A barely street-legal Chevy Silverado takes on the mighty Tesla Model S Plaid; extreme gapping followsHoonigan’s “This vs Plaid” series continues to search for the Tesla Model S Plaid’s limits. This time, they pit the high-performance EV against a highly-modified Chevrolet Silverado that’s barely street-legal. The same Tesla already lost to a 1,700 horsepower Audi R8, but now, a 1,500 horsepower Chevy Silverado wants to have a go at it. Will LS power prevail?

Chevrolet Silverado

The Silverado started out as a daily driver, but as often happens, the owner wanted to “go fast”. After only two months of ownership, the truck was completely transformed into a barely street-legal drag strip weapon. Power comes from a 427 cubic-inch (7.0-liter) LSX V-8 with two Garett 79mm turbochargers strapped to it. The setup is good for 1,500 horsepower but has been tuned down to "around 1,200" horses for today's race. With a quarter-mile time of 8.3 seconds, it currently holds the record for the fastest LS-powered Silverado.

The Silverado’s monster of an engine is paired with a Rossier TH400 three-speed automatic, which sends power to all four wheels while using the truck’s stock all-wheel-drive system. The owner shares that occasionally an axle breaks, but those are easy to replace. There’s also a lot of fiberglass, which brings the weight down to 4,000 pounds (1,814 kg).

Tesla Model S Plaid

For the record, the Tesla Model S Plaid has three electric motors with a combined output of 1,020 horsepower and 1,050 pound-feet (1,424 Nm). In reality, the Tesla Plaid is proven to be capable of 1,101 horsepower, but the numbers are not consistent. Tesla has a single-speed automatic so no shifting is required. At 4,828 pounds (2,190 kg), the Tesla is heavier, but it’s noticeably more aerodynamic.

The race

As always, it’s best out of three drag races, with the first one being a heads-up race at 1,000 feet. The first race is pretty one-sided as the Chevy Silverado pulls five car lengths on the Tesla Plaid. To hell with aerodynamics!

Things take an interesting turn for the second race. Tesla gets three car lengths, but Silverado gets the hit. However, a slow reaction time on behalf of the Tesla driver resulted in another win for the modified truck.

For the sake of sportsmanship, a third race was done. This time, Tesla starts from a 30 mph (48 km/h) roll while the Chevy Silverado starts from a dig. The Chevy eventually stops the bleeding, but 1,000 feet just isn't enough for it to catch up. Tesla Model S Plaid takes this one by a quarter of a car.

Final thoughts

In the end, the modified Chevy Silverado won. The record-holding truck proves how capable the platform is, out the box, even if the owner has to replace axles every now and then. The Tesla was both heavier and less powerful, but still put up a decent fight, even if it lost. Are you team V-8 or team EV?