Can a Tesla Model 3 Beat a New Porsche 911 Carrera S in a Drag Race?

This is the all-new generation of the 2+2 we'd all like to afford, filled with more of the things that make all 911s good. But the game may have moved on from flat-six engines sitting in the wrong place. It's all about electricity now.

Porsche knows about this and it's tried to give the world a super-expensive alternative to the Tesla Model S. But the Model 3 is like an Android smartphone, offering nearly all that performance at a lower price. More specifically, the Model 3 Performance is almost half the price of the Porsche.

Before we jump into the drag race, let's look at the specs. The ones presented by the British magazine Carwow are of the metric variety, so they're not going to be relevant for Americans even if we convert them.

Tesla doesn't officially publish these numbers, but Carwow says the Model 3 Performance is making 490 hp. Tesla did make a software update with more power, so that's why the output looks a little high. As for torque, the dual motors deliver 660 Nm of torque. Weight is 1847 kg, apparently, so it's not the lightest car around, but when you consider that it's a true four-seater while the 1,590kg Porsche is a 2+2, things aren't so bad.

Speaking of which, the 911 Carrera S' latest version of the 3-liter bi-turbo is rated at 450 hp and 530 Nm. Doesn't sound like much, does it?

The first drag race goes to the Model 3, followed by two narrow victories for the Porsche. But the sports car is more dependent on racing conditions while the EV does exactly the same quarter-mile time three times in a dow. Victory in the rolling race has to go to the American electric car as well.