A Telsa Plaid-Swapped Dodge Challenger?? Is It a New Take on a Modern Muscle Car, or Does Removing the Gas Engine Destroy the Car?
The BoostedBoiz have built several cars and trucks that can make most people do a double take. From constructing a 7-second Honda engine-swapped MR2, to the ‘Rowdyssey’ Honda Odyssey van sporting a turbocharged Honda 4-cylinder and clocking mid 9-second times, the crew has come up with some crazy builds.
But their latest could prove to be one that gets even more attention, and might change a few opinions on muscle cars as well.
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“Well guys, we have ourselves another Telsa body swap video,” Kyle Wade says at the beginning of their video introducing their newest project. Yes, the BoostBoiz are taking the path of marrying a Tesla Plaid S chassis with a non-Tesla body, and seeing how the combination will perform.
When Kyle decided to pick up a wrecked Tesla Plaid S from Copart about two years ago, he had a few plans for it. The first stage of the project was to see how fast the 0-60 mph times could be improved by focusing on removing weight.
Starting at 4,745 pounds, Kyle, Wyatt and crew removed the front cap, the doors, trunk and rear bumper. Almost all the interior was gutted, and a single aluminum racing seat was installed. After the weight removal was complete, the Telsa Plaid was now sitting at 4,045 pounds, 700 pounds lighter than factory, but still a heavy ride.
After back-to-back 2.37-second times on a public road at the ‘full-scale’ weight, the first three hits at the lighter weight were slower as the car clawed for traction with times of 2.69, 2.43 and 2.43-seconds. On the fourth and final run, a better 2.35-second 0-60 mph time was recorded.
Then the rest of the body skeleton was ditched, a full chromoly roll cage was added to the chassis, then the crew took it to Bradenton Motorsports Park to get some results. The even ran it alongside a stock full weight Tesla Plaid S, clocking an 8.79 at 156 mph versus a 9.22 at 149 mph from the ‘as-delivered’ Telsa.
Then stage two began, where the Telsa chassis was combined with a Honda Odyssey van, bringing the ‘Plaidessey’ to fruition. “The plan was to do the van and Plaid combined from the beginning,” said Kyle. “I bought the Odyssey before I ever bought the Tesla.” It proved to be a mid 9-second runner, but Kyle wasn’t satisfied.
“It did have some things that could’ve been improved on,” “The dash was really long, and things didn’t line up perfectly.” After purchasing a Tesla Model X Plaid to use for the next version of the ‘Plaidessey’, Kyle made the decision to pull the existing ‘Plaidessey’ apart, and start to search for what else could be used for the body.
After some research, it was discovered that a 2015-2023 Dodge Challenger featured the same wheelbase as the Telsa Plaid S. Kyle located a stripped Challenger body for seven hundred dollars, and the race was on to mate the two and create ‘Cyber Cat.’
Once cutting, slicing and dicing was finished, the Challenger was taken out for a couple test drives, as well as adding body panels to complete the car. The car weighed in at 4300 pounds without interior, which could put it slightly lighter than a stock Dodge Challenger Hellcat.
Do you think combining these two platforms is a great way to ‘think outside the box’, or it is blasphemy to combine electric power in a formerly gas-engine ride?
Check out the first two videos on the ‘Cyber Cat’ below, including a visit to Cleetus McFarland for a rip:
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of BoostedBoiz.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com