Tesla Model S Plaid smokes Ferrari SF90
- Recent drag runs and leaderboard results keep showing Tesla’s Model S Plaid beating Ferrari’s SF90 off the line and through the quarter mile. - The telling number is 9.6 seconds — Carwow lists both the stock SF90 and stock Plaid at that mark, but the Plaid’s launch is brutal. - That matters because a big sedan now matches exotic-supercar straight-line pace, even while Ferrari still owns the more complete driving experience.
Tesla’s Model S Plaid keeps doing the same rude thing to supercars — it makes them look normal in a straight line. That’s the real story here. Not that a Tesla is “pretty quick.” We passed that point years ago. The news is that recent drag-race clips and current leaderboard data still put the big four-door sedan right in the same quarter-mile neighborhood as Ferrari’s SF90, and sometimes ahead in the first violent hit off the line. (youtube.com) ### What’s actually being compared? The Plaid is Tesla’s tri-motor Model S — a family-sized EV with 1,020 hp in widely cited test data. The Ferrari SF90 Stradale is Ferrari’s plug-in hybrid flagship, with a twin-turbo V8 plus three electric motors for about 1,000 hp. On paper, these are wildly different machines. In a drag race, though, they end up weirdly close because both have all-(youtube.com)(carwow.co.uk) ### Why does the Tesla jump so hard? Because EV launch is basically a cheat code. The Plaid doesn’t need to build revs, wait for turbos, or climb through gears before the big hit arrives. It just leaves. That’s why even when the Ferrari has the drama, the sound, and the exotic hardware, the first 60 feet (carwow.co.uk)le, with a 2.07-second 0–60 run on normal asphalt. (motortrend.com) ### So did it really “smoke” the SF90? That depends on which run you mean. In stock-car leaderboard terms, “smoke” is a little too clean. Carwow’s current board lists both the Ferrari SF90 Stradale and the Tesla Model S Plaid at 9.6 seconds for the quarter mile. That says the gap is not huge — it’s knife-edge stuff, and conditions matter a lot. But(motortrend.com) other car doesn’t. (carwow.co.uk) ### Where does the Ferrari hit back? Everywhere the road starts asking for more than brute force. The SF90 is hundreds of kilos lighter than the Plaid in Carwow’s specs — 1,570 kg versus 2,190 kg — and Ferrari tuned it to do more than win a traffic-light argument. Top Gear’s long-running view of the SF90 is basically that it delivers(carwow.co.uk)hysics with software and tire. (carwow.co.uk) ### What about the Porsche 911 Turbo S? It’s the control sample in this whole genre. The 911 Turbo S usually gives away power to both the Tesla and Ferrari, but it launches beautifully and repeats that performance with almost annoying consistency. In Carwow’s three-way comparison, the Porsche showed up as the balanced middle ground — less headline power, less weight than the Tesla, and far more traditional sports-car feel. (carwow.co.uk) ### Why does this keep landing? Because the Plaid changes the social meaning of speed. A six-figure sedan with room for kids and groceries can now run quarter-mile times that sit beside an exotic Ferrari on a major drag leaderboard. That used to be hypercar territory. Now it’s something you can do in near silence, with a giant trunk. (carwow.co.uk) ### Bottom line? The Plaid’s trick is not that it beats every supercar at everything. It doesn’t. The trick is narrower — and maybe more shocking. In the one metric normal people instantly understand, raw acceleration, Tesla turned a heavy luxury sedan into something that can embarrass a Ferrari. (carwow.co.uk)
