Corvette ZR1 and Tesla Model S Plaid face off in drag race clash of American heavyweights with interesting results

Hennessey Performance pitted a Corvette ZR1 against a Tesla Model S Plaid in a drag race and the result was interesting because it both confirmed and contradicted something we already knew.

These two cars couldn’t be more different.

They only have two things in common: they’re very powerful, and they’re American.

When it comes to performance, Tesla and Chevy employ different strategies, and the result of this race confirms things aren’t clear-cut as people think.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie

Why the Tesla is unbeatable under certain circumstances

Hennessey Performance, the team behind the Venom F5 hypercar and its sibling, the Venom GT, drag raced a Tesla Model S Plaid against a Chevy Corvette ZR1 with ZTK package and the result was interesting.

It further proves that Teslas are unbeatable under certain circumstances.

But it also shows there’s still hope for gas cars.

Both the Tesla and the Corvette produce the same amount of horsepower – over 1,000 – but they get the same result using totally different strategies.

The Model S Plaid is fitted with three electric motors that deliver 1,020 horsepower and 1,050LB-FT of torque.

It does 0-60MPH in 1.99 seconds, and it completes the quarter-mile run in 9.23 seconds at 155 mph.

As for the Corvette, this one puts out 1,064 horsepower from its 5.5-liter V8, but it has less torque – ‘only’ 828LB-FT of torque.

This makes a bit slower to 60MPH (2.3 seconds) and slower in the quarter mile with a time of 9.6 seconds.

They’re both very fast, but in different ways.

So who won?

It is very difficult to beat Teslas in a quarter-mile run because there just isn’t enough road for the gas car to catch up.

Instant torque kicks in, and the Model S Plaid is gone.

Things change with a rolling start because Tesla’s instant torque wanes away after the few hundred yards or so and the Corvette’s V8 has enough to catch up.

As a result, the ZR1 won the rolling start race quite easily.

And it won it ‘loudly’, with a wonderful V8 noise that a Model S, for obvious reasons, can’t match.