Plaid Drag Racing - Not such a great night

[HighPotential]

My best times are between 6.03 and 6.08 around 119 mph 95% SOC and 42 PSI cool pressure in the tires on prepped (drag strip) surfaces. Can't seem to crack into the 5's. All stock. Nothing removed. Maybe I need to lose a few pounds or wait for a tailwind.

 

[Sam1]

No, I focused on how you had no traction longer than I’ve seen any Plaid at the strip experience - as your argument.

You probably just don't realize it because it may not be making noise due to surface conditions. It doesn't magically go away when the noise isn't present.

 

[Sam1]

For the noodles where the NT05 or the 555r

275/40/19 nt555rii. I haven't ran radials on the front, only the rear.

 

[Christopher1]

This curve is after tesla removed power from the bottom. and raised the power to keep the same 0-60.
The plaid could easily be a faster car. Just try a P85D P90D. It's quicker from 0-20.
I remember how sad it was going from P85D to P100D. P100D had same slow starts and same slow throttle response as plaid.
But tesla didn't need to replace soo many drive units after doing this.
Same reason every tesla have the worst throttle response in trackmode. Doing the opposite of bmw Mercedes etc

 

[TIppy]

This curve is after tesla removed power from the bottom. and raised the power to keep the same 0-60.
The plaid could easily be a faster car. Just try a P85D P90D. It's quicker from 0-20.
I remember how sad it was going from P85D to P100D. P100D had same slow starts and same slow throttle response as plaid.
But tesla didn't need to replace soo many drive units after doing this.
Same reason every tesla have the worst throttle response in trackmode. Doing the opposite of bmw Mercedes etc

You have to keep in mind that the slopes of those curves at the beginning are the forces on the car in the constant torque region. The Plaid curve isn't quit as steep as the 2019 Raven so the force is less, but the Plaid also weighs less so requires less force to achieve the same acceleration.

 

[WilliamG]

You probably just don't realize it because it may not be making noise due to surface conditions. It doesn't magically go away when the noise isn't present.

I do actually realize this. I’m just saying that the quarter mile example you provided was… well… - terrible.

 

[cptnslo]

275/40/19 nt555rii. I haven't ran radials on the front, only the rear.

Did you actually notice a difference with traction? I’ve been curious about running a radial setup but wasn’t sure if it would be enough gain to make it “worth it”

 

[Sam1]

Did you actually notice a difference with traction? I’ve been curious about running a radial setup but wasn’t sure if it would be enough gain to make it “worth it”

1/4 was roughly the same et with a lower trap.

The difference was negligible. Not enough to stress over it.

 

[prodigymb]

1/4 was roughly the same et with a lower trap.

The difference was negligible. Not enough to stress over it.

on the street as well? i am looking for a more consistent street tire for my car. i was going to try a nitto R2 on this, i have used it on my 991 Turbo S and it worked pretty good. i dont think mickey makes a 19" radial that is the right height for the plaid.

 

[chriSharek]

So I went to my local drag strip and ran the 23 plaid for the first time. I have to say I was quite disappointed.

It ran:
9.4 @ 151
9.6 @ 151 (Left too soon)
9.5 @ 149

I’m running the Michigan Pilot Sport 4s on the 21’s

It was 45 degrees at the end. And it did feel like traction was an issue.

The other Plaid there ran 9.3 and 9.2! But he had the stock 19’s and whatever that comes with for tires. I expect the 19’s to be quicker. But if they also have all seasons maybe that helped traction at 45 degrees?

I had 96-87 charge and he was in the 70’s soc

I hit 160 and mid 150’s by the time I let off. And stopping was an issue. The brakes over heated and faded in the last stop and the rotors had blue spots that cleaned off on my way hike when I did the Tesla bed in procedure. They feel smooth and quiet but do seem to neee a little more pedal travel to stop. But could be my impression.

Also I’m not sure if the car picked up a vibration or rumble sound or something at highway speeds or if it’s again me being paranoid.

Also it takes forever for the cheetah stance to happen and it’s impossible to drag race because the light goes green and you can’t move.

Not such a fun night.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

I ran my plaid here in Florida just the other night and ran in the 9.3s all 4 runs. I was told on the third run that I had to wear a fire suit. And, I needed a rollcage and a parachute! This was after I asked if I could put people in the back seat as long as they wore a helmet . . . the answer there was no also. Fun night though!

Here's a video of the camera mounted on my son's Model 3 (he pulled around 13.3 - long range):

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=410468928389873

 

[Sam1]

on the street as well? i am looking for a more consistent street tire for my car. i was going to try a nitto R2 on this, i have used it on my 991 Turbo S and it worked pretty good. i dont think mickey makes a 19" radial that is the right height for the plaid.

The problem with radials is they have to be warm or they'll be worse for traction than street tires, so it really depends on the surface you're on and if you can heat them up prior to. I normally race on no prep, and the OEM 19" pirelli are the most consistent tires I've personally seen. Tesla Plaid Channel says the same thing, except he runs mostly on prepped surfaces.

Usually what I would do is keep the car in drag mode for the battery heat, then when I pull up to the line I would put in track mode, -10 stability, 100-0 rwd and do 2 dry hops to clean off and spin the tires just a little. Then put back in normal mode and tap it full throttle once before going into drag mode (or normal mode depending on the surface) for staging.

Dry hopping is track mode doesn't help a lot more, but it does let it turn over the tires just a little more, and any little bit helps.

 

[Izzyz28]

I went to a no-prep 1/8th mile event on the worst strip of asphalt I've ever driven on. Car runs 6.1-6.20 on the street, but here it was spinning up to 70 Mph and running 6.60. Tire slip absolutely can be felt, but the TC system is by far the smoothest I have experienced. If you don't think these cars spin, find a decent road and punch it at a 40-roll while you look in the rearview mirror. Two heavy black stripes for about 20-50 feet while it tries to hook up.

 

[HighPotential]

For optimal results maximum SoC is needed, optimal tire pressure, and empty the car out (yes it's 5,000 lbs but every little bit helps, and a good reason to clean out the car).

I believe that if it is an NHRA member track you DO NOT need a roll cage or any of that other stuff. You need a NHRA "Street License", and be wearing a certified helmet, fire suppressing jacket, and long pants.

Getting the license is easy- you take your printed application to the track, tell the track officials you are running your time trails and make two full effort passes (with timeslips). You then return to the track officials and they sign off on the application and then you mail it in along with the membership fee.

 

[HighPotential]

1/4 was roughly the same et with a lower trap.

The difference was negligible. Not enough to stress over it.

If you think about it, the difference between 9.29 sec and 9.7 sec is precisely 0.31 seconds. 1/3 of a second. A blink of an eye. Trap speed is the indicator of HP applied to forward motion.

 

[bkcyk]

If you think about it, the difference between 9.29 sec and 9.7 sec is precisely 0.31 seconds. 1/3 of a second. A blink of an eye. Trap speed is the indicator of HP applied to forward motion.

Funny how you measure to the tenth and hundredths of a second yet don’t hesitate to add 200lbs of weight to the MSP.

It’s one of the lightest EVs in its class at 4800lbs. Don’t fat shame our MSP. lol

Carry on

 

[cptnslo]

Funny how you measure to the tenth and hundredths of a second yet don’t hesitate to add 200lbs of weight to the MSP.

It’s one of the lightest EVs in its class at 4800lbs. Don’t fat shame our MSP. lol

Carry on

I was gunna say aren’t they closer to 4800

 

[Sam1]

For optimal results maximum SoC is needed, optimal tire pressure, and empty the car out (yes it's 5,000 lbs but every little bit helps, and a good reason to clean out the car).

I believe that if it is an NHRA member track you DO NOT need a roll cage or any of that other stuff. You need a NHRA "Street License", and be wearing a certified helmet, fire suppressing jacket, and long pants.

Getting the license is easy- you take your printed application to the track, tell the track officials you are running your time trails and make two full effort passes (with timeslips). You then return to the track officials and they sign off on the application and then you mail it in along with the membership fee.

It may be different on each track, but the Vegas track specifically requires an SA2020 rated helmet or higher for sub 10's. You also have to keep your trap speed below 150, otherwise you need a chute on the car. This reason is why I usually do no prep instead of prepped events; on no prep it's extremely rare to get 150+, so it makes it easier not worrying about letting off at the end.

 

[prodigymb]

The problem with radials is they have to be warm or they'll be worse for traction than street tires, so it really depends on the surface you're on and if you can heat them up prior to. I normally race on no prep, and the OEM 19" pirelli are the most consistent tires I've personally seen. Tesla Plaid Channel says the same thing, except he runs mostly on prepped surfaces.

Usually what I would do is keep the car in drag mode for the battery heat, then when I pull up to the line I would put in track mode, -10 stability, 100-0 rwd and do 2 dry hops to clean off and spin the tires just a little. Then put back in normal mode and tap it full throttle once before going into drag mode (or normal mode depending on the surface) for staging.

Dry hopping is track mode doesn't help a lot more, but it does let it turn over the tires just a little more, and any little bit helps.

what tire psi do you run for no prep?

yeah for sure some radials need more heat than others to really work well.

 

[GetThePuckOut]

If you think about it, the difference between 9.29 sec and 9.7 sec is precisely 0.31 seconds. 1/3 of a second. A blink of an eye. Trap speed is the indicator of HP applied to forward motion.

I suppose it depends on what your definition of "precisely" is.

 

[Sam1]

what tire psi do you run for no prep?

yeah for sure some radials need more heat than others to really work well.

Street tires I just run the usual 40psi on both 19 and 21. With the radials I ran 24psi at the track. Tried running lower on the radials but it didn't really help anything.