We took the Tesla Model 3 for a spin and were impressed with how fast it was, but we also noticed that the ride could be a bit unrefined. The car's handling is really good, though - it sticks to the road nicely and gives great feedback to the driver. However, if you drive on rough roads, the car can feel a bit stiff.

One thing we did notice about the Model 3 is how much road noise there was. We were only going about 38 miles per hour at one point, but even then, it was pretty loud. And when we got up to higher speeds, the wind noise made it even louder. It's not just that there's no engine sound - the glass roof and open design of the cabin actually makes for a lot of wind noise.

Despite some minor complaints about the ride and the noise level, we were really impressed with how well-appointed the interior was. The steering wheel is small but nice to hold, and the armrests are really comfortable. But one thing that did take some getting used to was the giant screen in front of you - instead of traditional instruments, everything controls this massive display. It's definitely a bold move, but it can also be a bit distracting while driving.

We've been noticing more and more cars with similar systems, so we're curious to see if Tesla is truly ahead of the curve here. The Model 3 also comes equipped with Autopilot, which we took out for a spin on a specially painted track. It's not perfect yet - it can be a bit bumpy at times, but overall it's impressive.

One thing that did strike us as interesting about the Tesla Model 3 is how much emphasis it places on technology and innovation. The car has all sorts of features that are meant to make your driving experience more enjoyable and convenient - from the massive screen to the Autopilot system. But we also can't help but wonder if some of these features might be a bit gimmicky.

We'd like to test this car for a while longer to get a better sense of where it stands in terms of overall quality and performance. But one thing's for sure - the Tesla Model 3 is certainly an interesting and ambitious project.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi everybody welcome to this 360-degree video lap of the Consumer Reports Auto test track of Mike Monticello and today we're in our latest test car purchase the Tesla Model 3 now if you're new to 360-degree videos they're really cool because on your device you can scroll all around check out the rear seat check out the front view check out the the huge screen here check out the materials in the car you can see everything at all of course point out a lot of these things as we're doing this video now as I said it's a Tesla so what does that mean that means it's all electric in this case we bought the long range battery version which is estimated to have over over 300 miles of range which is pretty good now there's going to be a regular battery car coming later which has an estimated 220 miles of range so why don't we start heading out to the track one of the things that has come up with these early model threes because we got a pretty early version is that some customers have said that uh you know the fit and finish isn't as good as they would like but we have found so far again we've only had the car a few days let me just open this gate here hopefully okay we've only had the car a few days but so far it feels solid it feels well built we haven't noticed any weird squeaks or rattles or anything like that say hi to Ryan there and you know it's got some really nice materials on it like this really nice suede and real wood trim right here you can see this and the suede on the doors so let's head out onto our Road course and one of the things about an electric car is full instant torque you feel that I mean it's it's really fast but the other thing we've noticed about this car that we really like is like the Model S that came before it it has really good handling and the steering is sharp it's quick it gives good feedback to the driver we're just really impressed overall with how well it does I mean it's really sticks to the road nicely but one thing that we have noticed is that the ride is a little bit unrefined you know it's like in this class of luxury cars you need it to be a little more comfortable than this we in fact I'd say we'd almost give up a little bit of of the handling prowess if the car if the car could absorb bumps a little bit better when you get on a rough back road you know it's it's it's pretty stiff but again it's hard to it's hard to complain when the car handles this well you know it's it's it's really fun and you know it doesn't have the thrills maybe of a you know the engine sounds of a regular internal combustion car but man it goes it goes really fast will say though that we've also noticed a fair amount of road noise you know and wind noise now we're only going 39 miles an hour here 38 that's where the the speedometer is here but when you get up close to highway speeds the car is actually pretty pretty loud and it's not just because there's no engine noise that you notice it it's it's got a fair amount of wind noise and road noise scroll around check out the the roof I mean it's basically all glass other than this bar right here and so what that makes is for a pretty open and airy cabin which is really nice although you can see back there the rear shelf as we call it it's pretty high and what that means is you can actually it can actually partially block the view of the car behind you but the front view is fantastic I mean it's got this small diameter steering wheel which you can have when you don't have any instruments in front of you because again they're all over here on this screen screen controls everything and it's got this great view outs a really nice position really nice armrest and you just feel like totally in control of the car the view is actually kind of similar to that cab forward feeling that you get in a Porsche Boxster or an Acura NSX now speaking of the screen it really does control everything like I said there's no instruments here whatsoever everything goes over here the speedo the you know if you want to control the mirrors you actually press this and then you you would control the mirrors with these these gizmos on the steering wheel now that's a bit this screen is a bit of a departure from the Model S and the Model X because it does basically everything and now the downside to that is how distracting is that and we're we're trying to figure that out we haven't decided yet exactly how we feel about the screen because it is a little weird having everything over here when you put everything over there like that you're gonna have eyes away from the road time and so we're not sure yet if this is the smartest thing or not we're gonna work with it and see see we how we feel we're gonna be testing this cars this car for weeks down the road we're gonna test its range or so we're gonna get to all that and kind of decide okay where are we this is this more of a gimmick or is this really a good thing for the future another thing about Tesla's something that they're kind of a signature feature is his auto pilot and this car has that as well and so you just put that in simply by hitting this the shifter lever actually twice and we've painted some lines on our track to kind of mimic you know a real road out in the real world and you know so it's got painted lines here that the car follows and the car is taking care of the speed and the steering on its own now it's actually not as smooth as you should be or at least hopefully that you are these systems are still kind of getting better but it's also not designed to fully take over for you so you have to remain engaged and honestly the best thing to do is to be safe and to always keep your hands on the wheel anyway so well we're kind of running toward the end of the track here so that's gonna do it for this 360 degree video thanks for joining me and I hope you learned some stuff today if you want to learn more about the Tesla Model 3 make sure you go to consumerreports.org okay thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time byehi everybody welcome to this 360-degree video lap of the Consumer Reports Auto test track of Mike Monticello and today we're in our latest test car purchase the Tesla Model 3 now if you're new to 360-degree videos they're really cool because on your device you can scroll all around check out the rear seat check out the front view check out the the huge screen here check out the materials in the car you can see everything at all of course point out a lot of these things as we're doing this video now as I said it's a Tesla so what does that mean that means it's all electric in this case we bought the long range battery version which is estimated to have over over 300 miles of range which is pretty good now there's going to be a regular battery car coming later which has an estimated 220 miles of range so why don't we start heading out to the track one of the things that has come up with these early model threes because we got a pretty early version is that some customers have said that uh you know the fit and finish isn't as good as they would like but we have found so far again we've only had the car a few days let me just open this gate here hopefully okay we've only had the car a few days but so far it feels solid it feels well built we haven't noticed any weird squeaks or rattles or anything like that say hi to Ryan there and you know it's got some really nice materials on it like this really nice suede and real wood trim right here you can see this and the suede on the doors so let's head out onto our Road course and one of the things about an electric car is full instant torque you feel that I mean it's it's really fast but the other thing we've noticed about this car that we really like is like the Model S that came before it it has really good handling and the steering is sharp it's quick it gives good feedback to the driver we're just really impressed overall with how well it does I mean it's really sticks to the road nicely but one thing that we have noticed is that the ride is a little bit unrefined you know it's like in this class of luxury cars you need it to be a little more comfortable than this we in fact I'd say we'd almost give up a little bit of of the handling prowess if the car if the car could absorb bumps a little bit better when you get on a rough back road you know it's it's it's pretty stiff but again it's hard to it's hard to complain when the car handles this well you know it's it's it's really fun and you know it doesn't have the thrills maybe of a you know the engine sounds of a regular internal combustion car but man it goes it goes really fast will say though that we've also noticed a fair amount of road noise you know and wind noise now we're only going 39 miles an hour here 38 that's where the the speedometer is here but when you get up close to highway speeds the car is actually pretty pretty loud and it's not just because there's no engine noise that you notice it it's it's got a fair amount of wind noise and road noise scroll around check out the the roof I mean it's basically all glass other than this bar right here and so what that makes is for a pretty open and airy cabin which is really nice although you can see back there the rear shelf as we call it it's pretty high and what that means is you can actually it can actually partially block the view of the car behind you but the front view is fantastic I mean it's got this small diameter steering wheel which you can have when you don't have any instruments in front of you because again they're all over here on this screen screen controls everything and it's got this great view outs a really nice position really nice armrest and you just feel like totally in control of the car the view is actually kind of similar to that cab forward feeling that you get in a Porsche Boxster or an Acura NSX now speaking of the screen it really does control everything like I said there's no instruments here whatsoever everything goes over here the speedo the you know if you want to control the mirrors you actually press this and then you you would control the mirrors with these these gizmos on the steering wheel now that's a bit this screen is a bit of a departure from the Model S and the Model X because it does basically everything and now the downside to that is how distracting is that and we're we're trying to figure that out we haven't decided yet exactly how we feel about the screen because it is a little weird having everything over here when you put everything over there like that you're gonna have eyes away from the road time and so we're not sure yet if this is the smartest thing or not we're gonna work with it and see see we how we feel we're gonna be testing this cars this car for weeks down the road we're gonna test its range or so we're gonna get to all that and kind of decide okay where are we this is this more of a gimmick or is this really a good thing for the future another thing about Tesla's something that they're kind of a signature feature is his auto pilot and this car has that as well and so you just put that in simply by hitting this the shifter lever actually twice and we've painted some lines on our track to kind of mimic you know a real road out in the real world and you know so it's got painted lines here that the car follows and the car is taking care of the speed and the steering on its own now it's actually not as smooth as you should be or at least hopefully that you are these systems are still kind of getting better but it's also not designed to fully take over for you so you have to remain engaged and honestly the best thing to do is to be safe and to always keep your hands on the wheel anyway so well we're kind of running toward the end of the track here so that's gonna do it for this 360 degree video thanks for joining me and I hope you learned some stuff today if you want to learn more about the Tesla Model 3 make sure you go to consumerreports.org okay thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time bye\n"