The stunt wasn’t a marketing ploy by Tesla Motors, but rather an earlier R&D exercise by Nissan GT-R tuner Iain Litchfield. Although Litchfield is best-known for modifying GT-Rs, he hopes to one day apply his go-fast knowledge to electric vehicle.
For the test lap, Litchfield handed over the keys to professional racing drive Robb Holland. Holland recounted his Nurburgring lap in the Model S on Jalopnik. A video of the lap was also posted.
The Model S scored poorly in Holland’s eyes for it 4,700 pound curb weight, lack of mechanical grip and numb steering, but that’s not to say the car was a total let down. Holland came away impressed that a new company like Tesla could develop such a competent car, especially when considering the technology behind the Model S didn’t really exist 10-years ago.
Moreover, the electrically-powered Model S was dead silent during its lap and even managed to keep pace with a Porsche 911 GT3 RS at one point.
The ride turned sour about 3 minutes in, however, with the Model S going into a reduced power mode. Holland surmised that an overheated battery was to blame.
Because of that snafu the Model S required about 10 minutes to get around the Green Hell, but Holland estimates that the car is capable of a sub-9 minute lap. That time is surely to drop even further once Litchfield finishes his tuning.
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