Tesla recently updated the potent Model S Plaid with a Track Mode feature that doesn’t just boost the EV’s top speed but allows owners to play around with various powertrain settings. Brooks from the DragTimes channel on YouTube recently put these updates to the test.
When first launched, Tesla claimed that the Model S Plaid would be able to hit 200 mph (321 km/h) but shortly after customer deliveries began, it was revealed the EV was actually capped at 163 mph (262 km/h) and would need a software update to hit the 200 mph mark. While the new Track Mode feature does boost the car’s top speed to 173 mph (278 km/h), it is still anywhere near 200 mph.
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Nevertheless, the YouTuber swiftly put the improved top speed to the test and was able to reach it with very little effort along a perfectly-straight stretch of road in Nevada.
Track Mode brings with it a number of other updates that were tested. For example, you can customize the handling balance to be 100 percent front biased, 100 percent rear biased, or anywhere in between. Owners can also tweak how much stability assist they want and customize the regenerative braking from zero to 100 percent. Importantly, the handling balance settings only work when the steering wheel is turned, meaning you cannot change it to 100 percent rear-biased and do a burnout at a drag strip.
However, changing these settings does allow the Model S Plaid to perform some very impressive donuts with very little effort. Interestingly, Brooks reveals that the system came up with some error messages and stopped letting him do donuts after a couple of tries.