Its the fastest car on the planet but nobody ever said it would be the best handling car on the planet. In fact, the single biggest complaint has been that it can't finish a single lap on the Ring without overheating. it was a fair criticism. Now it actually did finish a lap and beat up on a dedicated sports sedan with a muscle car (cause honestly, thats what it is). Tesla flat out admits it doesn't have the tuning chops to stay with a Porsche so lets see what the aftermarket will do to help handle it better. It will probably be easier to tune the Plaid for track than to make the Taycan get more power.

 

Yeah I would’ve expected it to be faster just based on its power and ability to put that power down instantly out of a corner. It’s not like it doesn’t handle well because I thought it actually did. It’s not like an S class with a big motor. Regardless, still a cool car that is at the top of the list, along with a couple others, when my M340 lease is up next year.

 

well i can definitely say i would've never claimed or expected the tesla to be THE fastest on a track

the whole purpose of a tesla is the pointless 2 second sprint! a model s is a heavy spacious family sedan designed to be used on the roads... the last thing you'd want is for it to be primarily designed for quick lap times

it's that kind of design philosophy which initially drew me in to the AMGs back in the day... ordinary(ish) unassuming car with all the luxuries you'd expect, and way more power than you'd expect without sacrificing drivability

 

Its so funny, and its so obvious...

 

I love it. I could feel the bitterness in the piece. Every time they move the goalposts or degrade Tesla's accomplishments, makes me LMAO as I know it makes mad.

 

you're seeing what you want to see. I just read the jalopnik piece and didn't find it bitter at all. In fact after they put the car in perspective they wrote:



and even mention a whole bunch of cars considered amazing in their day that the plaid beat.

as for 1 second slower that nissan gt-r, at those speeds, 1 second isn't a tiny difference, but as the article also says:

Quote:

realistically Nürburgring lap times are totally pointless anyway and add no meaning or value to a car

 

Please...Jalopnik makes fun of Tesla all the time and have consistently made fun of the prior Model S because it couldn't finish a lap session without overheating. Now it has, it says its meaningless. lol. These Ring times are absolutely meaningless but its all for fun right...compare the times of different cars. BTW, 1 second on the Ring is a tiny difference. its a 13 mile track! A little mistake in that 13 mile track would equate to a second or two. This isn't Laguna Seca or Buttonwillow or VIR where every second is measured on a short track.

 

Exactly. It's only "pointless" when the car that the detractors happen to drive can't get anywhere near that level of performance. And for most most of them, that's pretty much all the time.

 

The part that I don't get is that how a car enthusiast or even someone remotely interested in cars can be so negative/closed minded about a car that just happens to be an EV instead of an ICE.

There's so much of that even on here.

 

Absolutely. I agree on all fronts.

 

Haters gonna hate. IMO that's what separates auto enthusiasts from cheer leaders, watch some 1/4 mile Plaid races on YT naturally Tesla wins almost all of them but the owners of the other cars are very gracious and show respect for the performance.

If and when another 4 door sedan comes out and bests the Plaid suddenly the detractors will think 1/4 mile performance is all that again. Until then the Plaid will be "too fast" with "pointless performance" etc. etc.

 

Gotta agree with EZZ here lol

 

i have to think part of it is people who are used to working on their cars would have no idea how to service one, and people who've spent loads of money building up and modifying their car are now getting smoked by a bone stock sedan

the plaid is not something i've experienced yet, but i have ridden in and driven a friend's model s 90D a few years ago, and the way it went from 20-70 just made me giggle like an idiot every time! even with the 90D it's very obvious that the acceleration starts to noticeably lose its relentlessness at highway speeds (the classic criticism of EVs)... but the plaid actually reels in fast ICE cars and pulls past them which is an awesome prospect for an EV car

many people are also not the biggest fans of elon but the guy cracks me up lol... there's a youtube video called 'when elon musk realized china's richest man is an idiot' and based on his performance in that alone i'd buy one of his cars

 

have you ever done nurburgring laps on gran turismo or anything? depending on where the mistake is made it could potentially cost lots of time since the distances between the corners can be so vast... which is especially why that model s time is so impressive to me

 

Exactly. That's my point. It's a 13 mile track and being 1 second of a purpose built track car like the GTR with a family sedan is very impressive.

Basically, overheating problems and high speed acceleration is now solved and no longer a problem for EVs (a Plaid will runaway from a 911 Turbo S with ease on the highway). So people will now ***** and moan about how it can't charge fast enough for an all day session and how it can't beat the best ICEs on the Ring even though it's a family sedan. Lol.