Tesla Model S P100D drops in on Volkswagen event to casually destroy competition on the drag strip

A panda-painted Tesla Model S P100D recently made an appearance at a Volkswagen festival in the UK, battling two high-performance vehicles in the quarter mile. The Volkswagen event, dubbed Bug Jam 32, was held at the Santa Pod Raceway in Podington, Bedfordshire, England, a location popular for 1/8-mile and 1/4-mile drag races. In a video shared on YouTube by auto enthusiast channel VeeDubRacing, the electric family sedan could be seen casually crushing its German-made competitors without breaking a sweat.

The Model S P100D competed against two opponents — a Volkswagen Golf R and what appears to be a tuned Volkswagen Corrado. The matchup between the two ICE-powered vehicles and the Model S was almost humorous, since the all-electric car looked completely out of place in the event, which was populated by smoking Volkswagens from both past and present.

The first Volkswagen that went up against the Model S P100D was a Golf R hatchback, a lightweight, high-performance car. The Golf R is one of Volkswagen’s most popular vehicles, having won multiple awards such as the 2015 North American Car of the Year, 2015 Motor Trend Car of the Year, 2013 European Car of the Year, and the 2013 World Car of the Year. Just like popular Japanese-bred tuner cars like the Nissan GT-R, the Volkswagen Golf R could be modified into a race monster under expert hands. Popular auto publication Jalopnik, for one, once featured a heavily-tuned Golf R with an insane engine output of 470 hp from its 2.0-liter turbocharged FSI Inline-four engine. According to the publication, the tuned, 470-hp Golf R was powerful enough to surprise even the most capable of drivers.

Another Volkswagen that engaged the Model S P100D on the quarter-mile appeared to be a tuned VW Corrado. The Corrado was in production from 1988-1995, and is one of the German carmaker’s most memorable drivers’ cars to date. The 3-door, front-wheel-drive vehicle was quite advanced when it was released, including features such as an active rear spoiler that raises automatically when the car exceeds 50 mph. The Corrado VR6, the brand’s top-tier variant, is noted for its rather sizable 2.9-liter, 12-valve VR6 engine, which occupied roughly the same space as a conventional 4-cylinder engine. Just like the Golf R, the Corrado was critically acclaimed, with Auto Express describing it as “one of Volkswagen’s best-ever drivers’ cars.” British publication Car magazine also gave the Corrado VR6 a spot in its list of “25 Cars You Must Drive Before You Die.”

Racing pedigree and history aside, the Golf R and the Corrado were up against an all-electric drag racing beast capable of humiliating actual supercars on the strip. The Tesla Model S P100D finished its run against the Golf R in 11.43 seconds while traveling at a speed of 116.71 mph, beating the Volkswagen’s 13.91 seconds and 103.30 mph. The P100D’s run against the Corrado ended in similar fashion, with the family sedan finishing the quarter-mile in 11.40 seconds, more than two seconds faster than the Volkswagen’s 13.88 seconds.

While the Model S P100D and Model X P100D have already established themselves as electric legends on the drag strip with their capability to outrun supercars in the quarter-mile, Tesla’s latest high-performance vehicle — the Model 3 Performance — seems set to make waves on the track. Based on initial reviews of the vehicle, the Model 3 Performance, particularly when its Track Mode feature is enabled, is a car that can very well shake the high-performance sedan echelons in the auto industry.

Watch the Model S P100D take on the Volkswagen duo in the video below.

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