From the March/April 2026 issue of Car and driver.
Lap time: 2:58.4
Class: LL2 | Base: $56,630 | As tested: $64,630
Power and weight: 510 hp • 4035 lb • 7.9 lb/hp
Tyres: Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect
V: 235/35R-20 92Y T1
R: 275/30R-20 97Y T1
The Tesla Model 3 Performance can complete about one lap of VIR’s Grand Course in the fastest mode before the 80 kWh battery cries uncle and reduces its output in the interest of self-preservation. But please remember that the razor-sharp Formula 1 cars of the turbo era of the 1980s had qualifying cars and engines that were only good for one lap. Is this really different?
Except for our first session in the Model 3, we spent the entire session in the car’s fast lap mode, Track mode with the standard powertrain endurance. So with a careful eye on battery, brake, and engine temperatures, we focused instead on maximum pace, running just one hot lap at a time in the Tesla between charges.
We credit the lap time of 2:58.4 – fast enough to beat last year’s Hyundai Ioniq 5 N – to our quick adaptation to the Model 3’s quirks. The steering is largely numb, but does respond to small corrections. The adjustable regenerative braking, set to 100 percent, as per Tesla’s recommendation, slows the car quickly. Entering the Climbing Esses at 130mph, you hardly need any lift to help the front end bite as you throw it into the first left. Greater lift destabilizes the chassis and our own sense of self-preservation.
The Climbing Esses is where the Ioniq 5 N shows its superior stability at high speeds. While the Ioniq’s body control is tight and crisp, the M3P is sometimes as erratic as the Detroit Lions’ offense. In medium-pace corners, such as the climb from Sector 4 towards Roller Coaster, the Model 3 essentially matches the Ioniq 5 N’s capabilities.
Just before the finish on our fastest lap, the Tesla’s thermal warnings activated an energy-saving mode that we barely felt, and the car finished on the straight 15 km/h slower than at the start of the lap. Based on our first session, the car could probably run a handful of laps at the pace of the Volkswagen GTI, but for just one lap the Model 3 Performance is the fastest EV around VIR for under $100,000.
Back to Lightning Round 2026
KC Colwell, editor-in-chief of Car and driveris a seasoned professional with a deep-rooted passion for new cars and technology. His journey into the world of automotive journalism began at a young age when his grandmother gave him a subscription as a gift Car and driver for his 10th birthday. This gift sparked a lifelong love of the industry, and he read every issue between then and his first day on the job. He started his Car and driver career as a technical assistant in the fall of 2004. In 2007, he was promoted to assistant technical editor. In addition to testing, evaluating and writing about cars, technology and tires, KC also set the production car lap record at Virginia International Raceway for CD‘s annual Lightning Lap track test and was only the sixth person to drive the Hendrick Motorsport Garage 56 Camaro. In 2017, he took over as testing director until 2022, after which he was promoted to editor-in-chief and has built the brand into one of the country’s top automotive magazines. When he’s not thinking about cars, he enjoys playing hockey in the winter and golf in the summer, and does his best to pass on his good car sense and love of 90s German sedans to his daughter. He may be the only one Car and driver editor to own a Bobcat: the skid steer, not the feline. But if you have a bobcat male, please get in touch. KC lives with his family in Chelsea, Michigan.
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