It's once metric of many in how a car performs. And yes, there is plenty of performance competition at those prices. The 100D runs a 10.5 quarter mile, which is really good, but not world beating. Factor in any of the competitors pricing their cars below production cost and the landscape looks much different.
I go to the strip several times a year and I'm pretty sure running a sub-11 quarter mile would scare me. This is coming from someone who drives a reasonably quick car (12.7ish).
I do agree that 0-60 is a silly performance benchmark, since it measures traction more than power in modern cars. But performance Telsas are fast by any measure.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fastest_production_car...
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fastest_production_mot...
edit: Actually 10.5 is pretty insane for a production vehicle but we live in a time with a lot of insanely fast and overpowered cars.
Source? On your wikipedia page it says 10.9 ... Also, it's currently more expensive than a Model S Performance.
It was an argument against the "insanity" of a 10.5 time, you're right it costs quite a bit more.
Even today it's impressive to see a street car run under 12s. On a given test and tune night, I'll see maybe one out of 50 street cars run sub-11s, and they're always obviously modified.
You claim it isn't insane, yet your example is BMW's fastest car. I'll throw out another Definitely Not Insane Car running a similar time: Ferrari 488 GTB.
Whether or not it's "insane" is semantics.
The point is that once you get up into this echelon of cars, 10.5 isn't game-changing. Chrysler built a car that will stomp the Model S, and it costs 20% less. For $100k you can build many cars that will outperform a Model S; 10.5 quarter mile isn't "insane" at that price if that's what you're optimizing for.
I suppose it's exhausting seeing Tesla marketing claim "fastest car ever!" because 0-60s are fast (which, as you said is mostly due to traction and the electric drivetrain). It's embarrassing when people start comparing the Model S performance to Ferraris and Lamborghinis. They aren't even in the same league when it comes to being race ready.
Which car is that?
No, it's not. It's what my old-man BMW on/off road bike will do (with a Cycle World editor onboard, not me). It's what the 1982 Honda 1100cc V65 Magna would do (with Pee Wee Gleason, professional drag racer, onboard) 37 years ago.
Pretty nuts for a car, though.
Indeed. Any stock Supersport 600 bike will do 10.5 right out of the showroom.