Tesla Model S Plaid Wants To Take Another Swing At The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT

Elon Musk has a fixation with Porsche. It appears to have started with a 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo and led to his mocking the Porsche Taycan in 2019, and then trying to beat it around the Nurburgring with the Model S Plaid, and then declaring that the Cybertruck would be faster than a Porsche 911. Relevant to this story, the Model S Plaid had a bit of an embarrassing time on the ‘Ring at first, but it did eventually lay down a record time. However, it never got the publicity win that Musk was seeking, after Porsche went and took the record back. Here in 2025, it appears Tesla is back at it, first with the Model Y Performance and now with the face-lifted Model S Plaid.

Mildly Updated Model S

It’s far from one of Tesla’s biggest issues at the moment, but the Model S is now 12 years old. While it has improved steadily through software, hardware, and with some minor aesthetic changes, it’s the same car underneath in a lot of ways. The Model S’s facelift for the 2026 model year appears to be so minor that Tesla is only camouflaging the front and rear with what a fellow journalist smirkily described as a bikini. However, the only thing we can spot that’s different is a small lip spoiler below the existing front bumper, a more pronounced diffuser, and updated wheels.

It’s hard to tell, but we’re thinking the wheels are a bit bigger than the current ones. That would make sense as Tesla will want to increase grip, and more rubber on the road is step one. It’s entirely possible there are some mechanical changes in the suspension and steering, which would help sell it to those that still want a new Model S. It would also help if Tesla still wants to try and compete directly with the Porsche Taycan.

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Musk Has Been Quiet About Porsche

If there are designs to take back the questionable record of being the quickest four-door car around the Nürburgring, it’s more likely the people working on the Model S Plaid out of engineering pride than it is Musk’s hubris. Musk himself has been absent due to his political career, and now that it’s over, he’s still distracted by the current public fallout with the Trump administration and has other fires to try and put out with SpaceX.

Tesla’s VP of Engineering, Lars Moravy, said as much that Tesla would bring out a refreshed Model S this year, but it will have to have a lot more going on under the bodywork or with the interior to get anyone excited. And, at this point, it’s hard to believe it would take something incredibly special with both the Model Y and Model S to save Tesla from a downward spiral. So far, the refreshed Model Y isn’t doing it, and that’s Tesla’s best hope.