You know those super-unrealistic racing games like Asphalt 8, where a Focus RS is used as a drift car and electric vehicles have a NOS button that makes them faster? Well, we only expected a race like the one in our video to come from one of those.
The Tesla Model S and TVR Tuscan S have absolutely nothing in common apart from the fact that they both have the letter S at the end. As you all know, the Model S is one of the most sought after automobiles with celebrities, and that's because its electric motors help save the planet.
However, the EV is also impressively fast, thanks to its tower of torque and 416 horsepower output. In a straight line, this family sedan can keep up with pretty much any sportscar.
On the other hand, the TVR Tuscan S is among the least known machines in the world. TVR is a British company that used to make some rather famous sportscars until it hit rough times. The Tuscan S was built in Blackpool between 2003 and 2006. It's very light at 1.1 tons and uses a 5-speed manual to get roughly 400 horsepower from an inline-six engine down to the ground.
We've seen the P85 defeat a Dodge Viper in the past, so we were rather surprised that a TVR managed to beat it in the race. However, this is mainly due the length of the track, which puts the no-gear Tesla at a disadvantage. Over the quarter mile, the American EV is clearly the fastest car.
The Tuscan probably wouldn't be known to anybody were it not for Top Gear. Despite the market insignificance of such a low-volume car, they praised it and did a couple of reviews as well. The Tuscan is actually named after a classic TVR model that was introduced in 1967. There's nothing classic about this one though, as it has carbon fiber exhaust mufflers, like a sports bike, and was built with money from Russian oligarchs.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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