When the dual motor P85D version of the Tesla Model S debuted, many looked at its straight-line performance as something of a curiosity, a party trick. Truth is though, the more often this car comes up in videos like this, the more legitimate the car becomes as a force to be reckoned with on the 1320. And what if Tesla were to put this power plant in a smaller, lighter coupe?
The P85D’s latest victim is a particularly juicy one – a turbocharged S197 era Ford Mustang GT, which is reported to crank out more than 700 hp. It certainly looks the part of a bonafide drag strip terror, replete with meaty drag tires out back and enough power to nearly get one of the front wheels off the ground at launch.
But the P85D has a lot going for it as well. Aside from its combined output of 691 hp and 687 lb-ft of torque from its pair of high output electric motors, the Tesla distributes that power to all four wheels and includes an “Insane Mode” launch control system that’ll rocket the car to 60 mph from a standstill in about three seconds flat. This, along with the fact that the car never loses power from gearbox shifts because, well, it doesn’t ever need to shift, means that it’s consistent and extremely fast, especially on treated surfaces like drag strips.
That point is illustrated again here where, despite a pretty solid launch from the Mustang, the Tesla simply holeshots the Ford and continues to stretch his lead out as the pass progresses. We can’t wait to see what this thing is capable of once the tooling exists for the aftermarket to have their way with it.