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Unplugged Performance Tesla Model 3 sets record ahead of Pikes Peak attempt
The Tesla Model 3 Performance is already a track weapon straight out of the factory. With Track Mode, a stock Model 3 Performance could completely dominate high performance sedans on the closed circuit. But with special parts that are designed to increase the vehicle’s track capability even further, the Model 3 Performance becomes something that is downright frightening.
Around two weeks ago, Tesla aftermarket specialist and tuning house Unplugged Performance announced its entry to the esteemed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with legendary racer driver Randy Pobst behind the wheel. Pobst is the perfect driver for such an event, considering that he was directly involved with Tesla’s creation of the Model 3 Performance’s Track Mode. With Pobst behind the wheel, Unplugged Performance’s Model 3 has the potential to complete the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, and possibly surprise a number of critics along the way.
Interestingly enough, the Unplugged Performance team did not have a car for the event when it made its Pikes Peak Hill Climb announcement. Such a vehicle was only picked up on the night of July 17, and later equipped with the company’s Ascension R package. Unplugged Performance’s Ascension R kit made its debut with Tesla owner enthusiast Erik Strait’s Model 3, which was sent to Japan earlier this year. Strait’s vehicle, the first of the company’s Ascension R units, set records in Japan during its brief stay in the country.
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- Tesla Model 3 equipped with Unplugged Performance’s Ascension R package. (Credit: Unplugged Performance)
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- Tesla Model 3 equipped with Unplugged Performance’s Ascension R package. (Credit: Unplugged Performance)
Tesla Model 3 equipped with Unplugged Performance’s Ascension R package. (Credit: Unplugged Performance)
The Model 3 picked up by the Unplugged Performance team on July 17 would become the company’s second Ascension R unit. The modification of the Model 3 Performance would begin on July 20 and end on Fright night, July 24. With the car completed, the team drove over to Buttonwillow on Autopilot to ensure that the trip was as safe as possible. At around 2 a.m. on July 25, the Model 3 Ascension R took its first charge. Interestingly enough, July 25 also happened to be the day of TeslaCorsa 9, an event where Tesla owners get together for a day on the track.
In a message to Teslarati, the Unplugged Performance team stated that they did not really expect the freshly modded Model 3 to set new records right out of the bat. The vehicle’s driver, Oscar Jackson Jr., after all, has never driven a Tesla prior to the event. Jackson was used to racing vehicles like the Porsche GT3 RS, but he did not have any experience with high performance EVs stepping into the Model 3. It was then surprising to see that before lunchtime, Unplugged Performance’s Model 3 Ascension R broke the record for fastest production Tesla on street tires on the Buttonwillow track, running a 1:54.266 on 200 tread wear tires.
What was even more interesting was that later during the day, the Model 3 recorded an even more impressive lap despite its battery being halved. The team equipped the Model 3 with Pirelli slicks, and the vehicle ended up running a 1:53.277 lap despite a 50% state of charge. In a statement following his experience, Jackson, noted that he was incredibly impressed with the Tesla Model 3. According to the racer, the Model 3 was already a great car from the factory, but with an additional boost from Unplugged Performance’s parts, the vehicle had the potential to rival even the best track weapons available today.
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- Tesla Model 3 equipped with Unplugged Performance’s Ascension R package. (Credit: Unplugged Performance)
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- Tesla Model 3 equipped with Unplugged Performance’s Ascension R package. (Credit: Unplugged Performance)
Tesla Model 3 equipped with Unplugged Performance’s Ascension R package. (Credit: Unplugged Performance)
“It was a pretty mind blowing experience to have this be my first time driving a Tesla. Despite it being a shakedown day for Unplugged’s latest build, the car was surprisingly well sorted and it inspired immediate confidence. The brakes in particular were a big surprise given that the car is a lot heavier than what I’m used to racing with. Unplugged’s “BFB” carbon ceramic kit allowed me to brake deep into the corner and I found myself using braking points comparable to what I use when racing the Porsche GT3 RS and spec Miatas!
“The car was already really well prepared so we did not need to change much. The suspension was great off the bat and really well dialed-in. As the day progressed, we simply raised the rear up a little and added a bit more compression. Since the car was factory power and factory traction control I found myself being interrupted by the car’s nannies… Overall the car is a rocket ship (no SpaceX pun intended)! If I had more time with it I’m certain I can go a lot faster. I’m looking forward to my next time behind the wheel of it!” he said.
Watch a rather entertaining run of Unplugged Performance’s Model 3 Ascension R in the video below.
Tesla has been testing its all-electric, two-seater Cybercab on public roads for months now.
Nearly two years after its unveiling, the Cybercab has been seen by perhaps tens of thousands as the company has expanded testing to a handful of states, including Texas, California, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and New York, among several others.
However, nobody has seen one like this quite yet.
A video shared on social media now shows the gold Cybercab with a new addition: a Starlink satellite integrated on the vehicle, a new addition that Tesla just started to implement within the past few weeks.
@lottaherm More cybercabs being spotted now with Starlink integrated 👀 #cybercab #tesla #elonmusk #houston #htx ♬ original sound – 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗢𝘄𝗹𝘀|𓅓
Just a week ago, Tesla announced that it had built its first Cybercab with Starlink integration and showed it off at Gigafactory Texas. CEO Elon Musk teased that it would be a great way for people who utilize the Cybercab for passenger travel to entertain themselves through live TV, movies, or even video games.
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said it is also a huge advantage for Tesla as it will enable constant connectivity between the company and the fleet of Cybercabs it has. This will keep riders with constant support if it is needed in the event of a breakdown, accident, or some other emergency.
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you
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It appears that this particular unit was spotted in Houston, Texas, a location where the company’s Robotaxi platform is already active. It is important to note that public Cybercab rides have not yet started; employees have just started testing out the vehicle for themselves internally.
Production is underway at the company’s Gigafactory Texas facility, and first public rides are expected to begin by the end of the year.
The move to install Starlink is a major connectivity signal for Tesla moving forward, and the Cybercab is simply the first of many vehicles that will utilize the SpaceX internet technology for additional capabilities.
Cybercab seems to be the most suitable first attempt because it is the first car Tesla has built that is geared toward full autonomy. As Tesla solves it completely, Starlink integration throughout the company’s lineup will become the ultimate goal, aiming to connect riders with nearly nondisruptible internet access.
Tesla is building its largest East Coast Supercharger in New York City, planning to bring a 64- to 68-stall station to Queens, New York.
It will end up being tied for the largest Supercharger on the East Coast with this number of stalls. The largest on the Eastern Seaboard is located in Halifax, North Carolina, and is also 68 stalls.
Tesla is currently building a new 64-stall Supercharger station in Queens, New York. This will be the biggest Supercharger station on the East Coast of the U.S.
It will also have two pull-through stalls for EVs with trailers. Thx for the pics @LetsCleanNYC. pic.twitter.com/CCo0dIoHin
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 16, 2026
The location is also set to be fitted with two pull-through stalls for EVs with trailers. We’ve seen Tesla implement these types of parking spots at newer locations as EV ownership continues to expand to those who do more than simply drive their cars.
There are plenty of Superchargers in the New York City metro, but they are mostly located in boroughs outside of Manhattan. There are five Superchargers in various neighborhoods of Manhattan, but there are limited plugs; usually only four per location. There are plenty of Destination Chargers in the Big Apple, though.
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Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn have become popular locations for companies to build out charging infrastructure for those who live in the highly populated boroughs. There is simply much more real estate to build effective EV charging stations.
The Supercharger will be located in Maspeth, Queens, at 48-26 54th Road. Maspeth has I-495 running through it, so this will be a great location for Tesla owners to hop off the highway on their way to Long Island or to Manhattan to charge up before continuing their journey.
Tesla has done a really great job of expanding its charging footprint throughout the past several years, especially by building large-scale projects that cater to areas that have a high volume of traffic and are main routes of travel to major areas. Tesla is making an effort to make charging less stressful and more widely available in these concentrated regions.
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SpaceX just launched a secret payload from California
SpaceX launched a classified Space Force mission from Vandenberg, revealing almost nothing about its payload.
SpaceX launched a classified Falcon 9 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday night, and the government released almost nothing about what was on board. The mission, designated USSF-366, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E with a window that opened at 9:52 p.m. ET and ran into the early hours of Sunday, according to SpaceX’s own mission page, which described the payload only as classified. SpaceX confirmed the launch on its X account and pointed viewers to a livestream that began roughly ten minutes before liftoff.
Watch Falcon 9 launch the USSF-366 mission from pad 4E in California https://t.co/FFEzeYOds1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 16, 2026
The lack of detail did not stop analysts from filling in the blanks. Independent tracking of the rocket’s stage drop zones matched the pattern SpaceX has used on previous Starlink Group 15 missions, according to reporting from Outer Space Today, which pointed to Starshield as the likely payload rather than a one off government satellite. Starshield is SpaceX’s national security product, a version of the Starlink satellite bus built to Pentagon specifications for earth observation, communications and hosted payloads. Unlike consumer Starlink, government agencies do not have to disclose what Starshield satellites are actually doing once they reach orbit.
USSF-366 is the latest entry in a steady flow of classified and semi classified work between SpaceX and the Space Force. The company picked up a $178.5 million task order in April to launch missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency, as Teslarati reported at the time, and followed that in July with a $1.6 billion award covering 18 more Falcon 9 missions from Vandenberg through the end of 2027, also detailed by Teslarati. Add those contracts up and SpaceX’s Pentagon business for 2026 alone tops $8 billion.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
The Falcon 9 that flew Saturday landed back near the launch site, producing the sonic booms that have become routine for residents near Vandenberg. What is less routine is how little the public will likely ever learn about what the rocket carried. SpaceX and the Space Force have not confirmed the Starshield connection, and government satellite programs built on commercial buses rarely get identified beyond a mission number and a general orbit. For a company that live streams almost everything else it does, from Starship test flights to Optimus robot demos, USSF-366 is a reminder that some of SpaceX’s busiest work now happens entirely out of public view.
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Tesla starts testing its Starlink-integrated Cybercab on public roads
Tesla is building its largest Supercharger on the East Coast in New York City
