tesla. And because it's twin-turbo rather than the old single-turbo, it does a better job of cutting out low-rev lag. What that means is, it gets to feel a little bit closer to a naturally aspirated engine, which in a turbo car is the highest compliment you can give it. Alright, the Tesla Model 3. I don't have to talk very loud. Okay, the big news here is how clean and sparse this interior is. It looks like a Scandinavian living room. It's absolutely brilliant. It's lovely. Yes, okay, we talk about quality control a little bit when it comes to Tesla. It's a big thing that's been brought up, but I'm going to completely ignore that now. And I want to focus on how this car drives, because that's what I care about today. The first thing that you notice, very obviously, is that the car is so, so quiet. And there's some tires that come with the car that actually have foam insulation around the inside of them to quiet it down even more. And this car doesn't have them, because the owner has put it on snow tires. But you know what? It's still ridiculously quiet. In fact, it's so quiet, I'm a little bit worried about James, because he tends to lose his mind in quiet places. I have two arms, but I also have four arms. So while the last M2 revved up to a 7,000 rpm redline, this now revs up to a beautiful 7,600 rpm, which it does very smoothly. So yes, on a cold day, even on winter tires, that power to the rear wheels can definitely make the car lose its composure a little bit. But that adds fun and fear, which Thomas keeps telling me is a necessary part of driving. Okay, so right away, immediate, thumping electric torque. This is the all-wheel drive, non-sport version, long range. So it doesn't have the crushing power of the sport version, but you know what? It doesn't matter, because the torque is so immediate. It just feels so good. Yes, I'm missing an exhaust note. From a guy who likes race cars and likes classic cars, I'm missing the exhaust note. But to be perfectly honest, the way that it delivers the power completely makes up for that. And I'm not telling you Tesla and electric car owners out there, because you guys right now are going in the comments, oh my god, an automotive journalist has discovered that electric cars are actually really good. Big surprise. I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to the BMW people. I'm talking to the people that are here to watch that M2 competition. I'm telling you that this car feels sensational to put your foot down in. You can feel a little bit of torque delay in the lower gears. But once you start going, this thing really moves, and so beautifully as well, so smoothly. I'm in the six-speed manual today, and that allows me to experience every part of the car that I want to. The quality of the shifts gloriously match that of the engine. And the steering as well is nothing to cry about. It's really quite nice. You feel a lot of confidence coming into the corner. And turning feels good. It's a bit of a cold day here, so I've got to be a little bit careful. But turning the car in, you feel very confident. And that in part is helped by this car's Active M Differential, which is a special techy, software-y differential that the smarty-pants people at the M division have made. And what they've done is they've created something that continuously determines and sets a degree of lock using an electronic, mechanically-operated multi-disc clutch. In normal speak, that means you have more grip coming around a corner, and you can accelerate with much more confidence. Of course, things like this are better experienced on a racetrack, and we will be taking this and the Tesla to the racetrack in the new year. So make sure you subscribe now, and then you can catch that the moment it comes out. And it just goes off the line. Here's the thing, though. I almost wish that Tesla would engineer it or allow some, or even make it synthetic, some electric motor noise to come through into the cabin. Because I'm starting to like the whine of an electric motor. Sometimes it can sound unique, and it can sound fun. The Hyundai Kona Electric that James and I drove, actually, when you put it in sport mode, it had a cool noise that came through. It sounded like the Jetsons. It sounded like the future. It was neat. And I almost wish that I was getting a little bit of that in this. Oh, revving out the gears in this car, and switching gears. It's such a notchy shifter. It's so lovely. It doesn't get old. In fact, it's more fun than messing with people in an elevator. While it doesn't have adaptive dampers, it doesn't really need them. The ride in this M2 is firm, but it's so composed and controlled. And coming around corners, I mean, listen to that. People said that this engine sounds worse than the old M2. In fact, someone even said it sounds like a Civic fart can. You're wrong. It sounds lovely. And I strongly suggest you drive one of these before judging, at least from the inside, where I'm sitting, where I can do this. Yes! Oh! That Tesla doesn't make that sound. Thomas is sitting there. He might be accelerating with some torque, but it's not making any sounds. Even in the wet, oh, that's phenomenal. Oh, that's phenomenal. Oh, God. It takes off so quick. All right, the Tesla Model 3 on some proper back roads. I've got the steering in Sport right now. And you know what? The steering rack is really fast. And there is a genuinely good amount of communication coming through the chassis into the car. I'm feeling the back road, and my driving position is really good. I adjust the steering wheel by going into a screen here, and I use these knobs on the steering wheel to adjust where it goes. And the steering wheel comes out really far at me, and I can lower my seat even lower, and I'm in an athletic driving position. And the car feels athletic. I'm feeling every undulation in the road. The steering feels fantastic. It's really good. Not a ton of feedback coming through the steering wheel, but through the suspension, I'm feeling the road. If you're watching this and you've never watched this YouTube channel before, I am a petrol head. I'm a gear head. I really, really am. I work on cars. I race cars. I love internal combustion engines. But this car, to me, as that guy, feels excellent. Toss it into a back road, the front end, even on snow tires, feels good. And you know what? As I push it in, the rear starts to trail it behind. Now, the problem here is that you cannot turn off the traction control in this car. That is a big problem for me. However, a local place in Ontario called Mountain Pass Performance has created a module that can actually completely defeat the traction and stability control and keep the ABS. And it allows the Model 3 to do epic skids, which means that in the summertime, we're going to get one of these on the track, and we're going to properly put it up against something like an M2 to see what it can really, really do at the limit. Because driving this on a back road, this car feels alive. It feels organic. Okay, moving into the interior, the driving position is very nice. I like it where it is. It can't go any lower than this. Thomas would probably want it lower, but that guy is crazy. The quality of the materials is fine. It does a good job. Everything's quite nice. The new gauges are really nice. They're quite vintage and retro. And they look a bit dated, but in a way, it's kind of a throwback to the M cars of old. So it's kind of like a world. And they're so clear. The seats are also really nicely bolstered. I'm very comfortable. You know, that Tesla's got a bunch of fancy gadgets and creature comforts, but this isn't without its comforts. I have the heated seats on right now. It's a cold day in December. I have the heaters doing well on right now. It's nice and warm. So this car kind of has everything you would expect a modern car to have, but I would not be surprised if the Tesla superseded it, given that it's kind of like a post-modern style interior. BMW's infotainment system is super intuitive, really nice. But again, I'm worried that that's a place where the Tesla will beat it. So one of the interesting quirks that I like about this car is that even though the Tesla has a trunk, and then a trunk in its trunk, and then a frunk in its hood, and there's a million storage spaces, if you open the front of this car, you won't find a frunk. What you will find is BMW's carbon fiber reinforced strut bar. And it is stunning. I know you're not allowed to be, or it's frowned upon to be attracted to cars. You get called a mechanophile. But what if you're just attracted to a carbon fiber strut bar? Is that okay? All right, let's take a look at this infotainment, because it genuinely is special. And this is going up against, in my opinion, one of the best infotainments in the business, BMW's iDrive, which James is in right now. And this thing is unbelievably good. Now, immediately, the issue that I thought that I was going to have with it is that all the controls are happening on this screen. Everything, including my volume and climate. And I have seen that fail miserably. Occasionally, in cars, the infotainment is laggy. It's not intuitive. This is none of those things. This has an iPad-like response to it. In fact, a little bit better than an iPad, if I'm honest. I can zoom in and zoom out of my maps. It shows me exactly where I am. It's incredibly high definition. And all of my controls are here. I can see my speed there. I kind of wish maybe they put a heads-up display on it so my speed was directly in front of me, but I don't mind looking over here. All along the bottom, I have everything that I need at a quick touch, right? So I've got my climate control, temperature goes up and down, heated seats, just quick button push. I can bring up the car's controls, change the mirrors and the steering wheel, and adjust everything about the driving system. So I can go to driving and select sport mode. Acceleration can be standard or chill. Let's put it in chill right now. Yeah, it completely cuts it back. Good way to save range. Put it in standard, though. And, yeah, torque's back. I can adjust my regenerative braking, and I can push the creep button, which allows it to simulate a torque converter. So when I take my foot off the brake, it starts to creep forward a little bit. My music is easy to do as well. I pull up the music button by clicking on that, swipe up, and it gives me all of my stations. And since the screen is so big, it can actually show me a lot of stations at a time, so I don't have to scroll a lot. This screen and this interior is everything you need. And the climate control... The reason the interior looks so clean is that you're missing climate outlets because all of the air comes whooshing at you from this giant bar across the center of the dashboard. And I can actually adjust that by going in here and moving the direction around so that the air comes at me or whatever. I think that's really, really cool, and it cleans up the interior so well. Would I own this car? If it meant I could do that every day, you're damn right I would. So what is this car, then? Is it the return to M that everyone claims it is? Yes and no. And I'll say yes because it is fantastic. It feels like an M car. I just don't like the phrase, a return to an M car. I don't think it's fair to poop on the old M2 because that was a fantastic car in itself. And there's a lot of elitism with this stuff where, is it finally an M car? Or is it... You know, this happens with the AMG cars as well. The C43 AMG, that's not the real AMG. Can we stop the elitism, please? These are all fantastic cars, and all attempts by manufacturers to interest the enthusiast community. The more AMG 43s Mercedes sells, the more they'll get to justify selling 63s. And the same thing with BMW. So stop being a hater. Just love the one you love more, even more. That Tesla's going to have to be something impressive to make me consider it over this. So, let's step back then and look at the Tesla Model 3. This is an electric car. It is, whether we like it or not, it's the future. So, for a guy like me, who has been resistant to driving electric cars because they don't have a 7500 RPM redline, they don't have a manual transmission, they don't have the things that I love, but, to be honest, they make up for it in other areas enough that I'm really coming around to these cars. Because this car is fun, it's engaging, it's exciting, it's a driver's car. And I can't wait for James to drive it. I'm greeted by silence. This is so... It's always eerie. I recently was in the Kona Electric and it, for some reason, wasn't as eerie as this. There's something immediately lovely about this. I don't know what it is. The uniqueness of an electric torquey engine is not lost on me yet. Alright, back in the M2 competition. Every single time I get in this car, I get that excited feeling. There's M badges everywhere and it makes an unbelievably good noise. Okay, yes, the Model 3 is amazing, but it's really, really hard for me to argue with sound and a manual transmission. But, I'm going to give this an honest and fair assessment, taking all things into consideration, because that needs to be done, especially by a guy like me. Alright. Yeah, it's weird because last time I drove the M2, I remember thinking, oh wow, there's no turbo lag. Oh wow, the throttle response is so good, but after getting out of an electric car and into this, it feels dead on the throttle and I can't believe I'm saying that about an M car. Alright, I have to reset my brain. Not in an electric car. It feels different. Wow, there's actually quite a bit of weight in the steering, like it's really good feedback on this. It's funny, the owner of this car refers to this as the storm trooper name, the Finn from Star Wars, which is funny because of the way it looks, but right now there's like a speckling of snow, so it kind of looks like I'm doing a hyper jump every time I do that. Whoa. Okay, this thing, this is not the performance pack and this gets up to speed very quickly. Putting it into a corner, oh yeah, it feels really alive. However, I literally just did this exact same corner in the Model 3 and you know what? There is the same or less chassis communication and road communication in the M2 than there is in the Tesla and I can't believe that I'm saying that about a BMW M car. I love the interior in this thing. I love it. It's so minimalist and so wonderful. The tablet, you kind of feel like you're at an Apple store. That torque is wonderful. Bit of a torque delay in the M2 with the turbo, not in this thing. And unlike the M2 where you're going to be paying for petrol fill-ups and premium petrol, this car, the owner charges it at his workplace and doesn't pay a penny in the running cost of this car. There's something to be said about that. Ha ha ha ha! Oh, it's just... There's something about a proper limited-slip differential and 7,500 rpm attached to a manual transmission that you can't argue with. Wow! This is such a novelty. It's so communicative. I don't feel disconnected in the way that I thought I would feel. Wow! I feel like I've been sold in the first 30 seconds. What does this mean? Who am I? Thomas is right. I do get scared when I'm in the quiet. I do tend to have a crisis. The front end in the M2 feels a little bit more aggressive. It feels a little bit sharper. The steering is weighted just a little bit better in the M2. However, there's something about the way that the car goes over the bumps in the Model 3 that I'm just not quite getting in the M2. That doesn't mean that this is bad though because this is an excellent car. This car feels like the future and from the future the news is good. I know the looks of this car are quite divisive but it looks so unique and it's changing up the game. Whether you like the Model 3 or not, it's forcing other manufacturers to get with the times and we have the Audi e-tron coming soon, the Porsche Taycan. This is the beginning of a very cool next step for auto manufacturing. So the driving experience overall in the M2 is better, in my opinion. No idea what James is saying but I can tell you that for me at this point I think I would still buy the M2. However, it's difficult for me to describe to you how close it is for me. This is coming from a guy who is obsessed with motorsports and racing and a proper driving experience. My car that I drive on the weekends looks like this and I'm telling you right now as that guy that the Model 3 is so good and it's so fun to drive, I barely have chosen this M2. If I had the money to buy one of these cars, which I don't, I would still buy the M2 but by a very small margin. So my choice was made but James couldn't decide right away. He loved the M2 competition but the engagement and the uniqueness of the Model 3 meant that since he's gotten out of it, it's all he's been talking about. And for that reason, it would be his choice. But he also kindly requests that he is allowed to keep his Miata for those sunny Sunday afternoons. Mine's electric. Mine's got two turbos. How many turbos is it? Can it walk that cruise? Okay, but it doesn't work without fuel, does it? Well, a plebeian would say... I have two arms. I also have four arms. That was hard to hold in.