How would you like your family SUV? With acceleration violent enough to reintroduce passengers to their breakfast and a top speed to keep up with ze Germans? You’re in luck, because this is the brand new, bonkers fast Tesla Model Y Performance.
Yep, to follow on from last year’s Model 3 Performance, Tesla has taken its sensible SUV to the Nürburgring and let loose. So, the Y now gets the latest ‘Performance 4DU’ drive units that send a total of 460hp to all four wheels for a 0-60mph time of 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 250kph. Yikes.
There’s a new upgraded battery pack too, which doesn’t weigh any more than the standard Model Y’s heart but features new cells with higher energy density. Tesla has stopped giving out capacities for any of its batteries, but we are told that it’ll get 580km of range on the WLTP cycle and efficiency of around 6km per kWh.
That’s the boring bit though, because Tesla’s engineers have also nabbed the adaptive suspension tech from the Model 3 Performance and tuned it for this larger car. There are also new springs, roll bars and bushings, plus “improvements to the rear body structure” that apparently increase torsional stiffness. Clearly it’s not supposed to be an all-out track day special, but you should be able to hustle it down a windy road, and there are custom drive modes with the familiar ‘Insane’ acceleration setting and a toggle that tells the traction control to loosen off a little.
The design team have had a small say too, because there are new front and rear bumpers that reduce both drag and lift. Like on the Model 3, you’ll be able to tell the Model Y Performance apart from its standard siblings by the carbon fiber rear spoiler and the red brake calipers. There’s the ‘Performance’ badge dotted around too (which absolutely should not be referred to as a Plaid badge, apparently) plus 21-inch ‘Arachnid 2.0’ forged wheels.
A bit of a shock inside is that Tesla has gone to the trouble of giving the Model Y Performance an upgraded central touchscreen, so it’s now 16in (up from 15.4in) and gets nearly 80% more pixels than the one in other facelifted Model Ys. We’re guessing that means it’s got a whole lot of pixels. Apparently this larger, higher-res screen will remain bespoke to the Performance.
What else? Well, the driver and front seat passenger get special heated and ventilated Performance seats with a bit more support, and there’s real carbon fiber trim on the dash and the doors. All the standard Model Y bits are still here too, including the panoramic roof, 8in rear screen and Autopilot software.
Interestingly, the Model Y Performance is launching in Europe, the Middle East and Africa first. There’s no detail just yet on the US launch, or Southeast Asia for that matter. In the UK it’ll cost £61,990 (P4.8 million), meaning it’s £2,000 more than the Model 3 Performance and £10k more than the long range, all-wheel drive Model Y.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
