from Hacker News

Tesla ‘Easter Egg’ Makes the Fast-Accelerating Model S Even Faster

by Desustorm on 11/17/16, 11:06 AM with 118 comments

  • by Someone1234 on 11/17/16, 3:36 PM

    It wouldn't surprise me if they legislate maximum acceleration in the next ten years.

    Zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds is fun, no doubt about it, but it is fun on a racetrack. You can go on YouTube right now and find dozens of people utilising Tesla's existing "ludicrous mode" on public streets.

    And here's the thing, if people want to endanger their own lives that's fine. But they aren't just endangering their own lives, they're also endangering both other road users and pedestrians (when they eventually lose control).

    I don't think anything has been done about this yet because Teslas are still pretty uncommon, and the features which unlock "ludicrous mode" are even more uncommon (like 1% of 1%). But once electric vehicles are the norm and the body count racks up, we'll see legislative action.

    As an aside you could tie maximum acceleration into road conditions, including lowing it if the road is icy or wet, or increasing it on surfaces that provide superior grip (like freeways).

  • by antirez on 11/17/16, 12:27 PM

    Is Tesla so fast compared to the price because is an electric car or this is totally unrelated and was just designed to have such an acceleration, without help from the fact it's an electric car? Thanks.

    EDIT: Thank you for the replies!

  • by ada1981 on 11/17/16, 3:16 PM

    I've imagined Elon, still connected to childhood sci-fi dystopian futures, would most certainly include some secret "God Mode" backdoor that only he knows...

    So, in a future where Tesla's are all over the roadways,and the earth falls under alien attack or some other crisis -- he could easily escape by speaking to any nearby Tesla, which would give him full access (maybe even unlocking faster speeds ;). Perhaps even having some sort of transponder to send the nearest Tesla's to his rescue, should that be required.

  • by simon_acca on 11/17/16, 2:42 PM

    Does anyone have an idea of what they did/could have done in terms of software to allow a performance improvement?

  • by Desustorm on 11/17/16, 11:10 AM

    Not sure I agree with the terminology of the article (fast rather than quickest accelerating), but I thought this quote was special:

    > Speeds like this offer more Gs than Earth, so the rate of acceleration is faster than falling. It can feel difficult to support your head and shoulders if you don’t lean back on the headrest.

  • by pascalxus on 11/17/16, 8:37 PM

    That's incredible. I don't think anyone will say electric cars are slow again!

  • by obi1kenobi on 11/17/16, 4:32 PM

  • by jaimex2 on 11/17/16, 1:10 PM

    Calling it now, to unlock the easter egg you have to set your volume to 11.

  • by WordyMcWordface on 11/17/16, 1:43 PM

    It also depends on how you define "Worlds fastest car" While there is no doubt this is a fast car and that time is a stonking 0-60 time. I am lead to believe it can't complete a full flat out lap of the Nurburgring as constant high speed/full throttle use heats up the battery to the point where performance has to be limited.

    So while it will be great to "hoon about" in and should be a win at the traffic light gran prix there are probably much better track day cars.

  • by return0 on 11/17/16, 11:30 AM

    right-left-brake-right-left-gas-left-gas-right-brake-right-left-gas-brake-brake-left

  • by ralfd on 11/17/16, 1:50 PM

    I guess the title is right if you don't have access to the German Autobahn...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF36JhHRm4I

  • by Shivetya on 11/17/16, 11:54 AM

    At what battery percentage? Let alone, why? I want range, range, and more range. I could not give a damn about how fast I get to the next stop light or supercharger. Brag when you get 500 miles a charge, even fifty miles more range is more impressive than a tenth of a second off your acceleration "with a full charge"