Tesla’s Model S takes on the Summernats

We turn up at the holy grail of internal combustionâ€¦ in an electric car.

Drive Team

23:0027 January 2016

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Tesla's Model S takes on the Summernats

The crowd on Tuff Street is heaving with anticipation as a highly-modified Holden Torana, bearing the number plates 'ON IT', lets rip. There is a chorus of screaming tyres, bellowing engine noise and raucous cheer from onlookers as the car's rear rubber disintegrates into a cloud under 500-odd kilowatts of V8 internal combustion.

Then, there is silence. Drive has just entered Gate 4 of the 29th Summernats festival. The noise of the crowd falls flat as we roll silently through the main thoroughfare of the Southern Hemisphere's largest car festival earlier this month. The feeling at the wheel is almost akin to sitting your first driver's test.

"Is this thing electric?" quizzes a security guard, one of several lining the well-worn tarmac. "I definitely haven't seen one of these here before."

He's not alone. Full-sized blokes with beards and tattoos whisper between one another and a general sense of bewilderment transcends the hot and sweaty masses as our Tesla Model S saunters through the annual Canberra festival. It's as though we've turned up to a Rebel's bikie meeting in drag.

"This is Summernats, not f***ing Star Wars," yells one punter.

The reason for our visit is not to upset the establishment, but to try and beat it. Using Tesla's fastest, most powerful model, the $222,178 (plus on-road costs) P90D, we plan to compete against some of the country's most powerful muscle cars in the Summernats' Go to Whoa performance event. The idea at first seemed fanciful; now it feels as though we're in some kind of bad dream where the angry mob is about to set upon us. All in the name of an experiment.

Playing the green card

Our trip south to Canberra is considerably different to that of regular Summernats' contestants. Most trailer their rides to and from the event to avoid unnecessary wear and tear. There's also the issue of avoiding police infringements.

We leave Tesla's Sydney dealership with a full complement of electricity, about 490km worth of claimed range, giving us enough charge to reach Goulburn comfortably. There, we sample the delights of a nearby cafe while the P90D replenishes itself at a free supercharger station, one of several between Brisbane and Melbourne, near the town's information centre. A full charge takes about an hour.

Fitted with the latest generation of Tesla's AutoPilot function, the Model S more or less plods itself south along the Hume Highway, changing lanes and maintaining its position with one hand only superficially touching the wheel. It adheres more to a luxury car brief than a performance car brief, with a roomy cabin clad in leather and Alcantara and punctuated by a huge 17-inch display conveying driver and infotainment function.

We arrive at the main gates of Canberra's Exhibition Park at 8am, where we're met with the curious reception, before making our way to the scrutineering shed, where the novelty factor of the Tesla really takes hold: "Can you turn it over for me please, I'm going to have to assess how loud it is," jokes one official.

The official safety assessment comprises only a quick external check over, as the Tesla's dual motors and bank of lithium-ion batteries are located under the floor and out of sight as a means of keeping its centre of gravity low and enabling better interior packaging.

Friendly fire

The banter at Summernats, it turns out, is mostly in good taste. Nearly every person we speak to is interested in the Tesla's performance and eager see it unleash its full potential – a hefty 568kW of power and 967Nm of torque, both at 0rpm – at the track event.

The most divisive issue is noise, or lack thereof.

"In years to come I think there will be more electric cars here but I still don't think they could ever take over the noisy V8s. That's what Summernats seems to be all about," says Matt, a first-time visitor to the festival.

Even though it is still perceived as a rowdy gathering, particularly late on the Saturday afternoon, the Summernats appears more open to change than before.

Clayton, a Mazda owner from Sydney, says he has noticed a discernable shift in attitude towards non V8-powered competitors in recent years.

"The first time I brought the RX-2 down it was a little different, to say the least. I felt like people were almost offended," he says.

"You still get the odd person that takes exception to a rotary at Summernats, but generally, people have become quite accepting of them."

For the record, rotary-engined Mazdas have taken out the grand champion of Summernats accolade for two years running.

According to veteran Summernats track commentator Jason O'Halloran, the Tesla's fearsome performance automatically earns it credence among most car lovers.

"Being a Tesla it's an interesting vehicle because you come to Summernats, the holy grail of supercharged V8 craziness here in this country, but everyone knows what this is," he says.

"The V8 guys with the big blowers, I think they expect that this is coming, they know that it's on the way so they're not giving up their V8s just yet. But they respect this."

Go to Whoa

The aim of our chosen event is to accelerate along a circa-100 metre section of bitumen, before braking as efficiently as possible to finish between two white lines. There are strictly no double braking movements allowed and competitors cannot overshoot the target.

"Just get in there and have a go. And make sure you stop at the other end," says John, a regular Go to Whoa competitor in his Ford Falcon XR8 sedan.

The event is traditionally dominated by high-powered V8 entrants with modern disc brakes. With a claimed 0-100km/h time of 2.8 seconds and all-wheel drive grip, the Model S P90D is a formidable opponent. The bigger test will be that of the driver.

"I've seen a lot of different cars through this event, but never anything like this," says Steve, the main track official who has overseen 19 Summernats.

"It just leaves the line and it's there at the finish. It's like nothing else."

Our first two runs at Go to Whoa are unsuccessful. The Tesla misses out on a time as I finish too short of the line or I overshoot it in a ham-fisted rush of testosterone.

"You'll get it this time, I'm sure," a track official says as I strive for third time lucky. She was right; using a little more caution, I manage to register 7.93 seconds – fast enough to keep company with some competitors, without threatening the top bracket.

Determined to make amends for my first two blunders, I go for a fourth attempt. The green light drops and the Tesla launches cleanly off the line. There's a maniacal surge forward. I then back off momentarily to get a gauge of my speed before jamming the anchors on as hard as I can.

Track official Steve, by now mystified at the Tesla's acceleration, runs over: "6.02 seconds, mate. Well done, that's the fastest time of the day".

The experiment works, and there is no doubt that, had we hung around until the Go to Whoa finals on Sunday, the Model S would be a strong chance of taking home the silverware.

The bigger surprise from our appearance at Summernats is not the Go to Whoa result, but the general crowd response on seeing the Tesla for the first time. Most are welcoming and nearly all are intrigued at the presence of the electric car.

"To see it out on the track today was really good, and a lot of people came over to see just what it sounded like, which is basically nothing," commentator O'Halloran says afterwards.

"The reaction was really good, people have seen these things on YouTube and now they want to see it in the flesh. They were all videoing themselves and you know that will go out to others on social media.

"It's an interesting car in a very exciting time in Summernats history. I think to have it here has been really good, and to see what it could do – a six second time on this track is very impressive."

Equally promising is the fact nearly all punters we speak to say they would be happy for a Tesla to return, as long as it is present among more traditional muscle cars.

"It is weird because there's not much noise, but if it burns tyres it will probably get past the crowd," one enthusiast says.

"Anything that is a performance car is quite welcome here in my opinion."