Plaid versus Plaid Track Package may be a silly duel, but it's not. With so many settings available in the tri-motor EV, the featured video is about getting the right settings for straight-line shenanigans.
But first, what's Plaid Track Package? Retailing at $20k on Tesla's website, said package upgrades the Model S Plaid with goodies that include carbon-ceramic brakes, updated software for peak braking performance, track-ready brake fluid, Goodyear Supercar 3R tires, and Zero-G center caps. The icing on the cake is the 200-mph top speed as opposed to 162 mph without the Track Package.
If you prefer metric units, make that a little over 320 and 260 kilometers per hour. Model S Plaid owners can also specify the fancy brakes only for a cool $15k at press time. As for the Model S Plaid, that would be $89,990 before the destination charge.
The white-painted Model S Plaid in the video below is completely stock, meaning 4,766 pounds (2,162 kilograms) and 1,020 ponies at full chatter. The purple car sports the optional Track Package and HRE wheels that look particularly good on the Tesla Model S.
In the first of six dig races over 1,000 feet (305 meters) of runway, the MSPTP makes easy work of the non-TP vehicle. Both drivers were in Drag Strip Mode, meaning that both launched in Cheetah Mode. The second race also ends with the purple car getting to the finish line first in Drag Strip Mode. Sport versus Plaid concludes rather obviously, and so does Chill versus Plaid in the following race.
Photo: Hoonigan on YouTube
Pictured at Hoonigan's usual filming location (Santa Margarita Ranch), the zero-emission sedans then duke it out in Drag Strip Mode for the white Model S Plaid and Track Mode for the purple Model S Plaid. The white car pips the purple one by a bumper, which is only normal given that Track Mode is designed for better cornering/handling.
The sixth and final race is a bit of a charade due to three passengers in the purple car and only the driver for the white Model S Plaid, resulting in a dominant victory for the non-Track Package car. Hardly scientific, these drag races prove the obvious: Drag Strip Mode is how you go quickest (and fastest) in Model S Plaid in a straight line.
In the right conditions, the quickest and fastest Tesla of them all is much obliged to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in 1.99 seconds. Few series-production cars are capable of besting that, with the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 coming to mind. Equipped with Mickey Thompson ET Street Rs out back and ET Street rubber boots up front, the most powerful muscle car of all time needs only 1.66 seconds.
The Rimac Nevera and Pininfarina Battista deserve to be mentioned as well. For the Croatian and Italian four-motor electric hypercars, the numbers are 1.74 and 1.79 seconds. Their maximum speeds? 258 mph (412 kph) and 222 mph (358 kph), respectively.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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