Tesla Model S beats Laguna Seca sedan lap record

As pictures of Tesla’s modified Model S surface in an apparent Nurburgring lap record attempt, the electric vehicle maker has claimed the four-door sedan lap record at the Laguna Seca circuit in its native California. The American electric sedan has lapped the 11-turn, 3.58 km racetrack in 1 minute 36.555 seconds, which Tesla claims is one second quicker than the four-door sedan record at the circuit.

That claim of a one-second margin appears to refer to the Laguna Seca lap time held by a Jaguar XE SV Project 8, which clocked a time of one minute 37.54 seconds, CNet reported. On the subject of lap times, the XE SV Project 8 holds the Nurburgring Nordschleife lap record for production four-door sedans with a time of seven minutes 18.361 seconds.

The onboard footage of the Model S’ record lap run includes a secondary camera angle, in which a steering wheel which appears to be from the smaller Model 3 can be seen. This suggests that considerable changes have been made to the Model S for the circuit run.

Tesla itself has said that this particular car is a prototype which runs the ‘Plaid’ powertrain and revised chassis, which means that it isn’t a production car in the strictest sense. Sources say this is the same three-motor powertrain that is set for the latest iteration of the Tesla Roadster, along with the improved cooling system from the Model 3, and are likely to be available in the Model S and Model X next year.

At its debut in November 2017, the second-generation Tesla Roadster claimed to have a driving range of 998 km from its 200 kWh battery pack, as well as having a claimed 10,000 Nm of torque. Tesla also said the Roadster is able to do the 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) sprint in 1.9 seconds, and goes all the way to a top speed of 402 km/h.

GALLERY: Modified Tesla Model S spied near the Nurburgring

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Mick Chan

Open roads and closed circuits hold great allure for Mick Chan. Driving heaven to him is exercising a playful chassis on twisty paths; prizes ergonomics and involvement over gadgetry. Spent three years at a motoring newspaper and short stint with a magazine prior to joining this website.

 

Comments

  • zamri on Sep 12, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    eletric car has no soul

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 5
  • Recko on Sep 12, 2019 at 7:46 pm

    Love that corkscrew turn

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Kipidap on Sep 12, 2019 at 10:25 pm

    I’m impressed with the achievement of such a young car company

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • AFMGT on Sep 13, 2019 at 8:25 am

    Plaid Model S with tri motor coming in 2020!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 10k Nm on Sep 13, 2019 at 9:36 am

    is there a typo in the article? 10,000 Nm of torque is insane for a car that weighs below 2 tonnes.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Matthew H Tong (Member) on Sep 13, 2019 at 11:07 am

      No, it’s not a typo. The figure came straight from a Tesla press release. We can’t believe it either!

      https://paultan.org/2019/04/30/tesla-roadster-to-get-over-1000-km-range-elon-musk/

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • Li Peng on Sep 13, 2019 at 11:30 am

      According to Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained, he claims that the Tesla Roadster’s proposed torque figures are not in-line with typical vehicle performance measurement standards.
      Tesla simply invented sky rocketing 10000Nm which has nothing to do with the Nm of all other cars in the world.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
 

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