Tesla Model S Plaid Vs Custom Drag Quad Is A Truly Wacky Race

It may look funny, but this contraption is insanely quick; should the Model S Plaid driver be afraid?

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Dan Mihalascu

By: Dan Mihalascu

Feb 23, 2022 at 1:08pm ET

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Ever since the Tesla Model S Plaid arrived to shake up the high-performance car hierarchy, we've seen it demolish pretty much anything with four wheels and even two wheels in drag races.

Sure, there have been exceptions like the Rimac Nevera, jet-boosted Model S or a modified Suzuki Hayabusa, but the Model S Plaid drove away with a win from most of the drag races we've seen so far.

You may be accustomed to Hoonigan drag race videos, but this one is wackier than usual. While the Model S Plaid featured in this video is in the stock form we've come to know and love, its opponent is a wacky contraption you wouldn't even count as a worthy adversary for a Honda Civic, let alone the world's quickest series production car.

But this strange creation is anything but slow. This custom built vehicle dubbed "Banshee" features a two-stroke engine that runs on methanol and doesn't even have a radiator in order to keep the weight at a minimum. Featuring the heart of a 2004 Yamaha Banshee quad, this flimsy-looking thing packs 130 horsepower after extensive tuning and weighs next to nothing thanks in part to a custom carbon fiber frame.

What do you think?

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The power-to-weight ratio is largely dependent on how slim the rider it, but joking aside, owner and builder Jonathan reckons the Banshee tips the scales somewhere around 265 pounds. Do the math and it's clear that it has a shot against the 1,020-horsepower, 4,833-pound Model S Plaid, even though it's just rear-wheel drive and its peak torque isn't delivered instantly.

That's more than obvious in the video, which includes three 500-ft (152-meter) drag races. Without spoiling the video for you, we will say that it's probably the closest duel involving the Tesla Model S Plaid so far. Yes, that's how quick the Banshee is, although not many people are brave enough to ride it—the owner himself calls it "sketchy."

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