Dad’s Dilemma: Richard Hammond searches for the perfect ride for his daughter | Taza Khabre

Key findings

• Mike completely blew Richard Hammond’s budget and specifications by offering a Tesla Model 3 that cost twice as much and had extraordinary performance capabilities.
• Despite initial skepticism, Tesla Model 3 won Izzy Hammond over, she liked its off-road capabilities, one-pedal drive system, minimalist interior and logical controls.
• Izzy’s interest in cars came after she started following Formula 1, and she admits that Tesla managed to win her over by proving itself on and off the road. She hopes to convince Richard to increase her budget to buy a Tesla for her move to London.

Richard Hammondwith The big tour show on Amazon Prime Video, was left with a dilemma as his daughter Izzy needed a new car for her upcoming move to London, United Kingdom. Richard will go to Zimbabwe to shoot a movie new episode of The Grand Tour co-hosted by Jeremy Clarkson and James May.

He tasked Mike Fernie, a TV host, with finding a new conversation for her Drivetribe’s YouTube channel. In the video, Mike’s task was to find a suitable car for Richard to purchase and show Izzy in the hope that she would fall in love with it.

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Mike completely exceeded Richard Hammond’s specifications

Richard first lays out the directions for Mike to follow when looking for Izzy’s upcoming ride. He wanted Mike to find a car that cost under $30,000, could comfortably cover a lot of miles, and was fairly modest in terms of pure performance.

Sensing that Izzy wouldn’t appreciate him following the strict limits set by Richard, Mike decided to take a left and get something completely different. He went to a 2023 Tesla Model 3 A performance that is roughly $70,000, double Richard’s original budget.

Also, the Model 3 Performance has much more speed than Richard had hoped for, capable of hitting 60 mph in just 3.1 seconds. It was at least practical, as the Model 3 had four doors and a fairly decent sized trunk.

Specifications

Source (Tesla USA, ev database)

Izzy Hammond did not conquer the angry Tesla

Richard’s new car wish list for his daughter

• Not more than $30,000
• Practical and good on the track
• Tamed performance

What Mike provided Tesla Model 3

• The car costs $70,000
• Practical, drives well on the highway with a decent range
• Extreme performance that can rival some supercars

Izzy was surprised when Mike pulled up in a Tesla Model 3 Performance outside Richard’s house. She noted that she thought it looked evil and scary in terms of style, and that it didn’t really fit in with the countryside she now lives in.

With her moving to London for a while, she outlined a few key areas Tesla needs to do well to replace her current car; Mercedes A-Class hatchback 2018. She needed the Tesla to be able to drive up and down the dirt road to get to the stables on the Richards property. He must also be able to perform tasks such as carrying hay bales.

Before they could test how the Tesla handled off-road, Izzy and Mike first had to see if the Tesla could drive through the narrow arch that stood between them and the back of the house. Mike told Izzy using Tesla’s radar system, which picks up any nearby obstacles and displays them on the center screen so the driver can easily drive around them.

The effectiveness of the system was evident as it soon picked up the van and the camera operator, then charted an arch as Izzy approached her. Using the system, Izzy easily managed to clear the hole and move on to the off-road portion of the test.

Izzy Hammond tests the Tesla off-road

Izzy and Mike first took the long dirt road leading to the stables, then decided to cut through a nearby field. The four-wheel-drive Tesla impressed both of them, gliding easily across the grass. Izzy was blown away by how smooth the car felt when driving off-road, and how efficiently it was able to cross the field without a hint of getting stuck.

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Since the Tesla easily passed the off-road test and made it to the stables, Izzy wanted to test the car’s practicality by seeing how many bales of hay she could fit in the car’s trunk. They only managed to fit one bale into the vehicle, though Izzy figured it could still be used if one needed to be grabbed quickly, even if it couldn’t be a primary workhorse.

Izzy Hammond begins to fall in love with Tesla when the road opens

Izzy’s thoughts on the Tesla Model 3

• She liked the 1-pedal braking system
• Loved the minimalist interior compared to her old Mercedes-Benz A-Class
• After moving to London, she is happy that there are more charging ports

As Tesla began to win Izzy over as she relentlessly passed every challenge she threw at her, it was time to see how she would handle the road. Mike told her about the one-pedal drive system, which allows the driver to only use the accelerator because the Tesla brakes itself when the driver takes off the accelerator.

Izzy noted that although the system seemed strange at first, she quickly got used to it and liked it. She also explained that it was easier to use than she expected because when she first looked at it, she felt that the Tesla would be completely foreign compared to previous cars she had owned.

As she drove it longer, she admitted that she began to like the Tesla better than her Mercedes A-Class. She even began to prefer the more minimalist interior of the Model 3 compared to the interior of her Mercedes. Izzy also liked the digital driver control system, noting that while it’s quite different from her Mercedes, it feels very logical and natural to use.

Mike also emphasized that Tesla would make a lot of sense for her upcoming move to London. Because London is a big city compared to her current lifestyle in the British countryside, it has significantly more charging points. This means that using the Model 3 in urban environments will be less frustrating without worrying about running out of charge and being miles away from any charging point.

Despite his Top Gear influence, Izzy Hammond was never a natural gearhead

As Izzy piloted the Tesla, Mike noticed that Izzy had several driving traits just like her father, Richard. She admitted that she was never a gearhead when she was growing up because she saw cars as Richard’s job. Her Mercedes A-Class was bought because her first car, a 2014 Mini Cooper Convertible, wasn’t practical enough for highway driving.

She shared that in recent years though she has developed a genuine interest in cars, partly due to her love of Formula 1 racing. Izzy said that while she had always enjoyed driving, it wasn’t until she started following Formula 1 that she wanted to learn about how the cars worked, which piqued her interest.

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When Izzy and Mike reached the end of the route and stopped at a roadside pub, she admitted that the Tesla had won her over. Although she was skeptical of the Model 3 when she first saw it, she came around to the idea after it proved its effectiveness both on and off-road. She said she would like to have one for her move to London, although it would take work to get Richard to increase the budget much more than he originally planned.

Sources: YouTube @ DriveTribe, Tesla, ev-database