The owner of the Tesla Plaid Channel promises new Model S Plaid races every week and, so far, has lived up to the promise... and then some more. He's even found some frenemies at the track!
The Tesla Model S Plaid has been around for quite some time, which means enough time has passed since its introduction for some owners to know all the ins and outs. That is precisely the case with the videographer behind this drag racing-focused channel – and he clearly loves the ICE versus EV skirmishes.
For example, over the years, he has met some tough opposition – and one of the guys that constantly races against him is Greg Mannarino, who is the owner of a beautiful Chevy COPO Camaro dressed in crimson and black. This quarter-mile dragstrip monster is pampered and loved – it comes and goes from the dragstrip on a trailer, and when it blows something, it even gets a surprise gift, such as switching from an old Whipple to a Magnuson supercharger.
Just recently, the COPO Camaro did the first passes on the new setup at a local 1/8th dragstrip facility, but now it's back in the quarter-mile league at Bradenton Motorsports Park, just in time for another set of skirmishes against the 1,020-horsepower Tesla Model S Plaid. Which, by the way, is slightly weight-reduced and runs on stock Pirelli P Zeros on 19-inch wheels. The modifications include ditching the back seats and most rear material, but the front seats are still in place, with all door panels, airbags, and the 20-speaker plus subwoofer audio setup.
According to the owner, after close to more than 850 time slips, the difference is about 0.11 seconds – down to an all-time best of 9.15s instead of 9.26s. That also means this videographer has ample experience, including against mighty heroes like Mannarino and his pampered COPO Camaro. Alas, when you know the adversary is mostly on par with you, there's enough pressure to cause some mishaps.
Initially, during the first of three rounds, everything goes according to plan. There's a pro-Christmas time, and the Plaid owner knows he needs to improve his reaction time but still wins the race with a 9.22 versus 9.26s pass. The second pass, though, is a red light – again with the pro tree he tried to anticipate and failed miserably. The decider was a full tree on this occasion, but again, the mighty Tesla was -0.01, and thus, the COPO Camaro won this encounter even though the Model S Plaid crossed the finish line first on all accounts!
Well, as they say – maybe they'll have better luck next time. Also, we are entirely curious to see when the Tesla Model S Plaid will face off with the latest EV hero, the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. How about you?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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