Connect with us

Lifestyle

Tesla Model S duels 2018 Ford Mustang GT in head-to-head 1/4-mile battle

[Credit: 1320 Races/YouTube]

Published

on

There is a reason why Tesla’s vehicles are forces to be reckoned with on the quarter-mile. With instant torque available from their electric motors as soon as the accelerator is pressed, Tesla’s electric cars are capable of hitting impressive 0-60 mph sprints. This is true for all the company’s offerings, including vehicles that are already a few years old.

Released as a top-tier variant of the award-winning family sedan, the P90D enjoyed the moniker of being called Tesla’s “Ferrari Killer” for a while, before it was discontinued in favor of the Model S P100D. During its reign at the top of Tesla’s lineup, the Model S P90D achieved a number of impressive feats, particularly when the company rolled out the Ludicrous Mode upgrade for the electric car. With the update, Car and Driver dubbed the Model S P90D as the first four-door sedan it has ever reviewed to have broken the sub-3-second mark in 0-60 mph tests.

Since the Model S P100D started its reign, the Model S P90D practically became the proverbial middle child of Tesla’s lineup. This became evident last year when the company introduced a free performance upgrade to owners of Model S 75D and 100D vehicles. The Model S P90D, together with its non-performance sibling, the 90D, were left out of the “uncorking” program.

This is not to say that the vehicle is not a formidable force on the drag strip anymore. A video uploaded at the New England Dragway by YouTube’s 1320 Races showcased the Model S P90D taking on a 2018 Ford Mustang GT, a vehicle that features the legacy American automaker’s latest and greatest innovations for its iconic muscle car.

Power-wise, the 2018 Ford Mustang GT is no joke, with 460 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque from its 5.0-liter Coyote V8 engine. Coupled with either a 6-speed Manual or a 10-speed Automatic transmission, the Ford Mustang GT is capable of propelling itself from a dead stop to 60 mph in under 4.0 seconds. The vehicle even comes with a special Drag Strip Mode, which optimizes the car’s transmission for optimum straight-line performance. The 2018 Ford Mustang GT is available with an optional GT Performance Package as well, which makes the car perform even better.

Would all the 2018 Ford Mustang’s advancements be enough to topple Tesla’s Model S P90D though? As the two vehicles’ drag race shows, not really. The 2018 Ford Mustang’s driver was unfortunate enough to have a bad start in its race against the Tesla, and coupled with the Model S P90D’s instant torque from its two electric motors; the pony car simply could not keep up. The Model S ended the race in dominating fashion, finishing the quarter-mile at 11.56 seconds at 113.47 mph. The 2018 Ford Mustang GT was able to complete the quarter-mile in 12.44 seconds while traveling at 114.97 mph.

Advertisement
-

It seems like it would only be a matter of time before Tesla’s electric cars can start dominating on the track as well. The Model 3 Performance, which is equipped with Tesla’s 2170 cells, has a dedicated track mode, which Elon Musk describes as an “Expert User Mode” that would allow drivers to optimize the settings of the vehicle to maximize its performance. On the drag strip, the Model 3 Performance is plenty quick as well, capable of giving a McLaren 570S a run for its money on the quarter-mile.

Watch the Model S P90D battle with the 2018 Ford Mustang GT in the video below.

https://youtu.be/cxSfV5JpVfo

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts

Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.

Published

on

By

Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.

The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.



Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.

For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.

The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.

Advertisement
-
Continue Reading

Lifestyle

Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi’s real advantage won’t be the ride service

Published

on

By

Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

For a century, the car has asked the same thing of its owner, which is basically to pay attention. Even the best ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft only moved the problem into someone else’s hands. You stopped driving, but you still sat in a stranger’s car, while half listening, and wondering whether to take a phone call in the car without being rude. The Cybercab has no wheel, no pedals and no driver. With Grok @bot now live inside it, it becomes something else entirely, and I think that matters more than the fleet count that everyone is tracking.

Grok @bot is an agent, not a voice assistant. A rider signs in once, and from then on can say what they need and watch it happen. Order dinner from a favorite restaurant. Fill the grocery cart. Move money, answer email, adjust a calendar, push a work project forward. Tesla engineer Yun-Ta Tsai confirmed it is enabled across every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y fleet, and Tesla’s own pitch is that Full Self-Driving handles the commute while Grok handles the errands.

Think about what that does to a thirty minute ride. Uber sells you a trip, while Waymo sells you the same trip in a more private setting. Tesla is selling the thirty minutes themselves, returned to you with an assistant attached. Errands that used to eat a Saturday get done between pickup and drop off. The ride stops being dead time between two places and becomes a place of its own.

Tesla integrates Grok Bot into its vehicles for the ultimate personal assistant

Best of all, your Bots follow you into any Cybercab, and presumably your own Tesla, then logs you out automatically when you step out. Anyone can bolt a chatbot onto a screen, but much harder to own the vehicle, the autonomy stack and the assistant at once. It also quietly ties SpaceX’s Super Intelligence business to Tesla’s fleet, after Tesla converted its xAI stake into SpaceX equity. The relationship between those two companies is getting harder to describe as separate.

This is also where the hard questions start, because an agent that can spend your money in a vehicle other people also ride in needs some answers. How does it handle a voice it shouldn’t trust? What gets recorded, who can see it, and for how long? What happens when a rider leaves halfway through a task?

Advertisement
-

If Tesla gets those answers right, the scoreboard changes. We have been counting Cybercabs and wait times. The more telling number may be what riders accomplish per trip. That is data almost no one else will ever have, and it is the real reason to watch Grok @bot.

What do you think? Leave me a comment.

Continue Reading

Lifestyle

Tesla’s mirrorless Cybercab will give riders a visibility upgrade

Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab update letting riders pull up rear and repeater cameras on demand.

Published

on

By

Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)
Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)

Tesla is working on a Cybercab update that would let passengers pull up the vehicle’s rear and side cameras on demand, and the request came straight from a rider.

The exchange played out on X late Friday. Cybercab rider Dan Burkland shared photos of the two-seater’s cabin screen after an evening ride, praised the UI team’s work, and left one request: let riders open the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Tesla UI software engineer Evan (@CarCoder) answered with two words: “In development.”

The idea fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked since public rides began. Days after paid Cybercab service opened in Austin, Tesla sent riders a survey that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin, and to pick the features they wanted most. We reported on that survey in September, and a camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking.

Advertisement
-

It also speaks to something unique about the vehicle. With no steering wheel, no pedals and no driver, passengers have no mirror to check and no way to see behind them. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness, from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first time rider a way to confirm what is around the car.

The timing matters because the fleet is growing fast. Tesla’s Robotaxi account said on Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, an eightfold increase in 30 days, and Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy named Dallas as the next city. More cars and more cities mean more people riding in a driverless vehicle for the first time, which is exactly when small trust features carry weight.

For now, the feature is confirmed only as in development. If Tesla follows its usual pattern with Cybercab software, riders could see it appear in a point release without any announcement, and Teslarati will watch for it.

Continue Reading