Comparing a Tesla Model S drag racing capability to a super car's drag racing capability was admittedly reductionistic, ok. So now you are comparing an EV supercar's capability to an ICE supercar's capability. And by extension the 5000lb Tesla sedan is now somehow a super car? But, but, but...
No, you claim it is
'reductionistic'. I disagree. It is a long held tradition in
'run what ya brung' automotive enthusiasm that
'bang for the buck' performance yields serious bragging points and awesome kudos. When Honda/Acura hung a $55,000 price tag on the NSX, fans of the Mitsubishi 300GT VR4 immediately cried foul and pointed out how for $20,000 less you could get that car with all wheel drive, four wheel steer, and two turbos... Of course, the much, much heavier VR4 got smoked by the NSX, but that is another story...
When some guy pulls up to the line in a crappy Porsche 911 Turbo and blows the doors off every Corvette, Camaro, Firebird, and Challenger on the premises? You pat him on the back, shake his hand, and congratulate him. Then you go back to the shop and figure out a way to blow his doors off next weekend. There's no crying in motorsports. And when everyone at the local 1/4 mile strip is scared $#!+less to run against that rocket car that set the car in the other lane on fire last week, all that matters is the time that it trips the lights at the end of the run. No one is gonna file injunctions to try and get it banned from the circuit, just so that their old HEMI 'Cuda can be KING of the STRIP again.
When it comes to ICE, there are a myriad of different ways to do it, and plenty of people willing to claim their way is
'best' while putting their reputation on the line. V, Inline, Horizontally opposed, Boxer, Wankel Rotary... Front engine, rear engine, mid engine... Pushrods, overhead cams... Timing belt, timing chain, carburetor, electronic fuel injection, computer fuel injection, variable valve timing and lift... Turbocharged, supercharged, naturally aspirated, nitrous oxide... Put them together in the
'formula' you personally prefer, then challenge all comers. That's the way it always has been. No way to back out now.
The track tests were engineered over the course of decades and accepted as primary measuring sticks long ago. 0-60 MPH (0-100 kph) runs, 1/4 mile (1,000 m) trap speed, skidpad, slalom, braking, emergency lane change, figure eight... All these and more have been used since well before Tesla came on the scene. And even some that make no sense whatsoever in the
'Real World' like Top Speed or Nürburgring lap times are revered goals that have achieved a level of significance that approaches religious fervor.
Oh, but when an electric car starts to tic off those goals, one by one, and by a wide margin, and easily three decades before anyone thought it might happen? All of a sudden the goalposts must be moved
(let's see it do ten laps) or the numbers
'don't really mean anything' anymore
(who cares about acceleration). C'mon,
MAN! That's [BOLSHEVIK]!
And don't tell me it has to be a
'real car' that is street legal and
'affordable' for the
Nürburgring lap times to count, either. With a starting price of $117,895 the Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR was probably the least expensive car in the top 10 finishers on that track. The Porsche 911 GT3 was $146,300 to get into. The Nissan GT-R Nismo is likely in third place with pricing, at within 10 bucks of $175,000 to start. The BMW M4 GTS that posted the #32 time at Nürburgring has little to do with the version you can drive off the lot of an
'independent franchised dealership'. Just about every car in the top 100 is either race prepped complete with decals and stickers or is gutted of any creature comforts prior to making the run. I think that before the end of 2019 a Tesla Model ☰ will in some guise occupy a position in the top 30.