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Not only did they upgrade the original tires to track-oriented, barely street legal tires but also they upgraded to track-oriented brakes. Both of these have ve

Not only did they upgrade the original tires to track-oriented, barely street legal tires but also they upgraded to track-oriented brakes. Both of these have very large effects on track times. Adjusting handling characteristics to the preferences of the same driver who then sets the lap times is somewhat of a cheat too. The link to is a blog spam article that makes is it appear as if the Tesla was faster than a current Ferrari model but in reality, it was an 8-year old model. I don't see a lap time for the Ferrari 488 but the Lamborghini Huracan Performante was much faster: 1:18.73 vs 1:21.49 with Randy Probst. The 2018 Nissan GT-R Nismo was also faster. (https://fastestlaps.com/tracks/willow-springs-streets-of-willow https://fastestlaps.com/tracks/willow-springs-streets-of-wil...) The biggest problem is not mentioned at all - the Tesla can do only about 4 laps (4-5 estimated here https://www.motortrend.com/cars/alfa-romeo/giulia/2019/tesla-model-3-vs-jaguar-i-pace-vs-alfa-romeo-giulia/ https://www.motortrend.com/cars/alfa-romeo/giulia/2019/tesla... but the track tires limit the range further).

bobbygoodlatte 8y ago
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires are fairly commonplace for performance cars and included from the factory on many models. I wouldn't call them "barely street legal"
- krobertson 8y ago
  They even come stock from the manufacturer on many like the Porsche 911.
  - oppositelock 8y ago
    My fancy Ford Focus came with the PS Cup 2's from the factory. You don't need to buy a Porsche to get barely street legal tires!
- wolrah 8y ago
  Those things are not mutually exclusive. PSC2s are optional on a lot of high performance vehicles and in many cases standard with the top performance package. They are also pretty much as close to a slick tire as you can get without compromising all wet performance. There are tires that are more "barely legal" but there aren't many. The reason they're so widely offered on performance cars is that they are basically cheater tires. They're street legal and grip like hell, but they also cost a lot, make a lot of noise, wear incredibly quickly, and can't be used in cold temperatures. I'm not aware of a single car sold with them as standard equipment which doesn't also offer a less insane tire as an add-on. Basically they're used so automakers can get good numbers, no one in their right mind actually daily drives these tires. The PS4S used in the original test is generally regarded as one of the best tires for a daily driven performance car.
- zone411 8y ago
  They are included only on track-oriented models of sports cars. I don't know of more aggressive track tires included on any cars. Michelin itself calls them "track tires" and rates them 4/10 for comfort (and since Teslas can go on tracks for just a few minutes, buying them makes little sense for Tesla owners).

bobbygoodlatte 8y ago

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires are fairly commonplace for performance cars and included from the factory on many models. I wouldn't call them "barely street legal"

krobertson 8y ago
They even come stock from the manufacturer on many like the Porsche 911.
- oppositelock 8y ago
  My fancy Ford Focus came with the PS Cup 2's from the factory. You don't need to buy a Porsche to get barely street legal tires!
wolrah 8y ago
Those things are not mutually exclusive. PSC2s are optional on a lot of high performance vehicles and in many cases standard with the top performance package. They are also pretty much as close to a slick tire as you can get without compromising all wet performance. There are tires that are more "barely legal" but there aren't many. The reason they're so widely offered on performance cars is that they are basically cheater tires. They're street legal and grip like hell, but they also cost a lot, make a lot of noise, wear incredibly quickly, and can't be used in cold temperatures. I'm not aware of a single car sold with them as standard equipment which doesn't also offer a less insane tire as an add-on. Basically they're used so automakers can get good numbers, no one in their right mind actually daily drives these tires. The PS4S used in the original test is generally regarded as one of the best tires for a daily driven performance car.
zone411 8y ago
They are included only on track-oriented models of sports cars. I don't know of more aggressive track tires included on any cars. Michelin itself calls them "track tires" and rates them 4/10 for comfort (and since Teslas can go on tracks for just a few minutes, buying them makes little sense for Tesla owners).