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Does the Performance Plus Package improve acceleration?

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32no

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Jun 26, 2013
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I know that the P85 Model S accelerates 0-60 anywhere from 3.9 to 4.2 seconds, but does the performance plus package improve the acceleration in any way, or is it strictly limited to improving the driving feel?
 
No. The suspension changes affect handling, not acceleration. It's the same drive train as the P85.

Stiffer bushings should help transfer more energy to the wheel (vs. energy dissipation in extra flex of softer bushings).
Thicker sway bars should aid acceleration by lessening the rear from squatting on acceleration
Wider tires should give more grip to help a P85+ out-accelerate a P85.
 
No. The suspension changes affect handling, not acceleration. It's the same drive train as the P85.
That was my understanding as well.

As to the width of the rear tires, would you expect they would improve the 0-60 times (due to launch traction)? Conversely, would they degrade the quarter mile times (due to increased rolling resistance at higher speeds)?
 
Stiffer bushings should help transfer more energy to the wheel (vs. energy dissipation in extra flex of softer bushings).
Thicker sway bars should aid acceleration by lessening the rear from squatting on acceleration
Wider tires should give more grip to help a P85+ out-accelerate a P85.

Somehow I doubt the energy absorbed by flexing is significant, or the things would explode due to the heating.

Weight transfer to the rear is not a bad thing for acceleration in a RWD car. It puts more weight on the rear wheels.

Wide tires do not affect forward acceleration. Wide tires are better for cornering. The size of the contact spot is not going to be bigger; it's just going to be a different shape.
 
I'd guess any marginal benefit to acceleration from larger rear wheel contact patch would be offset by the increase in unsprung, rolling mass of those larger, heavier wheels.

Heavier wheels will definitely not help.

It's a myth that the contact patch will be larger on wide tires. The contact area will vary with the load on the tire, and with the tire pressure. Wide tires don't make the contact patch larger; they make the contact patch wider and shorter, but keep the area the same. A wide contact patch is better for cornering, not straight line acceleration.
 
Most of the roads around where I live are a little sub-par in terms of surface quality. Not terrible, but not great. Normally, if I just stomp on the floor from a standing start, I will get at least a little chirping of the tires and some brief moments of traction control.

The Pilot Sports that come with the Perf Plus pack are definitely a stickier compound than the Continentals, which is a big part of why they wear out so much faster. I would imagine I would get even more slip and traction control activation on the Contis than I do on the Pilots, so from that point of view, I'm thinking they do make a difference. But you're right, it's not a question of size so much as the rubber properties.
 
Traction is a key component in acceleration. Wider Michelin tires will provide more traction than narrower tires.

Only if you lower the pressure so that the contact area will be larger. It's the contact area, not the width, that improves acceleration traction. Of course, the wide tires will likely have a sticker tread compound which will make them have more traction, but that doesn't have anything to do with the width. Given the same tread compound and construction a narrower tire will have more forward traction than a wide tire.