Chevy Camaro SS Races Tesla Model S Plaid, Gap Can Be Seen From the Moon

The future is unpredictable when it comes to the Dodge Challenger, as this model, alongside its four-door sibling, the Charger, will leave production for good at the end of 2023. And its future is certainly blurry, as the company's next muscly model might be quite some time away from debuting and could use battery-electric power.

Things aren't that bright when it comes to the Chevrolet Camaro either, as the bowtie brand will sound the death knell for it at the end of the 2024 model year. That is when the sixth-gen will bow out for good. Some think the nameplate will return on a similar machine, either with EV or ICE power. In contrast, others believe the Camaro will be turned into a sub-brand, giving birth to additional body styles, including a sporty crossover.

Thus, you may want to hurry up and place a deposit for one if it is on your shopping list. Otherwise, you will have to search the used car market for a barely-driven example, and we all know what this means. Yep, that would be insane markups from the greedy vendors. As a result, you may end up paying a heck of a lot more for a second-hand copy than a brand-new one. And while you're at it, please choose a V8-powered model, even if it is not the range-topping ZL1, as it wouldn't be a real muscle car without an eight-cylinder engine under the hood.

The most affordable V8 variant is the LT1, carrying an MSRP of $40,395. It features a 455 hp (461 ps/339 kW) and 455 lb-ft (617 Nm) of torque 6.2-liter unit, just like the 1SS and 2SS. Topping the family is the ZL1, with its $73,695 starting price before destination, options, and markups. This model boasts 650 hp (659 ps/485 kW) and 650 lb-ft (881 Nm) from its supercharged 6.2-liter V8. And it might not be as punchy as a two-door Dodge Hellcat or the mighty Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 from the previous-gen pony car, but it can certainly challenge (pun intended) them to a straight-line duel.

We have all seen all kinds of drag races involving the Camaro, Challenger, and Mustang, which have also taken on various other vehicles with more or less power on tap. In this instance, the spotlight moves to the Tesla Model S Plaid, as a blue example was filmed taking on a black Camaro, presumably not long ago. The hypersedan and the muscle car proved their worth at the Mission Raceway Park in Canada, and as you already know, the quarter-mile drag race from a standing start was over a few seconds after it began.

We cannot write about the Tesla Model S Plaid without reminding ourselves about its mind-bending straight-line performance, as we are looking at a family-friendly car that takes less than two seconds to sprint to sixty miles per hour (97 kph). It boasts a peak output of 1,020 hp (1,035 ps/761 kW) and has a top speed of 200 mph (322 kph). It is not uncommon for this machine to run the quarter-mile in a few tenths over the nine-second mark. As a result, its ad-hoc rivals challenging it to a drag race need to be extremely powerful if they dream about crossing the finish line first.

Now, you don't need to be a car expert to tell that there is a major gap between the Chevrolet Camaro and the Tesla Model S Plaid. The former appears to be in the SS configuration, meaning that it has less than half the power of the electric vehicle. So, it better have a tune of some sort that would elevate its output to neck-snapping levels should it want to dream about beating the Model S Plaid in this head-to-head duel, yet at first glance, it doesn't appear to have had its internals touched by the tuning fairy. But we cannot be certain of that just by looking at the exterior, can we?

We know that you're dying to find out which of the two was quicker on that day, and we will not ruin the outcome of the video that you are about to watch by revealing the winner. Embedded below, it is only one minute long, and you will have to watch it to see just how much a whooping one of them got. But you could also cheat by taking a look in the image gallery, as that's an easier way to work out if it was the Tesla that crossed the finish line first or the Chevy. That said, you probably saw it coming, didn't you?