1st Track Day. Strategy for no Supercharger closeby, and track has L2s.

[sethinGR]

1st Track day at Gingerman in MI tomorrow. Ran there a few times years ago in my STi.

Just trying to decide how to manage my day. P3 stock except for XT910 pads.

Some ideas:
1. Drive in Chill for first 20 min to dial in the track
2. Skip every other session and let the L2 replace what it can.
3. Drive each session shorter like 10 min instead of 20.

Thoughts?

 

[sethinGR]

fwiw, my notes on the day.

I had fun. Ran in novice class. Did 6 20 min sessions, charged the rest of the time at 48A. Got to the track at 250 mi range, left at 100 mi, charging put back about 280 mi, so used 430 mi. I didn't get a fully clean lap, most of the novices only want you to pass on the back straight, so lots of just being patient and practicing the lines helped stretch the battery life out. It also helped that it rained briefly in the afternoon and so 2 sessions were on a wet track that kept things slower.

I put it in track mode every session but never messed with the defaults for regen, bias, etc. Tracking with regen on is a little weird seems harder to get the car settled in a turn, so maybe that is something to mess with next time. Was the track pkg worth 10k? Probably?

 

[MasterC17]

fwiw, my notes on the day.

I had fun. Ran in novice class. Did 6 20 min sessions, charged the rest of the time at 48A. Got to the track at 250 mi range, left at 100 mi, charging put back about 280 mi, so used 430 mi. I didn't get a fully clean lap, most of the novices only want you to pass on the back straight, so lots of just being patient and practicing the lines helped stretch the battery life out. It also helped that it rained briefly in the afternoon and so 2 sessions were on a wet track that kept things slower.

I put it in track mode every session but never messed with the defaults for regen, bias, etc. Tracking with regen on is a little weird seems harder to get the car settled in a turn, so maybe that is something to mess with next time. Was the track pkg worth 10k? Probably?

What $10k track package are you referencing?

Glad you were able to run full sessions with an L2.

 

[sethinGR]

What $10k track package are you referencing?

Sorry, just the Performance increase over the LR. I debated a lot over LR + accel boost + BBK vs. Performance and the idea of "track mode" was a factor in getting the P rather than LR + some reverse-engineered 3rd party software that can give more control over the car.

 

[Zcd1]

fwiw, my notes on the day.

I had fun. Ran in novice class. Did 6 20 min sessions, charged the rest of the time at 48A. Got to the track with the defaults for regen, bias, etc. Tracking with regen on is a little weird seems harder to get the car settled in a turn, so maybe that is something to mess with next time.

I’m surprised/impressed that you were able to run 6 sessions, even with the limitations you mentioned.

I’ve been registered for 2 different track weekends at Grattan since I got my car, but had to cancel both times. Hoping for next Spring, IF I don’t have a new Model S by then…

Any comments about how the car feels on track compared to your STI?

 

[sethinGR]

I’m surprised/impressed that you were able to run 6 sessions, even with the limitations you mentioned.

I’ve been registered for 2 different track weekends at Grattan since I got my car, but had to cancel both times. Hoping for next Spring, IF I don’t have a new Model S by then…

Any comments about how the car feels on track compared to your STI?

I was surprised too. But again, I was stuck in a lot of slow traffic. My closest to clean lap was 1:58, the C8 I rode along with who wasn't running perfect lines was doing 1:48, but most of my times were like 2:15-2:2:20 due to traffic or wet track.

It had been a long time since the STi, I got one of the first ones in Michigan in 2003. I remember the obvious, like bouncing off the rev limiter on the back straight and the noise of the motor, but the only thing about the handling I remember as different was the M3P felt a lot heavier. (and it is of course). The M3P is really composed though which is very confidence building. I felt as long as I didn't come into a turn way too hot I was going to be ok. An R32 and a Bmw M3 spun out in front of me in the wet, but even on the wet the M3P never felt close to getting out of control. The back end would step out a bit if I hammered it out of a turn, but it would come right back in without a fuss.

I'll go back next year and run intermediate and I expect I'll only get 3-4 sessions.

 

[Zcd1]

I was surprised too. But again, I was stuck in a lot of slow traffic. My closest to clean lap was 1:58, the C8 I rode along with who wasn't running perfect lines was doing 1:48, but most of my times were like 2:15-2:2:20 due to traffic or wet track.

I'll go back next year and run intermediate and I expect I'll only get 3-4 sessions.

Sounds good - Appreciate the details.

Have you ever driven Grattan?

 

[MasterC17]

Current limiting as well as energy consumption are directly related to how fast you are going, and the faster you go those problems become exponentially exacerbated.

The nice thing about a relatively stock P3 on PS4S is that you aren't going to have any current limiting and SOC will be relatively manageable.

Here's three laps from One Lap of America at Gingerman. You can see I hit thermal limiting in 5 minutes and used quite a bit of energy (I don't have the exact off-hand right now).

 

[sethinGR]

Here's three laps from One Lap of America at Gingerman.

Nice driving! I suspect having better tires leads to better braking and that means you can be on the throttle longer and have less time to regen, and getting through turns faster means less time off the throttle, so the percentage of time per lap you were hard on the throttle vs me with my 2:xx laps is way higher.

Did you have regen off or dialed back?

 

[MasterC17]

Nice driving! I suspect having better tires leads to better braking and that means you can be on the throttle longer and have less time to regen, and getting through turns faster means less time off the throttle, so the percentage of time per lap you were hard on the throttle vs me with my 2:xx laps is way higher.

Did you have regen off or dialed back?

If I recall, I had regen set to 20% for this run. To be honest though, I don't think it makes much or any difference in terms of current limiting, so typically your best bet is to set it as high as you are comfortable with to limit brake temperature.