Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S: Did Top Gear Cheat?

Almost a week ago, Top Gear posted a video of a drag race between the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S. Now questions are being raised about the quarter mile times of the Tesla shared by the publication.

The Taycan Turbo S crossed the quarter mile marker in 10.69 seconds at 131.6 mph. The Model S took 11.08 seconds to cover the same distance and clocked 124.0 mph. Note that the Model S was 0.07 seconds slower to 60 mph compared to the Porsche.

Now, here’s why Top Gear’s figures are questionable.

According to Brooks from Dragtimes, the data shared by Top Gear matches the times from a previous drag race between a Model S P100D and a Mercedes-AMG E63 exactly. Does, this mean that Top Gear just copy-pasted the times from that race instead of revealing the actual data from their test?

Top Gear claims that the Model S used for the test was the latest P100D Raven version – or the fastest Model S that you can buy. Brooks points out that a similar car had done around 10.63 seconds at 124 mph previously. So, the car in Top Gear’s test seemed quite slow.

The reason for this lack of performance could be the fact that Top Gear may not have used launch control on the Model S, while it was clearly engaged in the Porsche. It seems the Tesla was not in its full power mode either. This inference was drawn from the instrument display which appeared to be in its normal setting.

There’s no denying the fact that the Taycan is the faster car. However, if Brooks is right, then why didn’t Top Gear use launch control and the full power mode on the Tesla? If Top Gear did cheat, why did they even bother, when the Taycan would’ve easily won.

Update:

Top Gear has confirmed that they used the times from a previous test they did with an older version of the Model S. In that case, what’s the point of having showing a drag race? Oh well, it’s Youtube and you should do whatever it takes for clicks, right?