Pushing the Plaid to its Design Limits?

[soulsea]

I'll throw my 2c in keeping in mind that I am waiting for my MSP and have never driven one to date.

But a few years back I daily drove a 2015 911 TTS which accelerated in the mid 2s to 60, and could do it fifty times in a row without issues.

The idea of the car was not to go balls out at every stop light. it was just a very fast confortahbe sports car that was a joy to drive at all times and had power in reserve whenever you needed or wanted it.

But the best thing about having that kind of performance available in that car and presumably in the MSP, is that on a bad day, when the world around you goes sideways, I would take it out to an empty road and do five to ten launches and it would make everything right in the world by putting a massive smile on my face and make me forget on the nonsense, at least temporarily. It's basically an automotive antidepressant.

 

[paulchou]

One thing to keep in mind is that the S is extremely heavy, and its brakes are severely undersized. This is ESPECIALLY true for the Plaid.

Of all the times I accelerated spiritedly in my LR, I remember vividly one time when I punched it all the way on a clear highway ramp - only, to my horror, to see a big semi pulled into my lane a second or so later. I immediately fully engage the brake as I was already going too fast to swerve. I can tell you the next few seconds were hair raising - as my S seemed to take forever to slow down enough to barely avoid collision. I probably worn out 10% of my brake pads that day. lol.

Had I been driving a Plaid that day...

Bottomline, people grossly underestimate the acceleration ability of an EV on the road (let alone a Plaid, through the rear view mirror no less), and the Plaid is motorcycle fast, but in the form of a family sedan, and with the weight of a minivan. Don't get me wrong the S handles the road well overall, but you really don't realize how bad the brake is until you really need it.

So, to the original question - until the Plaid has matching hardware, one needs to be very cautious when pushing it to its limit on the road - this is true for Teslas in general. I am a mellow driver overall (my lifetime efficiency is around 105%), but all it takes is one time of misjudgment (from you or the other driver)...

 

[phxazcraig]

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.

Yessiree! My K1300s is a constant exercise in throttle control.

 

[Propofoln]

You shouldn’t buy a plaid if you drive like a Grandma, OP. I drive like I stole it daily.

 

[NeuroRad]

You shouldn’t buy a plaid if you drive like a Grandma, OP. I drive like I stole it daily.

Bingo.

 

[Sam1]

You shouldn’t buy a plaid if you drive like a Grandma, OP. I drive like I stole it daily.

^^^
I beat the living bejesus out of mine, and the only thing I've been able to damage are the front compression and tension arm bushings. All 4 were ripped. it's a warranty repair but I knew they'd probably go out again so I just installed the MPP bushings.

 

[Sam1]

One thing to keep in mind is that the S is extremely heavy, and its brakes are severely undersized. This is ESPECIALLY true for the Plaid.

Of all the times I accelerated spiritedly in my LR, I remember vividly one time when I punched it all the way on a clear highway ramp - only, to my horror, to see a big semi pulled into my lane a second or so later. I immediately fully engage the brake as I was already going too fast to swerve. I can tell you the next few seconds were hair raising - as my S seemed to take forever to slow down enough to barely avoid collision. I probably worn out 10% of my brake pads that day. lol.

Had I been driving a Plaid that day...

Bottomline, people grossly underestimate the acceleration ability of an EV on the road (let alone a Plaid, through the rear view mirror no less), and the Plaid is motorcycle fast, but in the form of a family sedan, and with the weight of a minivan. Don't get me wrong the S handles the road well overall, but you really don't realize how bad the brake is until you really need it.

So, to the original question - until the Plaid has matching hardware, one needs to be very cautious when pushing it to its limit on the road - this is true for Teslas in general. I am a mellow driver overall (my lifetime efficiency is around 105%), but all it takes is one time of misjudgment (from you or the other driver)...

This hits it on the head.

It's not that the OEM brakes on the plaid are terrible, it's that you can accelerate 30mph in one second, so you're almost always going faster than you expect. You'll be in the triple digits more often than you have with any other car.

 

[bkcyk]

One thing to keep in mind is that the S is extremely heavy, and its brakes are severely undersized. This is ESPECIALLY true for the Plaid.

Not mine

 

[Speedr117]

The new updated brakes on the latest Plaid seem really good and I haven't had any "high brake temperature" issues after doing multiple max braking corners on my favorite twisty road.

I have to remind myself every time I drive that only the acceleration is unworldly, the braking and corning are just normal (at least compared to every performance car I've ever had). Coming from motorcycles (and motorcycle racing), I always tell people "Going fast is easy...it's the stopping that's the hard part!"

 

[Duke846]

The new updated brakes on the latest Plaid seem really good and I haven't had any "high brake temperature" issues after doing multiple max braking corners on my favorite twisty road.

I have to remind myself every time I drive that only the acceleration is unworldly, the braking and corning are just normal (at least compared to every performance car I've ever had). Coming from motorcycles (and motorcycle racing), I always tell people "Going fast is easy...it's the stopping that's the hard part!"

Brakes are the same just red. Pad compound is different.

 

[Speedr117]

Brakes are the same just red. Pad compound is different.

I used "brakes" as a general term. My point was, they have been improved since I haven't had any issues that the seemed to have plagued the previous version. If it is just brake pads, then you'd think someone on here who could reproduce the issue would swap them out and report back...

 

[Carsly2]

What's the point of 1,020 horsepower if you don't want to ever use it?

If I'm first at a stoplight, and the road ahead is flat and clear, nothing wrong with standing on it - after a one second delay after the light changes and a quick check of both sides to make sure no one is blowing a red light. I'll still be a couple hundred yards down the road before the other cars make it across the intersection which never gets old.

 

[soulsea]

What's the point of 1,020 horsepower if you don't want to ever use it?

Agreed ... it's like why bother owning one's own horn if not to toot it.

 

[Duke846]

I used "brakes" as a general term. My point was, they have been improved since I haven't had any issues that the seemed to have plagued the previous version. If it is just brake pads, then you'd think someone on here who could reproduce the issue would swap them out and report back...

They did change the brake booster. It’s a different part number.

 

[bkcyk]

This is about as edge as anyone who's not suicidal is going to get in the MSP. Without Track Pack, it's imminent death.

Accelerating from Flugplatz through Kottenborn hitting ~190mph ($#@&*!) up a jump braking, getting light with a little rear end slide correction, hitting Schwedenkreuz thankful to be alive.

This is one of the most insane things I've seen on automotive YouTube. The performance package that is the MSP Track Pack is plain stoopid (in a good way).

 

[Sam1]

This is about as edge as anyone who's not suicidal is going to get in the MSP. Without Track Pack, it's imminent death.

Accelerating from Flugplatz through Kottenborn hitting ~190mph ($#@&*!) up a jump braking, getting light with a little rear end slide correction, hitting Schwedenkreuz thankful to be alive.

This is one of the most insane things I've seen on automotive YouTube. The performance package that is the MSP Track Pack is plain stoopid (in a good way).

When you see Misha stress and take a breather, you know it was sketchy!

 

[dn325ci]

This is about as edge as anyone who's not suicidal is going to get in the MSP. Without Track Pack, it's imminent death.

Accelerating from Flugplatz through Kottenborn hitting ~190mph ($#@&*!) up a jump braking, getting light with a little rear end slide correction, hitting Schwedenkreuz thankful to be alive.

This is one of the most insane things I've seen on automotive YouTube. The performance package that is the MSP Track Pack is plain stoopid (in a good way).

Shailene Woodley hot lapping.

 

[bkcyk]

When you see Misha stress and take a breather, you know it was sketchy!

I'd wager he left some skid marks there, in more ways than one (in an ev lol)

 

[Duke846]

This is about as edge as anyone who's not suicidal is going to get in the MSP. Without Track Pack, it's imminent death.

Accelerating from Flugplatz through Kottenborn hitting ~190mph ($#@&*!) up a jump braking, getting light with a little rear end slide correction, hitting Schwedenkreuz thankful to be alive.

This is one of the most insane things I've seen on automotive YouTube. The performance package that is the MSP Track Pack is plain stoopid (in a good way).

That’s nothing plus he is a amateur.

 

[bkcyk]

That’s nothing plus he is a amateur.

OEM+ right? Lmao