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Tesla Model S is emissions-free burnout machine after pulling fuses

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 Add one more feather to the proverbial cap of the Tesla Model S. Road & Track West Coast Editor Jason Cammisa figured out how to make the electric luxury sedan extra frisky and then set about nuking the rear tires with electric-motor torque.

"Holy hell there's a lot of torque here," Cammisa wrote in his notes after pulling a fuse that took the ABS, stability control and traction control offline. That fuse also took out the speedometer and air suspension – no big deal – but power steering and brake assist went out, too, making hooning a parking-lot-only affair.

The best part is that they shot a video to accompany the hijinks, so you can see for yourself how the Model S does. If you want to try it for yourself, just be careful.


"There's no rev-limiter to contend with," notes Cammisa, and that means "you'll be spinning tire up to the car's 132-mph top speed." That makes the Model S capable of blowing tires very effectively. The upside to disabling the assistance systems is that the raw dynamics of the car show through, and Cammisa reports that the underlying car is very good, indeed. You've waited long enough, scroll down for the video.


By Dan Roth


See also: Musk reports positive cash flow for Tesla last week, Tesla Model S will get price increase, Popular Science magazine's Best Of What's New 2012 all ate up with cars.