There's no doubt that the Tesla Model S Plaid is a feat of engineering. Also, it is the fastest accelerating vehicle ever tested by Car and Driver. What isn't so readily known is how this sedan behaves once it's up to speed.
Braking issues have been at the forefront of the complaint list when it comes to the Model S Plaid. Despite being handily equipped to reach triple-digit speeds faster than a $3-million-dollar Bugatti, coming back down has been a concern.
Some reviewers have called it scary, while others have noted the intense heat that the brakes have created under load. Those same sentiments are shared by the testing crew in the video below, but there's more to the story.
They say that, yes, their Model S Plaid had braking issues. Their testing protocol includes five back-to-back stops from 70mph to 0 down a 1.5-mile straightaway. Then, they complete one more stop on the way back. The average stopping distance for the Plaid was 150-feet.
To put that into perspective, a 2017 Corvette Grand Sport averaged just 136-feet for the same test. There's more, though. The Tesla's brakes actually got so hot that they sent a warning onto the dash of the sedan. Then there's the way this thing handles at speed.
Testers reported such light steering that the experience was unsettling as the car wanders around the road. In fact, it's so off-putting that Car and Driver directly compare it to the Porsche Taycan (with its excellent steering feedback) and say that the Tesla just isn't as good.
Still, there's no getting around the elephant in the room that is acceleration. It's rightly pointed out that never before has an American sedan been able to so strongly rival hypercars in the way this car can.
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