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How Do You Beat A Tesla Model S? The Answer Is Always Miata (Video)
There is a popular internet meme that suggests Mazda's Miata is the answer to every automotive question.
You want something fun? Something inexpensive to run? Reliable? Easy to wrench on? Want to improve your car control skills? Cheap to buy? The answer is always Miata.
So, in the spirit of that other great internet car meme, irrelevant-but-fun drag races, why not pitch the Miata against that other automotive box-ticker, the Tesla Model S?
The Miata is electric of course. And that rather skews the results, since previous electric drag strip forays have proven just how quick electric drag cars can be.
Predictably, the Miata wins. By quite a margin too.
If it illustrates anything, it's just how vast the chasm between a fast road car and a fast race car can actually be.
The Model S has a quoted 0-60 mph time of 4.2 seconds in 85 kWh Performance specification. That's enough to trouble super-sedans like the BMW M5 or Porsche Panamera Turbo.
MORE: Tesla Model S Drag Races: Noisy Or Very Quiet, Your Choice (Videos)
On this particular strip, filmed by Road Test TV, the Tesla's brisk acceleration is good enough for a 12.72-second quarter mile at 102 mph.
But next to the Miata's 9.27 quarter at 142 mph, the Model S looks like it's standing still.
The Mazda isn't your average backyard EV conversion though. You'll note the full drag-spec tires squeezed under each rear arch. It uses a (presumably modified) forklift motor for each wheel, and charge is supplied by a 333-volt lithium-ion battery pack.
It's also smaller and almost certainly lighter than the Model S.
What it probably isn't is quite as comfortable, nor as well-equipped, nor as safe. It almost certainly lacks a large touchscreen display and up to seven seats, and a 260-mile range.
What we're saying, in other words, is that when the answer isn't 'Miata', there's a fair chance it's 'Model S'...
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