Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Roadster HP and Torque numbers

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
This has probably been covered already, but what peak HP and Torque values should I expect to see on the VDS and are they accurate? How can I tell if I am getting the best acceleration possible from my Roadster?

I have a 2010 Sport.

The best I have seen is:

294 ft lb, 272 hp and 0.77 g

Other days I have seen:

294 ft lb, 253 hp and 0.76g
294 ft lb, 250 hp and 0.66g
294 ft lb, 267 hp and 0.71g
294 ft lb, 269 hp and 0.68g

Should the HP number be higher (299 hp) ?
Roadster Features and Specifications | Tesla Motors

Most of the runs are in performance mode, with a full standard mode charge. A performance charge doesn't seem to make a difference.

Next up I need to try a 0-60 timed run to check if it is making it in 3.7.... I've tried phone apps, but they don't seem to be very accurate. Any way to pull the 0-60 data from the logs?

Thanks!
 
If you assume linear acceleration, 0.77g equals 0-60mph in 3.57 seconds
0.77 x 32 ft/s/s = 24.64 ft/s/s
60mph = 88 ft/s
88 ft/s / 24.64 ft/s/s = 3.57 s

The 0.77g is peak, not continuous, so the 0-60 won't be as quick as you've estimated.

I've found road conditions are the biggest factor in getting a good launch. A smooth dry road with fresh asphalt is ideal, the TC will cut torque if it senses any slight slippage between the front and back wheels.
 
I just found these numbers in the roadster 2.5 addendum on the MyTesla page.

Maximum net power:
Roadster 215 kW (288 HP) @ 5,000-6,000 rpm
Roadster Sport 215 kW (288 HP) @ 4,400-6,000 rpm


Maximum torque:
Roadster 370 Nm (273 lbf.ft) @ 0-5,400 rpm
Roadster Sport 400 Nm (295 lbf.ft) @ 0-5,100 rpm
 
Are the increased torque numbers on the Sport model attributed completely to the PEM? Or is there anything else that was changed with respect to power?

Both the Sport motor (tighter wind) combined with a firmware change in the PEM give the 0.2 second quicker 0-60 times between the Sport Roadsters and Non-Sport versions.

Honestly this is really not all too much of a drop in times in my opinion to be dying to buy a Sport. The best thing in my opinion about the sports is that they came with the correct handling package which should have been stock on all Roadsters, the adjustable suspension and swaybars. If you really wanted to cut your times down, this is the way to do it in turns with a properly setup suspension & with proper braking. At least with a better / optimally set suspension, your braking benefits from that too which helps diminish the poor braking performance the roadster was sold with.

Another interesting point about 0-60 times and the 3.7 sec (sport) vs the 3.9 sec (non-sport) times, the Sport or 2.x versions need to be in 'performance' mode to reap these faster times. Also note Tesla benchmarked these numbers when the tested roadster was charged in performance mode with a hot pack. Excluding the performance mode charge/hot pack, I'm curious if the 1.5 would be the same or even faster than the 2.x sport if the same race was done driving in 'standard' mode? Reason being, I have a 1.5 and those versions don't need to switch it into performance mode to reap any extra quickness. Performance mode does nothing in the 1.5's unless you charged up in performance to heat up the pack. Std mode is as quick as Perf mode with normally charged pack.

I use my 1.5 as my daily commuter and in no way want to be switching into performance mode to ensure my car is as quick as it can be for fun as well as for my own personal safety. For example, getting out of a potential accident and accelerating out of it. I'm not sure if performance mode gets turned off or not remembered when the key has been cycled, and also, if there's a range difference between a 2.x roadster driven in performance mode and a 1.5 roadster driven in standard mode. Either way the less time I have to mess with some touch screen to configure the car, the better off I am.
 
Last edited:
I have a 1.5 and had the opportunity to race a sport Roadster in a 1/4 mile 4 times. In all races I had passenger and open top the Sport had a solo driver and the hard top which helps a little. I was in standard mode and I won the first two races but only by a car length. The last two races the Sport switched into Performance mode and they won by less than a car length. So there is not a lot of difference. Especially then factor in I had more weight and worse aero.
 
At some point I read something about extra IGBTs in the Sport PEM to provide more current, but that might have just been a rumor.

Between the 2.x Regular and Sport PEMs, my understanding it that the only difference is the firmware. When my PEM needed replacing, the one I got says Sport on it. When I questioned it, the SC said that it's just a label and they switched out the firmware to match my non-Sport car. I suppose they could just be using the Sport PEMs to simplify things, but my belief is that I didn't get anything different besides the label.

Between the 1.5 and 2.x, that I don't know. They're very different beasts, and could have all kinds of IGFETs sprinkled about inside.
 
In performance mode both the 1.5 and 2.x allow the battery to run hotter saving the power draining AC and the batter can push more amps when hot. This is not good for the battery but we are unsure how bad it it is. I suspect only marginally worse. An additional change is the 2.x have some current limiting that marginally drops performance like to 4.1 seconds in the 2.x where the 1.5 have the same 3.9 a creation. So still not a big difference. The range should be the same. If driven similarly.
 
I have a 1.5 and had the opportunity to race a sport Roadster in a 1/4 mile 4 times. In all races I had passenger and open top the Sport had a solo driver and the hard top which helps a little. I was in standard mode and I won the first two races but only by a car length. The last two races the Sport switched into Performance mode and they won by less than a car length. So there is not a lot of difference. Especially then factor in I had more weight and worse aero.

I'm late to this conversation, but during your 1/4 mile races with the Sport, were you ahead the whole time in the first two races, or did you pull ahead at some point? Who was faster off the line? In the last two races with the Sport in Performance mode, where in the race was he faster and where were you the same? Thanks!
 
I'm late to this conversation, but during your 1/4 mile races with the Sport, were you ahead the whole time in the first two races, or did you pull ahead at some point? Who was faster off the line? In the last two races with the Sport in Performance mode, where in the race was he faster and where were you the same? Thanks!
I believe I was off the line the first two races but not by a lot. I was really surprised how close the cars were in performance. Unless you have a track with a good stopwatch I am not sure you could tell the difference.
 
When the sport first came out, I was on a dragstrip with some sports and non sports. The sport had an advantage in the ~30-50mph range, but everywhere else it was similar.
So, I concluded that the sport just gives you a .2sec acceleration improvement against the non-sport just in the middle speed range. In other words, if you were already going 70mph and both "floored it" there wouldn't be much difference there.
 
Specifications: Tesla Roadster - Wikipedia
The Roadster is powered by a 3-phase, 4-pole, induction electric motor with a maximum output power of 248 hp (185 kW). Its maximum torque of 200 lb·ft (270 N·m) is immediately available and remains constant from 0 to 6,000 rpm;nearly instantaneous torque is a common design feature of electric motors and offers one of the biggest performance differences from internal combustion engines. The motor is air-cooled and does not need a liquid cooling system.

The Sport Model introduced during the 2009 Detroit Auto Show includes a motor with a higher density, hand-wound stator that produces a maximum of 288 hp (215 kW). Both motors are designed for rotational speeds of up to 14,000 rpm, and the regular motor delivers a typical efficiency of 88% or 90%; 80% at peak power. It weighs less than 70 pounds (32 kg).
 
Specifications: Tesla Roadster - Wikipedia
The Roadster is powered by a 3-phase, 4-pole, induction electric motor with a maximum output power of 248 hp (185 kW). Its maximum torque of 200 lb·ft (270 N·m) is immediately available and remains constant from 0 to 6,000 rpm;nearly instantaneous torque is a common design feature of electric motors and offers one of the biggest performance differences from internal combustion engines. The motor is air-cooled and does not need a liquid cooling system.

The Sport Model introduced during the 2009 Detroit Auto Show includes a motor with a higher density, hand-wound stator that produces a maximum of 288 hp (215 kW). Both motors are designed for rotational speeds of up to 14,000 rpm, and the regular motor delivers a typical efficiency of 88% or 90%; 80% at peak power. It weighs less than 70 pounds (32 kg).
I wonder why it is that they list the 185kw motor at 200 lbft torque, yet when I floor my 1.5 with the display in "peak" mode, I see 281 lbft shown. Any idea how to reconcile this?