Tesla has certainly been making the effort at the venerable European vehicle testing grounds, the Nurburgring Nordschleife, having previously run tests at the 20.6 km-long circuit. The American EV manufacturer has now been seen at the German circuit once again, this time with a blue ‘Plaid’ Model S.
The blue example seen here wears similar exterior fittings as the red car seen previously, namely the wheel arch extensions to go over the larger wheel and tyre combination. Similarly, the car here also has the larger front bumper intake as well as the clear spoiler Gurney flap extension on the bootlid. As before, the upsized wheels house a set of carbon-ceramic brakes.
The modified Teslas seen here were running as part of the circuit’s Industry Pool sessions, where lap timing by manufacturers is strictly forbidden, and drivers are required to join and leave the circuit from a pit area which negates a full flying lap.
An observer from Auto Motor und Sport managed to hand-time the Tesla’s run with a stopwatch, yielding a time of seven minutes 23 seconds, though admittedly with inaccuracies associated with the method. There’s potential for an even quicker lap time should an official timed session be conducted, as this run was held in traffic and with track layout restrictions.
This lap time puts the modified Model S comfortably ahead of the Porsche Taycan in the four-door EV ‘Ring lap time stakes, though trackside observers have also told Road & Track that behind the Teslas’ heavily tinted windows are fully stripped-out interiors, leaving just the necessary seats, harnesses and controls. The larger, aftermarket wheels seen here have also been reported to wear the recently introduced Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport RS trackday tyre.
The exact driver at the wheel during the 7:23 lap time was not known, although three professional racers with considerable Nurburgring experience have been seen driving Tesla’s development cars at the circuit. They are Thomas Mutsch, FIA GT and GT3-class racer, Andreas Simonsen, Nurburgring VLN Series racer, and Carl Rydquist, also a GT3-class racer.
Sources also report that the Tesla team have been testing at the Nordschleife daily, with the first of two timed-lap attempts to take place today; the second timed run is rumoured to be set for Saturday. For now, the American firm has claimed a run of the Laguna Seca circuit which clocked a time of 1 minute 36.555 seconds, which is one second quicker than that by a Jaguar XE SV Project 8.
GALLERY: Tesla ‘Plaid’ Model S prototype spyshots
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They should borrow Tony Stark arc reactor for the lap record attempt. Arc reactor vs tons of battery….they can forget all the arch extender and the non street friendly tire. They will meed more wings though.
I wonder how motorheads will feel when a 7-seater sedan beats the official Ring record. Tesla naysayers now claiming since this is not production car, any record attempt is useless, eventhough Elon Musk already said these will be in market late next year.
Then, it’s not a production car. The Taycan used by Porsche was available in production form to buyers now, not next year.