Category: Speed

What the 2025 Tesla Model X Does Right Blistering Performance The 2025 Tesla Model X continues to deliver astonishing performance for a midsize SUV. The base All-Wheel Drive trim features dual electric motors producing 670 horsepower, allowing it to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds. For those who crave even more power, the Plaid trim…

What the 2025 Tesla Model 3 Does Right Performance That Excites Tesla’s reputation for delivering thrilling performance is alive and well in the 2025 Model 3. The lineup now consists of three trims: Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD), Long Range All-Wheel Drive (AWD), and Performance. Each offers a unique driving experience: Long Range RWD…

The Chevrolet Malibu has been a staple in the midsize sedan market for decades, but its time is coming to an end. The 2025 Chevrolet Malibu marks the final model year for this classic sedan, as General Motors plans to discontinue production after this year. While the Malibu isn’t as competitive as it once was, it still offers a smooth ride…

• Edmunds pits the Dodge Charger EV against the BMW i5 in one of its special “U-Drag” races.
• The two cars are very evenly matched on paper and it shows in their real-world performance.
• The BMW wins all three races, but only narrowly.

They may be quite different cars with very different buyers in mind, but the BMW i5 M60 and the Dodge Charger Daytona EV Scat Pack proved to be remarkably close in a head-to-head race. With their nearly identical power-to-weight ratios, there’s almost nothing in it in a straight line, and both cars struggle to scrub off speed under hard braking. Yet one is just a little bit better at going around a corner than the other.

This has to be the closest and most exciting race in Edmunds’ U-Drag series, which pits two cars in a traditional drag race with a 180-degree corner at the end of the run, followed by accelerating back to the start line. It’s definitely more revealing than a simple straight-line race would ever be, since the winner needs more than just sheer acceleration. The test covers braking and cornering, too.

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With 670 horsepower, the Charger is the more powerful of the two. However, the 593-hp BMW is over 700 pounds lighter, and it just edges the Dodge out when it comes to horsepower per pound. It has a claimed 0 to 60 mph acceleration time of 3.4 seconds, which is one-tenth off the Dodge’s official sprint time, although both are expected to post nearly identical quarter-mile times of around 11.5 seconds.

Actually racing the two vehicles, some key points stand out. Through the three runs, which the BMW always narrowly won, the German car seemed to comfortably pull away and maintain a lead before the corner. It also brakes a bit better than the near-6,000-pound Dodge (although stopping over 5,230 pounds from high speed is no mean feat) and it’s also predictably better through the corner.

However, through all three runs, even though the BMW is always the first to come out of the corner, the Dodge appears to have better acceleration from a roll, and it regains some lost ground. In the second run, the closest one to a photo finish, it almost nudges in front of the BMW. It would have won had the run been a bit longer. Both drivers activated their cars’ respective boost modes for extra power after the corner, but the Dodge seemed to be the quicker straight-line machine.

We drove the Charger EV recently, and while we liked a lot of things about it, cornering and handling, generally speaking, weren’t so strong. It looks great and it’s really fast in a straight line, but it still handles like a muscle car, which is not a compliment. The BMW, on the other hand, is not only fast in a straight line, but it works some kind of magic through the corners, hiding its heft and driving like a much smaller and more agile car.

Neither of these two cars is especially good at braking, but as an overall sporty package, the BMW does come out ahead. In a head-to-head comparison between the i5 and the new four-door electric Charger sedan, the latter’s additional weight would tip the balance further in the BMW’s direction.

The ID.2 GTI will be the first to arrive, followed by an electric Golf GTI. But VW isn’t stopping there.

• Can the world’s first electric muscle car keep up with a Tesla Model 3?
• The Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack weighs roughly 6,000 pounds.
• The Tesla Model 3 Performance is nearly 2,000 pounds lighter, but also down on power.

Weight. It’s the enemy of speed and nimbleness. That’s why, despite their relatively low power output, the featherweight Mazda Miata, Porsche 718 Boxster, and all the Caterhams are a blast to drive.

When it comes to electric cars, however, things get complicated. There’s a huge battery that weighs thousands of pounds, in addition to all the other bits that makes a car do car things. You can add more powerful motors, but weight will always come back to bite.

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And the Edmunds video above is a testament to that. It features the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack and the 2024 Tesla Model 3 Performance. The former is described as the world’s first electric muscle car, while the latter is a four-door family sedan that happens to be quick.

With 670 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, the Charger Daytona should eat the Model 3 for breakfast. The Tesla only has 510 hp and 546 lb-ft of twist.

The plan is simple: start with a quarter-mile sprint, then brake, do a U-turn, and sprint back down the quarter-mile to finish. It’s a test of acceleration, braking, and handling, bundled into a single race. Two runs are on the menu, and after each run, drivers switch places to keep things fair.

From the first two seconds of the race, the outcome is quite obvious. The nearly 6,000-pound Daytona struggles against the underpowered but comparatively slim 4,000-pound Model 3. As a result, the Model 3 Performance smashes the Daytona in almost every category, including the zero-to-60 miles per hour sprint and the quarter-mile time. The Daytona, meanwhile, outperforms the Tesla in the corners.

There’s also the issue of price. As tested, Dodge’s electric muscle car costs $85,965, while Tesla’s performance sedan has an MSRP of $56,630. And it has four doors.

Renault added a rear motor to its electric crossover, making it all-wheel drive.

All-terrain tires and camping gear make everything more interesting. But don’t hold your breath for a U.S. release.

Tesla has been in the news cycle a lot lately, and not for the best reasons. Yes, sales are down. Profits are way down. And Elon Musk is stirring the political pot faster than a Model S Plaid gets to 60 mph. But let’s forget all that for a moment and remember one thing Teslas are really good at: Going fast.

To help, we turn to Wheels Plus on YouTube. This short video captures a trio of Model 3s and a single Model Y enjoying some speed runs on the drag strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Among the challengers are two C8 Corvettes, a Mustang Shelby GT500 and a hilariously large Ford pickup truck. We don’t have any details regarding the gas burners, nor do we know specific trim levels on the Teslas. We can tell you everything here is pretty darned quick. Two of the Tesla dip into the 11-second range.

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The action begins with a Model 3 facing a black C8 Chevrolet Corvette, and this one doesn’t end well for Team Tesla. Despite a healthy starting line advantage, the ‘Vette charges past to take the win. Still, the Tesla goes 13.84—that’s not slow by any definition.

Vengeance comes with race number two. Another C8 Stingray lines up, only this time the competition in a Model Y. It’s a pretty close race, too, with the drivers separated by just a tenth of a second. However, when you’re turning a low-12-second quarter-mile, a tenth may as well be a mile. Chalk a win for the Model Y.

The third race sees a big ol’ Ford at the starting line, off-road tires and all. The driver still does a burnout, and to be honest, it sounds pretty good. Clearly there’s a V-8 under the hood, and we reckon it has quite a few modifications because it goes 13.62 in the quarter, lifted suspension and all. But its competitor, another Model 3, goes much, much faster.

That brings us to the final race, and it’s the quickest run of the video. We have another Model 3, this time facing down a Mustang Shelby GT500 on drag tires. Both cars turn an 11-second quarter-mile, but only one wins.

We’ll leave that mystery for the video to solve.

The ID. Evo, ID. Aura and ID. Era concepts are “specifically tailored to the needs of Chinese customers.” But will those customers show up?