Great race with the Model X Plaid at the Drag Strip last Sunday

[EatsShoots]

It's kind of sad that a car powered by electricity can easily humiliate even dedicated drag cars. Relics is right. One day, in a parking lot, I saw a Dodge Charger with the hood up and a few guys standing there. I walked over, cracked a joke like "Anytime you see a Dodge with the hood up, it's mandatory viewing time," ... and then I flashed on a fundamental truth about the car biz. Bottom line, this is about 120-year-old tech, incrementally improved, and sold to customers as the latest and greatest. Engine block, transmission, filters, lubricants, hoses everywhere, coolant, radiator, fans, spark plugs, wires everywhere, heat radiating out of that compartment, exhaust, and all the rest of it. I had a steam punk realization. This is actually antique steam punk. Any automaker could have done what Tesla did but it was too much trouble to innovate and nobody wanted to spend the money required. It was simpler and cheaper to keep doing what they'd been doing. They thought they were safe in their little engineering cocoons. And now they're paying the price.

It's so funny you mention steam because my brother and I refer to ICE cars (and granted I still have two cars with ICE in them) as modern steam engines. I mean the engines are basically just running a fire under the hood and happen to harness a small percentage of the heat into movement, with 25-30% efficiency. It's tweaked tech from a century ago. Modern chemistry is what has finally made EVs practical.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

It's so funny you mention steam because my brother and I refer to ICE cars (and granted I still have two cars with ICE in them) as modern steam engines. I mean the engines are basically just running a fire under the hood and happen to harness a small percentage of the heat into movement, with 25-30% efficiency. It's tweaked tech from a century ago. Modern chemistry is what has finally made EVs practical.

Well said!

 

[unowned]

Yeah honestly and I do mean this it's kind of sad how slow ice cars are. In just a few years from inception tesla took a very nascent technology (evs--and yes I know the first EV was a century ago, but had barely been touched in the meantime) and it's smoking everything for comparatively little money. This guy lives and breathes his car, and then along comes a guy who just writes a check, picks up a model x and in between using it as a reliable day to day commuter beats him at the track.

not only that, it has a huge warranty!

 

[Riceball777]

Its really crazy that a family 3 row electric suv that relatively affordable and reliable is fast that most purposeful built drag cars. it a crazy change that were all going through. and i'm a huge car guy. I been working and modding cars my whole life. I have a fully built 600whp honda s2000. the problem is that fast ice cars generally require lots of work and are very unreliable. I also have a 2022 red model x plaid.

 

[CCopperpot]

ICE cars should compete with ICE cars, EVs with EVs. Yes, they're both "cars" but EVs are really different. It's not really fair., similar to the trans athlete argument.

I get what you're saying, and for professional racing, I do agree... but for amature racing, I don't see it as too much different than any other variable (power adders vs NA, AWD vs RWD/FWD or Auto vs Standard, etc). Run what ya brung and all that

 

[FloridaSun]

Its really crazy that a family 3 row electric suv that relatively affordable and reliable is fast that most purposeful built drag cars. it a crazy change that were all going through. and i'm a huge car guy. I been working and modding cars my whole life. I have a fully built 600whp honda s2000. the problem is that fast ice cars generally require lots of work and are very unreliable. I also have a 2022 red model x plaid.

I used to have a 68 Vette Convertible Drag Car.. Ran low 9's with it. It was a lot of work and $$$ to keep it running. Spent over $100k on the car during the time I was racing it.