Tesla Model S Plaid Fully Staged Start Gives Model S Raven the Move, No Chance

Of course, all that will only happen under very specific circumstances, but most of them you are likely to find at a drag strip, with the most important being the track prep. Well, not everyone sprays glue on the surface the way Tesla would like to, so hitting the 9.2s is proving to be eluding the few Plaid owners who are already taking their cars racing, but that won't keep them from trying.

Despite talking so much about the Plaid, the main protagonist of the clip below is actually an older Tesla Model S Raven - that's the more recent Performance version with a rear Model 3 motor mounted on its front axis. We don't know exactly how old the EV, but the owner does say the final run on the evening was the car's 966th pass. So, in terms of drag racing, it is almost 1,000 passes old.

This is probably a lesson for everyone looking to consistently take their Teslas drag racing since, after all those runs, the car can still all but match its best time ever. Believe it or not, it actually managed to beat its previous trap speed personal record.

The secret, according to its very experienced driver, is to limit the times you charge the car to 100 percent and try not to use Ludicrous+ mode since it heats up the battery and potentially (most likely) shortens its life span. The tires, on the other hand, there's nothing you can do to save those.

The clip below features the battle-hardened Raven in nine races - five against ICE opponents and four against the same Model S Plaid. The first two are kind of warm-up runs against a Porsche 911 Carrera and a Chevrolet Corvette C7, but things get a lot more serious after that.

First up is a trailered G-Body Monte Carlo on slicks that manages to beat the Tesla off the line - an odd thing to see. Usually, when that happens, the car goes on to win it since modified ICE racers tend to have more power up-top. Not this one, however, though it looks like it might have been a gear shift that let it down.

The second threat, and an even bigger one, came from a Chevrolet El Camino with a big turbo and an exhaust you could fit a watermelon in. The Chevy is no stranger to this Tesla - it had already beaten the EV in an 1/8-mile race, so logic tells us the longer distance should make it even less of a fight. Well, the Camino didn't seem to be at its best so, in the end, it was a relatively easy win for the S, helped by an excellent time of 0.04 seconds.

We'll ignore the Chevrolet C8 and just focus on the Plaid duel - well, on the Plaid itself because, as you'd expect, there wasn't much duel to be had. Because setting up takes so much time, Teslas don't usually get to race at their maximum potential in these public events. But when two Tesla owners meet, they have no problem waiting for each other's vehicle to warm up the battery and lower the nose into what was once called "Cheetah stance" to make the most of their powertrain.

The first race between the two EVs takes place in regular conditions, and it shows. The Plaid only manages a time of 9.73 seconds, but it's still enough to beat the Raven's 10.88 despite the latter taking an early lead thanks to another excellent reaction time.

For the next race, the Plaid visits the Supercharger to top off its battery and activates its Drag Mode and Cheetah Stance. The Raven is still in Ludicrous mode (not Plus) and with about 70% of the battery left. However, the Plaid driver gives it the move as a courtesy for allowing all of his prepping to be done. The result? Plaid comes agonizingly close to that 9.2 target with a time of 9.301 seconds and a trap speed of 149.27 mph.

Unfortunately, even though the pair repeats the scenario two more times, it only gets worse for the Plaid with times of 9.324 and 9.316 respectively. The Raven, on the other hand, also engages its entire arsenal (Ludicrous+ and Cheetah Stance) and manages a 10.593 at 125.27 mph.