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
Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect
F: 235/35R-20 92Y T1
R: 275/30R-20 97Y T1
The Tesla Model 3 Performance can do just about one lap of VIR’s Grand Course in its fastest mode before its 80-kWh battery cries uncle and reduces its output in the interest of self-preservation. But please consider that the hair-on-fire Formula 1 cars of the 1980s turbo era had qualifying cars and engines that were also only good for a lap. Is this really any different?
We spent all but our first session in the Model 3 in the car’s fast-lap mode, which is Track mode with the standard level of powertrain endurance. So with a careful eye on battery, brake, and motor temperatures, we focused instead on maximum pace, turning just one hot lap at a time in the Tesla between charging.
Credit the 2:58.4 lap time—fast enough to beat the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N we ran last year—to our quick acclimation to the Model 3’s quirks. The steering is largely devoid of feel, but it’s responsive to small corrections. The adjustable regenerative braking, set to 100 percent, per Tesla’s recommendation, slows the car rapidly. Going into the Climbing Esses at 130.0 mph requires barely a lift to help the front end bite as you toss it into the first left. A larger lift destabilizes the chassis and our own sense of self-preservation.
The Climbing Esses is where the Ioniq 5 N shows its superior high-speed stability. While the Ioniq’s body control is buttoned down and knife-edge sharp, the M3P is at times as erratic as the Detroit Lions offense. In medium-pace corners, like Sector 4’s climb toward Roller Coaster, the Model 3 essentially matches the Ioniq 5 N’s ability.
Just before the finish line on our quickest lap, the Tesla’s thermal warnings trigger a reduced-power mode that we barely felt, and the car ended up 9 mph slower on the Front Straight than it had been at the beginning of the lap. Based on our first session, the car could likely turn a handful of laps at the Volkswagen GTI’s pace, but for just one lap, the Model 3 Performance is the quickest EV around VIR for under $100,000.
Back to Lightning Lap 2026
K.C. Colwell, the executive editor at Car and Driver, is a seasoned professional with a deep-rooted passion for new cars and technology. His journey into the world of automotive journalism began at an early age when his grandmother gifted him a subscription to Car and Driver for his 10th birthday. This gift sparked a lifelong love for the industry, and he read every issue between then and his first day of employment. 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, K.C. also set the production-car lap record at Virginia International Raceway for C/D‘s annual Lightning Lap track test and was just the sixth person to drive the Hendrick Motorsport Garage 56 Camaro. In 2017, he took over as testing director until 2022, when was promoted to executive editor and has led the brand to be one of the top automotive magazines in the country. When he’s not thinking about cars, he likes playing hockey in the winter and golf in the summer and doing his best to pass his good car sense and love of ’90s German sedans to his daughter. He might be the only Car and Driver editor to own a Bobcat: the skidsteer, not the feline. Though, if you have a bobcat guy, reach out. K.C. resides in Chelsea, Michigan, with his family.