The Tesla Model S P85D and Dodge Challenger Hellcat are some of the quickest accelerating vehicles that you can get without spending crazy money.
That’s the only thing that really links the two, and Consumer Reports wanted to accurately gauge which of them is actually quicker.
The Tesla has 691 hp and the Dodge 707 horses, yet even so, using the measuring equipment, they make a startling discovery. The Model S pulls over 1 longitudinal G, and keeps pulling it for the first part of its acceleration run.
Compared to the Hellcat’s, it looks like a roller coaster ride… The Hellcat’s limitations immediately become obvious through this process of measuring the breadth of acceleration all across the run and then compiling that data into a graph / curve.
It cannot put its power down nearly as well as the all-wheel drive Tesla and what’s striking is that it only achieves its maximum pull some time after setting off, whereas for the Model S it’s instantly after setting off.
Using sensors like this to tell subtle differences between cars or to see why they behave a certain way could make reviewing and comparing cars more compelling. It would certainly work for super- and hypercar comparos quite well, I think.