Hellcat vs. Tesla

[line-em-up]

This one does.

So they can better enjoy that Mack truck barreling down on them. I had nightmares about it when I was a kid. 45 years later, I still get the heeby jeebies when I see one on the road. Of course, that is VERY rare nowadays.

[TexasDevilDog]

Besides the bad driver mod for the hellcat,

Four wheel drive traction > two wheel drive traction

[Big A]

I agree. And anyone car drive it that fast in a straight line. I bet it's cool going that quick and hearing nothing but tire noise on the sticky track.

Yes, It is all-wheel drive.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1411_2015_tesla_model_s_p85d_first_test/

I figured a two-wheel drive car would spin too easily with all of that torque available right from 0 rpm.

But scrambling to the same 60 mph time in the P85D bears no resemblance to that at all. With one transmission gear and no head-bobbing shifts, it's instead a rail-gun rush down a quarter-mile of asphalt bowling lane. Nothing in the drivetrain reciprocates; every part spins. There's no exhaust smell; the fuel is invisible. The torque impacts your body with the violence of facing the wrong way on the train tracks when the whistle blows. Within the first degree of its first revolution, 100 percent of the motors' combined 687 lb-ft slams the sense out of you. A rising-pitch ghost siren augers into your ears as you're not so much accelerating as pneumatically suctioned into the future. You were there. Now you're here.

The wormhole between the two is courtesy of a second motor on the front axle. At 221 hp, it's smaller than the P85+'s existing 470-hp rear machine (total: 691), and for the non-Performance 60- and 85-kW-hr Dual Motor Model S, it'll be the rear motor, too. Lift the front trunk's lid (the frunk, they call it), and you're struck by how much all of this was anticipated back when the Model S was penned. What was a recessed cavity near the firewall becomes the new forward engine room with enough left to swallow a duffle bag and retain its terrific 5-star frontal crash performance. Equal-length front halfshafts thread through new branched chassis rails and hub uprights—and that's about it. Replacing the now-discontinued P85+ as the apex Model S, the P85 Dual Motor gains 197 pounds, tipping the car's weight distribution from 47/53 (f/r) to 51/49. Anti-roll bars and shock valving are suitably thicker and firmer, but the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires are the same, as is the car's 0.91 g of lateral grip. However, around our quirk-exposing figure-eight course, the D's handling wasn't Novocained by the added nose heft (as you'd expect), nor was its steering garbled by torque-steer cross-talk (as you'd expect); instead, all four tires now want to be in on the traction action. Feathering the accelerator (or rather, the accelerator pedal's potentiometer) now rotates—and also bends—the car's trajectory via regen brake drag that instantly reallocates between both axles (no longer limited to the rear). Essentially, the two motors' email-instant reflexes mean the stability control system is the drivetrain itself—and vice versa—not a Band-Aided layer of throttle- and brake-mitigating technologies overlaid on a big-inertia crankshaft and flailing pistons accustomed to Pony Express reaction times.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz3PNWl1oCs

It's a different experience for sure, but that article is a bit over-dramatic. There's a dealership right up the road from me, so we went for a test drive a couple months ago. Cool car, but not 6-figure cool imo.

[Grimpala]

so they can better enjoy that peterbilt truck barreling down on them. I had nightmares about it when i was a kid. 45 years later, i still get the heeby jeebies when i see one on the road. Of course, that is very rare nowadays.

ftfy

[line-em-up]

ftfy

my bad.

Here is a '53 Mack, which looks very similar. Not exactly, but close.

[STROKD]

Sweet cars, my moms is getting a Sublime Hellcat like that in a few months for a daily driver.

[UserX]

Cool car, but not 6-figure cool imo.

I think the cost isn't that bad when you factor everything in. Tax incentives, the obvious gas savings and a 8 year bumper to bumper fully transferable warranty. About the only ownership expenses on them are tires, brakes & wiper blades. No scheduled maintenance or services fees. Add good looks and performance on top of all that. If I was a baller, I'd seriously consider one. They're everywhere in SoCal, I see at least 10 every day.

[YALE]

I think the cost isn't that bad when you factor everything in. Tax incentives, the obvious gas savings and a 8 year bumper to bumper fully transferable warranty. About the only ownership expenses on them are tires, brakes & wiper blades. No scheduled maintenance or services fees. Add good looks and performance on top of all that. If I was a baller, I'd seriously consider one. They're everywhere in SoCal, I see at least 10 every day.

The cost ends up being cheaper than a Honda Odyssey, and they're still fast as fuck.

http://www.teslacost.com

[racrguy]

7 Boosh?

God bless.

You can fit about 9 people in them things! Which seat can Eric take?

[Chas_svo]

The cost ends up being cheaper than a Honda Odyssey, and they're still fast as fuck.

http://www.teslacost.com

Actually he adjusted it to just a little more than a really expensive, fully loaded Odyssey.

[Frank]

[YALE]

Actually he adjusted it to just a little more than a really expensive, fully loaded Odyssey.

Ah. Either way, a Tesla is nowhere near as expensive to own as a similarly priced gas car.

[Tremor14]

I just got to ride in a tesla for the first time ever. It was very cool to say the least. That reaction video was pretty spot on when he punched it from a 30ish roll getting onto 35 north from commerce st. downtown dallas. The owner is the VP of electrical engineering for my company so it's only fitting that he drive such a car. I was sitting in the backseat, and my only complaint was i couldnt hear shit they were saying in the front seat at highway speeds. There was also an annoying electric motor noise that sounded like it was right next to me at the wheel. it was a very impressive car though, and the dash/navigation just set it off.