Saleen-tweaked Tesla

There's no doubt that Tesla and the Model S have revolutionised a global industry. Now we see what happens when an established tuning house like Saleen revolutionises a Model S.

Of all the many qualities of a Model S, the two that define the car and its technology are the same two that make it so impressive. Quick and quiet.

Steve Saleen and Sven Etzelsberger, vice president of advanced engineering at Saleen, tweaked those two qualities. They made it even quicker, knocked 0.2 second off the 0-100 km/h acceleration and disrupted its calm quietness with gearing whine -- not noise but slight intentional whine, and there’s a difference.

“Electric cars miss an audio feedback from the drivetrain,” says Etzelberger, “and we added audio to the Model S when we revised the gearing ratio with a set of straight-cut gears.”

The straight gears whine, not much claims Etzelberger, on acceleration and deceleration, providing its driver with another sense of performance which a standard Model S doesn’t.

Saleen is an engineering-led company, and like most engineers Steve and Sven looked at other possible tweaks to the Model S. They made further performance gains by reducing the suspensions unsprung weight.

Carbon-composite rotors and light-weight brake callipers improved braking performance and, according to Etzelberger, the big composite rotors impact acceleration and handling. “The rotors reduced the suspension’s unsprung and rotational mass by 8.5kg per corner," he said.

He also claims the standard suspension is a bit soft. In the end, the team recalibrated the car’s spring and damping package by revalving the original Bilstein dampers. The suspension is matched with aerodynamic changes which are claimed to improve the total dynamic balance of the Model S.

Challenger, Mustang, Camaro are the expected badges in Saleen’s California workshop, so seeing a Tesla is a surprise. “The Model S is the future,” says “Etzelberger, “and we’re not afraid of the future”.