It should have been one of the most significant car launches of 2017 with its impressive 310-mile range and affordable price tag. But the Tesla Model 3 has been tainted with bad publicity thanks to its on-going production issues as the automaker is still struggling to meet demand, though the situation is slowly improving. Recently, a Model 3 managed to conquer the Cannonball Run in record time for an EV which temporarily distracted us from the car's negative press. Now it turns out the Model 3 is significantly faster than what Tesla is advertising.

Brooks from DragTimes recently put the Tesla Model 3 through its paces at the drag strip to test the car's 0-62 mph and quarter mile time, which Tesla hasn't revealed yet. Testing the RWD Tesla Model 3 with the Long Range battery pack, the EV did the quarter mile run in 13.376 seconds reaching a speed of 103 mph and also managed to achieve a 0-60 mph time of 4.6 seconds.

That makes the Tesla Model 3 faster than the Porsche Panamera. Officially, Tesla claims that the Model 3 with the Long Range battery pack option does 0-62 mph in 5.1 seconds, so this seems to be a rather conservative figure. Its performance almost puts it on par with the unlocked Tesla Model S 75D which accelerates from 0-62 mph in 4.2 seconds, so it looks like Tesla has been deliberately downplaying the Model 3's performance to avoid cannibalising Model S sales. It's particularly impressive when you consider that this isn't the all-wheel-drive, dual-motor performance version of the Model 3 expected to start production this spring.