A Tesla Model S Plaid went up against a modified Yamaha Banshee, which according to the guys at Hoonigan, is the most dangerous vehicle to have ever been featured at this particular drag strip.

Overview

Now, we here at TopSpeed are big fans of the Hoonigan channel. In fact, we regularly feature the races that they put out, as they are some of the most outrageous head2head faces-offs on the web.

The Tesla Plaid has been tearing up drag strips across the country. Until now, it has taken on some big heavy hitters on the Hoonigan channel, which includes supercars and race cars. It hence deserved its very own mini-series; This vs Plaid.

Yamaha Banshee

JONATHAN MARTIN brought out this custom track weapon, which at its heart is a 2004 Yamaha Banshee. The frame is heavily modified though and is designed to do 500-foot passes. This quad, if you can even call it one, is now rocking a 521 cc engine, up from the stock unit that has about 350cc. Power too is up from a modest 43 horses to a colossal 130. I say colossal, because this thing is pretty light, tipping the scales at just 265 pounds.

Those custom exhaust pipes, by the way, don’t just look good, but they also sound rather sick. The fuel tank is just half a gallon is just about enough for one pass. On a side note, it’s got no suspension apart from those big fat rear tires of course and to keep this thing on the ground, you’ve got wheelstands sticking out of the back. You know, this thing is pretty insane given that it useless carbon fiber sheet as the seat.

2021Tesla Model S Plaid

The grey Model S Plaid that you see here belongs to JONATHAN PARZIVAND from L.A. You probably already know the specs on the Plaid, but I’ll run it by you anyway. 1020 horsepower from its tri-electric motors, with power going to all four wheels.

The Tesla tips the scale at 4,828 pounds. However John here dynode it at 1100 horses and a quarter-mile time of nine seconds flat. 0-60 mph in 1.99 seconds and a top speed of 155 on the traps. Just another family sedan eh? Yeah, that too. Numbers taken care of it was now time to hit the track.

Predictions

Most of the Hoonigan team was rooting for the Yamaha, with just two guys siding with the Tesla. So which one of these bad boys is your money on? Let's see how things pan out.

Round 1

Two burnouts that’s all it takes to burn up the fuel in the Banshee. Having put some rubber onto the tarmac, the quad was ready to take on the Plaid. The hammer dropped. While the Tesla took off in absolute silence, all hell broke loose on the quad as it took off in a fury of noise and smoke. In fact, the quad was ahead up until the midway point, but the Tesla just about managed to fend it off by the time they got to the line.

Round 2

They turn back and decide to stage the same 500-foot dash once again. I’m gonna cut straight to the chase here. This time around, the quad managed to take it from the dig. It beat the Tesla, but not by much. I have to admit, that Banshee really does sound rather raspy at full chat.

Round 3

So that's one each. Round three was going to be the definitive round, winner takes all. 500 foot one more time. Okay, the results on this were hair-splitting, and there really was nothing between the two. It was indeed a photo finish, with the Plaid taking the win by believe it or not. a bumper.

To Wrap It Up

It’s not often that you see something run this close to the Tesla Plaid. There have only been a handful of times that Tesla has thrown in the towel, mainly against super and hypercars like the Rimac Nevera. But, this modified Banshee quad is right up there and managed to give the Tesla a tough time.