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Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Which Should I get, a Tesla Model S or an Audi R8?

This originally appeared on Quora and was answered by

The Tesla Model S. It is far more practical than the R8, being a 4 door car and all. Overall, it's a largish hatchback coupe that is sleek and very elegant. Performance wise, it is respectable. Garnering 416 horsepower, it can accelerate faster than most cars at this size and price. 0-60 in 5.1 is not bad at all, especially with an electric motor.

If you have the money for a P85D edition (which I'm assuming you do if you can afford an R8), which starts at 105K, then take it. Apparently, in the vehicle's 'Ludicrous' mode, it can hit 62 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds. Which, if you ask me, is unbelievably fast for a 4 seater. Handling is good, but I can't really say because this is a car I've never driven. Lastly, it is electric, of course, which gets it 90 miles to the gallon.
Now, the R8: The R8 has aggressive designing that will turn heads far more than any Tesla. Well, almost any Tesla. The Tesla Roadster is one looker.
The R8 is far faster than the Model S, but the P85D can probably out-accelerate any Audi on the market. The R8 is going to have people stopping to take pictures and idiots asking if it's a Ferrari. Also, Audi's practicality is far inferior to the Tesla; the Audi only has 2 seats, vs 5, and it has 23 MPG vs 90. If you want thrill and celeb status over practicality and less speed (although brisk), then choose the Audi.

 If you want reasonable performance and practicality over fame and speed, choose the Model S. If you want uber-performance and uber-practicality over performance and no practicality, choose the Model S P85D. Now, if you want agility, performance, looks and a tiny bit of practicality (2 seats.....but 256 mpgge) then choose the Tesla Roadster.

If you want the practicality of the Tesla and the performance of the Audi, choose wither the P85D.....or the Audi RS7, still in the same price range.

Winner: It's up to you, but I'd go with the P85D. In fact, I'd wait for the Audi R8 eTron hybrid. If it ever comes.