For those of you who don’t know, Lamborghini Huracan is a supercar made by the Italian manufacturer, Lamborghini and is one of the fastest accelerating cars money can buy. Thanks to its glorious 5.2-litre V10 engine producing 602 horsepower and a permanent all-wheel-drive system it’s capable of sprinting from 0 to 60mph in around 2.7 seconds.
This is truly impressive and its one of the features of the Huracan that makes it one of the most desirable cars on the market despite its price of a whopping $230,000 and it’s average fuel economy of just 16mpg. But what if I told you that there’s a Honda out there that can give it a run for its money?
Meet the Teslonda. Now I know I cheated here. It’s not EXACTLY a Honda but I guess you can call it that because it is technically an “engine swap”. The Teslonda, if it isn’t obvious yet, is a 1982 Honda Accord powered by a Tesla motor salvaged from a Model S P85. What you’re all interested in is the 0-60 time which was recorded to be a mindboggling 2.48 seconds.
Now it is known for heavily modified cars like the Teslonda to give exceptional performance numbers that outshine even the latest and greatest supercars. But considering the fact that the Teslonda in only rear-wheel-drive, this is a genuinely impressive feat. So now you might be wondering how did this all come to happen.
The person behind it all is Jim Belosic, who had bought the Accord out of nostalgia as it was his first car in high-school but was sitting around, not being used. He got the idea of a modified electric car from a Nissan Leaf, which happened to be quite the contrary of what people referred to as “fun”. But there was one thing about the Leaf which intrigued Belosic that all Electric Vehicles (EVs) shared was the instant torque the moment you pressed the accelerator.
Belosic went on in search of a powertrain to drive his own modified EV and was lucky enough to find a salvaged 414kW motor from a Tesla Model S P85 from HSR motors. And what better car to fit it into than his very own 82′ Accord that was eating dust in his garage.
Belosic removed the engine and the transmission, along with any other components that were required by the ancient gasoline engine and replaced it with new parts.
The outside chassis is basically the same. A custom rear axle is used to support the new electric motor and the massive 18inch wheels supporting drag radials measuring 305/45.
To keep the body level, the front is also raised at about six inches over the normal ride height which gives the car a unique stance resembling that of an old-school drag car. Its battery pack is sourced from the Chevrolet Volt which apparently supported a higher discharge compared to that of a Tesla.
EVs usually weigh a lot owing to their bank of batteries but this build surprisingly did not add any significant weight to the car. The Accord wasn’t exactly light in the first place and after the build, it weighed 2438 lbs. Couple that with the Tesla’s 550hp motor, and you get a power to weight ratio of 501 hp/tonne.
To put that into perspective, a Corvette ZR1 is a crazy fast car that’s also rear-wheel-drive and is capable of a 0-60 in 2.85 seconds. It produces 755 horsepowers from a supercharged 6.2-litre V8 but weighs 3560lbs which yields a power to weight ratio of just 467 hp/tonne. This goes to show how big of a factor is mass on the acceleration of the car.
Belosic is still working on the Teslonda to make it more efficient and daily drivable. You can watch all the updates to his builds on his Instagram: @jimmy.built