It's not that simple, as described. It appears to be geared for the high end more. There are lots of turbo cars that have nothing in the low end but absolutely rocket in the top end, for example, which is why they're slow in the low mph range, but are insanely fast above say, 60mph.
This does seem like the most likely explanation. It's interesting that Tesla decided to gear it this way, if so. I can't say one way is better than the other, though you'd think most would enjoy lower-end power more than higher end due to simple speed limit adherence.
I wouldn't care if it was gearing, softer launch, etc. All I wanted was what I paid for. So if they geared it wrong, shame on them. If they SW limited it, shame on them. It should at least meet the claimed times. Either fix, or update the specs. I still keep searching and not a single verified run I've seen anywhere, with a reputable timing device, has shown the claimed 3.1 second 0-60. Another Elon lie.I own a Plaid and I have had a LR '23 S as a loaner a few times. I'm going to guess they aren't limiting the 0-60 times. At low speeds, the motor torque is limited by the max amps that can be sent through the motor. The battery has plenty of power available, but the current through the motor is the limiting factor. Thus, the motors are limited to the same torque until about 50 mph in the Plaid. You can see the straight line in the graph below. HP is increasing because torque is constant, and RPM is linearly increasing.
Above 50 mph, the battery power limit kicks in, and then the limit of the motors is set by how much power can be delivered from the battery. Therefore, you get constant HP up to about 100 mph. Somewhere above that, the back EMF of the motors starts limiting the max current that can be pulled from the battery, and the power will drop off again, but that seems to be a very gradual drop off, somewhere around 200 mph.
Anyway, so back to the Long range. If the LR really has 2 model Y motors instead of the 3 in the Plaid, we can expect about 2/3 of the torque of the plaid at launch, up to about 50 mph. But, the Long range has a bit of an advantage since it has the same battery as the plaid, it can pull max power from the battery and maintain that 2/3 torque for longer. Someone could datalog the Long Range, but I'd guess there are parts of the curve where it pulls nearly the same KW from the battery as the plaid, because it can.
But, the whole thing could be a bit different depending on the gearing of the rear motor in the Long range.
TL;DR I suspect the 0-60 isn't limited in the Long range, but the mid speed is pretty strong thanks to the plaid battery, which is why it gets a better quarter mile time than the Model 3 performance, even though the 0-60 might be the same or slower.
That is pretty much the crux of it, isn't it? Can't argue with you there.
The current M3P is 531 lbs lighter than the S LR! That's quite a difference. While the CD is lower for the S LR, the frontal area is smaller on the M3P, so perhaps that's a wash.
Here are the curb weights:
If you look at the percentage of increased weight vs power, it should be more than enough to offset it. The S had a lot more contact patch so can put more power to the ground (if it has it at low speeds). CD won't matter until higher speeds.
www.omnicalculator.com
A traditional ICE car builds it's torque with rpms (up to a point). Off the line even a car with 700ft-lbs of torque may only be producing 100ft-lbs at 500 rpm. This is why there are so many gears to help the engine off the line and keep it in the good rpm range for good torque and power.
Someone should log the can bus during a pull. If we can see motor amps and battery watts we'll know if it is being limited, if we compare to the plaid.
Awesome info! Great job digging up the gearing ratios. I'm happy to have my theory debunked on this one, it means the potential for an unlock exists (however unlikely)!
Makes me kinda mad if they are holding it back which I get a strong feeling they are. It's to make the gap the Plaid on it appear big. The Plaid is 0-60 in 1.99 sec, and if the LR was 0-60 in 2.5 sec, and initially they were charging what like $40k more for the Plaid? I see that would be bad for Plaid sales.
It's interesting you say that about the S. On the X Plaid, the sport mode is actually slightly slower than the X LR (in insane mode).
When I saw the X LR numbers, it pissed me off even more. My best ever run was a 3.28. Sometimes I'd have a bunch of runs in the 3.4-3.5 range as well. With nothing changed, it ran some 3.6 second passes too. On one set, I ran 3.29, 3.61, 3.50, then 3.60. No idea how that worked as I had a high SoC and thought it would rip some better passes.
Yeah that’s bad if you think your M3 LR with boost is about the same as MS LR. Clearly the MS LR could be a beast of a car according to its stats, power to weight and gearing. It does shine above 40 but it could shine the whole way.
