Wrapped up the 2020 Season with a finale at VIR. Saturday was great weather, ran four sessions, had a lot of rain Sunday morning, so ran three.
For this event I swapped the wheels and tires between cars - I put the Federal 595RS-PRO's on mine and the Hankook R-S4 on my wife's. Feedback - the Federal's come up to temperature much quicker, are more predictable, and have slightly higher overall grip. The Hankook's last forever, but I don't think they are really suited to the Time Attack style you run with an EV. I won't be buying them again.
At relatively low SOC (67% starting) I was able to set my fastest lap at VIR - a 2:08.01. Just two hundredths of a second would have put me into the 2:07's - dang!
The only other change to the car for this event was the MPP.R Nür Rear Drive Unit Oil Cooler. We saw rear drive unit oil temperatures drop considerably, as well as inverter and powertrain coolant temperatures. As the overall cooling system isn't working as hard, the whole system benefits from a change in one component. There is still work to be done to maintain full power from 100%-0% SOC, as the cooling system is very intricate, but this is a big step in the right direction. I'll be testing more components before the end of the year.
Here's some video from a fun session where I tried to keep with some new Porsche GT4 Clubsports. They definitely have the edge at high speeds, but they can't escape me in the corners!
I put an order in for a 2021 Model 3 Performance. Development on that will begin immediately for next year's season. I'm looking to take things to the next level, we'll be looking at losing some weight, increasing tire width, and more. It will be interesting to see how the changes Tesla has made affect the car on-track.
Finally, I wanted to share a project I've been working on to condense a lot of information into one place, www.trackmyev.com - the goal is to be a resource for people to come and learn about taking their EV on the track, whether it be a Tesla or perhaps something else. I'm going to try and get all of the known modifications uploaded on this website, so that people can provide feedback, reviews, and photos of their own experiences. I'd like for people to share their charging solutions for each track so others don't have to guess. I'm also going to be keeping track of lap times so that people can get an idea of what performance an EV has to offer. If there's something specific you would like to see, please let me know!
Together, my hope is that we can help to transition the racing community to Electric Vehicles - and bring aboard a whole lot of new people who wouldn't have considered it before!
For this event I swapped the wheels and tires between cars - I put the Federal 595RS-PRO's on mine and the Hankook R-S4 on my wife's. Feedback - the Federal's come up to temperature much quicker, are more predictable, and have slightly higher overall grip. The Hankook's last forever, but I don't think they are really suited to the Time Attack style you run with an EV. I won't be buying them again.
At relatively low SOC (67% starting) I was able to set my fastest lap at VIR - a 2:08.01. Just two hundredths of a second would have put me into the 2:07's - dang!
The only other change to the car for this event was the MPP.R Nür Rear Drive Unit Oil Cooler. We saw rear drive unit oil temperatures drop considerably, as well as inverter and powertrain coolant temperatures. As the overall cooling system isn't working as hard, the whole system benefits from a change in one component. There is still work to be done to maintain full power from 100%-0% SOC, as the cooling system is very intricate, but this is a big step in the right direction. I'll be testing more components before the end of the year.
Here's some video from a fun session where I tried to keep with some new Porsche GT4 Clubsports. They definitely have the edge at high speeds, but they can't escape me in the corners!
I put an order in for a 2021 Model 3 Performance. Development on that will begin immediately for next year's season. I'm looking to take things to the next level, we'll be looking at losing some weight, increasing tire width, and more. It will be interesting to see how the changes Tesla has made affect the car on-track.
Finally, I wanted to share a project I've been working on to condense a lot of information into one place, www.trackmyev.com - the goal is to be a resource for people to come and learn about taking their EV on the track, whether it be a Tesla or perhaps something else. I'm going to try and get all of the known modifications uploaded on this website, so that people can provide feedback, reviews, and photos of their own experiences. I'd like for people to share their charging solutions for each track so others don't have to guess. I'm also going to be keeping track of lap times so that people can get an idea of what performance an EV has to offer. If there's something specific you would like to see, please let me know!
Together, my hope is that we can help to transition the racing community to Electric Vehicles - and bring aboard a whole lot of new people who wouldn't have considered it before!
