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0-60 in 3.9s

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WarpedOne

Supreme Premier
Supporting Member
Aug 17, 2006
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Slovenia, Europe
I guess it is now official.

In recent interview (www.abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=global_warm&id=5399716) Elon says Tesla Roadster has 3.9s 0-60 time.
I have enough respect for the men to expect him not to say something he is not sure about. Not in a TV interview and after they had to step back from 250 miles range to "over 200".

I guess those PEM engineers keep on squizing more juice out of it.
 
If they increase power then they need to worry about 1st gear strength and motor mounts.

I think they have it all sorted out now, but (as has been stated elsewhere) everything has to be in balance, so when you change one thing you often have to re-engineer other parts in response. Those guys have been busy getting everything to line up just the way they want it to be.
 
vfx said:
So TEG (TEG2) tell us about your visit to Tesla. What did you see, who did you talk with? Did you buy anything? Like a hat?

I ended up standing a few feet away from Elon for a while, but I am not sure if he even knew who I was or why I was there.
(I didn't want to try to butt in and introduce myself because he looked busy).

Unfortunately I didn't get to meet Martin personally, but I did get a chance to chat with a number of interesting people from the engineering and marketing departments.

Unfortunately one of my kids was sick the night before and I hadn't gotten much sleep, so I wasn't feeling my best for the visit. If I hadn't felt so "out of it" that day, I might have been a bit more ambitious about trying to get to meet a few more people.

The Tesla store isn't quite ready to go online so I couldn't buy a hat or T-shirt yet. They offered me some Tesla mugs, but I suggested that I would rather wait for a T-shirt. With that said they dug up a rare prototype T-shirt of which I am now the proud owner!
 
A Tesla employee who drove the orange Roadster recently told me this story.
She was at the red light when a police cruiser pulled up next to her. The officer rolled down the window and asked: "Wanna race ?". She agreed and when the light turned green, she floored it, leaving the police car in the dust. A few seconds later, she had to slow down because of traffic. The cop caught up with her and said: "I wasn't ready !".

:biggrin:
 
I was afraid you were going to say that he pulled her over and gave her a ticket... That would have been an easy way to get a bit more revenue for the department!

I don't think I would ever give in to race a police officer even if they seemed sincere enough. Actually it sounds like a rather irresponsible officer! What if the Tesla got in an accident right after the officer suggested that they race?!

Once I was at an airport going through the security checkpoint and a uniformed airport person handed me a strange bag and asked me to pass it through the x-ray machine as if it was mine. For a moment I remembered the "did you pack all your bags yourself?" question - and "what is in the strange bag and what could happen to me?". I very reluctantly went along since the person was behind the security line and seemed to have a proper ID tag, and as I went through the X-ray, the guy running the machine started laughing... "haha - you thought I would miss that?!" and he looks back at the other airport security people... It was apparently just an attentiveness test, but man I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into for a moment there. I had been wondering if they were testing _me_ to see if I would be willing to go along... I figured it was most likely a planned test of the x-ray technician but I still had some doubts there for a moment.
 
Real world performance

Hi all, I have been reading the 2010 owner manual and I see that if you want to "achieve maximum power and hence, minimize the time it takes to accelerate from 0-60 mph" you should charge in "performance" mode. However, that will reduce the life of the battery. I assume most people typically charge their roadster in "standard" mode to preserve the battery life. What kind of 0-60 time can you expect after you have charged in "standard" mode? It would be unfortunate if the 3.9 seconds were only applicable in a mode that is rarely used and the more typical acceleration is a lot slower. Also, is there something in the LCD that shows your time after you get to 60 mph? I am envisioning a timer that starts as soon as you hit the accelerator and stops and displays when you get to 60 mph.

Thanks!
 
What kind of 0-60 time can you expect after you have charged in "standard" mode? It would be unfortunate if the 3.9 seconds were only applicable in a mode that is rarely used and the more typical acceleration is a lot slower.

I don't remember ever seeing a 0-60 time for the Roadster over 5 seconds, and I'm sure some tests were done in standard mode. Most of the time, it is in the lower range of 4 seconds.

That is fast enough that you can't really tell the difference without a stopwatch. The exact 0-60 time doesn't really matter in 99% of driving. The only time it matters is in a drag race, and you can easily switch to performance mode by turning the key in that case (I think the new firmware upgrade even allows you to set it to performance mode by touching the battery bar on the touchscreen).

Even in any conventional sports car, it is unlikely you will get the ideal 0-60 time anyways since it depends on your launch traction and shifting (in a manual car).
 
Based on the numbers given by Motortrend, Elon does play it fast and loose with the "Faster than a Ferrari" tag line... but what I want to know is: How fast and loose does he play with the Tesla numbers themselves?

Has the 3.7s number ever been independently verified? What about the 3.9s? We know it was never true for the 2008s - what about the 2010s?
 
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One thing to remember is that it takes a professional driver, and I'm sure super sticky non stock tires to get anywhere near the Ferrari 0-60 times. Since the roadster only has one gear, and no clutch almost anyone could do it.
 
Elon does play it fast and loose with the "Faster than a Ferrari" tag line...

1) The "Faster than a Ferrari but Greener than a Prius" was my tag line back in 2007. Elon massaged it because he liked Porsche better and he felt that those were more the target customers. That being said, I liked using "Ferrari" because the matching 'F's for Ferrari & Fast & also because when you hear Ferrari your more apt to think of Fast First rather than Porsche. Personal pref.

2) In 2009, a "Tesla" was only 1 thing... A 2008 Tesla Roadster. Today a "Tesla" is a 2008 & 2010 Tesla Roadster as well as a 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport. Soon a "Tesla" will also be a Model 'S' (or WhiteStar for the old folks). That being said, what is a "Ferrari?" Is that a 2010 430 or a 1992 Mondial? In other words, "A Ferrari" can be anything you want it to be in it's long history and thefore technically there are probably Prius cars that may be FASTER than a FERRARI. Ok that's a stretch, but hopefully you get the drift, but don't drift as that can be dangerous! :eek:
 
I know it is semantics, but I associate fast with top speed, and quick with 0-60 time...

If all that was said is "supercar quick with no emissions and no shifting" I would be happier.
 
There is A LOT of talk about the Roadster/Roadster Sport in Performance mode... has anyone tested Standard mode? That's the mode most of the driving is done in. Specifically:

What is the 0-60 of a Roadster in Standard mode? Also, does the power advantage of the Sport translate in Standard mode? i.e. is the Roadster Sport the same as the Roadster when it is not in Performance mode?