Tesla Towing A Car Beats Alfa Romeo 4C In 1/4 Mile

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Motor Trend took a Tesla Model X P90D, hooked it up to a car trailer (with a car on it) and drag raced an Alfa Romeo 4C. Yes, the Tesla won. Skip ahead to the four minute mark to see the race.
 
How long is it sustainable though? sure you have that torque but how many minutes do you have? I wonder how a 1000hp custom vehicle would compete. There's always a tradeoff. However, Tesla X in insane mode is certainly quite a boost of speed.
 
P90D's top speed is 155. Meh. My RX7's top speed was higher than that when it was stock in 1993. Its not so stock anymore. ;)
 
Performance is impressive, but I look forward to the next major advancement in batteries for electric cars. With the amount of highway driving I do, it wouldn't be feasible for me to have one at this time.

BTW, has that dude with the beard learned how to drive yet? I've seen a couple of his old reviews and they were painful to watch.
 
The problem is that this is not sustainable. Assuming that Italian car does not break down, it will continue to maintain consistent runs. The Tesla eventually has to do something about all of that heat. Magazines have reported a bit on this.
 
... I've never really understood these "my car goes this fast" compensation fests. Over here, you see tons of Porche cars and occasionally a Ferrari (there's a dealer in town actually) or something like that. When I was younger, I used to be like "oh boy, it's my dream to get one of those!" As time went on and I actually drove out on the streets, I then spent more time trying to figure out what the hell the purpose of me getting one of those cars would be. I know this is an oft-repeated argument that many use, held in some disdain by those within auto circles... but when my average speed on any given road in the area is 30-50, at the absolute maximum, with cars filling roughly every lane so there's no real purpose in even trying to pass (aside from maybe getting two cars ahead, oh boy)... what the hell's the point? It would be a worthy investment if I wanted to do some sort of unofficial racing, but otherwise? I don't get it. I really like my hatchback Subaru because it's economical, functional, and very convenient, with plenty of storage space. The only other thing I would ever possibly consider is a cheap, beat-up pickup truck for hauling larger things.

</uncalled for rant>
 
So they raced it against what's nearly the lowest power modern sports car you can buy? Plus the Tesla costs 2x as much. They might as well have raced it against a Miata.
 
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Damn, the future is now.

I, for one, welcome our new self-driving ludicrously quick automobile overlords.
 
Teenyman45 said:
The 4C isn't exactly an ultra-fast straight line vehicle either with a 0-60 time in the low to mid 4.X range and a 1/4 mile time of about 13 seconds. Comparing those cars for two or three laps around a long track might prove more interesting.
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It would get murdered by an alfa in a single lap. Those things are heavy as hell.
 
Flybye said:
P90D's top speed is 155. Meh. My RX7's top speed was higher than that when it was stock in 1993. Its not so stock anymore. ;)
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It'll hit 155 way before you hit your top speed and by then it'll already be gone. Let's be honest, you aren't going to be driving anywhere near 155+ for a long stretch of time in the US unless you don't want a license.
 
Thats great for all these Teslas in straight lines. Yet to see one win a race in the twistiez against something comparable. Awesome for the light to light heroes.
 
4saken said:
Thats great for all these Teslas in straight lines. Yet to see one win a race in the twistiez against something comparable. Awesome for the light to light heroes.
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a straight line 0-60 1/4 mile race is the defacto performance benchmark for nearly every car in the history of mankind. Quit acting like Tesla is somehow skewing results or cherry picking their competition. Tesla makes a bomb ass car that does everything everyone wants it to besides drive across the USA freely. The Model S routinely beats McLarens and Lambo's every day. So what if it cant win an F1 race. Those cars cant drive underwater either. Totally irrelevant comparisons that dont help anybody understand anything.
 
nysmo said:
a straight line 0-60 1/4 mile race is the defacto performance benchmark for nearly every car in the history of mankind. Quit acting like Tesla is somehow skewing results or cherry picking their competition. Tesla makes a bomb ass car that does everything everyone wants it to besides drive across the USA freely. The Model S routinely beats McLarens and Lambo's every day. So what if it cant win an F1 race. Those cars cant drive underwater either. Totally irrelevant comparisons that dont help anybody understand anything.
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I don't think anyone is saying that Tesla is making a bad vehicle, however there are lots of performance metrics aside from the 1/4 mile. Why do you think they do slaloms in just about every serious automotive magazine? Your argument is akin to saying that a Camaro SS is better than an S2000. The Camaro would kill the Honda in the 1/4 mile, but the Honda would run away from the Camaro on a road course. Likewise, a Tesla would be a blast in a straight line or in town, but I wouldn't take it over a Ferrari on the Nurburgring. The Ferrari would murder the Tesla. It wouldn't be close. It doesn't make one better than the other, they're just different tools for different tasks. It's kind of like computers. You wouldn't judge a server by the same metrics as a game machine.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
... I've never really understood these "my car goes this fast" compensation fests. Over here, you see tons of Porche cars and occasionally a Ferrari (there's a dealer in town actually) or something like that. When I was younger, I used to be like "oh boy, it's my dream to get one of those!" As time went on and I actually drove out on the streets, I then spent more time trying to figure out what the hell the purpose of me getting one of those cars would be. I know this is an oft-repeated argument that many use, held in some disdain by those within auto circles... but when my average speed on any given road in the area is 30-50, at the absolute maximum, with cars filling roughly every lane so there's no real purpose in even trying to pass (aside from maybe getting two cars ahead, oh boy)... what the hell's the point? It would be a worthy investment if I wanted to do some sort of unofficial racing, but otherwise? I don't get it. I really like my hatchback Subaru because it's economical, functional, and very convenient, with plenty of storage space. The only other thing I would ever possibly consider is a cheap, beat-up pickup truck for hauling larger things.

</uncalled for rant>
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Because it makes people enjoy their cars more? It's a hobby/enjoyment, there will never be logic behind such things. Honestly I could probably create a similar argument for any hobby or thing you enjoy doing with similar points. As long as people aren't breaking laws let them have fun with their time and money, feeds the economy.
 
Darunion said:
Because it makes people enjoy their cars more? It's a hobby/enjoyment, there will never be logic behind such things. Honestly I could probably create a similar argument for any hobby or thing you enjoy doing with similar points. As long as people aren't breaking laws let them have fun with their time and money, feeds the economy.
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Like gaming. Why do people game? It's a waste of time, there's no utility or objective gain from gaming, unless you do it professionally.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
... I've never really understood these "my car goes this fast" compensation fests. Over here, you see tons of Porche cars and occasionally a Ferrari (there's a dealer in town actually) or something like that. When I was younger, I used to be like "oh boy, it's my dream to get one of those!" As time went on and I actually drove out on the streets, I then spent more time trying to figure out what the hell the purpose of me getting one of those cars would be. I know this is an oft-repeated argument that many use, held in some disdain by those within auto circles... but when my average speed on any given road in the area is 30-50, at the absolute maximum, with cars filling roughly every lane so there's no real purpose in even trying to pass (aside from maybe getting two cars ahead, oh boy)... what the hell's the point? It would be a worthy investment if I wanted to do some sort of unofficial racing, but otherwise? I don't get it. I really like my hatchback Subaru because it's economical, functional, and very convenient, with plenty of storage space. The only other thing I would ever possibly consider is a cheap, beat-up pickup truck for hauling larger things.

</uncalled for rant>
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I understand your points, but I was simply talking about the marginal gains of a supercar specifically. There is fun associated with many other hobbies, and I do understand decking cars out to a degree (lights, head unit, looks, etc). My issue is the whole horsepower/supercar thing. Simply... I don't see where you could ever possibly use such an engine in most/all real life scenarios. Let's say that I have some almonds. Then I opt for some much more expensive (let's pretend they are for the purposes of this) chocolate almonds. But I can't eat chocolate in my household for <inert arcane reasons here>. So I simply strip the chocolate and eat the almonds... for what purpose did I get chocolate covered almonds? To me that's what a supercar is like. I can't really push it to its potential, and use it for all it's worth. To me that's just like throwing money away for no real gain to myself.
 
That Tesla looks like a prius. And what is with the watering down of the term SUV? That bently is more like a hatchback.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
I understand your points, but I was simply talking about the marginal gains of a supercar specifically. There is fun associated with many other hobbies, and I do understand decking cars out to a degree (lights, head unit, looks, etc). My issue is the whole horsepower/supercar thing. Simply... I don't see where you could ever possibly use such an engine in most/all real life scenarios. Let's say that I have some almonds. Then I opt for some much more expensive (let's pretend they are for the purposes of this) chocolate almonds. But I can't eat chocolate in my household for <inert arcane reasons here>. So I simply strip the chocolate and eat the almonds... for what purpose did I get chocolate covered almonds? To me that's what a supercar is like. I can't really push it to its potential, and use it for all it's worth. To me that's just like throwing money away for no real gain to myself.
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A better analogy would be cpu overclocking for simply marginal gains. Not really practical, many times degrades the transistor gate integrity over time but is fun, a challenge, and to be different. I guess I am saying is you may not have the ability to comprehend this hobby of people tuning their cars and not racing. You keep using this phrase of "can't" to describe what other people will do or not do, I think if you can get away from putting your own limitations onto others ,you might be able to see this better. Just because you will not gun it on a free way ramp for fun, does not mean others won't.

Another way to look at it could simply be just that Tim-the-Tool-Man man MORE POWER!!!

I used to tune my cars a bit and have some fun with it, I don't now that I am older and my enjoyments and hobbies changed. But I remember having fun with it, I remember going to a friends house and revving it after throwing some money under the hood and then going for a cruise. Now I just put in a better headlight set and simple mods just to have a little fun but not sink too much money into them since now I have less play money lol.
 
B00nie said:
Tesla refuel - 6-8 hours, Alfa refuel 2 minutes. Gas wins.
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Also: a Tesla has 2 pedals, while a real sports car has 3! I die a little inside every time I see a C7 Corvette with an automatic.

In all seriousness, the Tesla is a fine piece of technology but, even if it was affordable (which it's not), it doesn't do everything well. For crying out loud it weighs almost 5,000 lbs.
 
nysmo said:
a straight line 0-60 1/4 mile race is the defacto performance benchmark for nearly every car in the history of mankind.
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Cars have gotten so fast in straight lines and curves that the 1/4 mile is no longer the be-all and end-all of performance; now it's all about Nurburging lap times.
 
If I would buy a Tesla I would have to buy also a second car to use for actual driving. During winter the battery packs lose 30-50% of their capacity due to cold + having to heat the cabin during the entire drive. Also the battery would be totally drained after each work trip which would mean that in many cases I would barely make it one way and then be stuck for hours with a flat battery. If I made it both ways, you can forget about going to buy grocery with that battery during the same day :D
 
Oh man, you just can't compare an ice to an electric. Electric has full torque right away, it'll win every damn time over the qtr.

Put them on a runway and a suitably powered ice vehicle will eventually catch and overtake the electric due to the electric having a 1:1 gear ratio. Plus it takes time for the ice car to make its peak power. This is why they need a transmission 2 posts above, for more top end speed.
 
B00nie said:
Tesla refuel - 6-8 hours, Alfa refuel 2 minutes. Gas wins.
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Tesla is capable of charging up 170 miles of range in 30 minutes using DC fast charging. Gas has one advantage, a 75 year head start on infrastructure. I can afford neither of these cars, but one thing I do own is a 2017 volt.... and it's interesting to hear the things people who don't know the technology have to say "I hear it takes a full day to recharge".... nope. the EVSE that comes with the car is capable in stock form of accepting 240V input. Can charge my volt from empty to full in about 4 hours nothing special needed except setting up a dedicated 240V circuit.

Even before the electric car interest started heating up -- the US electrical grid system is in need of a massive massive overhaul, it's kind of scary just how old and antiquated some of our distribution grid is.
 
-Strelok- said:
It'll hit 155 way before you hit your top speed and by then it'll already be gone. Let's be honest, you aren't going to be driving anywhere near 155+ for a long stretch of time in the US unless you don't want a license.
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If you are crafty enough you will find the hwy sweet spots.

One such example I found there are guard rails on both sides of the highway. No place for cops to hide except in the center hiding spot. These hiding spots are a few miles apart. If Im passing the first hiding spot around 80mph and punch it, I have enough distance to make it to 170ish and brake back down to 80 by the time Im crossing the next hiding spot.

And I dont see the P90d pulling over 1G at the track anytime soon. So my feelings are not hurt by this giant car just yet. :p
 
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Flybye said:
If you are crafty enough you will find the hwy sweet spots.

One such example I found there are guard rails on both sides of the highway. No place for cops to hide except in the center hiding spot. These hiding spots are a few miles apart. If Im passing the first hiding spot around 80mph and punch it, I have enough distance to make it to 170ish and brake back down to 80 by the time Im crossing the next hiding spot.

And I dont see the P90d pulling over 1G at the track anytime soon. So my feelings are not hurt by this giant car just yet. :p
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Darwin is going to kill you, and I'm gonna laugh.
 
Verge said:
Darwin is going to kill you, and I'm gonna laugh.
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I dont expect non-car people to understand. I get that statement all the time. :ROFLMAO:

Ive driven on the autobahn several times and have seen 150+ far too many times. And track events used to help out. Hey some people do drugs, some get drunk, some like sky diving. My people like driving fast. :p
 
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StoleMyOwnCar said:
I understand your points, but I was simply talking about the marginal gains of a supercar specifically. There is fun associated with many other hobbies, and I do understand decking cars out to a degree (lights, head unit, looks, etc). My issue is the whole horsepower/supercar thing. Simply... I don't see where you could ever possibly use such an engine in most/all real life scenarios. Let's say that I have some almonds. Then I opt for some much more expensive (let's pretend they are for the purposes of this) chocolate almonds. But I can't eat chocolate in my household for <inert arcane reasons here>. So I simply strip the chocolate and eat the almonds... for what purpose did I get chocolate covered almonds? To me that's what a supercar is like. I can't really push it to its potential, and use it for all it's worth. To me that's just like throwing money away for no real gain to myself.
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I'm concerned you might have a terminal case of boring.
 
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