Tom Geiger Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Yup! That was my reaction! My cousin put me behind the wheel of his Tesla and told me to floor it. Man, I wasn't expecting it to take off like that. It was more intense than my buddy's old 455 GTO!
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) What accounts for that great acceleration has to do with the fact that electric motors make peak torque at "stall", which simply means at zero RPM, when the vehicle is trying to accelerate from a dead stop. The motor doesn't have to "rev up" to get to its torque-peak like an IC engine does, so it's at maximum-power as soon as the throttle pedal is floored.The Tesla does away with the transmission, as it simply takes less power to maintain speed than it does to accelerate, and accelerating from standstill takes the most. The motor is capable of 14,000 RPM or so, and its speed increases as vehicle speed increases. In most cars, a correctly designed transmission will hold the engine or motor as close to peak-torque as possible as acceleration continues. This is why an "infinitely variable" gearbox could become a big plus (or not...I'm sure they've done the numbers to see if the added complication is worth a possible range increase) eliminating the "steps" as a normal trans changes gear ratios, and could possibly allow the Tesla motor to stay closer to its torque-peak at all speeds. Naturally though, rapid acceleration puts a massive drain on the charge in the batteries, and vastly reduces the range of the vehicle between charging cycles (just as flooring your big-inch gas-hog on every start can take your fuel mileage into low single digits). The point is that, as attractive as electric propulsion seems on the surface, there's no magic-bullet free lunch. PS. I'd like the see the same crew's reactions to a full-tilt launch of a 289 FIA Cobra. To this day, it's still the most "scary" thing I've ever had the pleasure to drive. Edited January 27, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy
mustang1989 Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) that was pathetic driving premature jump and too much throttle?? I'm tellin' you guys. You've got it all wrong! That's gotta be an elderly person who mistook the accelerator pedal for the brake pedal. Looks like they got it backwards in this case. Edited January 27, 2015 by mustang1989
Roadrunner Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Regardless of the outcome in this video, I'd take the Hellcat in a heartbeat. It seems doubtful I'd ever be driving at 100mph anyway, so I'd prefer the looks aspect, and I think the Hellcat looks awesome.
Tom Geiger Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Regardless of the outcome in this video, I'd take the Hellcat in a heartbeat When you get down to it either car is an expensive indulgence, and it just depends on which way you swing. You are a muscle car guy so you'd choose the Hellcat. My cousin is a techie, so he bought the Tesla.. and traded in a Leaf on it.
johnbuzzed Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Heck, as long as we're on the expensive indulgence thing and if we could afford it, I would get both.
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Yeah, if I had money to burn, I'd take one of each. And put a PV array on the roof to generate electricity to charge the Tesla, and crack wastewater into hydrogen to run the Dodge (not that hard to do...just a little expensive). ALL the power, true ZERO emissions. If you're gonna dream, may as well go all the way...
Joe Handley Posted January 27, 2015 Author Posted January 27, 2015 Heck, as long as we're on the expensive indulgence thing and if we could afford it, I would get both. Same here, but go with the Charger instead and once the stuff to do so is available, convert it to burn E85.......probably be able to pick up a good bit of power just on that alone
Erik Smith Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Watching some videos of the Tesla at take off...smokes Lambos and Ferraris out of the gate - and that's the funnest part! Eventually a $120K electric will put $200k supercars to rest...
mustang1989 Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) Watching some videos of the Tesla at take off...smokes Lambos and Ferraris out of the gate - and that's the funnest part! Eventually a $120K electric will put $200k supercars to rest... I took several Chevrolet Volt and related hybrid vehicle courses last year with GM and found out that the hybrid vehicle racing circuit has been smoking supercars for a while now. The power is instant and seems endless!! I watched a video (and cant remember where it is for the life of me now but am sure with more time I could find it) of what looked like a tin can of a car on electric power smoking a well built and healthy car. I mean that electric ride took off and left the gas powered car. It's all coming out of the experimental phases with just a few more kinks to work out now thanks to modern technology giving way to better powertrain management strategies but it seems that there is definitely a future ahead for these types of vehicles on and off the road. Edited January 28, 2015 by mustang1989
kingiguana Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 I'd take the Hellcat, and change out those Euro Looking wheels for something more muscle car looking. That car needs a Torq Thrust looking wheel.
lanesteele240 Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 Goes to prove too much power equals too much power. Did dodge even think to put some kind of launch control on their top of the line drag race car. Wins = sales. If the hell cats dont even make it out of the first round then nobody will care. If they do have launch control this must be the guys first time at the track in a car with an awesome engine
Joe Handley Posted January 28, 2015 Author Posted January 28, 2015 Goes to prove too much power equals too much power. Did dodge even think to put some kind of launch control on their top of the line drag race car. Wins = sales. If the hell cats dont even make it out of the first round then nobody will care. If they do have launch control this must be the guys first time at the track in a car with an awesome engine I think in that video I posted, it's all ham fisted idio...........err..driver with that Hellcat. Those two are equally insane enough that it should have been a good, close race........with a competent driver in the Hellcat, anyway.
Lownslow Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 I'd take the Hellcat, and change out those Euro Looking wheels for something more muscle car looking. That car needs a Torq Thrust looking wheel. .might as well slap a daytona wing and crappy skull logos all over it and a giant monster energy drink logo on the hood while youre ahead
Longbox55 Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 .might as well slap a daytona wing and crappy skull logos all over it and a giant monster energy drink logo on the hood while youre ahead Wouldn't the Euro style wheels fit better with that style? Or at least that's what I see on all the cars with giant wings and monster energy drink logos on them. Never see those used with Torque Thrusts.
Lownslow Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 Wouldn't the Euro style wheels fit better with that style? Or at least that's what I see on all the cars with giant wings and monster energy drink logos on them. Never see those used with Torque Thrusts. meh, i wouldnt put such grandpa wheels on that modern of a car, probably some Forgiato or HRE. Torqs are like the cop out wheels for people who dont know any better.
Longbox55 Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 I suppose I can see you're point. However, I see nothing from Forgiato that would look good on the Challenger, or any car really. HRE has pretty cool wheels, though. Of course, if you're going to get away from classic muscle car type wheels on modern muscle, I'm partial to this one.
lordairgtar Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 meh, i wouldnt put such grandpa wheels on that modern of a car, probably some Forgiato or HRE. Torqs are like the cop out wheels for people who dont know any better. Since the Challenger is meant to evoke a 60s or 70s muscle car feel, Torqs are the perfect wheel for it. The Volk wheel longbox put up would look good as well.
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 Nice thing about the Ray's / Volk wheel in that design is that, a few years back as I was researching wheel weights, that Volk wheel was one of the lightest for its available diameters and widths. When wheels are silly-large for stylin', weight does become an issue. If we're talking about an actual performance wheel and not just shiny bling, weight matters. I also agree that, because the Challenger is so intentionally retro, the large-diameter Torqs go perfectly with the look.
Harry P. Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 I was a big Tesla fan. After seeing this, I'm even more a fan. The future is here. The internal combustion-powered car is living on borrowed time.
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 The future is here. The internal combustion-powered car is living on borrowed time. ...And has been since its invention...and now that gas is below $2 per gallon again in the US, try convincing people of that...
Erik Smith Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 ...And has been since its invention...and now that gas is below $2 per gallon again in the US, try convincing people of that... Saw an ad for a RAV4 today - guy is selling because now he can get a truck with the low gas prices. That's thinking ahead.
Erik Smith Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 I was a big Tesla fan. After seeing this, I'm even more a fan. The future is here. The internal combustion-powered car is living on borrowed time. They are very attractive cars and performance is impressive. Where's the model?
Joe Handley Posted January 29, 2015 Author Posted January 29, 2015 Saw an ad for a RAV4 today - guy is selling because now he can get a truck with the low gas prices. That's thinking ahead. Somebody over on R/C Crawler had it right a couple months back, he said that now would be the best time to sell that gas guzzling truck you no longer need and get something more efficent. Mainly because of they guy mentioned above would probably now pay a premium for that truck while the other vehicle might have some nice incentives on it too.
Tom Geiger Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 I'm not expecting gas to stay this low for the long term. Some stupid world event will happen and it will jump up overnight. It's actually impossible for it to be this low. If you told us this a few years ago we never would have believed it
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