Tesla should make a Formula E car. Clearly they have the tech.
Tesla Roadster
581–590 of 729 posts
Re: Tesla Roadster
#582Am I the only one who's worried that Tesla is really starting to bite off more than they can chew? Right now their finances are a mess, they are publicly struggling to produce their most important car ever, their CEO is spending time figuring out how to dig holes underneath LA...and now they're announcing a semi truck and a roaster in the same day? Don't get me wrong, Teslas are incredible cars. But this seems like a…
This isn’t CGI :-) https://mobile.twitter.com/DavidHodge/status/931391188065705...
This video freezes right before the excitement, I can tell because the sound keeps going. I blame a very complex conspiracy.
Re: Tesla Roadster
#583Earlier quoted context omitted.
may i ask what you do for a living
If you can afford one of these cars, you probably don't do anything for a living.
I'd suggest the exact opposite - if you can afford one of these cars, you must be working very hard at be very good at whatever you do for a living.
Re: Tesla Roadster
#584Earlier quoted context omitted.
Modern high-end aftermarket EFI systems (such as MoTeC) do have traction control, but it's not as effective as one would expect. The main issue I found is that street tires often just don't have the traction required, even under ideal conditions. The result is that traction control has to cut power so much that it ends up hurting the quarter mile times. It does help tremendously on consistency and safety though. Thin…
I suspect Tesla's advantage is in linear acceleration. Those internal combustion cars need a gearbox so the initial acceleration is very high in that first gear. This the same reason the Navy wants to go from steam to electric catapults: you get the plane to the same speed off the cat, but the acceleration curve is straight, so there's lower peak load on the airframe, so your planes last longer. Similarly, the Tesla…
Right but to hit an 8 second 1/4 you're trap speed is 170-190 depending on how fast your 1/8 mile was. There simply isn't even distance to accelerate linearly in 1/4 to hit 8 seconds without leaving the line like a bat out hell.
The suspension on most of these cars is also far from normal. There's very few cars in the world which make an8 second pass on independent rear suspension. Most of these cars have straight axles and 4 link suspension.
I really want to see a Tesla Roadster make an 8 second pass with whatever tires it needs because tires alone won't get you there. They got some serious engineering in that thing to make it hit 8 seconds with a suspension that doesn't make you hate life.
Re: Tesla Roadster
#585Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right - I can't find any other car that can run 8's without modifications. There are some that can achieve those numbers with under $10,000 worth of modifications, but that's kind of irrelevant since we're talking about stock cars. That's also why I am skeptical of this Tesla running an 8 second pass in stock trim. Is there a video of the pass? Most of the 8 second cars I've seen are running slicks or drag rad…
> There are some that can achieve those numbers with under $10,000 worth of modifications Can you provide links? I seriously doubt you can get anything into the 8s with only $10k.
If we're talking about anything, you can build a turbo Gen 4 LSx swapped Foxbody Mustang for very cheap (check out the sloppy mechanics group). The same goes for an automatic AWD DSM. Both of those have the potential to get into the 8's with little money, but it does take some fine tuning.
However, I'm assuming you are interested in brand new production cars. The cars I listed above are all old and do not compare to the Tesla in anything other than drag racing. If you're interested, let me know and I can go into a more detailed breakdown of the last car I tuned (LSx swapped Mustang).
As for new cars, it depends on how much work you're willing to do yourself vs paying a shop.
Here's a link to a newer 5.0 Mustang with a completely stock engine and a ~$8500 twin turbo kit. He does have other supporting mods (tires, suspension, torque converter) that likely put him over the $10k mark, but you can also save a few thousand on the turbo kit by piecing it together yourself.
"He estimates the car makes over 900 horsepower at the tire, but what really matters is the stock Coyote engine paired with an off-the-shelf Hellion turbo kit added up to an 8.6-second e.t. at over 150 mph."
https://www.svtperformance.com/2015/04/13/feature-quickest-s...
Re: Tesla Roadster
#586It's interesting that people are so quick to dismiss this as merely a rendering, with the videos being CGI. Is that because the videos are 'too good' perhaps, or it just looks too much like a racing game car on the X-box? You'd have to deliberately ignore the fact that there were real cars presented at the announcement, for instance. Also interesting is that because the acceleration is so fast, there were accusations of the video being sped up at that point - people couldn't believe it was real. Are HN readers getting more skeptical of TSLA because of its recent financial and production issues, and this is showing in the cynical comments here?
Re: Tesla Roadster
#587Earlier quoted context omitted.
MotorTrend's review of the Model 3 makes me optimistic about the Roadster: "What’s blanching, though, is the car’s ride and handling. If anybody was expecting a typical boring electric sedan here, nope. The ride is Alfa Giulia (maybe even Quadrifoglio)–firm, and quickly, I’m carving Stunt Road like a Sochi Olympics giant slalomer, micrometering my swipes at the apexes. I glance at Franz—this OK? “Go for it,” he nods.…
And so how many Gs can it sustain on a flat corner? The faster a reviewer talks, the less we should listen. Give it to the Stig and let us see exactly how it laps.
There was a bit of a fuss last time they gave a Tesla to Top Gear...
Re: Tesla Roadster
#588Has the 8 second quarter mile been confirmed to be done in stock trim (i.e., no special tires or other modifications)? The reason I ask is because that is EXTREMELY impressive. I tune EFI systems on race cars as a hobby, and any car in the 8 second range usually needs to run slicks or drag radials to have enough traction. Even all wheel drive cars (GTRs, DSMs, EVOs, etc.) usually run 4 slicks once they get to that sp…
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Re: Tesla Roadster
#589Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes but in those cars traction control is usually off. In Tesla extremely precise traction control may work in your favour giving only as much power as tires can handle effectively allowing to near zero time loss on regaining tracktion. In quarter mile cars you don't have option, either tire will handle all that power or slip causing time loss.
Modern high-end aftermarket EFI systems (such as MoTeC) do have traction control, but it's not as effective as one would expect. The main issue I found is that street tires often just don't have the traction required, even under ideal conditions. The result is that traction control has to cut power so much that it ends up hurting the quarter mile times. It does help tremendously on consistency and safety though. Thin…
Wow, the buckling of the tire wall in the last two pictures is crazy. I guess that happens because there is enough friction to stop the wheel moving, and the axle is trying to turn it faster, causing a shear force. With normal tires, I assume they would just slip at that point and spin because they don't have enough friction in the contact patch touching the road.
Re: Tesla Roadster
#590Am I the only one who's worried that Tesla is really starting to bite off more than they can chew? Right now their finances are a mess, they are publicly struggling to produce their most important car ever, their CEO is spending time figuring out how to dig holes underneath LA...and now they're announcing a semi truck and a roaster in the same day? Don't get me wrong, Teslas are incredible cars. But this seems like a…
This isn’t CGI :-) https://mobile.twitter.com/DavidHodge/status/931391188065705...
God damn....that acceleration is almost cartoon-like.
I'm kinda sad about the $200k price tag. I was planning on budgeting $125k for my next car in 2022. Obviously options have yet to be announced, but I'd really like to see a 100 kwh option for a cheaper price. That would give about a 300 mile range which would be plenty for me. Considering they announced 200 kwh as the base though, I'm not exactly holding my breath.