An apology

[roblab]

This is an unbelievable thread. The OP is proud of the fact he is racing other cars on a public highway. And some people think that is cool. It is not.

I am waiting for a P85D. I have my own reasons for wanting this car and none of them involve racing other drivers. I already know that I have bought one of the fastest cars around. I feel no need to prove it to anyone else and certainly no need to put the lives of other road users in danger.

And nearly all of those other cars already know (or are pretty sure) that you could kick their butts. I drive a plain ol' S85 (stands for standard, as in not performance) and when I zip past a tricked out corvette or big maserati, they won't even look at me. They already know it's a Tesla. They don't want to look bad. And I'm only talking 40 to 65 on a double lane road, straight, no traffic, long view. They won't do it.

So, I bought a weak sister to one of the fastest cars around. And nobody knows. It's funny. Thanks Tesla for the street cred!

 

[Eclectic]

We don't? One of the things I was most excited about in moving from the midwest was how many high-quality tracks we have within easy driving distance from the SF Bay Area. Sonoma and Laguna are, what, an hour's drive? A little further and we have Thunderhill. And that's just the road courses. I used to drive 8 hours down to Virginia International. We're extremely lucky here to have such easy access to world-class facilities.

You are correct, I didn't mean to imply that it was not possible to find a track. I wouldn't call it easy access, though. It takes a lot more than an hour to get to Sonoma from where I live and once I'm there, I would have to worry about range to get home after track time. Does the Sonoma track have a high speed charger? And I assume that the times that the public can use the track are limited. In any event, point well taken, I do acknowledge that there are tracks in the vicinity that could be used for discrete driving sessions.

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This is an unbelievable thread. The OP is proud of the fact he is racing other cars on a public highway. And some people think that is cool. It is not.

I am waiting for a P85D. I have my own reasons for wanting this car and none of them involve racing other drivers. I already know that I have bought one of the fastest cars around. I feel no need to prove it to anyone else and certainly no need to put the lives of other road users in danger.

So by your standards, should I take you to task for buying a high performance vehicle and not using it for high performance driving?

You have your reasons for driving your car the way you want, I have my reasons. If you've ever been to Highway 1 in the winter midweek, you'd know that it's lightly travelled and relatively safe for pushing limits. Of course, there's a risk in anything you do with a car, but I don't believe that what I do is excessively risky. For those who don't know the road, this is it.

And for those keeping score, on the trip home from the Gualala area, I had to make a detour for work to Healdsburg for a few days before resuming the trip home. With a full charge, I went over the mountains on even more remote and narrow roads, by way of Lake Sonoma, and didn't charge whilst in Healdsburg. I got home with 26 miles of range after driving about 170 miles. Really not bad at all for that kind of driving (lots of elevation change and twisty roads).

 

[JST]

I enjoyed the story. Agree people should be safe, but if you buy a P85D and never stretch it out a little (even on public roads), you've wasted a great deal of money.

I do think the OP should try and find a track day, though. It's an insane amount of fun. If you've never been on a track before, it's probably best to find a school, since that will actually teach you the basics of how to go fast--and will let you use someone else's car to do it.

I can't really get excited about taking the Tesla to the track, because it's too big and too heavy. And then there's the power and the range issue. And how expensive it is if you go off. But if you've never been on a track, you owe it to yourself to get out there.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I can't really get excited about taking the Tesla to the track, because it's too big and too heavy. And then there's the power and the range issue. And how expensive it is if you go off. But if you've never been on a track, you owe it to yourself to get out there.

My experience is a little biased since Tesla brought Superchargers to the track, a huge benefit, but I felt the same until I got the Model S out there. I have a track vehicle I typically use, but the Tesla was a blast. Thermal issues limited power within the first lap, and it's big, but it handles itself surprisingly well and is super easy to work on improving your lines. While I didn't push as hard as I would have my other car (didn't want to risk an off-track, as noted), I cut a few seconds off my lap time every trip out on Laguna. I'd take it again for sure.

 

[JST]

My experience is a little biased since Tesla brought Superchargers to the track, a huge benefit, but I felt the same until I got the Model S out there. I have a track vehicle I typically use, but the Tesla was a blast. Thermal issues limited power within the first lap, and it's big, but it handles itself surprisingly well and is super easy to work on improving your lines. While I didn't push as hard as I would have my other car (didn't want to risk an off-track, as noted), I cut a few seconds off my lap time every trip out on Laguna. I'd take it again for sure.

Interesting. Now I just need Tesla to bring some superchargers out to a track here. Maybe VIR? Come on, Tesla...

 

[jerjozwik]

Interesting. Now I just need Tesla to bring some superchargers out to a track here. Maybe VIR? Come on, Tesla...

even if there are no superchargers, you should be able to find a 240 outlet somewhere. wont be as fast as the supercharger but... better than discharge only.

 

[Gizmotoy]

even if there are no superchargers, you should be able to find a 240 outlet somewhere. wont be as fast as the supercharger but... better than discharge only.

Definitely. On the other hand, I should dig up my picture of the S at Laguna hot off the Supercharger with 100% SOC and 263 Rated Miles with the energy display showing I had something like 50 miles of estimated range based on recent driving activity. :biggrin: It was basically either off-the-charts consumption or off-the-charts regen (hard braking into turns).

You could get a day out of it without any charging at the track if you had charging nearby off-site to get home, though.

As a note, pretty much every track has at least a 30A 240V hookup. At the bare minimum they're used for the compressors and tools in the paddock garages, and often they'll have more elsewhere. Laguna seemed to have a permanent block of 14-50s in the paddock, though they did add a bunch more temporary ones for our event.

 

[abasile]

If you've ever been to Highway 1 in the winter midweek, you'd know that it's lightly travelled and relatively safe for pushing limits.

My one request would be to please watch extra carefully for bicyclists!! Years ago, in January, a friend and I did a weeklong bicycle trip on Highway 1. (The weather was great, with sun most of the time and daytime temperatures in the 50s and 60s.)

 

[JST]

Definitely. On the other hand, I should dig up my picture of the S at Laguna hot off the Supercharger with 100% SOC and 263 Rated Miles with the energy display showing I had something like 50 miles of estimated range based on recent driving activity. :biggrin: It was basically either off-the-charts consumption or off-the-charts regen (hard braking into turns).

You could get a day out of it without any charging at the track if you had charging nearby off-site to get home, though.

As a note, pretty much every track has at least a 30A 240V hookup. At the bare minimum they're used for the compressors and tools in the paddock garages, and often they'll have more elsewhere. Laguna seemed to have a permanent block of 14-50s in the paddock, though they did add a bunch more temporary ones for our event.

Yes, I imagine consumption at the track is silly. I would generally get a bit less than 5 mpg in my Boxster. A full day (4 sessions) required a full tank in the morning and a splash of track gas in the afternoon.

 

[JST]

Yes, I imagine consumption at the track is silly. I would generally get a bit less than 5 mpg in my Boxster. A full day (4 sessions) required a full tank in the morning and a splash of track gas in the afternoon.

And yes, I would think that any track that hosted serious events would have RV hookups with 14-50s.