Can The Tesla Model S P85D Really Outperform the McLaren F1?

Having considered how legendary luxury brands can both be challenged and learn from Tesla and its continued drive for improvement let's take a closer look at what the dual motor P85D can do against its competition. And perhaps more importantly can it really outperform the legendary McLaren F1? Officially Tesla quotes the P85D and its combined  691 all wheel drive horsepower as  needing only 3.2 seconds to reach 60 mph and 11.8 for the quarter mile. Given the right conditions we can see someone dip under 3 seconds in the signature test, once though to be an almost unbreakable performance barrier.


This essentially puts the P85D slimly ahead of its closest competition, 3.2 seconds is coincidentally the best times recorded by the all wheel drive Audi RS7 and Mercedes CLS/E 63 AMG S models. Given that the P85D will do these numbers "mash and go" versus the launch control and brake torquing gives Tesla the advantage here. Things should stay close through the quarter mile as the RS7 and AMG S models have posted 1/4 times as quick as 11.5 seconds with most tests showing a tenth or two advantage to the Audi and Mercedes, still that's close enough to call it even with the driver's reaction time making the bigger difference. Looking at the trap speed things begin to change as the RS7 and AMG models have a trap speed of around 123. Tesla didn't provide a trap speed estimate but it should come in under 118. For reference the Tesla will be about half a second quicker to 60 than everyone's favorite 707 horsepower Dodge Challenger Hellcat and post an almost identical quarter mile time. The Hellcat does dominate with an unbelievable 126 trap speed. The gas powered cars should pull ahead past the quarter mile towards their higher eventual top speeds but you need an airfield to have that kind of fun. The AMG, M, and RS competition will trounce the Tesla around the track and not overheat after one lap, but the Model S wasn't really made for that.

In its marketing materials Tesla claims that the P85D's goal was to outperform the McLaren F1, one of the greatest supercars of all time according to Tesla. According to this test the P85D will in fact match the McLaren F1 to 60 as both do it in 3.2 seconds, the F1 though will obliterate it going forward making the comparison very short lived if technically true.

*Update: Motor Trend ran the numbers and 0-60 was in 3.1 seconds and 1/4 in 11.6. Kudos to Tesla for being spot on in its estimates. As predicted trap speed was below 118 @ 115.2 (115 was my internal thought all along!) which does mean that the quickest gas competition will pull ahead above 100. Still the dual motor upgrade would certainly qualify the P85D for a spot in our seriously dramatic in generation powertrain updates list.

Plug In Sports Cars Rated by the EPA

No long ago a hyper car's EPA fuel economy was nothing more than a specs footnote. These days however the owner and fan bragging rights might extend beyond acceleration and lap times and into EPA ratings. Earlier this year the Porsche 918 Spyder became the first plug in hyper car to be rated by the EPA to the tune of 20 mpg city and 24 mpg on the highway along with a gasoline equivalent of 67 mpg while operating solely on electricity. No longer is the 918 Spyder the only (almost) million dollar member of the plug in hybrid club as the McLaren P1 is now also officially rated by the EPA. The P1 is good for 16 mpg city and 20 highway and 17 in combined driving. It appears that while you can get up to 19 miles of plug in assisted driving from the battery, the benefits are so tiny that you will end up averaging only 1 mpg better driving as a plug in. For reference the McLaren 650S that uses a lower output version of the same 3.8 twin turbo V8 is good for 16 city and 22 highway, but of course the P1 blows it away performance wise. Thus the P1 does pretty well for greatly increasing performance while minimizing fuel economy loses. More impressive mpg wise, is the BMW i8 which is officially good for 28 mpg in the city and 29 on the highway as a hybrid and will deliver a combined gasoline and electricity usage rate of 76 mpg as a plug in in its first 15 miles. Of course the i8 is playing in the minor leagues performance wise compared to the 918 and the P1 but it's fun to compare regardless. It's unknown yet how well the last plug in hyper car, the Ferrari LaFerrari will do, but Ferrari has been able to harness the efficiency of the turbo to achieve an EPA rating of 16/23 for the California T. It's a decent improvement over the 14/19 rating of the original California.

Validation Through Performance

When Porsche first introduced the idea of the 918 Spyder I struggled to get properly excited for what would be Porsche's pinnacle achievement. It looked too simplistic and almost ordinary for a supercar to me, not much more than an overgrown Boxster. The impressive technical specs failed to impress, it seemed to be more of an exercise in what can be done rather than what might be necessary. Then I saw one on the street well before it went on sale and it was immediately clear that it is a proper super car and then some. Yet, I still wasn't sold on the 918. The EPA fuel economy ratings of 20/24 were released and I applauded the Porsche engineering team for the numbers. The first instrumented tests followed and only then was I truly impressed. I finally saw the 918 as a performance machine that eclipses the Veyron and the entire package became that much more appealing. In photos, the 918 now looks clean and purposeful to me and something worthy of a reblog alongside Lamborghinis and Ferraris. The 918 now has my respect and adoration much like a phenomenal athlete that you liked to watch play before but now hold in a much higher regard once they have won a championship. The McLaren P1 is much the same way. At first I disregarded it as much too similar looking to the MP4 12C, but now that I know of its performance it is a true F1 successor in my book that McLaren meant it to be. Winning cures all for athletes and the numbers are what cements super cars as such.

Cars & Coffee: Symbolic Edition

Here are some visuals from this weekend's Cars & Coffee event from Symbolic. Symbolic is a Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce dealership in La Jolla. Symbolic brought over a few examples from each of their brands and together with cars from private owners there was a good selection of cool cars to check out. The highlight of the show was definitely the Bugatti EB110 in its signature light blue paint. It's not very often that you get to see a Bugatti, even more so one that's not a Veyron. The event was also the first time that I saw a Rolls-Royce Wraith in real life and I was pleasantly surprised about its design after absolutely hating its roofline in all the photos I have seen. Likewise I liked the design of the brand new M3, the M specific design elements looked pretty good in black. You can tell that it has the M treatment but they are not overdone.

Unpractical But Very Awesome: Side Exit Exhaust

Practicality and cost consciousness is often a strong enemy of function and style. And more often than not practicality wins out. One of my favorite functional yet completely unpractical design and performance elements is the side exit exhaust. There is just something about sacrificing convention and standards in order to gain some performance. The unique sound is a bonus also. Seen only on a few models now it's a treat to see this exhaust combination every once in a while.

Porsche 918 Is Officially Rated by the EPA

The official EPA fuel economy numbers are in for the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder and not unexpectedly it scores quite a bit lower than other plug-in hybrids like the Volt, ELR, Accord and Fusion. Of course  it's not competing with those models but the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and to a lesser degree the BMW i8 have not been rated yet so the comparison set is not perfect. The EPA predicts the 918 Spyder will be good for 12 miles on electricity and will consume it at a rate of 67 MPGe. This actually bests the 11 miles of the Prius Plug-in and just one short of the 13 of the Accord but all others have about double to triple the electric range. For what it's worth the four times I have seen the 918 around town it was always rolling silently on battery power. The 67 MPGe equivalent also trails all other plug-ins aside from Porsche's own Panamera and the Karama. Once the juice runs out the 918 is good for 20 MPG in the city and 24 on the highway as a hybrid, unimpressive for a hybrid until you consider that the gas engine is not a small 4 cylinder Atkinson cycle but rather a high revving 4.6 liter V8 good for 608 horsepower on its own. Still the hybrid numbers are better than the 20/21 that the Fisker managed. While somewhat arbitrary it will be fun to see what the P1 and the LaFerrari end up with if only to see which million dollar hypercar owner will have the most MPG bragging rights.

Modern Super Cars That Can Outrun Their Legendary Predecessors

Progress, the desire to always be better, faster and stronger is a brilliant thing. It gives us better cars every single generation and family sedans running to 60 under 6 seconds. Progress is particularly amazing when it comes to halo cars as the latest crop from Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Porsche are ready to blow our minds. However a more telling sign of progress is how each brand's "regular" super cars are now just as quick as their legends of yesterday.

Mercedes SLS AMG vs. Mercedes SLR McLaren

The SLR has a supercharger and more power than the SLS (617 vs. 516) but the SLS responds with two extra gears and double clutches. The end result is a tie through the quarter mile with both completing the sprint in 11.6 seconds @ 125. At less than half the price (200K vs. 455k) the SLS is a relative bargain. The only caveat is if you give the SLR a break because it was more of a GT than an all out super car but the identical acceleration is telling sign of progress. The halo SLS Black Series improves things further with an 11.1 @ 130 quarter mile.

Porsche 911 Turbo S vs. Porsche Carrera GT

Here we have Porsche's last generation halo car geared for track duty versus a turbo 911 with backseats and all. Thanks to all wheel drive, a twin clutch gearbox and turbo torque the 911 Turbo S is nearly a second quicker in the hole shot to 60, quicker to 100 and even through the quarter mile even if the better power to weight of the Carrera GT gives it a higher trap speed. The final tally, 10.8 @ 129 for the Turbo S (not even the latest generation) vs. an 11.2 @ 132 for the Carrera GT all for barely a third of the price.

Ferrari F12 vs. Ferrari Enzo Ferrari

Perhaps the ultimate comparison considering that both feature the familiar Ferrari V12. The F12 benefits from engine development to deliver more horsepower per liter and more power overall with 731 horsepower to Enzo's only 650. This time the F12 is the GT in the pairing and it shows with its 4,000 pound curb is 750 pounds on the Enzo. The extra weight holds back the F12 but it nearly matches the Enzo through the quarter with an 11.3 @ 132 pass vs. 11.2 @ 136 for the Enzo.

McLaren MP4-12C vs, McLaren F1

It's a given that twenty years later the McLaren P1 would shatter the F1's performance benchmarks but it's amazing how close to the famed F1 the MP4-12C gets. As with the 911 Turbo S, the MP4-12C's turbos and super quick gearbox lets it outgun the F1 through 60 and even up to 100 mph. The F1 nearly catches up at the quarter mile and pulls ahead as speed climbs. The final tally is a 10.7 @ 134 quarter mile for the MP4-12C to F1's 11.1 @ 138.

New Styling Element Spreads like Wildfire

A blast from the past styling element is the new trend in the auto industry, and this might not be a good thing. It is showing up on compacts, sedans, vans, hybrids, super cars and everything in between and the results are a mixed bag. We are talking about the A-pillar quarter glass not seen since the days of vent windows of the 1960s. The modern version doesn't provide fresh air but looks to be a necessity in the world of big wheels, wide pillars and sleek rooflines. While some cars like the Lamborghini Aventador, McLaren MP4-12C, Volkswagen Touareg, and Toyota Prius V are able to employ the benefits of the A-Pillar without compromising their design others are not so lucky and end up ruining their design. What's scary is that it appears that the quarter window is growing in size with every new generation, the Honda Fit is a good example of this. If designers don't slow down the quarter glass will turn into a half glass or worse.
 

The "vent" quarter window prevents the SX4 from having any chance at a cohesive design

The Fit has one large "quarter" glass at the A-Pillar

The MP4-12C keeps its quarter glass small and doesn't hurt the design

The Prius V integrates its quarter window decently well

Thankfully this is not sold in America

This quarter window blends in with other creases in the Aventador