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If you are considering replacing your sports car with a Tesla Roadster, please consider the following. Tesla's aren't all their cracked up to be regarding top speed. You would think with all the fancy aerodynamics this thing would have an amazing top end, which is totally false. The top end is horrible! Watching the video below, notice how the low end torque of the electric motor yields a really nice hole shot. That's great, but where the men get separated from the boys the Tesla fails.
After 100 mph, the Tesla Roadster falls on it's face. Post 100 mph speed is where the real racing starts. So before you can call a Tesla a real sports car, you might want to consider the top speed attributes. You might get a slight pull on the competition in the beginning, but at the end where the race really counts you will get smoked. I'm just stating the obvious, see for yourself. Let's quickly compare the Tesla Roadster speedometer to the JDM Godzilla, Nissan Skyline R34.
Video content: Tesla Roadster speedometer 0-120 mph
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Not bad for electric vehicle, right? That's true. Considering the Tesla and it's technology is a descendant of our friend "EZ-GO" the golf cart, the Tesla's acceleration isn't that bad. But many have been calling this vehicle a sports car, which to me it's not. That's a bold statement right? Hear me out. In my opinion, sports cars have great low end torque for acceleration, and high amounts of horsepower to continue that acceleration well past 100 mph.
At 100 mph, the real fun begins. This is where wind resistance starts to slow down the vehicle, and if the torque and horsepower isn't there to keep pushing onward, the car fails - just like the Tesla clearly illustrates. Sports cars should be able to push the top speed envelope. Sports cars should also be able to be modified, right? Tesla fails again. Now let's take a look at the speedometer shot of a modified Nissan Skyline, which can successfully push a driver the his or her limits of top speed test of faith. This is only an inline six cylinder! A very minimal comparison, and the Tesla still can't compete. All I'm saying with this review is that you shouldn't buy a Tesla with the intention of replacing your sports car. You will be greatly disappointed.
Video content: Nissan Skyline R34 0-190 mph
If the EV's can show me a speedometer clip like that, I'd gladly buy one.
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Comments
I totally agree. In my review of the even quicker Tesla Roadster Sport, it was great to 60mph but acceleration noticably fell off after 70 or so.
It's one of the drawbacks to having a single-speed transmission but I suspect necessary to prevent excessive battery drain.
As an example I wrote about, a 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustang, supercharged, with minor modifications (probably around 410-420 rear wheel horsepower) walked me pretty hard once it hit 3rd gear. Basically like comparing a 115-116mph+ trap speed car vs. a 103mph trap speed car in the quarter mile.
Notice that the extra 40hp of the Roadster Sport doesn't seem to translate to a higher trap speed than the standard Roadster.
Thanks again for a great find!
Rob E.
Tesla is a green car. It's not supposed to beat the gas-powered sports cars. It's supposed to be green. And that's what all gas-powered cars fail at. Being green.
I don't want to point out the obvious, but unless you're driving round a track, or you're the kind of driver that should be banned for the good of society, where are the speeds of 100mph useful? The acceleration up to 100 is better than most other cars, and er.. theres no 20th century combustion technology in it. Tesla themselves say this is not a track car, its for roads, and anyone with half a brain understands that. Hello?
This is an absolutely ridiculous article! In fact… it's trash, and Michael Berenis needs to reconsider his career as an automotive writer.
People interested in buying a Tesla are NOT buying it to be "racer." The top speed of this car is widely published to be around 120 mph! What kind of racer would purchase this car knowing that it will never achieve a speed greater than 120!? Furthermore, there is no aftermarket for these cars! So any hope of modifying this vehicle is pointless. Most of Tesla’s potential buyers are eco-conscious consumers, with a moderate passion for cars, and a little extra money to spend. They may be interested in the enticing 0-60 number, but would most likely never take it past 100 (as previously mentioned by another astute commentator).
Additionally, the video of the R34 0-190mph is CLEARLY not of a stock Nissan Skyline, as its top speed is limited to 155MPH.
Michael, quit your writing while you're behind... Stick to what you're HOPEFULLY better at... engineering.
Thanks for the comment.
Well, here's yet another lonely jackass who not only doesn't know what he's talking about but apparently never finished the second grade.
Have you ever actually SEEN a roadster? If you had you would know the acceleration is PHENOMENAL - oops, too big a word? That means it is REAL GOOD. If you had actually driven the roadster (don't get your hopes up, Lonely) you might have known this.
Read the article again.. I'm talking about real sports cars, real racing; the fun just gets started at 100 mph and that's where Tesla FAILS. It amazes me how people like you are so quick to point the idiot finger without actually reading. And yes, I have "seen" a Tesla Roadster; in my rear-view mirror as I blew it away with my WRX.
T'he article is true enough but is entirely pointless for real people in the real world, as "real racing" has never been the intended market for this vehicle and anyone operating a motor vehicle above 100 mph on public streets is a danger to himself and society and I'd say "should be locked up" but don't have to, you WILL BE LOCKED UP.
The author, especially with the above reply to a reader's comment, appears to be of the variety of trash talking drivers who feels he must go out on the roads every day and challenge everyone he sees to a contest of who has the better hardware, This is silly as the winner is likely to be a rich kid who inherited his toys, not someone whose skills and accomplishments earned him the respect of others for having them.
A good sports car (and I've owned more than my share and bikes as well) provides an enjoyable ride every day you drive it and for most of us that's every day. I'll take the car with the good 30-80 mph roll-on acceleration, with good brakes and handling, over anything which targets 120mph+ velocity, thank you. Roll on acceleration in that range is what squirts you effortlessly from hole to hole in freeway driving, you know.
Interesting to see what you'd say about Jay Leno's silly (to me) Eco-Jet car or Y2k jet bike- both feature world class above 100 mph performance but are considered abyssmal in real street driving.
Apparently the author has latched upon the one weakness that matters to nobody who wants one. Okay!
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