How well the souped-up versions of the Tesla Model S (Tesla P85D, Tesla P90D, etc.) perform when put to the paces at serious racetracks has been an object of contention amongst Tesla detractors for some time now.
Apparently, the best-selling electric luxury sedan is supposed to perform in a similar fashion to a performance hot rod, or it is utter crap — well, according to some car enthusiasts anyways.
While it’s completely clear that the Model S was designed with the premium-class car market in mind, rather than the much-less-financially-lucrative performance hot rod market, the Model S is still quite an impressive car when it comes to performance. Under typical driving conditions, that is — rather than performance racing conditions.
On that note, a commentator on the Tesla Motors Club forum by the name of “syswei” recently shared a video that he found of a P85D doing a lap at Nurburgring that seems worth sharing here. Enjoy.
Here’s the original comment: “I don’t drive terribly fast myself, but I was under the impression that Teslas aren’t very good in track settings. Then I ran across this video: which shows an amateur with a P85D doing what seems (to an un-initiated person like me) a pretty decent lap at Nurburgring. I also own an MB and the fellows in a thread Why One Should Not Buy A Tesla Model S – MBWorld.org Forums on an MB forum are poopooing all over the video and the Model S’s trackability in general. Any comments? Does anyone know of cases where a driver has tracked a P90D and also some other fast car, M3, Porsche, etc?”
That was followed by an interesting, and revealing, comment from “P85,” who stated: “P85D works nice on track for a short while, till power is restricted by the software. I did a few Nurburgring laps myself this fall, and the software restricts the power output a lot about 2–3 minutes into the lap and at the end of one lap it was restricted to around 200kW. The Tesla really hangs on nice in the corners and the brakes work good on the Nurburgring. On short intensive circuits, like Rudskogen in Norway, the brakes fall short and get overheated quickly, power output is also reduced really quick. On Rudskogen it lost a lot of power after about 1 minute of hard driving. The brakes faded in one lap and the brake disks were all blue and overheated. I’d love to hear experiences with the Ludi upgrade. Should probably keep power longer as the main fuse is no longer mechanical (and most likely overprotected)?”
Interesting. Do any owners have any relevant experiences to share?
WOW
He went from 88% battery to 59% in one lap (12.9 miles).
Nice drive!
Pretty much the same experience I had at Laguna Seca. The car thermal limited after turn 6. Lots of unsprung weight on the car. So I am looking to switch to a better tire on smaller rims next time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWvrpw59lFw
James, why did you title this “Tesla Model S P90D At The Nurburgring” when it is in fact, as you say “a P85D doing a lap at Nurburgring”??? The video is a year old, before the P90D was even released, and I and 54,000 others have watched it before. Your title is just click-bait. Shame on you! @zshahan3, please remind James that this website is striving for good quality journalism, and not click-baiting.