Corvette Stingray Drag Races A Tesla Model S P85: Video
25
Sponsored Links
Even though it’s a 4,500 pound, electrically powered family sedan, the Tesla Model S is no slouch, especially when equipped with the 85kWh Performance package. That’s why when one lines up at the drag strip for a quarter mile showdown with a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, we know were in for a good race.
Drag Times recently captured the two going head to head at Palm Springs International Raceway in Jupiter FL. Although the Model S is a little down on power compared to the Z51 ‘Vette, 416 horsepower to the Corvette’s 460, it’s hard to beat the Tesla’s instant, relentless torque delivery in a short drag race.
So who came out on top? We won’t spoil it for you. Find out the answer in the video just below.
- Sweepstakes Of The Month: Win a Corvette Z06 and 2024 Silverado. Details here.
Sponsored Links
The Tesla is a beautiful car but, both times the Corvette driver snoozed at the lights.
Nikola Tesla, Tesla cars, and Elon Musk are gay icons. Don’t worry about the Tesla cars catching fire, that doesn’t happen very often. Tesla needs more bright colors on their cars. Elon Musk has a sexy mouth.
http://gaycarboys.com/2013/10/05/about-the-tesla-model-s-fire/
I heard about a Tesla drag race in the news. I was looking forward to seeing Elon Musk running in high heels and a dress.
How you swing has nothing to do the video.
The Model S is quite the formidable car and is worthy of respect, even more so when it is very nearly on the heels of the Stingray (despite its poor launch).
Not enough proof? Here’s a Model S and an SRT10 going at it.
Might I say that Dick is a dick?
OK, I said it. This is an automobile site and this tool decides on making a personal attack on one of
the brightest, most successful heterosexual Americans to come along in our lifetimes. Like his cars or space
ships or not – his is an amazing story, he has a hot wife and a great family. GM and Toyota closed the doors at
NUMMI in Fremont, and Musk gave a lot of our American brothers a job back, and that’s worth noting.
Also worth noting is that —- pity the guy in the C7 who believed he was driving the be-all-end-all in affordable
performance car technology and just got beat ( or almost beat – given starting skills ) by a 7 seater four door
sedan that weighs nearly 5,000 lbs.. This is food for thought for any car guy…true car guy and not GM fanboy.
Actually the Model S is a 6 door, since it’s a hatchback with copious storage space for Home Depot in the rear,
and it seats 5 comfortably and 2 kids in the hatch area with optional kid buckets back there. It’s a 6 door
because it has no trunk, rather a “frunk” with lots of storage space for groceries or your take-on airline bags
up where an engine used to be for ICE cars.
No matter the starting tree skills of the Corvette driver or how adept he is at traction control – the Model S
starts out with 100% torque at 1 rpm! How cool is that?!!! I’ve ridden in a P85 + Performance Model S and
with three very hefty passengers, all of us over 6ft tall ( one guy was over 300lbs! ), the car just BOLTED
UPHILL at literally jerked our necks back against the seats! Until you experience it – silent, no drama…
you can’t compare it. It’s like that instant boost you feel on a modern rollercoaster. ZAM! Hyperspace
with no complex downshifting, re-adjusting fuel mixtures or the usual mechanizations of speed.
Dick speaks like one also, because the “fires” he speaks of are: 1) In Mexico a Model S owner, drunk and
running from police drove it through a concrete wall, over a divider and into a tree – AND WALKED AWAY,
and into another car to continue running! His car didn’t “burst” into flames – yet it’s frontal area began
smoking and eventually was in flames by the time the emergency vehicles arrived. Not exactly a life-
threatening situation. 2) Model S fire #1 happened near my town. Guy on freeway hits a giant piece
of metal that fell off a truck. In a “normal car” it would’ve likely caused tons of damage and ground
the car to a halt. In his Model S, it pierced the battery ( skateboard ) under the car and he felt a tug. The
car then broadcast on it’s huge central 17″ touchscreen it would behoove him to pull over and exit the
car. He didn’t! He drove the car, dragging the huge piece of metal ( 13″ tall, hook-shaped ) down the
offramp where he stopped at the light, exited the car, removed his laptop, briefcase and coat and
called 911. By the time the firemen arrived the car’s front “frunk” area was smoldering. No smoke
in the passenger compartment, and this is how Tesla designed the car to react. It wasn’t until later
when firefighters mismanaged the dousing procedure, that the car finally erupted into flames. Are you
They pierced the pack, but filled it with water – not the right procedure. Can you see that this driver
was not in peril of injury or worse? 3) This last incident – guy in Tesla hits rusty trailer hitch on freeway.
Again, car warns him , and says pull over. He does. Again, no smoke in passenger area – has time to
remove belongings and wait for help. The car performed as designed – NHTSA gave it it’s highest
safety rating and stands by it to this day.
I have to remind Dick and dicks like him that over 265,000 car fires occur in the United States each day.
Just Google your town today and likely you’ll see a story on a car fire that resulted in injury or death.
Gasoline is highly volatile. I’ve seen videos of guys who get static from their velour car seat and erupt
into flames from gas fumes while filling their car at a gas station! Gas cars are very dangerous – but
we’re conditioned to dealing with the risks. ELECTRIC CARS ARE SCAREY yet we plug in our cellphones
each night. To date, Model S nor any Tesla has ever killed a driver or occupant. To date, no injuries
have been recorded in several million owner miles to date. It’s literally the safest car ever made – to date.
One caveat – and no service to Dick…. The Model S auto lowers itself at highway speeds and this could
be overrided manually by the driver from the console display. It lowers at speed to be more efficient =
less aerodynamic drag. It’s a clever feature, but probably made the cars too low for those road debris
that can occur in everyday life. Thusly, Tesla sent a software update to every car making it only the
driver’s option to lower the car and not an auto feature.
To be thorough, because I know all my friends at GMAuthority are detail guys and gals… There was
an incident wherein a Tesla owner plugged their car into inadequate home wiring and the wiring
burned the garage and car up. This is bound to happen. Tesla sent out another software update to
allow the car to notify Tesla that the owner hooked their car up to a bad circuit and shut down.
It’s a new age. Stuff is bound to happen. IMHO Tesla has “put out these fires” with as little effect
as possibly could happen. They rightly pointed out the car is safer than your gas car and
continues to how Americans can invent and build a car in America that even can outperform
our sweetheart 2 seat sportscar – the Corvette. It’s “WOW” all around – very impressive, indeed.
James – Yes Musk has created a good product and has given many American’s jobs. However, if you truly believe that his vehicles can create exhilaration when driven you’re living in a dream world – especially if compared to a gas-powered monster like the ‘Vette. Yes, the thing creates instant torque when you put your foot down but what does it sound like when accelerating…silence – comparable to blowing air through your McDonalds drink straw.
Tesla will continue to carve out the niche market but they’ll never breakthrough to car enthusiasts. People want something they can grab onto emotionally and tangibly – not a heartless electric car.
Got news for you pal. EVERY CAR is heartless as no car ever in the history of the automobile has ever come with a heart as standard equipment.
Winning is what matters the quarter mile, NOT about who can make the most noise.
Next, you’ll probably be trying to convince us that cars have ‘souls’. I’ve got bad news for you about that too.
Get real.
Grawdaddy – Sure, it won in the quarter mile in a fair competition. I’ve seen trucks beat sports cars hand over fist many times.
You clearly missed the point – All vehicles and automotive brands have personalities that are developed through advertising and marketing. This in turn represents a primary factor in why consumers buy the cars they do, what they choose as their dream car, etc. That being said – you’re honestly going to sit there and act like the vehicle you’ve always wanted since you were ten was grounded in a purely factual-based thought process? Advertising works – Its half the reason brands succeed and fail – wake up
CORRECTION: My former post – I meant to say: 265,000 car fires happen EACH YEAR – not each day.
Sorry – I need an edit feature.
Could it be that the difference in the wins are impacted by the air resistance of the video camera? Soooooooo close…
Dick and James are two great example of what is wrong with this whole debate over EV cars and the Tesla in particular.
The fact is neither side is fully honest with others let alone themselves.
Dick is just filled with hate that is not justified and just makes pointless declarations of nonsense that relegates any argument he may have that is legitimate useless. He represents the Telsa Troll.
As for James he has his good point he will make but then he defends the S model to the point that it just loses credibility arguing points that just are not there. He represents the Tesla Fan Boy or Altar Boy as he has turned this topic into almost a religion much as the Amzoil fans do.
The truth is the C7 driver was sleeping on both runs here as the C7 can clearly beat a S model in the quarter mile. But the Tesla also shows the great advantage of instant Torque off the line. The EV cars give you everything off the line but the Gas engines with their transmissions will built torque as they go and this is represented by the C7 closing down on the Tesla like is slowed down. There is nothing wrong with either forms as they are just different powertrains delivering different Torque.
The reality is both sides need to come together and accept the facts. The Tesla has moved the EV car forward and toward helping establishing a market segment that will be sustaining as other MFG like GM and Toyota will soon enter on a larger scale. Will Tesla last only time will tell. Elon could easily cash out as even with his money and success he still has some major challenges and challenger with even deeper pockets.
The other reality is the Tesla while it is making some headway is still not ready for prime time as there is still a great need of Billions of dollars in need of investment on better batteries, cheaper cars and more charging stations that are still too few and if they sell more car will be more in demand. The fact is if you do a lot of traveling you still have to plan your life around the Tesla.
I would recommend in the March Car and Driver there is a story on a Model S racing a 99 year old Model T from Detroit to Tesla’s home on Long Island. The Model T was beaten by one hour but that does not also take into account that they did not take the interstate and had a longer route. Also the Model T was down with a break down so if they has not has a break down they would have beaten the Model S in the race with 100 year old technology.
The Tesla because of the lack of charging along a major route from NYC to Chicago had to use a private owners charger in Ohio and they had to install at $1200 a charger in the home of a Tesla Roadster owner that volunteered his home to charge.
The fact is this is a growing segment with bugs yet and it is time for the Dicks of the world to accept it. But it is time for the James of the world to be a little more honest and just let things take their coarse and advance as while they want to make this car the cure for cancer it is not just there yet.
Either way the Tesla is impressive just as a Volt under electric power is but the reality is with a drive who knows how to cut an equal light the Vette will win every time.
Hell I drove the Hydrogen powered Equinox and I asked if I could hammer it and they told me yes. It would easily spin the tires with the instant torque from the electric motors.
Now you want to see impressive. Take a GMC Duramax and tune it with the many tune kits and get over 1000 FT LBS or torque and just see what it does to the C7 and S model. I have seen GM and Dodge diesels that will leave the fastest Viper and Corvette in the dust. People today are now taking Duramax engines and installing them in old Chevelles and the like and putting out near 2.000 FT LBS. These cars are easily street driven and rockets at the track.
So to sum it up stop the BS on both sides and just keep it real as you are seeing the market change like you never have. It will be interesting what GM has coming.
Elon Musk heterosexual? Sure Musk isn’t a switch hitter? A lot of married men are bisexual, and many are in denial until after they are married. Many men don’t realize that they are homosexual until after there. Some richer men will have a token wife, even though they are truly homosexual. Elon Musk sure seems to be obsessed with appearances like most homosexuals.
You don’t think Elon Musk did tricks for men when he was homeless?
Maybe the reason Elon Musk is so successful, is because he knows how to please his fellow male coworkers.
You come out of the closet yet? Maybe you just don’t realize it yet. You seem to have an obsession with thrusting and trunks.
I don’t see how Musk’s sexuality matters to anything ever in the history of the universe; especially to GMA.
I hope you’re not trying to convince us that Musk is gay and that therefore the Model S is something to be shunned, because you’re doing terrible job of it.
Elon Musk heterosexual? Sure Musk isn’t a switch hitter? A lot of married men are bisexual, and many are in denial until after they are married. Many men don’t realize that they are homosexual until after there. Some richer men will have a token wife, even though they are truly homosexual. Elon Musk sure seems to be obsessed with appearances like most homosexuals.
You don’t think Elon Musk did tricks for men when he was homeless?
Maybe the reason Elon Musk is so successful, is because he knows how to please his fellow male coworkers.
You come out of the closet yet? Maybe you just don’t realize it yet. You seem to have an obsession with thrusting and trunks. .
The Tesla is a great sleeper. It is drab and blasé looking, but it’s low-end THRUST is great. Tesla needs more flamboyant great colors. It’s cars need to be more sporty and flashy looking.
Regardless of what Elon Musks sexuality is, the Tesla is extremely popular among homosexuals. So it is fitting that it should have a more sporty and flashy look. Tesla needs brighter colors
Being quiet, zero emissions, and no oil is a big plus to homosexuals. Noisy cars are a big turnoff. That’s why homosexuals love the Tesla. The only thing that is missing is bright flashy colors.
“Being quiet, zero emissions, and no oil is a big plus to homosexuals.”
Are you suggesting that these aren’t features that non-homosexuals might want in a car?
“All vehicles and automotive brands have personalities that are developed through advertising and marketing.”
Cars are not sentient, and never will be. Thus, a car cannot ever have personality traits. This applies to the Model S, a 911, and even a Hyundai Accent. This can also extend to things like blenders, lawn mowers, and screwdrivers.
You’re trying too hard to attach an emotional appeal to car as an argument. The reality of the matter is that it’s much simpler than that, and has nothing to do with advertising.
Cars cannot be personified. If you believe so, you need to see a doctor.
Sure they do. Brand’s and products have been personified for decades – Volvo embodies safety, Chevy embodies durability. This is basic advertising and marketing – a concept that doesn’t require experience in the industry to grasp.
“it’s much simpler than that, and has nothing to do with advertising.” – Is actually the crux of the argument considering the discussion originally dealt with Tesla’s future in terms of appealing to car enthusiasts – appeal meaning how the brand/product is perceived by the public; hence the role that advertising and marketing serves – not the vehicle’s performance in the quarter mile. Something I already stated it performs well in.
Daddy best not to feed the trolls as they go away when not fed.
Besides nothing rational or logical will ever come of it.
They entertain me with toothless banter.
I mean what’s the worse he can do besides repeat the same tired, directionless, crap?
These guys make me miss Ritter. You still here Brian?
Brian may be A Dick now?
Same narrow minded thinking without the insults. I don’t understand it, you limit yourself so much by being closed minded.
The model s and the stingray are both great cars in their own rite, not really comparable, so this race means nothing. Like Scott said, you can take a GMC with a duramax and make it quicker than a corvette.
To each their own I say.
Grawdaddy; that’s a terrible vid to use as an example, you can hear the Viper slush the clutch out of the hole. The driver mod was clearly not installed.