Tesla Model S Plaid Drag Race Vs Suzuki Hayabusa, Kawasaki ZX-14R

Does the quickest Tesla have what it takes to beat a motorcycle drag racer and tuner with some of his quickest bikes?

tesla model s plaid verus superbikes

Steven Loveday

By: Steven Loveday

Sep 19, 2021 at 10:53am ET

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We've watched and shared all sorts of Tesla drag races. However, now that the Tesla Model S Plaid has arrived, it has been dominating the drag strip. The new, range-topping Model S has raced a long list of hardcore rivals, from old muscle cars with mods and nitrous to legendary supercars. There are only so many interesting rivals to pit against the quickest production car ever built.

Edmunds has a Model S Plaid that it's been testing recently. It says the car can tackle a zero-to-60-mph sprint in just 2.3 seconds. While that's not the 1.99-second spec Tesla shows on its website, it's still the quickest car money can buy, as well as the quickest car Edmunds has ever tested.

The publication put together a special Model S Plaid drag race against a few unexpected competitors, a 2022 Suzuki Hayabusa and 2021 Kawasaki ZX-14R. Edmunds hooked up with Chris Moore, who tunes and races lightning-fast superbikes. If there's anyone with bikes that can give the Model S Plaid a run for its money in various acceleration tests, Moore is the guy. Edmunds says this was actually the first time it had motorcycles on its test track. As the publication puts it:

"The quickest stock four-wheeled vehicle takes on the quickest stock two-wheeled vehicles."

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In fact, Edmunds hasn't been able to find a worthy rival to the Model S' 1,020 horsepower and 9.2-second quarter-mile time. Keep in mind, in Edmunds' testing, the Plaid tackled the quarter mile in 9.4 seconds. Still, the publication says if you want to outrun the Plaid, you'll have to find something quicker than these superbikes. The Tesla can defeat any current stock vehicle, even if it has two wheels. The video timestamps and topics are as follows.

Intro 00:00
Race 1: 2:32
Roll-On Race 1: 5:36
Race 2: 7:50
Roll-On Race 2: 9:53
Conclusion 12:44

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