Photo: DragTimes/YouTube (screengrab)
The Tesla P85D was an absolute monster when Dragtimes strapped it to their dyno a couple of years ago, cranking out a staggering 392kg-ft of torque. But now the YouTube channel and blog has hooked up a brand new P100D with Ludicrous Plus mode to their dyno, and the results make even the toughest heavy-duty trucks quake in their boots.
Last year, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said he’d offer a special P100D Ludicrous mode that “uncorks the full performance.” Well, now we have a good idea of what “full performance” really means in terms of power and torque, because Brooks from Dragtimes conducted eight or nine dyno passes on the P100D with Ludicrous Plus, and ultimately concluded that the electric rocket-ship makes at least 588 horsepower at the wheels, and 417kg-ft of torque.
For reference, the enormous Ram 3500 heavy duty pickup makes only 408kg-ft, and it not only weighs thousands more than the Tesla, but it has to tow 20 to 30 thousand pounds of weight up Davis Dam in 100 degree weather while maintaining 64km/h. The Tesla just has to carry a professor and a few textbooks. (It’s worth mentioning that unless you do back-to-back pulls with both vehicles on the same dyno, comparing them directly isn’t quite fair, but it is still fun).
Even though our minds still aren’t used to seeing such high figures on a fairly standard-looking luxury sedan, the numbers really aren’t that surprising, if you think about it; just a few weeks ago, Motor Trend measured a 0-60 MPH time for the P100D in the low two-second range, and basic physics tells us there’s got to be a shit-ton of torque at those wheels to get a 2,268kg sedan up to speed that quickly.
So the Tesla isn’t quite breaking physics, but it’s getting damn close, and embarrassing established juggernauts in the process.