Pushing the Plaid to its Design Limits?

[mm9351]

As a Model S LR owner (not Plaid) I was curious to learn how 'aggressive' Plaid owners drive their vehicles? Do you find yourself somehow trying to ace the 1.99 second mark every drive? My concern, or question to the group is, with all that hard acceleration, massive horsepower & torque numbers do you worry about the risk of reduced life expectancy of critical drivetrain and suspension components? Is anyone concerned about pushing the Plaid to its design limits? I generally don't drive my MS that aggressively, but I know the power is there if I'm running late or feeling the need for speed. But somehow, I can't help but think all that hard driving (esp. Plaid) will ultimately cause some collateral damage. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments.

 

[ninefiveone]

So… the hypothesis is that every plaid driver is out there doing 9 sec 1/4 miles every single day? Bizarre.

 

[James Cole]

Wondering the same…

How reliable is the plaid drivetrain vs abuse?

 

[Electroma]

I dont know about the current Plaid model but the older performance Model S would show a warning on the screen that repeated launches would cause premature wear.

 

[mm9351]

Wondering the same…

How reliable is the plaid drivetrain vs abuse?

Well said. Another way of asking the same question, when is it considered 'spirited driving' and when is it considered abuse? And does driving a Plaid change one's driving habits?

 

[NeuroRad]

I mat it every drive.

 

[Yblue]

I try to floor it every chance I get...

 

[verdee]

I live my life 1/4 mile a time

 

[Speedr117]

I don't do standing starts very often, but I do accelerate briskly every drive I take. And...IT...NEVER...GETS...OLD!

A 1/4 throttle is what the old Performance S's used to feel like. It's just awesome. And I hate to say it, but I'm not worried about the drive train. It's got an 8 year warranty. Plus, my luck, I'd baby it just to get it totaled one day. It's there to be enjoyed...now!

 

[gsmith123]

I bought the whole zoom zoom pedal, I'm going to use the whole zoom zoom pedal!!

Wouldn't it be fun if the car kept a livetime log of how much time you've spend at full throttle?

 

[IslandHydro]

I bought the whole zoom zoom pedal, I'm going to use the whole zoom zoom pedal!!

Wouldn't it be fun if the car kept a livetime log of how much time you've spend at full throttle?

I suspect it does....

 

[phxazcraig]

I've seen enough videos of plaids to know that kind of acceleration is pushing all four tires to the limits of traction. Need the right road surface for it.

 

[NeuroRad]

I've seen enough videos of plaids to know that kind of acceleration is pushing all four tires to the limits of traction. Need the right road surface for it.

Absolutely. The traction control system is so insidious but sometimes you can just tell its not putting down the power. Then when you get the right section of road and traction it just hits, hard.

 

[dwbv]

My personal opinion is that going 0-60 in under 2 seconds will get old fast. The acceleration and torque never gets old though, meaning it's always fun accelerating in and out of driving sessions but flooring it at every stoplight will get old (and dangerous) pretty quick. Not to mention that most inner-cities' streets are not perfect and very speed limited so speeding tickets are always an option.

I say drive it like it was meant to be driven otherwise why did you buy a Plaid? I will push my P85D wherever it is safe and fun to do so otherwise it's driven like a normal car on normal roads. I don't worry about mechanical stress or degradation. I DO WORRY about tires though .

 

[mikez10288]

My personal opinion is that going 0-60 in under 2 seconds will get old fast.

You must live an exciting life outside of driving your car because there's no way in hell that would ever get old to me. My Model 3 Performance is still mind blowing every time I floor it.

 

[phxazcraig]

I don't have a plaid, but I do have a 2023 MYP, and a BMW K1300s motorcycle (175hp). The MYP is faster and quicker than my previous 1000cc motorcycle (K100rs), but slower than the K1300s. But effectively the MYP accelerates like a fast motorcycle. The first couple of years I had the bike, I was exploring all the acceleration and the top end. (Up to 165mph so far, and the bike was still pulling up to its 175mph redline). Now, the only place I give the bike more than half throttle or for more than one gear is when I get on a freeway onramp. There just aren't that many times you can use full acceleration with other cars around. Just like on the bike, you can accelerate yourself into trouble fast.

 

[NeuroRad]

I don't have a plaid, but I do have a 2023 MYP, and a BMW K1300s motorcycle (175hp). The MYP is faster and quicker than my previous 1000cc motorcycle (K100rs), but slower than the K1300s. But effectively the MYP accelerates like a fast motorcycle. The first couple of years I had the bike, I was exploring all the acceleration and the top end. (Up to 165mph so far, and the bike was still pulling up to its 175mph redline). Now, the only place I give the bike more than half throttle or for more than one gear is when I get on a freeway onramp. There just aren't that many times you can use full acceleration with other cars around. Just like on the bike, you can accelerate yourself into trouble fast.

The other issue is other cars on the road cannot perceive how fast the plaid is accelerating. For example, cars making turns into oncoming traffic. You have to be very careful.

 

[dn325ci]

The other issue is other cars on the road cannot perceive how fast the plaid is accelerating. For example, cars making turns into oncoming traffic. You have to be very careful.

Right. Not unlike sport bikes. It's on the Plaid driver, as the average motorist is unaware/inattentive to this. With great power comes great responsibility.

 

[James Cole]

The other issue is other cars on the road cannot perceive how fast the plaid is accelerating. For example, cars making turns into oncoming traffic. You have to be very careful.

X 1,000,000 The sheer power + zero noise is very dangerous for other motorists, in a blink of an eye you're there.

 

[Don.Church]

There is a guy that regularly takes his Plaid to the dragstrip, on YouTube look for “The Tesla Plaid Channel”. The car doesn’t appear to have any issues and still is about as quick as ever. YouTube