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10-Second SUV - Tesla Model X Makes Short Work of Ford Mustang in Record Run

Love it, hate it, or just feel sorry for it - regardless where you stand on the Tesla Model X, it's definitely among the front-runners in the race for the quickest SUV out there.
Tesla Model X drag racing 29 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
Not so long ago, the quickest SUVs were your BMW X5 Ms, your Mercedes-AMG GLE63s, or your Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, but over the past few years, a lot of new models have joined this lot and, in some cases, even improved on their performance.

Models like the Bentley Bentayga can pick up pace surprisingly quickly given its size and overwhelming levels of luxury, but with a V12 engine under the hood, you wouldn't expect any less. Then there's the Lamborghini Urus - the first modern SUV from the Italian brand - whose badge gave it no choice but to perform. Finally, the USA fought back the best way it could with the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and its 707 hp, enough to make it the quickest of the bunch with 0-62 mph (100 km/h) happening in 3.4 seconds.

However, this wasn't America's best effort. The actual king of acceleration among SUVs is the Tesla Model X, the California-built electric vehicle with a 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) time of 2.7 seconds. Granted, that's 0-60 mph compared to 0-62 mph, but even if you factor in the difference, it's still the Tesla that comes out on top with a comfortable margin.

The chrome-wrapped Tesla Model X you see here (skip to 3:50 for the race) isn't exactly stock. It's not that it's had something added to it, but rather quite the opposite. It's what you would call "gutted," much to every British person's bewilderment. It's had its interior stripped away all the way to the battery pack, with only the driver's seat standing and, for some reason, all the door panels.

The weight saves this brings should not be overlooked. Michael, the owner of the X, says just the one middle-row seat weighed over 100 lbs (roughly 50 kg), and with five of them coming out in the process, that's at least 500 lbs gone. The Model X has plenty of lard to dispose of so even after clearing the interior, it's still a heavy car. It's light enough to make Mustangs give up and go home, though, and also to pull off a 10.929 quarter-mile run.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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