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Tesla Model S Plaid Drag Races 1,000-Horsepower McLaren 720S With Shocking Results

Racing two of the world's most special cars is just another normal day at DragTimes. What isn't normal is how close each of these races is between the 1,000 horsepower Tesla Model S Plaid and a tuned 1,000 horsepower McLaren 720S Spider.
Tesla Model S Plaid VS McLaren 720S Spider 6 photos
Photo: DragTimes
Tesla Model S Plaid VS McLaren 720S SpiderTesla Model S Plaid VS McLaren 720S SpiderTesla Model S Plaid VS McLaren 720S SpiderTesla Model S Plaid VS McLaren 720S SpiderTesla Model S Plaid VS McLaren 720S Spider
Brooks, from DragTimes, is well known for his intensely fast collection of sports cars and supercars. In the first frame of the video below, we see a Mazda FD RX-7, a Ford GT, a McLaren 765LT, and a Lamborghini Huracan.

None of those monsters gets featured in the video, though. No, that honor goes to his notoriously quick Tesla Model S Plaid. He takes it to the drag strip and goes up against the owner of a McLaren 720S Spider.

The 720S Spider is a bit heavier than a stock 720S, but this one is packing a bit of extra power to make up for it. We get a few moments of that owner telling us all about it. To the wheels, the McLaren makes 850 horsepower. That means that back up at the crank, before driveline loss, it's making in the neighborhood of 1,000 horsepower.

To achieve that, the owner added a more free-flowing downpipe and a better breathing intake. Then, he had the car tuned to take full advantage of those modifications.

Consider this too. The Tesla Model S Plaid makes 1,000 horsepower and has almost no driveline loss. It also gets to spread that power out across four tires. The technology onboard the Model S is built to help it put every bit of power to the ground.

The McLaren, though, has to put that power down with just two tires. It also has sophisticated traction control, but it wasn't designed with 1,000 horsepower in mind. Nevertheless, how it manages that power is simply amazing.

In race one, we see the McLaren leap off the line in a way that very few cars on the planet can. The Model S literally can't catch it all the way down the track. Every gear shift seems the McLaren actually gains just a bit of ground and it wins running a 9.3 second time over the Tesla at 9.4.

Interestingly we do see one big difference after the run. As the cars slow down, it's clear that the McLaren is just a much lighter and more sports-oriented build. The Tesla uses all of the runway to slow down while the McLaren stops so quickly you'd think they launched a parachute.

Run two goes to the Tesla, though. Brooks cuts the light perfectly, and despite pulling on the top end, the McLaren can't quite catch up. What's shocking is run three.

Again, the Model S gets the launch, but this time by not as much. The McLaren 720S Spider slowly but surely reels it in and wins in a literal photo finish. It should be noted that the Model S started out with a 73% charge which did limit its performance just a bit. We hope for a rematch soon! Watch the full video below!

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