Can The Tesla Really Outperform the McLaren F1?

Having been impressed by Tesla P85D's dual motor goodness let's take a closer look at what it can do against its competition. And perhaps more importantly can it really outperform the legendary McLaren F1? Officially Tesla quotes the P85D and its combined 691 all wheel drive horsepower as needing only 3.2 seconds to reach 60 mph and 11.8 for the quarter mile. Given the right conditions we can see someone dip under 3 seconds in the signature test, once though to be an almost unbreakable performance barrier.

This essentially puts the P85D slimly ahead of its closest competition, 3.2 seconds is coincidentally the best times recorded by the all wheel drive Audi RS7 and Mercedes CLS/E 63 AMG S models. Given that the P85D will do these numbers "mash and go" versus the launch control and brake torquing gives Tesla the advantage here. Things should stay close through the quarter mile as the RS7 and AMG S models have posted 1/4 times as quick as 11.5 seconds with most tests showing a tenth or two advantage to the Audi and Mercedes, still that's close enough to call it even with the driver's reaction time making the bigger difference. Looking at the trap speed things begin to change as the RS7 and AMG models have a trap speed of around 123. Tesla didn't provide a trap speed estimate but it should come in under 118. For reference the Tesla will be about half a second quicker to 60 than everyone's favorite 707 horsepower Dodge Challenger Hellcat and post an almost identical quarter mile time. The Hellcat does dominate with an unbelievable 126 trap speed.

Are you impressed by the Tesla Model S P85D's acceleration prowess?
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vdiv - 10/20/2014 1:40:01 PM

+1 Boost

I'm impressed by the P85+, the D must be something! But in reality it is rather pointless. It's not a track car and on the jam-packed roads using the power borderlines reckless driving.

Daveman - 10/20/2014 3:08:49 PM

+2 Boost

The point of the comparison is that a production electric sedan can match the acceleration of a legendary million-dollar supercar.

The obvious next comparison is top speed, which no doubt, the F1 will dominate the Tesla. Reality though is that unless you're a race car driver, top speed is irrelevant. Most people never drive more than 150MPH (the ceiling on a Tesla P85D).

Meanwhile, I accelerate many times a day in the course of normal street driving, so I experience (and appreciate) acceleration much more than top speed, so having that performance in a $120K daily driver sedan is impressive.

HughJass - 10/20/2014 3:39:28 PM

0 Boost

Japan created the Eliica that did this about 10 yrs ago. There is nothing sexy about a Model S compared to a real exotic. Even a Porsche 911 is sexier than a knockoff Jaguar/Quattroporte.

How about have both cars floor it to their maximum speeds and see which one runs out of battery power first.

chewy - 10/20/2014 4:36:18 PM

+1 Boost

Eliica is crazy looking and not necessarally in a good way and is a one off, not a production car so you can't really count that as accomplishing something. One off cars hit 250+ in the 1930s but you that doesn't mean the Veryon wasn't the first production car to do so.

Weapon - 10/21/2014 3:35:29 AM

+1 Boost

The Tesla Model S P85D is far faster to 60 and has far more range and more top speed. Also, the Tesla Model S is far cheaper.

A Tesla looks way better than a Porsche 911. (Though I am not a big fan of Porsche designs to begin with, other than the 918)

And flooring them to the max, the Tesla will probably last longer. Though Porsche does not run on battery power.