Tesla's various erformance models are known for their wild launches. When Tesla first started adding hyper-aggressive launch modes to its cars, the internet quickly became awash with suburban dads making their kids nauceous with gut-churning levels of instant acceleration. However, the newest 2026 Tesla Model Y Performance seems to let its lineage down. While it's certainly still a quick car, Out of Spec Studios noticed that it's actually slower to 60 mph when using launch mode than when the launched it simply by stomping the go-pedal.
In a recent video review, Out of Spec host Kyle Conner tested the Model Y Performance on a private runway, safe from any other drivers or pedestrians. To test the car's performance, he launched it on his own, without using the car's built-in launch control system, recording a 3.58-second run. The he did it in the opposite direction using launch control and got a 3.67-second time. OK, maybe the wind was different in the other direction, or there were some surface changes. However, he then used launch control again in the same direction as the first run and got another 3.67-second run on the nose. For fairness, he did another launch without launch control in the opposite direction. He saw 3.61 seconds that time.
