Gary Zhou 
During MotorTrend’s test of the Tesla Model S Plaid, the automotive publication remarked that the vehicle showed an uncanny tendency to be robotic in its consistency, posting performance figures that never varied by more than a fraction of a second. It was an interesting observation for Tesla’s new flagship sedan, seeing as the “Raven” Model S Performance, the Plaid’s predecessor, tended to perform worse as its battery discharges.
Tesla owner and drag racing enthusiast Brooks Weisblat of YouTube’s DragTimes channel has proven MotorTrend‘s claims in a series of tests. The drag racing veteran even brought the car in a trailer to preserve its battery life, and he also made it a point to use the Model S Plaid’s Cheetah Stance for maximum performance.
The Model S Plaid owner shared some observations about the new flagship sedan. Having raced numerous Teslas in the past, Weisblat noted that the Model S Plaid actually prepares itself much faster than its predecessors, taking only a few minutes before being conditioned for a full-power launch. And once the Model S Plaid started its tests, it soon became evident that the flagship sedan is nothing like its predecessors.
The Tesla Model S Plaid performed consistently over the day, almost frighteningly so. The initial run was impressive, with the vehicle hitting the quarter-mile in 9.26 seconds at 151.83 mph. The car was even able to achieve a 0-60 mph time of 2.01 seconds. That’s close to the 1.99-second 0-60 mph time listed by Tesla, which was likely achieved on a fully-prepped drag strip.
Weisblat would run the Model S Plaid numerous times, and the results would be practically the same. The vehicle’s best quarter-mile time for the day was listed at 9.24 seconds, which was actually better than MotorTrend’s test on a fully-prepped drag strip, which resulted in the Model S Plaid completing the quarter-mile in 9.25 seconds. The YouTube host was also able to match the record set by Jay Leno and Tesla, which resulted in the Model S Plaid finishing the quarter-mile in 9.24 seconds.
Watch the Tesla Model S’ incredible consistency on the drag strip in the video below.
