Perfect partners

My long-suffering friends and family have little doubt of my passion for cars. I live to hear and feel a wound-out, or even lazy, internal combustion engine as much as any of your long-term readers. High points among cars I’ve owned include the barrelling growl of a 987 Boxster S and the visceral, exponential race to the red line of an E92 M3. I get it.

Seven years ago I swapped the M3 for a beautiful three-year-old 997 Carrera 4S. I adore it. But there came a point when continuing to use it as a ‘daily’ felt abusive. I narrowed my choices to swapping it for an RS5 or C63 S coupe, or keeping it and using the EV tax break to get a Tesla Model 3 Performance.

Four-wheel drive (but interesting 4WD, mind) is a must for me: I have to get to work come rain or snow. M3 ownership proved to me how useless 400bhp and rear-wheel

drive at a slippery T-junction really is – especially when no one lets an M3 out at a T-junction. Winter tyres, you say? They are amazing, in the snow, but rubbish over 5-7deg C.

The test drive in the RS5 was great but it didn’t capture my heart more than the Tesla, and the Tesla made me laugh out loud. I chose the EV and have never looked back.

The 4S has cemented itself in my heart. The Model 3 may not stimulate the heart via the ears on ‘winding it out’, but it’s truly enjoyable, encouraging you to take apart an A- or B-road with very rewarding steering, handling and ‘throttle’ response, and mighty braking. And all the while it meets all the needs of my family, and my own ageing need for creature comforts. Plus there is the (still breathtaking) anytime, anywhere, scalded-cat acceleration and overtaking. Not to mention the tech, adjustable 4WD bias, and the running cost savings (which I then spend on the Porsche, of course).

So please, don’t stop reviewing EVS. Let us not abandon the future, or the now. What we love from the past can still be revelled in, in the future. Both in ICE and EV form. And sometimes one can complement the other in perfect symbiosis.