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First track day impressions
- Thread starter stickman
- Start date
SammichLover
Banned
Plugshare says there is a functional 3.3kW J-1772 just to the West at a library in town. It doesn't actually say 3.3kW but a Model S says it was getting 12-13mile/hr which I believe is what 3.3kW gives you, so about 17mph charging in the Model 3, you drive leisurely. That would get you filled up enough after the 50+ miles from the Indio SC. But that'll get you maybe 45 minutes total track time for the day before limping back to the library to get enough to make it back to Indio.
Raceway website is explicit that there is on hookups for RV, so no 15-40 to save you.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
google maps says there are RV parks around. At 3.3kw you’d be better off driving all the way to Indio to charge.Yep - so the question remains...how the heck are you going to charge!? One EV at that charger could ruin your whole day
JAD on the Telsa forums said there is a 240v on site just behind the snack bar. I believe Steven Chan used it as well when he went out there. Since I have the RWD I dont go through battery quite as quickly as a P3D. Still, I'll likely get no more than 3 sessions in order to save enough battery to make it back to Indio. Hopefully there will be no other Teslas at the event!Yep - so the question remains...how the heck are you going to charge!? One EV at that charger could ruin your whole day
SammichLover
Banned
The 3.3kW is only to partially recover from the drive from Indio where you do the meat of the charging.
Not sure you'd have time to make a mid-day trip to Indio, 2hrs driving + 1hr and change charging for maybe a session's worth since you'd not really have time to top off with 3.3kW mid-day.True I only checked Plugshare, not all these RV Parks with NEMA plugs are entered into it yet. Phoning around now to ones you find via Google Maps is probably the way to try make it work.
SammichLover
Banned
In a bind, 4hrs-ish at the library and 55mph drive to Indio would get you there. Or an hour and change post-driving at the track if you'd have access should get close to enough, too.
I'm staying at a cabin close to the track the night before the event and will be plugged into a 110v overnight, so I should arrive at the track above 90% and try to plug in before the drivers meeting. If I can stick a max of 5 laps per session, and charge as much as possible between sessions, I should be able to leave with around 20% for the trip back to Indio. We shall see! At least the event is cheap, only$105 with OnGrid.
Unfortunately I had a bit of a situation at work, so i couldn't make it. I heard from @mcbarnet007 that OnGrid was very crowded though, which is surprising since it was Easter weekend - but i guess that's what happens when the prices are so low!
For that specific day, I feel like there are more cars per session compared to SV. Most importantly the range of lap time within a group is pretty large and they don't pre-grid which caused a lot of congestion on the track. They also don't show slow cars who don't point by enough passing flag so it only made the matter worse. I really only got 3 clean laps the whole day. They are otherwise pretty well organized and on time.
took my stock (except for racing brake fluid) P3D+ to pacific raceways yesterday for my first ever trackday (in a car). The car is an amazing track vehicle. I had a game instructor who allowed/encouraged me me to go for it from my first session and helped me figure out lines, braking points etc. I was faster than everyone in my group, got waved by a lot (although frequently got held up- my instructor thought it might have been because no one could hear me behind them and suggested I turn the high beams on for my last session
Things I discovered. (For me)
1. Track mode is awesome. I didn’t enable it for the first two sessions because I saw Kbeck’s video of his spin @ buttonwillow and wanted to start with the nanny watching over me. But I used way way more energy than wenkan who was there and had it on all the time and enabled it for the third session to help with consumption. It helped a ton with that but also the power stayed strong all the way to 6% whereas I could feel the power drop off after a few laps with it off. Most importantly the car was WAY more planted with it on. It’s freaking genius. Happy for you P3D- folks that you’re getting it.
2: tires are ok but slip all over the place when pushed at stock pressures. I had slides going into T1 at 130 (super scary) and ABS was activating all over the place until I dropped 7psi for the second and 3rd session. Then they gripped but it looks like they rolled over pretty far. Not sure what that means but I’m getting wheels and track tires pronto anyway.
3. I’m getting coilovers ASAP. The body roll is super distracting to me, especially during rapid change of direction like in the chicane. I know you kind of get used to it and the smoother I got the less it happened but still too much for me
4. Seat sucks for hard driving.
5. The car is really fast. I had a well driven GT3RS behind me in the last session (they allow advanced/racing drivers out in the last few sessions) behind me and we waved him by on the front straight and I had to actually lift way off so he could get by.
6. If you run the car to 6% and there is only a standard (wall type) charger and you live 40 miles from the track you’re going to be sitting there long after everyone else leaves
Great write up. Did you find that the stock tires even at reduced pressures give much notice of reaching their limits/breakaway, or not? After lots of street driving where their grip seems almost unlimited, first session on a skidpad at 42 lbs was a bit disconcerting, with very greasy behavior and snap-like loss of traction. Dropping pressure helped but I don't recall this kind of behavior from the Super Sports. Sliding, esp. losing traction at the rear, at 130 must have been a pisser!
Also, although it is the last thing you'd be thinking about, while your 968 whr/mi may seem like profligate spending, it's almost 35 MPGe. The car is just so efficient compared to any ICE vehicle - doubt any of your ICE competition even got that on the ride home!
Thanks again for a great report!
Yeah they were fine after I dropped the pressures. They slid a bit when pushed but did so in a predictable manner. I think as others said they take a while to come up to temp, so I was probably pushing too hard when they were cold. If I were to track them again i’d prob shoot for 42 or so hot, and give them plenty of time to warm up.
That said, I vastly prefer my new set up (19x 9 wheels with RE-71Rs).
Yes it's been years since I drove a car with re71. I hated them on the street but boy were they predictable and easy to drive near their limits which were very high. Curious what size you've got I'm guessing 265 / 35 - 19 ? Or did you stay more conservative at 235 / 40? If you got the 265/35, I'm curious about your impression of sidewall squish at that width with a 9 inch wheel ?
Only time when the Pilot Sport 4S might be better would be on a thoroughly wet track. They are the best tire I've ever experienced in the rain. Great grip and really good feedback
Yeah I mistyped. My wheels are 19x9.5 with 265/35/19s. Sidewalls seem pretty sturdy, but I was running fairly conservative (I think) pressures ~ 42 hot. Very acceptable roll
In track mode does it ever feel like you could use more rear rubber? I know the book on this is squared setup for all wheel drive but I've always wondered if a little bit bigger rubber at the rear would be an advantage. Or whether that would just mean more plowing. In theory track mode should allow some constructive modest oversteer even with slightly wider tires at the rear. But this is all theoretical of course. Just wondering what your seat of the pants tells you on this. Thanks again
I would yield to others with more experience but the conventional wisdom seems to be square for the track, and that’s what I went with. I see no advantage in going larger at the rear. The car feels super planted with track mode on. I got moderate oversteer when I wanted it.
Appreciate your deference. That's kind of what I expected to hear but it's good to get it confirmed. If I track the car this year I'm much more concerned about oversteer than understeer but I know track mode allows a little bit of slippage that's constructive and helps turn in out of the corners. Had some bad experiences with oversteer in the past, but it's good to hear that the car feels really planted at the rear.
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