Performance of Refreshed MSLR vs. others

[danp]

Fixed up attempt :

fun fact …I did a quick 0-60 on the raven in the rain and temp was about 34 degree F. ‘(SOC’?) at something around 18% , no heat (no battery heated up or prepped), no launch (no launch or cheetah mode) juste for fun …dragy was still even then (drag showed what it should for a Raven performance without prep) yeah slower thant those 2.3 I got at dragstrip last summer ( compared to drag with all the prep and battery warm, SOC full)… but can definately tell you much quicker in 0-30 than 2022 lr. (Raven P outdoes LR 0-30)

was in ready to race, but after 30 fell literally on its knees (Raven P was in the running until 30 and then couldn’t keep up?)

I tried !!

hey that's so much better!!! and super helpful with the Raven vs LR comparison.

would you say LR just feels too sluggish off the line, or is it just that it's not as quick as the Raven in comparison? wondering because I have a LR on order and there is no way to test drive or rent one on Turo (they're all Plaids).

 

[DayTrippin]

I would not say the MS LR is slow off the line. The Raven will launch harder but you will feel it flatten out. The LR just feels like it just keeps pulling hard all the way up.

Unless you are running P model S's, I really don't think you are going to lack for acceleration in the LR. Also with anything, you'll get used to its speed, even with a Plaid. It helps to go drive something slower for a while to reset. your "speed" clock again.

On paper, 2.4 sec Raven vs the 2.8-2.9 for the LR seems like a lot. I really doubt you will notice it that much. Not saying there isn't a difference, but driving them on a daily basis, not sure it will really matter. If you are going to track the car, get the Plaid. Sadly where I live 99% of the time I can't even up the LR for more than a few seconds without putting my license in serious jeopardy.

I do feel that somewhere Tesla is reining in the power somewhat. Not saying it feels slow by any means, just feels like they kept some power in reserve so to speak. Maybe they will do an acceleration boost as they did with the 3/Y. Basically, just boost it to 60 and from there on up it would be like it is currently. Now if Elon will just get with the program and offer boost for the MS LR...

 

[pengy]

Induction motors might have higher low end torque, plus a higher gear ratio to give it a better start off the line.
Raven 9.32:1 (Front PM) 9.73:1 (Rear Induction)
Refresh LR 7.5:1 (Front) 9:1 (Rear)
Plaid 9:1 (Both)
Model 3 P 9:1 (Both)

Considering how the refresh LR basically has the same drivetrain package as the 3/Y Performance, the higher speed pull is helped by the lower ratio for the front motor.

 

[mulot30th]

Fixed up attempt :

fun fact …I did a quick 0-60 on the raven in the rain and temp was about 34 degree F. ‘(SOC’?) at something around 18% , no heat (no battery heated up or prepped), no launch (no launch or cheetah mode) juste for fun …dragy was still even then (drag showed what it should for a Raven performance without prep) yeah slower thant those 2.3 I got at dragstrip last summer ( compared to drag with all the prep and battery warm, SOC full)… but can definately tell you much quicker in 0-30 than 2022 lr. (Raven P outdoes LR 0-30)

was in ready to race, but after 30 fell literally on its knees (Raven P was in the running until 30 and then couldn’t keep up?)

I tried !!

Let make this more simple

raven in ludicrous mode no heated battery no launch mode



Raven faster than lr 0-30
Raven 30-60 raven about equal
LR seems somewhat quicker past 80mph



I also have a plaid and that thing is ferocious

Plaid launch about same as the Raven 0-30
but after that plaid just keep pulling stonger much stronger

 

[lolachampcar]

Short answer.....
Plaid is stupid fast as in Liter Class Sport Bike in a 16 year old's hands stupid fast. Short of a ChampCar in 3rd with hot tires or a bracket big block dragster, I've never felt something accelerate so hard around 60 mph.

The MSLR is really fast and, as others have noted, it does not lay down like previous versions.

I played with launching a few times with previous performance models especially when they first released the launch mode code. It was neat to do but quickly lost its luster with me as I am not a drag racer. I found it uncomfortable and thus I do not value the 60' times.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd have ordered a MSLR instead of my Plaid and spent a lot more reducing unsprung weight (even lighter wheels and low mass two piece brake rotors). The MSLR is plenty fast enough as a daily driver and I seldom use that last little bit that it has over my wife's MSLR.

As always, just my two cents......

 

[DayTrippin]

Short answer.....
Plaid is stupid fast as in Liter Class Sport Bike in a 16 year old's hands stupid fast. Short of a ChampCar in 3rd with hot tires or a bracket big block dragster, I've never felt something accelerate so hard around 60 mph.

The MSLR is the 750 sport bike in this analogy.

Or to put the MSLR in another context, here are the fastest Lambo times (stock). Use 2.9 for the LR's 0-60 and 10.8@130 for the 1/4 for relatively accurate comparisons. I don't think most people would think a Lambo is slow. All keep in mind all Teslas launch super consistently so even if a Lambo has a better time, they likely won't launch as consistently.

Lamborghini: 0-60 time, 1/4 Mile time, Power & Top Speed (Every Model)

Get your Lamborghini data fix. We compiled all the power, acceleration and top speed numbers for every Lamborghini model ever. Find out which Lamborghini's are the performance powerhouses.

www.supercars.net

If that isn't enough for your daily driver, then buy the Plaid. When I saw the times the Plaid was consistently posting I had a tinge of buyers remorse for not buying the Piaid but I didn't have my LR yet for comparison.

Now that I have had MSLR for a while and driven it enough in a lot of different situations, I have absolutely no regrets for not buying the Plaid. The environment I am usually driving in already constrains how much I can use the LR as it is. Most of the time I take the 3 because it is more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

To make the S more fun I plan on reducing unsprung weight and will put on some lighter weight wheels soon as a start and go from there. If people could actually take a test drive in the LR, I think they would sell even more of them though I think it might cannabalize sales from the Plaid.

I liked the idea that someone else mentioned about when Tesla had a version where you could try the different power levels to compare versions. It would be awesome if you had a Model S that was setup as a demo that you could select which power mode you wanted; Plaid or LR. That might also help sell more Plaids.

Others might say stupid fast is enough for me and I don't need incredibly stupid fast. I know if I had been able to take a test drive in either version and opened it up with my wife in the car, she would have probably wanted to smack the heck out of me. That was the instant replay of when we test drove the M3P. One hard launch in the 3P and a woman who never swears said "Slow the elfin' car down" and smacked me. So with the LR I always just sort of roll into the throttle and gradually increase it like a jet taking off.

 

[Midnightsun]

Others might say stupid fast is enough for me

I fall exactly into this category. Will easily outrun 99% of all cars on the road however I seriously doubt I am ever going to try.

 

[fetar30310]

If I had it to do all over again, I'd have ordered a MSLR instead of my Plaid and spent a lot more reducing unsprung weight (even lighter wheels

I'm interested in this - not for the speed, but rather to increase efficiency and looks. I'm getting an LR with the 19s, but those look gross.
Any suggestions on replacement wheels? Open to 19s or 20s.

 

[DayTrippin]

I'm interested in this - not for the speed, but rather to increase efficiency and looks. I'm getting an LR with the 19s, but those look gross.
Any suggestions on replacement wheels? Open to 19s or 20s.

Look at Signature Wheels or BC Wheels. I can't stand the 19" aeros that came on my LR but new I'd swap out the wheels so never bothered with going anything from Tesla as I didn't like their heavy 21's either.

I am going with 20's but still working out what tires to go with.

 

[lolachampcar]

I'm interested in this - not for the speed, but rather to increase efficiency and looks. I'm getting an LR with the 19s, but those look gross.
Any suggestions on replacement wheels? Open to 19s or 20s.

I'm cheap.
TSW Nurburgrings in 20" worked just fine for me. With the new Plaid/MSLR widths, the dish depth on the rim looks even better. They drop about 10 lbs per corner. The two piece rotors should drop a significant amount as well.

It's not so much about efficiency or looks for me as it is feel, comfort and handling. There is a sizable difference in each category for me and those are things I value from a daily driver.

These are from my previous car
DSC03606.JPG

 

[Derrickd5]

I would not say the MS LR is slow off the line. The Raven will launch harder but you will feel it flatten out. The LR just feels like it just keeps pulling hard all the way up.

Unless you are running P model S's, I really don't think you are going to lack for acceleration in the LR. Also with anything, you'll get used to its speed, even with a Plaid. It helps to go drive something slower for a while to reset. your "speed" clock again.

On paper, 2.4 sec Raven vs the 2.8-2.9 for the LR seems like a lot. I really doubt you will notice it that much. Not saying there isn't a difference, but driving them on a daily basis, not sure it will really matter. If you are going to track the car, get the Plaid. Sadly where I live 99% of the time I can't even up the LR for more than a few seconds without putting my license in serious jeopardy.

I do feel that somewhere Tesla is reining in the power somewhat. Not saying it feels slow by any means, just feels like they kept some power in reserve so to speak. Maybe they will do an acceleration boost as they did with the 3/Y. Basically, just boost it to 60 and from there on up it would be like it is currently. Now if Elon will just get with the program and offer boost for the MS LR...

id' be all over that boost in the LR. The LR is still super quick to me by all means, more than enough, but I would not mind an extra BOOST because like you said...i'm getting use to it.

 

[mscott]

From my experience it seems Tesla has implemented fairly different throttle response on their "performance" vehicles than on the non-performance vehicles. We had an M3P and I've driven a P100D and several older P85 models (as loaners) and they all had a real "kick" from zero that none of the non-performance models have, including my new MSLR. My guess is that the M3P has a slightly quicker 60' time, but there's no doubt that the MSLR is quicker beyond that. I had a chance to take the MSLR out to an 1/8th mile drag strip and it consistently ran 7.3s and a few high 7.2s, trapping about 105MPH. The old M3P never did better than 7.5s @ 94MPH.

I drove a friend's P100D at a 1/4 mile drag strip and it recorded a 6.95s 1/8-mile @ 100MPH, so I can confirm the refreshed MSLR isn't quite as quick as a P100D, and therefore probably not a Raven, either. (Although the trap speed being lower than the MSLR seems to confirm the much improved higher speed power on the refresh S.)

I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla offered a boost upgrade that this gap would be closed, and I would definitely spend $2K for that boost, even though I agree the MSLR is already stupid quick. But I do enjoy a night at the drag strip and while I wasn't willing to drop an extra $35K (and lower range) for the Plaid I would happily drop $2-3K to get into the 6's in the 1/8th mile (assuming there was little to no range hit when not using that extra boost).

BTW, with the MSLR there was a noticeable increase in acceleration at about 60MPH. It was very pronounced on the drag strip. Unfortunately, my Dragy didn't seem to save any performance graphs, just times and speeds, but my finely-tuned butt tells me there is a nice "kick" starting around 60.

 

[mswlogo]

Eye candy for us non Plaid

 

[Zcd1]

Eye candy for us non Plaid

I'd like to see the MSLR against an M5 Competition and E63S.

These races against a tuned, RWD F10 M5 and a Z06 mainly serve to point out how tricky it is to launch high-HP RWD cars...

 

[DayTrippin]

Pretty solid runs for

I'd like to see the MSLR against an M5 Competition and E63S.

These races against a tuned, RWD F10 M5 and a Z06 mainly serve to point out how tricky it is to launch high-HP RWD cars...

It mostly matters what you can put down, not how much you have. Solid results for the LR. Not a lot of cars will beat it on the street. Plenty fast enough to be fun.

It will be interesting to see wha they do with Plaid 2.0. That is when I might buy in if they make some significant improvements. For the now the LR has been a great car. More power isn't normally something it is lacking on the street as it is.

 

[Zcd1]

Pretty solid runs for

It mostly matters what you can put down, not how much you have.

First time I went to the strip with my M3P, a guy in a tuned F10 M5 literally called me out from the parking lot to run against him.

Wasn't close.

His reaction time wasn't great and by the time he hooked, I was GONE. I ran 11.7 @ 117 to his 12.7 @ 124. He didn't ask for a re-match.

 

[lolachampcar]

Zcd1, you should be ashamed of yourself for that behavior. That M5 guy had a lot invested in his .......

 

[Zcd1]

Zcd1, you should be ashamed of yourself for that behavior. That M5 guy had a lot invested in his .......

Ha - this was a few years ago - nobody really knew what my car was then. It was great/funny.

Ran against a loud, fat-tired, tuned Chevy SS, too. BLAMMO - left him like he was standing still. He flagged me down in the staging lanes later to ask "WTF?!?!?!" ;-)

The surprise factor is gone now, sadly...

 

[12Pack]

Of course we have to keep in mind, these are fast sedans not real performance cars after all. Here in the UK, there are few opportunities for stop light drag races. I am patiently waiting for my Plaid order which will be late 2023. I try not to compare my Raven P to my Mac, because most of our fun road opportunities are coming into and out of roundabouts. With its weight the MS brakes poorly, understeers ponderously by 60mph, and feels like it’s barely moving coming out over 60, whereas the Mac is blasting through. At least the refresh cars will have that last bit resolved. In the meantime, the Raven is still a fantastic tourer.

 

[mscott]

I was at the SLUSH event at PPIR today with my MSLR. I must have run at least 15 1/8th-mile drags and almost as many roll races. I only lost one race to a legitimately faster car, although I saw two other cars that would definitely have won against me handily, one of which was a Plaid. Toward the later part of the day, many drivers were reluctant to line up with me. Considering how few other cars—even highly-tuned ones—can outrun the MSLR, it somewhat boggles my mind what a Plaid can do.

That said, it is a bit unnerving scrubbing 105MPH in just a hundred or so feet from the end of the "drag strip" to the wall of the "D" curve at this track, and I agree with 12Pack's assessment that this car is a much better touring car than performance car. I bought the MSLR to be our road trip car—drag racing is just a fun afterthought.

For good measure, here's a proper Dragy report for my best run of the day (my 2nd, about 89% SOC).

Worst run of the day was a 7.40, at about 58% SOC, and all the rest were in the 7.3's. All in Drag Strip Mode using launch control.

It's worth noting that I had 350-ish pounds of people (me and my son) and also this is a completely un-preped track. I could hear my wheels chirping and feel power being reduced a bit on launch, but this is a realistic representation of on-street performance.

Here's the 0-60 for that same run.