Tesla Ludicrous P90D Vs. Tesla Insane P85D

Just how much faster does the Ludicrous Mode P90D seem during actual use than its predecessors? Say, as compared against the Insane Mode of the P85D, for instance?

Does this matter, you might be asking yourself? Well, that depends on how obsessed with Tesla (and its cars) you are — those obsessed are no doubt of the opinion that such things are of utmost importance — or how obsessed you are with fast cars, in general. Anyhow, without further ado, I present you with the “findings” of recent research undertaken by the folks at DragTimes (condensed into a concise video format). Enjoy.

As shown in the video, the lead taken by the Ludicrous Mode P90D ends up being fairly substantial very quickly — the acceleration advantage is really quite visible almost right from the start. I guess that’s the advance conferred by being willing to plop down a further $10,000 over the standard price (worth the bragging rights for some, I guess).

The new Ludicrous Mode is on offer for those with or purchasing the new Model S P90D.

As a side note here, those who already have a Model S P85D have access to the Ludicrous Mode upgrade for $5000 + installation costs. I wonder how many will end up taking up the offer? With the Model X pretty much here, I’m guessing that much of the Tesla-focused attention is now elsewhere, but there are still Model S owners who don’t care about SUVs (from Tesla or not) but who want the quickest sedan in history.

24 thoughts on “Tesla Ludicrous P90D Vs. Tesla Insane P85D

      1. The two cars are identical under speed of 30 mph. Yet the video shows something different. It’s like claiming one car with red paint moves faster than a car with black paint.

          1. Because – physics. The rate of acceleration is nearly constant over the time it takes to get to 60MPH.

            Your claim they are the same up to 30MPH is ridiculous, on it’s face. What evidence do you have?

          2. Best evidence of all. Physics. See the acceleration is limited by the traction of the tires. There was a video put up here a few months back showing how the P85D got right around 1G up until 30 mph. Then the Tesla could not generate enough power to keep the acceleration up and traction control let up. However if the 1G acceleration were maintained until 60 then the car would be capable of a 2.8s zero to 60 time. As it now does.

            I was kind of hoping you would do the calculations yourself when I asked you “why not”.

          3. You are too funny. If tires are the limiting factor – what changes at 30MPH?

            The ludicrous mode is ~1.1G acceleration. Somehow, you think that compressing that into the last ~1/2 of the time makes it more plausible?

          4. I’m trying to be polite and helpful so please don’t get sarcastic.

            Your first question. The batteries can only deliver so much power. At 30 mph the old cabling was no longer able to handle the power needed to maintain an acceleration of 1G. Maintaining 1G at 60 mph requires four times the power than maintaining 1G at 30 mph. So the cables needed dramatic upgrading to handle that extra current. At 30 mph there was no longer enough power being delivered to maintain that 1G, or slightly more, and so traction control was no longer needed. Now with the more power traction control keeps it to that 1G all the way up to 60 mph before power again becomes an issue.

            Second question. Ludicrous or Insane mode are both governed by the same traction control system. And that is governed by OTA updates which get slightly tweaked as time goes by. You’ll notice the Ludicrous mode does not require an update to the traction control system. Just do the math and you’ll see ~1G from 0 to sixty gets you the 2.8 seconds.

          5. The point is the video shows the P90D starting quicker and accelerating quicker even under 30 mph. Obviously this is a bogus video. Either the tires are different, wheel diameter, or they just playing a prank where one person hits the accelerator a split second before and the other. Something along those lines. Faking videos like this isn’t something that should be spread.

          6. Really? So I wasted my time trying to explain this video was bogus and all this time you were trolling me! Fool me once shame on you…

          7. I have raced many Model S’s against other Model S’s and one thing I’ve learned is that cars with the exact same label can perform wildly different based on many factors. I know for SURE is that P85D’s are not even close in the 0-30, not even 0-15. The P85D is not operating at the leading edge of the tire’s ability to grab the road. There is plenty of room to get off the line even faster. The P90D is definitely faster from the time the tire starts turning.

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