Tesla Model S Plaid | Test Drive | Auto Class Magazine

Tesla Model S Plaid | Test Drive

6 November 2023 Redazione News, Tested

It is hyperspace within everyone’s reach, after all Elon Musk has never hidden his passion and vocation for space travel. The point is: is the Plaid capable of still being an excellent Model S? Between one heart attack and another, I tried to find out.

Words Andrea Albertazzi / Photos Gian Romero

Get ready to feel sick. I swear, the first time I thought I was fainting, the second time was the same. Despite having been lucky enough to sit behind the wheel of exceptional supercars and test their potential even on a racetrack, where the only limit is that imposed by your skills and spirit of self-preservation, the acceleration of the Model S Plaid is something devastating. It is hyperspace within everyone’s reach, after all Elon Musk has never hidden his passion and vocation for space travel. The point is: is the Plaid capable of still being an excellent Model S? Between one heart attack and another, I tried to find out.

There’s no point beating around the bush this time. I could have started the article in hundreds of different ways, underlining how it would have been possible to talk about something else, rather than that characteristic that logically ends up on everyone’s lips: maximum power. Which is not even certain that it is the one you see in the specs list, given that Tesla usually declares a minimum power, so we could expect something more. To describe something you need to be helped by words, for an idea you need to make sure that the reader can imagine the concept being analyzed in his head. Describing a sensation, however, becomes a much more complicated matter, firstly because being something emotional it takes on different tones from one individual to another and secondly because it is possible to explain what it is, but it is literally impossible to convey the sensation itself. You can only feel that.

The aforementioned sensation is an absolute void that seems to start from the pit of the stomach and rush into the skull. It is an absence of gravity that seems to make your head explode, comparable to the take-off phase of a plane, but immersed in total silence. As mentioned, I have experienced very powerful cars and any high-performance electric car, but it is not humanly possible to get used to the gravitational pull of the 1,020 horsepower of the Model S Plaid. A bizarre way of paying homage to the hilarious 1987 movie directed by Mel Brooks “Spaceballs”, essentially identifiable by the small plate applied at the back, or by the particular yoke (a real cloche) that replaces the traditional round steering wheel, previously available as an option and now offered as standard. We’ll talk about this again shortly.

The white of the body highlights a set-up – adjustable to various heights – which best envelops the 21-inch wheels fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres, ideal for staying glued to the asphalt when the speeds become serious and the sober but elegant look of the Model S, slightly updated with the 2021 restyling, seems to enjoy an unnatural youth, especially in a panorama in which sharp edges seem to be the entry ticket for everything that can be defined contemporary. There are several new features in the passenger compartment and I am aware that this may seem strange, given that we are talking about one of the very few cars in which there are practically no bits that can undergo significant changes. Let’s start with the gargantuan central touch screen, now tiltable and through which all the parameters of the car are controlled, including a smart satellite navigation with Google maps, Internet, climate control and the entire gaming part dedicated to videogames and streaming services. The most important innovation, however, is the yoke, or rather the particular control which – optional on the Plaid – replaces the classic circular steering wheel. A unique idea, which arouses interest and which does not pass unnoticed, but with such a power, there are all the doubts during the most spirited moments. The main flaw is that this half crown – although with a (virtual) larger diameter than the standard steering wheel, lacks two small pieces in the hypothetical 10:10 area. In this way you have to grip it lower, trying to cross as much as possible, without releasing your grip, otherwise the comeback movement could be difficult precisely because it is something unnatural. The column levers also disappear, now integrated as push-buttons direction indicators on the left spoke (like on some supercars), with windshield wipers and horn on the right one (slightly less practical).

After having adjusted and found the perfect driving position without any difficulty, I literally launch myself into hyperspace, aware that on the road it is impossible to fully exploit the potential of the Model S Plaid. You immediately feel that the throttle pedal has ten times the sensitivity compared to the mildest driving mode (Soft), allowing you to benefit from surprising reactivity even when you play up to half the pedal. Suddenly, a straight road with a fairly smooth road surface insinuates a little voice into my head asking me to try to push right to the floor. I carry out the Commander’s order. For a moment I see everything black, exactly like that tag behind taken from the Mel Brooks film. My brain is deafened by a hiss and despite the crazy push I can’t take my foot off the pedal, while luckily I manage to keep my hands firmly on the yoke. I lighten up and start panting in a mixture of hysterical laughter and the awareness of having experienced a new sensation. An excitement mixed with a hint of fear and the desire to experience that disruption of internal organs again.

It cannot be described and at the same time it is something that calls you to it like the cursed chant of a siren. At that point, the rare situations that allow it transform into a leap into hyperspace, realizing that 2.1 seconds on 0-100 kph is something the human organism cannot get used to. And it does so with extreme ease, discharging the power of the 100 kWh batteries to the ground with an all-wheel drive that manages to bite the asphalt without any dispersion, certainly also thanks to a weight of just over 2 tons (2,162 kg). As the Plaid presses to the ground, my back becomes one with the seat and the acceleration continues, marking crazy numbers on the digital display in front of my eyes. It all happens too quickly and in such a surreal way that I can hardly believe that this could be a mass-production car and above all a sedan that is still suitable for the routine week.

The Model S Plaid sets a precedent, once again. At least in terms of speed it rewrites the rules of the game and it is not a surprise if a few weeks later, climbing aboard a petrol sports car with over 500 horsepower, everything seems almost muffled and simpler, all despite the glorious sound of an internal combustion engine. Plus, the next plus point for Tesla is that it doesn’t want to kill you once you get around corners. Of course, the yoke is not the best ally you would choose if you were to attack a mountain road, let alone if you were even remotely thinking of deactivating traction control (even partially) and inducing some countersteer. We know well how it would end. Reality is that the Plaid performs well everywhere: in the city, on the motorway – with level 3 autonomous driving – and on a winding road, where the chassis is never put in trouble and relies on the excellent pneumatic suspensions, the elasticity of the electrons and a maximum torque of 1,424 Nm capable of making it shoot out of the curves as if launched from a gigantic eco-friendly slingshot.

You will therefore have realized that the starting price of around €141,000 is perfectly justified by the fact that we are dealing with a much more than a multipurpose sedan, capable of adapting to an ideal everyday coexistence, for long journeys and – if necessary – for a bit of healthy fun. What doesn’t live up to an exceptional overall package, however, is the braking system, especially taking into consideration the equation of over a thousand horsepower and a weight of over two tons. The feel of the pedal is too soft and it happens – especially the first few times – that you think you have started braking too late, causing you to lose a bit of confidence at high speeds. However, this situation is compensated by the imminent arrival of carbon-ceramic discs and the proverbial one-pedal drive, which allows you to almost always drive while braking simply releasing the throttle, assuming that you are not tearing up a curvy road.

I accelerate once again, I do it violently because I want to take every little drop of this ocean of madness unleashed by Plaid. And those electrons, tireless and always ready to shock whoever you bring on board, are a shock that is impossible to get used to. Something I didn’t think I could taste first hand, at least not on the road, let alone in a car that at the end of the day is a sedan. It is likely that in a few months I will no longer be able to faithfully relive this feeling of inner emptiness due to a disarming speed, this is a limit of the human being. I know that writing this is just letting your imagination figure out the moment when you hang at the wheel and pray that everything ends well, but nothing compares to the sensation that the Model S Plaid unleashes in your body and mind. However, it is not exceptional for this single ability, but for the fact that it still manages to coexist in the body of one of the best electric cars on the market. Even today, exactly like 11 years ago. But damn faster.