Model S Plaid Brakes Are Terrible!

[bhzmark]

Recall that the OLD STOCK Plaid brakes, stopped 5 feet SHORTER than the Porsche Taycan sedan from 70 mph.

and now, a new bit of anecdata from youtubers who tested the Track Pack brakes find that the Plaid track pack brakes stopped about 5 feet longer than the HEAVIER Taycan Turismo from 100 mph.

Of course not surprising since cold/warm stops may be a little worse with pads that have a much higher operating temp range. They didn't test the Track Pack brakes where they belong, on the track.

 

[bkcyk]

These are the old control arms from one end of the car (front I guess) to give an idea of components that needed to be replaced to fit the AP brakes. No small task. Also lost adaptive damping (left rear to zero rebound reported) within 100 miles of picking the car up. That's a bit disappointing.View attachment 978466

 

[lolachampcar]

Turned out the right rear harness stress relief to the damper was damaged. I R&R both electrical connectors and zip tied the harness back in place and, viola, damper working and error message gone.

 

[DayTrippin]

Recall that the OLD STOCK Plaid brakes, stopped 5 feet SHORTER than the Porsche Taycan sedan from 70 mph.

View attachment 979040


and now, a new bit of anecdata from youtubers who tested the Track Pack brakes find that the Plaid track pack brakes stopped about 5 feet longer than the HEAVIER Taycan Turismo from 100 mph.

View attachment 979041


Of course not surprising since cold/warm stops may be a little worse with pads that have a much higher operating temp range. They didn't test the Track Pack brakes where they belong, on the track.

I watched through the vid earlier. Both the acceleration test and braking were done in the wet. This kept the other cars pretty close initially in acceleration. In the vids you can even see the wheel slippage on the Porsche and Audi off the line. If they are slipping you know the Plaid had to really dial it back.

Not to mention the guy driving the Plaid was the head of AutoTrader. He didn't look to have ever made a full throttle pass in any car, let alone a Plaid. He definitely looked gun shy. Not to mention I am sure how he braked wasn't much better than acceleration. Not sure he went hard enough on the brakes.

So basically I wouldn't put much faith into this test. I'd really want to know what tires all the cars are running on.