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Tesla Model S Plaid May Have Smashed the Bugatti Chiron Sport's ¼-Mile Record

When talking about strip-slaying production cars, the Demon comes to mind thanks to super-sticky drag radials, runners, and a torquey engine that accepts race fuel. Officially, the most extreme Challenger entitled to wear a license plate can run the ¼-mile in just 9.65 seconds.
Tesla Model S Plaid world record 1/4-mile run (alleged) 20 photos
Photo: Drive Tesla Canada
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There is, however, a quicker machine than the almighty Demon that costs a few bucks more than Dodge’s muscle car. Bugatti holds the world record in this regard with the Chiron Sport, boasting 9.4 seconds at a ridiculous 158 miles per hour (254.3 kilometers per hour), excluding the one-foot rollout.

Based on a story published and subsequently deleted by Drive Tesla Canada, the peeps at Tesla have pushed the envelope to 9.23 seconds at 152.16 miles per hour (244.88 kilometers per hour). It’s not known why the cited publication has removed the article, but those numbers corroborate with the numbers touted by the Palo Alto-based company.

At the moment of writing, Tesla lists the Model S Plaid on the automaker’s website with a ¼-mile time of 9.23 seconds at 155 miles per hour (250 kilometers per hour). The Plaid+ variant promises to dip into the 8.0-second range, but Tesla still hasn’t validated the most potent Model S of them all.

In addition to ¼-mile bragging rights, the Plaid is described as “the quickest accelerating car in production today,” although production hasn’t started yet, and the delivery window has been delayed a few times already. Reading the fine print of the Plaid also reveals that 1.99 seconds to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) is possible by subtracting the first foot of the rollout, translating to an advantage over standstill launches.

Outside of the drag strip, the Model S Plaid has a long list of things going for it as well. The brand-new battery cells promise up to 390 miles (628 kilometers) of range, and three-motor propulsion should help the e-sedan handle like a charm on twisty roads thanks to torque vectoring.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

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.
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