First Hand Look at Tesla’s New Launch Mode

A few days ago news of new launch mode for Tesla was making the rounds as an addition to come with the next update. The updated launch mode would have the quirky feature of lowering the car’s front suspension to mimic a cat ready to pounce, nicknamed the “Cheetah Stance”.

Thankfully Brooks from Dragtimes.com was able to get his hands on a Performance Model S that received the update and was able to give us an overview of the new Launch Mode. 

Not only does the Launch Mode provide the cheetah stance, but it also increases the peak kW power that the Model S delivers as well as having an easy way of enabling the feature, leading to fewer flubs at the starting line of a dragstrip. You can see screenshots of the new update rolling out for Teslas with the rather simple Launch Mode instructions included in the tweet below.

To my surprise, the amount that the Tesla actually lowers the front end is more than I expected, it is truly a mode that you cannot risk on and road even with the shallowest of bumps.

Brooks was able to test this same exact car before, so he was able to compare relevant performance numbers before and after the update, here were the results.

It is important to note that the car was not taken to a prepped track and was not using the lightest wheel configuration available to the Model S, meaning that fractions of seconds could still be dropped.

But as you can see, for casual hooning there will be essentially no discernable difference in performance. While new cheetah stance and bump in power provide a measurable difference in times, those fraction of seconds lost will only be appreciated in track/drag setting in which a Model S will continue to be a formidable opponent. 

Although it’s pretty cool to see your car ready to pounce like a cat.