A month ago, Tesla revealed the ingredients of the Track Package for the Tesla Model S Plaid, one of the fastest sedans on the planet. And it is that despite its more than 2.3 tons of weight, it makes the 0-100 four-tenths faster than a whole Bugatti Chiron: in 2.1 seconds. Well, with this Track Package, focused on improving its performance on the circuit, the most brutal Model S is even more brutal.
And it is that beyond what the paper says, the great time that has been set at the NürburgringNordschleife says so. A figure that is worth it to win the crown again as the fastest production electric car in the Ring and once again unseat the Porsche Taycan. And of course, this stratospheric lap has been immortalized on video.
A new record with a performance pack
The battle to be the fastest zero-emissions production car, and approved for the street, on the mythical German circuit began four years ago with two protagonists in contention: the Porsche Taycan and the Tesla Model S Plaid. The last chapter is written by the man from Palo Alto, who has managed to lower the mark that the Taycan had held since last summer by eight seconds: 7:25.231.
Keep in mind that both this new time and the previous one of the Taycan, although they have achieved it with series specifications, both have resorted to a key dressing: a performance package. In addition, in this heads-up, there is an electric car that surpasses them: the NIO EP9, which back in 2017 set a time of 6:45'9. But this brutal supercar is not road legal: it can only be run on the track.
Taking turns as the fastest electric in the Ring. In 2019 the one from Stuttgart signed the Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 42 seconds. And it seems that the good old Elon Musk got the itch to enter the war of the fast laps of the Nürburgring.
So he crossed the pond and not only tested the Tesla Model S Plaid on this track during its development: in 2021, when it was ready, he launched its production version with the aim of breaking the Taycan record. And he did it: the Model S Plaid clocked in at 7:35.579 in September 2021, displacing him from the throne.
At Porsche they took note: less than a year later, last August, the Taycan returned to the charge to unseat the Californian. For this, he used a high-performance kit, the Tequipment, with lighter wheels, sportier tires, and a software update to improve the performance of the chassis with the new tires and wheels.
With this package, the time of the Model S Plaid dropped two seconds: 7 minutes and 33 seconds, once again establishing itself as the fastest zero-emissions car around the Nürburgring. But the crown has lasted 10 months.
A package that costs what a SEAT Ibiza. Surely, when Tesla began work on the Track Package for the Model S Plaid, it had the Taycan's new record high in its sights. And it is that they have basically done the same thing: create a dynamic improvement package, but with somewhat more complete ingredients. Both, despite being oriented for the track, are legal to drive.
This pack also includes new rims and sportier tires: the 20-inch Zero-G on which Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3R semi-slick tires sit. But it accompanies it with carbon-ceramic brakes with 410 mm discs, six-piston front, and two-piston rear, as well as special circuit brake fluid. To all this is also added a software adjustment to optimize its faster cornering, as well as braking.
The Track Package is paired with the dizzying figures of what is currently the sportiest Tesla in the range: its three engines together offer a delivery of 1,020 CV with which it reaches a top of 322 km/h and manages to go from stationary to 100 in 2.1 seconds. It can already be reserved, although for the moment only in the US, and its price ranges between 15,000 and 20,000 dollars.
Thus, with this new weapon under his arm, Tesla has left the mark achieved in August 2022 by the PorsheTaycan far, far behind. We will see what the German's response is, that he could well launch a new pack to beat this time. But for now, the Tesla Model S takes the title of the fastest road-legal production electric car around the Nurburgring.
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