Spy Photos: Saleen's Model S on the Race Track

Those look not so much like spy photos but advertisements for the Saleen Model S. And they don't really reveal anything because the exterior doesn't look modified, I'm sure they are just testing the internal modifications.

I wonder if they addressed the cooling issues.

Saleen Tesla Model S Revealed/driven!

Saleen Tesla Model S Revealed in Race Track Spy Shots - TESLARATI.com

Want! (more details)

No actual information. Car looks the same. Just an advertisement.

Looks like the Buttonwillow track.

It looks like infomercials are now on eMagazines. "the[FONT=Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif] differences were astounding" Not exactly the details I was hoping to read. No numbers, no statistics, just one persons seat of the pants feel for the car.[/FONT]

mnx said:

Want! (more details)

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Seriously. "We compared it to our car and it was fast. Also, it braked well."

Thanks for clearing that up! :biggrin:

Did they swap wheels for the drives?

Gizmotoy said:

Seriously. "We compared it to our car and it was fast. Also, it braked well."

Thanks for clearing that up! :biggrin:

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Exactly! I was hoping for just a sliver of more information. So many words and they said exactly nothing.

That "article" was just a puff piece to get people talking.

I don't see how Saleen can do anything to a Tesla except modify the suspension and wheels. They can't "tune" the drivetrain because I don't believe they can get access to the core software that controls it. Why would Tesla allow that?

And surely any Model S that Saleen modified would not be supported under warranty by Tesla, so the owner would be liable for any repairs. Seems crazy to me.

ecarfan said:

That "article" was just a puff piece to get people talking.

I don't see how Saleen can do anything to a Tesla except modify the suspension and wheels. They can't "tune" the drivetrain because I don't believe they can get access to the core software that controls it. Why would Tesla allow that?

And surely any Model S that Saleen modified would not be supported under warranty by Tesla, so the owner would be liable for any repairs. Seems crazy to me.

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At least on ICE vehicles, there are definite ways to bypass the drivetrain software to extract more power. The easiest being a piggyback computer that alters the data the car's sensors feed back to the OEM drivetrain management computer. With no knowledge of Tesla's implementation, such a thing seems feasible in an electric vehicle as well. As you hit the accelerator the computer ramps up the amperage to feed the motor. If it is trying to get to X amps under full throttle, and the sensors say it's actually at X - 20, you may be able to trick the computer into providing 20 additional amps.

Another route I was kind of interested in is completely replacing the inverter. We know the S85 and P85 differ by only the inverter, so it may be possible for them to provide aftermarket P85-like upgrades to S85 owners. Or a mixture of this and the above, where the inverter is actually operating like a man-in-the-middle to eke out more power.

There are definitely things they can do without straying too far from their ICE tuning comfort zone. It just depends how ambitious they feel.

As to the warranty, no, clearly anything like the above voids your warranty. Typically Saleen provides their own drivetrain warranty when they haven't partnered with the OEM to have it covered by the factory.

It's exciting to see Tesla race series grow and the potential in advancing the engineering of the car through others such as Saleen. It's a good looking race car at that!

and to think it still seats 7

The Saleen test car has a round black thing in the middle of the front air intake area, that looks like it might be a cooling fan. I don't have a Model S to look at; anyone know if that is Tesla equipment or maybe a Saleen modification? Could be they are trying to improve cooling to help with the stress of track use.
Based on the text it does seem like most of the work so far has been suspension, which doesn't surprise me. Saleen could easily start with a coil spring car, and install their own springs, shocks, sway bars, and bushings.

gaswalla said:

and to think it still seats 7

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Yeah, I still want to see some guy on the track in his new BMW i8 be passed by a 7-seater with a labrador in the back and two kids in the jump-seats waving, that would be fun.

mpt said:

Yeah, I still want to see some guy on the track in his new BMW i8 be passed by a 7-seater with a labrador in the back and two kids in the jump-seats waving, that would be fun.

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LOL Could only happen on the first lap with a Model S unfortunately.

Modified Tesla Model S by Saleen Spotted

The Tesla Model S is already a very fast car, I wonder how much faster it will be when Saleen finished their work on the car.





from the article:
While the extent of the work done by Saleen on the Tesla Model S won’t go as far as rebuilding the entire car with higher performance bits, it is expected to make the all-electric sedan noticeably faster.
At least they’re doing it and showing it is a candidate for other tuner’s attention, as well – it seems nobody has yet dared to tackle a full Model S extreme performance build.


3 pictures and full article


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