The Tesla Model S Plaid set yet another world record recently, though there are caveats. The high-performance Tesla flagship sedan rocketed through a quarter-mile pass in just 8.73 seconds, with a trap speed of 157.8 mph.
The Model S Plaid came to market as the quickest-accelerating passenger car to date. Tesla said it could race from zero to 60 mph in as little as 1.99 seconds. It was later learned that to achieve such numbers, you’d likely have to have a treated track and near-perfect conditions on every front. The stat also figures the standard one-foot rollout.
Tesla also claimed the Model S Plaid can tackle a quarter-mile sprint in 9.23 seconds at 155 mph. However, that time was beaten almost as soon as the car came to market, and has been getting better ever since.
The Model S Plaid features three electric motors that combine to crank out a ridiculous 1,020 peak horsepower. It has a top speed of 200 mph, though Tesla has limited it and upped it with incremental over-the-air software updates. Despite the Model S’ sheer power and ridiculous acceleration, it’s arguably just too big and heavy to hold the lead versus more streamlined fully electric rivals.
At any rate, the Model S Plaid set the new record at Napierville Dragway. The record-setter was the Tesla Plaid Racing car, which you may or may not be familiar with. The guys over at the Tesla Plaid Racing channel have been working to strip as much weight as possible out of the Tesla sedan, and it’s now essentially gutted, so it’s down a little over 700 pounds.
The only weight in the car during the runs was the driver, who admits to weighing 245 pounds. While the record-setting run for the car came in at 8.73 seconds at 157.8 mph, he also recorded an 8.77-second run at 157 mph, which he called a burnout zone run.
Tesla Plaid Racing also recorded impressive 1.34 and 1.36-second 60-foot times, and a 5.63-second time in the eighth-mile run.
For comparison, the $2 million Rimac Nevera electric hypercar just set a record for the quarter mile at 8.23 seconds, which is nuts. However, it’s not a family-friendly luxury car that’s available to the masses. This makes the Model S Plaid’s records stand out.
