As far as drag racing goes, here’s a truly great match-up between the world’s quickest four-door saloon, the Tesla Model S, and Australia’s finest V8 brawlers.
Even though the Model S P85D has recently been superseded by the P90D and its Ludicrous Mode, we’re still talking about one seriously fast electric car. The P85D will hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.3 seconds and with all-wheel drive at its disposal, you should feel pretty confident when racing against two rear-wheel driven V8 saloons.
Welcome then to Victoria’s Winton Raceway in Australia where the guys from Caradvice put the P85D to the test in a short straight line sprint against not just any HSV GTS, but one from Walkinshaw Performance, good for 507 kW (680 HP) – resulting in a 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint time of just over 4 seconds.
You know how this goes. The Model S is nearly unbeatable when launching, so in order to cross the finish line before it does, you need to make sure you’ve got plenty of space to play catch up with. Unfortunately, the straight they used wasn’t nearly long enough for the HSV GTS to start clawing at the Tesla’s advantage.
But what about a more battle tested opponent? Next up we get to see the P85D take on a 650 HP Holden Commodore V8 Supercar – which despite being down on power, weighs just 1,400 kg (3,086 lbs). That’s infinitely less than the Tesla’s 2,107 kg (4,647 lbs).
All the V8 Supercar’s driver (Supercheap Auto Racing’s own Tim Slade) has to do is manage the car’s wheelspin off the line so that the Tesla’s AWD system and instant torque won’t count as much as they would normally.
But it’s time to see for yourselves who the ultimate winner here.