Tesla Model S Drags Corvette Z06 in ICE vs. EV Showdown: It's Close But Not Close Enough

Tesla probably doesn't care that many folks think the EV revolution has stalled – their Cybertruck recently sold more units than Ford's F-150 Lightning and Rivian's R1T all-electric trucks combined. They're also trying to ramp up production of the quirky EV further as fast as possible to try and meet demands from the massive order backlog while also preparing the next great thing – a Model Y refresh akin to the one performed on the Model 3 sibling.

Team Corvette couldn't be happier, either. They have a new boss now that Tadge Juechter, the godfather of the C7 and C8 Corvette and its executive chief engineer and vehicle line director, is retiring to make room for Tony Roma and his newly formed global luxury and performance car team. Their first order of business will be to direct the C8 Chevy Corvette ZR1 launch on July 25, and they had better get it right because C8s have been selling like hotcakes lately.

With almost 18k units after the first six months of the year, the C8 has been doing the best H1 since 2015 – back when the C7 iteration was in its prime time. Speaking of the latter, the seventh generation is still worthy of our attention – including at the local quarter-mile dragstrip. A good case in point is made in that direction by the videographer behind the Wheels Plus channel on YouTube, who is a big fan of Mission Raceway Park, also known as MRP or 'Thunder by the River.'

While over at MRP, he caught in action a couple of classic ICE versus EV brawls starring two distinct C7 Chevrolet Corvette Z06s. The first example is an orange one with black details – and it went up against a white Tesla Model 3. That one, unless it was the Performance version, should be easy prey for the 650-horsepower V8 of the Corvette Z06, provided that it's helmed by someone who knows what to do at the strip. Well, that didn't seem to be the case here.

Both started off well – the Tesla Model 3 had a slight advantage, but with the vigorous acceleration that a Z06 is capable of, there was a chance of making a spectacular comeback. Alas, around the middle of the course, the Z06 driver obviously lifted off the throttle, and in the end, the result was quite disastrous: 12.35s at 114 mph versus 16.23 at just 58 mph. That wasn't too cool, right?

Luckily, there was another Z06 in attendance, and the black example that followed brought back some of Corvette's previously tarnished reputation. This time around, it was going up against a bigger EV fish – the Tesla Model S flagship. Most likely it wasn't a Plaid version, but it still got the upper hand off the line. This time around, the Z06 driver fought valiantly to recoup the lost ground, and in the end, it was close but not close enough. Still, that's a pretty good effort: 10.99s versus 11.26s!

So, if you had the chance, what would you take home? A Tesla all-electric model that's a great daily driver and also a monster at the local quarter-mile dragstrip if you want it, or the classic two-door, two-seat model dubbed 'America's sports car,' and for very good reasons?