Tesla Plaid at 200mph sounds like a jet about to take off
- Tesla claims the Plaid can reach speeds of 200 mph, but caps the car at 166 mph
- A Canadian company decided to hack the Model S variant’s software to push it to its limit
- The car was able to hit 200 mph and then some, and made an incredible noise while doing so
Published on May 27, 2024 at 4:32 PM (UTC+4)
by Andie Reeves
Last updated on May 28, 2024 at 8:59 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Alessandro Renesis
It turns out the Tesla Plaid is capable of speeds that even Tesla hadn’t anticipated.
A Canadian company developed software to hack the Model S variant.
This software overrides the restrictions implemented by Tesla to prevent the car from exceeding certain speeds.
And when it bypasses the 200 mph mark, it sounds just like a jet engine.
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When first announcing the Model S Plaid, Tesla promised top speeds of 200 mph.
Later, when the first deliveries were made, drivers were unimpressed to see the cars capped out at a governed 166 mph.
The car is still incredibly impressive though, able to reach 0-60 in less than 2 seconds.
And it’s taken on a Bugatti Divo in a drag race, leaving the Divo in the dust.
Ingenext is a Canadian company that specially develops modules to unlock features in Teslas.
Its latest project was to push the Plaid to its promised 200 mph speed.
Little did the brave CEO behind the wheel know that he’d hit the mark and then some.
The Plaid has the hardware to hit 200 mph, but Tesla’s software locks the car from doing so.
This is for safety reasons and to protect the components of the car from these extreme speeds.
Ingenext set out to get the car to go as fast as physically possible with its current hardware.
There were only two modifications made: the tires were Michelin Pilot Super Sport higher-performance tires, and the bigger brakes were from Mountainpass Performance.
Other than that, the car was completely stock.
The attempt was made at the Trois-Rivières airport, which has a 1.8-mile-long runway ideal for such a feat.
The Plaid easily jumped to 200 mph, and it kept going.
Listen to the sound it makes as it races to an eye-watering 216 mph below:
The cockpit cameras revealed that once the speedometer hits 200 mph it turns red.
Afterwards, you could hear the electric motors and battery pack desperately trying to cool down as the car parked.
What’s even more amazing is just how effortlessly the Tesla Plaid climbed to 216 mph, and many reckon it could have aimed even higher.
“That was still accelerating so fast at 216. There’s more in there,” one commenter said.
“That runway just wasn’t long enough. I’m guessing 230+,” another said.
Andie Reeves
Andie is a content writer from South Africa with a background in broadcasting and journalism. Starting her career in the glossy pages of Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire, Andie has a broad portfolio, covering everything from sustainability solutions to celebrity car collections. When not at her laptop Andie can be found sewing, recording her podcast, taking board games too seriously or road-tripping in her bright green Kia.
