Gutted Tesla trolls street racers

Street racing is a subculture with a rich history, as well as its own etiquette and language. Back in the 1800s, young swells were racing horse-drawn carriages on Woodward Avenue in Detroit. In the 1960s, their grandkids were facing off in Pontiac GTOs. Nowadays, Generation Z is getting used to the idea that the future of racing might be electric.

Above: Street racers are getting completely destroyed by Tesla's almighty P100DL (Instagram: @baybeepanda123)

The Tesla Racing Channel features lots of videos that are thick with the flavor of the street racing world. It’s a world that runs on smoke, noise and machismo, but above all it runs on speed, and Model S has that, so it wins respect (and money). That respect is sometimes grudgingly given by the gas- and testosterone-fueled racers of the night, as you can see in the following two videos.

Above: Tesla P100DL taking on street racers (Image: The Drive)

The dudes at the Tesla Racing Channel customized a P100D, gutting the interior, installing more lightweight rims, and replacing the seats with ultra-lightweight aluminum racing seats. The driver estimates that this trimmed the weight of the 4,900-pound vehicle by about 400-500 pounds. Other than that, the car is stock - no modifications were made to the battery or motor (although there is a mysterious figure called “Jason,” who claims to know how to modify a Tesla battery pack to soup up the amperage).

Above: A look inside the Tesla's gutted interior (Image: Auto Evolution)

In the first video, we get a short description of the modifications, and a lengthy look at the salty, swaggering street racers in their native habitat. In a grudge match with a souped-up Camaro, our man talks the other driver into giving him a “back tire” - street slang for letting him start a car length ahead - and relieves him of a few hundred bucks.

Above: Gutted Tesla P100DL takes on street racers (Youtube: Tesla Racing Channel)

In another video, the modified S runs the eighth-mile against several battle-hardened street fighters. Our outlaw driver puts his P100D into Launch Mode - does he want his mommy? No, bring it on! The flagger flicks his flashlight and they’re off.

Above: Watch the same Tesla take on heavily modded cars like nitrous Mustangs (Source: SB Nation via 1320video)

The Tesla handily smokes a modified Cobra Mustang and two Nitrous Foxbody Mustangs. A Nissan GTR proves to be the toughest competitor - watch the video to see how it ends up.

Change comes hard for some folks. One of the Mustang drivers doesn’t dig being beaten by the sleek and silent Tesla, and insists that he was robbed - apparently there was a puddle of water in his lane. After a couple of rounds of trash talk, the drivers agree to swap lanes and run a rematch. Alas for diehard fans of gas - the result is the same.