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Randy Pobst to Take Unplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 to Pikes Peak

Unlike their gas-burning counterparts, there's not much tuning you can do on an electric motor - at least not without voiding your warranty or losing the privilege to use the Supercharger network if we're talking about a Tesla.
Unplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 Performance 5 photos
Photo: Unplugged Performance via Facebook
Unplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 PerformanceUnplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 PerformanceUnplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 PerformanceUnplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 Performance
And we are. This thing you're looking at is a Tesla Model 3 Performance that's been fitted with the Unplugged Performance Ascension-R conversion package (commercially unavailable yet). If you're wondering what all that means, we'll allow Unplugged Performance to explain: the Ascension-R is "our Tesla Model 3 based answer to the Porsche GT3 RS."

In other words, a track-focused transformation that does nothing to the vehicle's ability to function as a daily driver too. Well, apart from the fact you're a lot more likely to poke your eye out in one of the vehicle's sharp and pointy aerodynamic elements.

The package doesn't just make the Tesla Model 3 Performance look properly racy, it also gives it a considerable performance boost around the track. So much so, in fact, that the Unplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 (they sometimes refer to it as a Track Model 3) is now famously quicker around the Tsukuba racetrack than a McLaren F1.

The Track Model 3 also set new a record at Laguna Seca for a four-door vehicle, ironically enough beating the tri-motor Tesla Model S Plaid prototype with a time of 1:36.55 minutes. With the team running out of racetracks to prove the modified Model 3's mettle, they are now gunning for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

The electric car is perfectly suited for the iconic challenge as it's not affected by the lack of oxygen that suffocates a regular internal combustion engine. The same Randy Pobst who drove the EV for the Laguna Seca record will sit behind its wheel for the hill climb as well, which is not surprising given his experience and the fact he's been involved with the development of the project from early on.

The end game of all this is for Unplugged Performance to sell its new product, the Ascension-R package, so the team hasn't set any target for the outing on August 30. The car that will go through (hopefully) all the 156 turns of the iconic hill climb will have its interior bare stripped and a sturdy roll cage installed, but Unplugged Performance promises that the Ascension-R Model 3s with a full interior will perform just as well.

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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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