About a month ago, race driver, Nürburgring driving instructor and YouTube personality Misha Charoudin had a go in a stock Tesla Model S Plaid on the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track and was very disappointed with the electric car’s suspension and brakes.
The stock brakes were deemed unsafe for track driving and the performance EV’s suspension was seen as a letdown for the car, which was unbalanced in corners and failed to handle bumpy surfaces, according to Charoudin. Other things he complained about included the rather unsupportive seats and big and clumsy yoke steering wheel.
Now, it must be said that the Model S Plaid he drove at the time was in stock condition and didn’t have the Track Package upgrade, which only a few days later enabled Tesla to set a new production EV record on the Nürburgring.
Naturally, he wanted to test a Model S Plaid Track Pack and see the difference it makes, and the opportunity arose a few days ago when an owner let him drive his car on the “Green Hell.”
As a short recap, the Track Package adds track-ready brakes and tires and unlocks a 200-mph (322-kph) top speed. It comes with forged aluminum Zero-G wheels, track-ready Goodyear Supercar 3R tires, and a Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit consisting of carbon-silicon carbide rotors, one-piece forged calipers with high-performance pads, and track-ready brake fluid.
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While there’s nothing suspension-related among the list of upgrades, although Charoudin suspects Tesla did modify some suspension parameters via software. The Track Pack makes a world of difference on the Nürburgring, as Charoudin experienced first hand.
After covering only a few successions of corners, he said he owed Tesla an apology because the Track Pack makes the Model S Plaid a lot more stable, refined and playful in corners. While he said he stands by his assessment of the stock Model S Plaid, the apology is for judging a car’s performance on the Nürburgring although it wasn’t designed to go on a track in the first place.
Besides being pleasantly surprised by the handling, he said he didn’t feel unsafe driving the Track Pack Tesla at any point, and also noted that the braking performance was really good.
Still, for all the upgrades brought by the Track Package, the Model S Plaid remains a heavy vehicle and that is quite obvious in corners seeing the body roll exhibited by the car and the torture inflicted upon the squealing tires.
Another downside is the fact the battery overheated during the first lap, partly due to the hot weather, but the owner attributes that to having charged it at a Supercharger before the test. He reckons the car could do one lap or close to one lap without overheating the battery in normal conditions.
