The Tesla Model S drag racing shenanigans have now reached Australia and it’s time to see what the fastest sedans Down Under can do against America’s electron juice four-door machine.
We are talking about a two-step challenge, one that starts with a Tesla Model S P85D taking on the fastest street metal you can buy as an Aussie, namely the Walkinshaw HSV GTS.
Walkinshaw Performance’s take on the HSV GTS sees the supercharged 6.2-liter engine under the hood being dialed up to 680 hp and 627 lb-ft (850 Nm).
The Tesla seen here doesn’t include the Ludicrous Mode upgrade, but this doesn’t keep the electric vehicle from showing the old school sedan who’s faster in a straight line.
Having done away with the muscle sedan, the Tesla moves on to battle Australia’s finest, namely a V8 Supercar. To be more precise, we are dealing with an extreme motorsport incarnation of the Holden Commodore, one that delivers 640 hp and tips the scales at just 3,080 lbs (1,400 kg).
Sure, the Tesla weighs considerably more, sitting at 4,936 lbs (2,239 kg), but it does have the all-wheel drive advantage. And on the relatively short distance used here, that means a quite a lot.
The assets of the two machines lead to a drag race that’s worth watching with a bag of popcorn in your hand, we can tell you that much.
Before we invite you to hit the play button below and enjoy the mix of feelings and emotions generated by the performance sedan trio, we can’t help but wonder how such drag races will look in a few years from now.
The question has to do with carmakers such as Porsche releasing electric vehicles (Mission E thoughts, anybody?). How much of Tesla’s current shine will be left once the big names start rolling out EVs?
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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