Brooks Weisblat of DragTimes recently pitted the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X against a tuned Tesla Model S Plaid at Apex Motor Club in Arizona. Just a week earlier, he had raced the ZR1X against a Lucid Air Sapphire, where the Corvette suffered a surprising defeat. Two weeks before that, the ZR1X had hypercar enthusiasts buzzing after pulling off an impressive victory over a Bugatti Chiron.
The Corvette had already proven its drag racing credentials at TX2K earlier this year, where it embarrassed three Tesla Model S Plaids by storming through the quarter mile in just 8.7 seconds. This time, however, the challenge was very different. The Tesla lining up against the ZR1X was far from stock, making this one of the toughest tests yet for Chevrolet’s new performance flagship.
Not your ordinary Tesla Plaid
It’s a tuned 2026 Tesla Model S Plaid, adding up to 200 horsepower over the stock figures. It also runs a ceramic brake kit (Stage 1 Hack Pack) and Project 12 lightweight wheels. The tuned electric car also has some weight reduction mods (about 200 lbs) on the rear seats. The front seats are also swapped out with carbon fiber alternatives. The Plaid uses three electric motors in an all-wheel-drive system and produces 1,200 hp.
The $230,000 Corvette ZR1X, provided by Attorneys On Retainer, was the low-drag stock version (without the big wing) and ran on Michelin Pilot PS4 tires. Since they were in Arizona, they used 91-octane fuel with a splash of 100-octane gas to bring the octane level at least up to 93 or 94 octane. In case you don’t know, the ZR1X runs a 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 hybrid making 1,250 HP. All that power is harnessed by an 8-speed dual clutch transmission running on an all-wheel-drive system.
Corvette ZR1X no match for Spicy Model S Plaid
In the first race, the Corvette ZR1X made an impressive launch off the mark, and for a moment, it ran head-to-head with the Tesla. But the Model S Plaid caught up and pulled away, finishing the race in 9.05 seconds at 158 mph. The Corvette lost by two cars.
In the second race, the ZR1X took an early lead and steadily pulled away from the Tesla Model S Plaid, securing a narrow win. On the third drag race, the Model S Plaid took an early lead, pulling away from the Corvette from the dig. The ZR1X driver complained of wheel spin.
The Corvette had little luck with the Tesla in the rolling race, losing two consecutive races. Simply put, it took 200 hp and weight reduction to beat the ZR1X. Catch all that action on the video below.
