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Los Angeles get together

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First Post!

Is anyone up for participating/organizing a Los Angeles sunday or saturday drive? We could do a morning drive into Angles National Forest or up the coast.

Also anyone interested in going to AutoCross events? I'm running with both the PCA and BMWCCA clubs the roadster is a great AutoX car...
 
BTW, since you mention Autocross, I did a Tesla sponsored autocross with the Porsche club in San Diego about a year ago. Was a blast! I had no idea what I was doing but I managed to perform decently thanks to the Roadster's ridiculous low speed torque. It's much more forgiving on an autocross course (which is all about speeding up and slowing down at the right times) than an ICE.

I liked it so much I was considering signing up for this and taking my Roadster so I could learn how to actually do it right: One Day - High Performance Course

It would be a blast to do it with other Roadster owners. Maybe we could make a SoCalGreenSpeed event?
 
Streets of willow does not have NEMA 14-50 plugs. Venues that do are Pomona Fairplex, AAA Speedway in Fontana, and Button Willow. Was the event at Qualcomm Stadium? Did they have plugs there?

Also the 1.5 roadsters can not do DE events like the one linked above where continuous laps are part of the event, the motor will overheat.

Our best bet would be to piggyback an autocross with one of the clubs, they have much better rates, an event wil be $65 for the day.
 
Yes, the Tesla sponsored event I did was in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot.

I was personally intrigued by the Willow Springs program because of the class aspect. I wanted to learn to be good at it. :)

There are J1772s in Lancaster 15 miles away. I was thinking I'd stay over the night before since I'm coming from San Diego. I also liked the fact that this was more of an autocross course rather than an oval track. Are any of the others you mention like that?

I wasn't clear that it involved a lot of continuous runs. Did you see something that implied that to you? I do have a 2.0 myself though.

Anyway, would be fun to do a group event at any of the sites you mention. I may still do the Willow Springs one on my own for the reasons above.
 
I scoped out Button Willow last time I was there. There are many plugs at various boxes. Nothing specifically for EVs but with the right adapters there are plenty of plugs ((Maybe 6 or so but it would have to be well coordinated with the officials.

Both Willow tracks and Irwindale (and probably others) have RV parking. My father built a pad a WS. There are 220V plugs but the RVs are using them pretty much all day to run the AC in them. Maybe booking the spots would be necessary.

Another technique for a group EV drive is rent and industrial film or event tractor or trailer generator to feed cars off of. Not too expensive if split among several drivers.

We have done drags (at Irwindale) and I would be up for autocross (flat with cones) but I have fallen off at WS in my SCCA days enough that I know my Roadster will never do the track as long as I own it.
 
Willow only has TT-30 plugs for the RVs no NEMA 14-50, there could be some 220 connections somewhere but all the RV hookups I looked at are TT-30.

@dadaleus I know of one 2.0 owner that was able to run a continuous event without overheating so you should be fine. When running continuous events you will use allot of juice there is almost no regen during a 20 min run session because you are braking full force every corner. 20 min of hard driving uses up about 1/4 of your charge so you will need a way of charging at the track. I wouldn't worry about falling off at a track event you have to be really pushing the car to go off track and the Roadster is very difficult to oversteer, you pretty much have to intentionally spin the car to lose complete control, understeer is the issue and thats really just about how fast your willing to go. The car is very predictable in its handeling.

So back to where to race a Tesla.
Pomona Fairplex has a large flat parking lot that is great for AutoX. It has 4 14-50 plugs I know of and that can charge 8 cars taking turns for an AutoX.

AAA Speedway in Fontana has hundreds of 14-50 plugs and could charge everyone with a Tesla in SoCal. They have a large parking lot great for AutoX and the infield of the track is good for continuous laps.

El Torro airfield in the OC does not have charging but as VFX mentioned this could be a great opportunity to rent a generator for a group. The air field is a great place for AutoX.

Button Willow has several RV plugs with 14-50 I don't know of any Autocrossing there its great for continuous laps.

Streets of willow can be run as an AutoX or continuous laps. renting a generator is almost a must.
 
It's all relative. Just know when you get on the track you have to be able to walk away from the car. Some people can do that, though it's harder to replace a car that you can no longer buy new.

It not that cut and dry for DE and continuous lap type events when your on big tracks its uncommon but occasionally someone will total or seriously damage a car, almost always the drivers are in excess of 100MPH on these tracks.

I have never seen someone total or seriously damage a car at an AutoX, if you hit a cone you may dent or scuff the car. At most AutoX corses you'll see top speeds of 60MPH maybe 80MPH if your an excellent driver or its a bigger course.

I do agree with VFX that you have to have the mind set when you take your car out to a track, be happy at the end of the day when you leave with no damage to your car, don't beat yourself up or be mad if you do sustain some damage.
 
I was assuming Streets of Willow was similar in speed to an AutoX. I had also assumed the potential for damage was similarly limited, but I realize now this is just an assumption. I've never seen it and have no idea if there are barriers or anything--I had just guessed if you went off track you ended up on flat dirt. Furthermore I had assumed that a range charge 15 miles away in Lancaster would be plenty to get me through the day, and at least back to Lancaster. A lot of assumptions that vfx's reply made be much less confident about. I may call and ask them about the class.

Regardless, I'd love to do a group event with you guys. Caveat is I only have until ~July/August since then I'll be turning in my Roadster (sniff...) for my S (yea!). I will miss the Roadster a lot and that was part of my desire to have a last hurrah like this.

I have almost no experience with any of this (just the one Qualcomm autocross) so am very inclined to listen to you guys!
 
Pomona Fairplex has a large flat parking lot that is great for AutoX. It has 4 14-50 plugs I know of and that can charge 8 cars taking turns for an AutoX.
AAA Speedway in Fontana has hundreds of 14-50 plugs and could charge everyone with a Tesla in SoCal. They have a large parking lot great for AutoX and the infield of the track is good for continuous laps.

Well those both sound like great options for a group AutoX event then! Would love to do this if others are interested and it's feasible to rent the space.

The reason I was looking at Willow was the class. If anyone knows of any other classes I can do (with limited potential for damage to the car) I'd love to know about them.
 
I'm up for flat and cones. You just can't get up enough speed and not much to run into or gravel to end up in your radiator..

Going with an established autocross group is the way to go. I would love to spar with Porsches. They are the quickest owners to switch to a Roadster when they see the advantages of all torque, all the time.
 
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Time permitting I might attend both events. I may also try an up coming event with PCA OCR at El Torro Air field, its not far from the Tesla Newport Beach store so if I run low I can head over there to charge before heading home. Their next event is Sunday April 15th. Lets get get a roster going to see what event would be best for a Tesla group.

PCA GER has an AutoX May 19 at Button Willow Raceway ::: ZONE 8 - Porsche Club of America :::
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vfx?

BMW CCA LA has an AutoX May 20 at AAA Speedway BMW Car Club Los Angeles - Calendar
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PCA OCR at El Torro Air field, April 15th PCA - Orange Coast Region
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