Tested! The Tesla Model Y Offers Swift 0–60 MPH Speed, but Is It Fun?

“Insane” is where it begins. Activate the 2026 Tesla Model Y Performance’s Insane acceleration mode, slam on the brakes, floor the accelerator, and release the brakes. That’s all you need to make the scenery blur as the 510-hp Model Y flagship launches you toward the horizon.

Easy, repeatable fun.

It’s the rest of the Model Y Performance’s experience that sends us on a wild ride of highs and lows, making us want to congratulate Tesla on a job well done before shaking our head in frustration.

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Seven. Years.

The 2026 Model Y represents the seventh model year of one of the most popular SUVs available today. If you don’t personally own one, you probably know someone who does. Tesla recently gave the Model Y a freshening, with a vaguely Cybertrucky front end and restyled rear end.

The reshaped front seats now offer ventilation, ambient lighting can match the album cover of the music you’re listening to, and the interior material quality has been improved a bit.

On paper, the Model Y’s roughly $40,000–$60,000 price range allows it to compete with an enormous variety of gas and electric SUVs, all backed by the road-trip convenience of Tesla’s unmatched Supercharger network. Then there’s this Performance model, which offers 510 hp from a dual-motor AWD setup.

0–60 MPH: Can Tesla Compete With Rivian?

Rivian recently released its more affordable R2 SUV, the Performance trim of which carries a 100-hp advantage over a Model Y. But if you think that puts the Model Y at an acceleration disadvantage, you’d be wrong. That’s because the more luxurious R2 Performance is 537 pounds heavier than the Tesla.

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The Tesla hits 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, 0.1 second quicker than the R2 Performance. By the quarter mile, the R2 has caught up, with an 11.3-second quarter mile at 128.6 mph. The Tesla is good for a still-impressive 11.5 seconds at 122.3 mph.

Here’s where it gets even more interesting. In MotorTrend testing, the test crew found the Model Y Performance to be a joy to drive around our figure-eight course, which tests acceleration, handling, and braking, as well as the transitions in between. Yet in the experience of three editors driving over 600 miles over varied roads, that sense of fun simply doesn’t translate to the real world. Here, it’s the difference between capability and a subjective sense of fun you get when driving the Tesla back to back against SUVs with better steering and a better ride-and-handling balance.

In a maturing electric SUV market, that disconnect becomes a real issue. Defining “fun” is hard to do (and super uncool), but the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, and Kia EV6 all remind us that more fun is possible in this space.

The Model Y Performance’s ride quality has improved since it first arrived years ago, but it’s not enough. The 2026 Model Y Performance sends too many minor road imperfections straight to the driver’s seat, and the steering doesn’t communicate with the driver the way the segment’s best do.

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In our testing, the Model Y Performance delivered a Road-Trip Range of 279 miles, not far below its 306-mile EPA-rated range. Both figures are very good. For comparison, a Rivian R2 Performance has an EPA-rated range of 330 miles, but the blocky SUV managed a comparatively lower 263-mile Road-Trip Range score.

Absolutely Brilliant

For all the debate surrounding Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD), which we’ve given our Best Tech award, another innovation quietly impresses, too: The Model Y’s packaging is unbeatable. A good-sized back seat is accompanied by one of the best cargo areas on the market. We’re focusing on functionality here, not maximum space.

Two deep side pockets in the cargo area keep soda and eggs from moving around on the way home, while underfloor storage keeps tons of stuff out of sight still with plenty of space above it. In our case, we stuck a big folding chair and racing helmet down there no problem. Then there’s the frunk, which offers more usable, easily accessible space. Thanks to the Tesla’s low front end, shorter folks can reach into it without leaning against the front of the SUV, as an R2 owner might have to. There’s also tons of covered and open storage for whatever you’ve got in the cabin.

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Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Pros and Cons

If you trust FSD and are comfortable using it regularly, the tech can change the way you think about driving. We know how that sounds, but the system has improved over the years.

Here’s what hasn’t changed: The hands-free lane changes remain best in class. The way the car moves over to the next lane is smooth, and for those prone to motion sickness like me, that attention to detail is appreciated.

It’s not all sunshine and flowers, though. New Teslas still include adaptive cruise control, but lane centering requires an FSD subscription. When sub-$30,000 economy cars include a pair of features as standard and your $60,000 SUV doesn’t, we have a problem with that. Keep in mind FSD costs a hefty $99/month, and it’s easy to see why some might prefer tech from a Tesla competitor that’s included for life. And while FSD allows you to select modes such as Chill, Hurry, or Mad Max to influence the speed, there are still plenty of times when we wish we could set a specific speed, the way cruise control has worked for decades.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5, for example, has lane centering and adaptive cruise control with assisted lane changes on select highways. Zero subscription charges are required, and the SUV costs many thousands less. Hyundai’s tech isn’t trying to do nearly as much as the Tesla, but we still see adaptive cruise and lane centering—with the ability to set a specific speed—as a great way to reduce stress and exhaustion on a boring commute home or a long highway drive.

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What Holds Back the MYP

At an as-tested $59,380 plus the cost of a $99/month FSD subscription, the 2026 Tesla Model Y Performance should wow us. But besides pluses such as FSD and quick spurts to 60 mph, the SUV disappoints in some important ways.

The same basic body style has been offered for years, and we think the few visual updates it has received have made it look worse, especially from behind. The interior also lets us down. Even if the fit and finish were impeccable (and it wasn’t on our test SUV), the Tesla’s interior comes off as functional yet boring. For $60,000, you should get a lot of SUV, and you can get more elsewhere; a nicely equipped Rivian R2 or Genesis GV60, for example, falls in the same price range.

Finally, some MotorTrend editors dislike the lack of customizability in the Tesla’s infotainment system. The settings search bar is an excellent idea, but there are very few ways to make the SUV’s screen your own. Contrast that with the range of info layouts you can select in the Rivian R2 or the customizable driver displays available in many cars today. The Tesla opts for an airier look in front of the driver—there is no second display up front.

The Model Y also has some of the least helpful door handles on the market. No proximity sensor senses your approach and pokes out the thin handle to make entering easier, like the Ioniq 5. Normal door handles may cost a bit in aerodynamic efficiency and don’t look futuristic, but they’re way easier to live with.

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Get This, not Model Y Performance

The practical stuff affects all Model Ys, but having a car make you feel special is part of why you go for the Model Y Performance. And that feeling is what we’re not getting enough of here. If you trust FSD and want the Tesla to drive itself (with you supervising), spare yourself the Performance’s ride quality and get a Premium AWD model with the $99/month subscription.

You’ll say goodbye to easy 3.3-second 0–60 launches, but you know what? The Premium AWD’s 4.3-second time still feels quick. The $8,000 you save buys more than six years of FSD at its current monthly price for when you don’t feel like driving the car yourself. One editor on staff swears by the latest version of the system and lets it drive for them nearly everywhere around town.

About 600 miles of experiencing the 2026 Model Y Performance reinforces that Tesla simply does things differently. Sometimes, this approach leads to real innovation. But we can’t separate the good from the bad on this SUV, and there are too many head-scratchers for us to recommend this specific trim.