Finally, it's the big-dog Alfa's moment to break the EV silence. We hear the Giulia's bark and baritone as Randy warms the tires. Judgment time. Which will win? Twenty-one thousand gasoline combustions per lap, or software code swarming through silicon chips? The Alfa moves dartlike through the same corners the Tesla just drifted through. Randy pulls in wearing a smile we haven't seen yet today. Mr. Consistency just laid down a 1:22.78. That's 1.12 seconds quicker than the Tesla. "It just does exactly what you expect," he says. "No surprises. Always predictable. Rear-wheel drive just gives me the control that I want."
Then somebody notices the Alfa's Pirelli P Zero Corsa AR Asimmetrico front tires. They're asimmetrico, all right: Half of each tread block's rubber is gone after two sets of three hard laps. The Tesla engineer points to his car's Michelin Pilot Sport 4Ss that are at worst scuffed. "We could do that time if we were willing to destroy our tires," he says. The Tesla's rubber contains complex compounding across its tread for minimal rolling resistance but stickiness for corners (with foam glued into its interior to reduce noise). The technical investment in this tire-which can generate 0.95 g's of cornering grip from a 4,078-pound car without significantly damaging the rubber and still deliver 310 miles on a charge-is remarkable.
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The other day, I read Bob Lutz espouse that "Tesla has no tech advantage, no software advantage, no battery advantage. No advantages whatsoever." With all due respect, Bob, that's bull. As I sat in the plugged-in Model 3 at the Supercharger station in a Valencia, California, parking lot, I watched a number grow on the car's multitouch screen. That's so cool. Just by plugging the charger in, the Supercharger network recognizes the car, charges your credit card, and displays the cost while you're sitting there. No credit card swipe needed. Totally seamless.
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But at 80 percent of its limit, the Tesla is an Oculus Rift headset in a CXC full-motion driving simulator. Even down to the chubby, rubbery, simple-looking steering wheel in your hands. Threading down a twisty road at night-that big screen to one side, darting through corners with laserlike steering, the warp-drive whir-shrieks of its twin motors the soundtrack, and nothing but the headlight-lit road ahead-you're Luke Skywalker attacking the Death Star.
