See the Fastest Tesla Race the Quickest Bentley for Bragging Rights

The Tesla Model S P85D is the fastest Tesla. The Bentley Continental GT3-R is the quickest Bentley ever made. Which one would win in a race? That’s a mighty important question, one that needs answering, so I met up with my friend Dan Neil from the Wall Street Journal to find out which car owns the quarter mile. It’s electric versus 93 octane, America versus Britain, quiet understatement versus bright green leather interior accents fit for a leprechaun’s bordello. (That latter description applies to the Bentley, in case you haven’t guessed.)

This particular P85D, a sleeper on its 19-inch wheels, carries a sticker of $133,320 and packs a total of 691 hp — 470 horses from the rear motor, 221 from the one mounted at the front axle. The Bentley only has one engine, but it’s a fine one, a twin-turbo 4-liter V-8 that can generate 592 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque when it’s on overboost. You only get overboost for 15 seconds at a time, but 15 seconds will be more than enough to eat up the 2,500-foot private runway where we stage the cars. The Bentley, by the way, is somewhat more expensive: $339,725, or roughly two Tesla P85Ds and a base Cadillac Escalade.