Top Gear Drag Races M3 Against AMG C63 S, Giulia QV, Model 3

Remember that tweet from Elon Musk where he promised the Tesla Model 3 would accelerate faster than a BMW M3 and would handle better? It's the car that should "beat anything in its class on the track." That's quite some claim, Elon. It's time to find out whether that's true.

Thanks to a new video from TopGear, we can see the all-electric sedan in its Performance version go against three of the fastest production sedans on the Earth these days. The Model 3 faces the BMW M3, Mercedes-AMG C63 S, and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. And, more importantly, the four performance cars race on a ½-mile track. What do you say now, Elon?

At the start of the drag race, the Model 3 has a massive advantage over its ICE-powered competitors. In the end, however, one piston-engine sedan shows the electric vehicle that top speed does matter in such races, not just the 0 to 60 miles per hour (0-96 kilometers per hour) acceleration.

Next test – handling circuit. The rules are simple – the fastest through the corners wins. First goes the Giulia QV, which clocks 1:04.84 minutes. Next is the Tesla and – surprise! – it's quicker than the Alfa by half a second. And that's not because it handles better but just because it goes out of the corners impressively fast.

What is TopGear's conclusion at the end of the video? Chris Harris agrees that Musk's statements from last year were not just vaporware – the Model 3 Performance delivers exactly what it promises and helps the electric future happen right now. And that's probably the main reason why Harris bought a Model 3 after this review. But we have a small request – we want to see the Model 3 Performance race all-wheel-drive performance vehicles, no RWD ones.