Who better than Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained to take us on a deep dive into the Tesla Model S Plaid's brakes? He asks, are the Model S Plaid's brakes good enough for track performance? How about typical daily driving / on-road performance?
It's important to note, this isn't your traditional track video. Fortunately for Engineering Explained, the Throttle House YouTube channel already did that. By this we mean, it already tested the Model S Plaid on the track, and it reported on the high-performance electric sedan's brakes. If you haven't had a chance to watch the video and read our article, follow the link above.
Throttle House went so far as to say that, despite the many records set by the Plaid, it's not built for track driving. The channel urged, "Please, don't bring it to a track." As Fenske points out in the video at the top of the page, one of Throttle House's primary concerns about the Plaid was its lack of adequate braking power, at least for true track driving, though the publication exposed many other issues.
Fenske says the Tesla Model S Plaid is the only production car he's ever seen that accelerates more quickly than it brakes. He shares:
"It's able to go from 0-60 mph in just 98 feet, while the reverse, 60-0 mph, takes 104 feet. That begs two questions: Is the Tesla Model S under-braked for road driving or track driving (or both)? And how in the world is it possible that the acceleration is stronger than the brakes."
If you agree with Throttle House, the Model S Plaid may need stronger brakes for the track, but Fenske wonders, and we should, too: Are the Plaid's brakes okay for normal road driving?
Engineering Explained provides an in-depth comparison of the Model S Plaid and Porsche Taycan Turbo S. As expected of the channel, the discussion is quite complex, and there's a whole lot of math to explore and digest.
Fenske writes that the video covers traction limited versus power limited, anti-lock braking systems (ABS) versus traction control, understeer versus oversteer, and "how braking is controlled at the limit for vehicle stability." The analysis is all performed from the perspective of the C8 Corvette.
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Source: Engineering Explained (YouTube)