lightweight wheels model 3 performance 0-60 testing

[mpgxsvcd]

Thanks for sharing!

As expected, these are nearly identical to my '22 M3P times. My best 0-60mph is 3.22 (on the street). My best 1/8 mile time is 7.32 @ 96.26mph. I haven't done many 1/8 mile passes, but there's not much room for improvement (maybe a few hundredths).

Yet there are people all the way down to 7.20 and even one at 7.18 now. I am just trying to repeat their results to some degree.

 

[EVolv3d]

Yet there are people all the way down to 7.20 and even one at 7.18 now. I am just trying to repeat their results to some degree.

Yeah, I think there are a few considerations:

Wheel/tire setup
Driver weight
Any weight reduction (removing interior, rear seat, etc.)
Error in the Dragy

The Dragy isn't perfect and I wouldn't be surprised to see an anomaly here or there. For me, the importance isn't my best "one off" time, but if I can consistently repeat that time. And then verify the performance at the drag strip

*This of course assumes that your battery is already at an ideal SOC & temperature.

 

[Sam1]

Actually that number is me adding the instantaneous power that is reported for F.Motor and R.Motor. That isn't the max possible value that is reported. Now we all know it isn't putting down 447 KW to the ground. That would be 608 HP. However, it does indicate a maximum value of what the car is reporting it is putting out at any given time. Please note that I am not using the max possible value there. That number was 453 KW when I tried it today. I have never seen it report an instantaneous value that high while doing a pull.

You keep saying this has all been done before and yet there is no data for it? It is simply a few people repeating over and over again that it doesn't matter. Yet every single Dragy result and DragTimes Drag slip says otherwise. I just simply want to actually see some evidence. If these tests have been done before then where is the data?

I have been to the track 4 times and the results I posted above were the best I could do stock. If I can match your best time simply by adding lighter and smaller wheels then I will be satisfied and I will have the data to demonstrate it. If not then I have wheels that can actually withstand potholes and I think they look better. Probably will have to lower the car eventually though. It didn't change the ride height. It just made the car look like it needed to be lowered.

That is absolutely not true. You need to chart out the scan logs, and you will see that the rear motor reaches peak power before the front motor does, and it is falling off when the front motor is at peak power. This is why an actual car dyno shows a much lower number than what a charted out scan log reports as peak power.

As for your claims about me not posting data, and you wanting to see evidence, there are hundreds of these posts from multiple people all over this forum, but you're not wanting to do the research. Use the search button, the information is not hidden. It's not our fault you don't want to look for it, if you actually wanted to know, you would look. Instead, you already have an opinion and you're openly stating that you plan on using confirmation bias to prove that opinion true.

 

[mpgxsvcd]

Yeah, I think there are a few considerations:

Wheel/tire setup
Driver weight
Any weight reduction (removing interior, rear seat, etc.)
Error in the Dragy

The Dragy isn't perfect and I wouldn't be surprised to see an anomaly here or there. For me, the importance isn't my best "one off" time, but if I can consistently repeat that time. And then verify the performance at the drag strip

*This of course assumes that your battery is already at an ideal SOC & temperature.

For me the Dragy has been quite consistent. Just look at how similar the times below are. This holds for 0-60 mph all the way through the 1/4 mile. If it is on the same day and battery temps are the same I am typically within .03 of my previous runs until SOC drop starts to affect the times.

 

[EVolv3d]

For me the Dragy has been quite consistent. Just look at how similar the times below are. This holds for 0-60 mph all the way through the 1/4 mile. If it is on the same day and battery temps are the same I am typically within .03 of my previous runs until SOC drop starts to affect the times.

Yes, overall it's been very consistent for me. I've found that the strength of the GPS/satellite signal can vary in some locations and if the Dragy moves in the car during acceleration it can throw off the readings. One M3P Dragy user said that their Dragy fell off the dash and into the floor during a pass. It resulted in well over 1.0G of acceleration and their abnormally high record 0-60mph.

The specific new 1/8 mile record that you're referring to (7.18) is a bit suspicious because I've spoken to that user in the past and their acceleration times have consistently been similar or slightly slower than mine. There was no mention of modifications, weight reduction, etc. in this post whereas their past posts have stated the SOC & stock wheels/tires. Their past 1/8 mile runs were much higher at 7.37, 7.40, 7.41, 7.43, 7.38, 7.37, 7.35, 7.40, etc. On that same run as their 1/8 mile record, their 0-60mph also went to 3.14 from 3.34, 3.30, 3.26, 3.24, 3.27, 3.33, 3.35, 3.33, 3.27, 3.29, 3.24, 3.27, etc.

The suspicious thing on these best runs is that there's no temperature or DA (Density Altitude) reported. The user's peak G was also over 1.1G on this run and has consistently been <= 1.0G in past runs. I'm not saying the times are impossible, just suspicious given a single record run with no details provided and the temp/DA not being reported by the Dragy.

If the Dragy user is consistent with the ambient temps, run location, SOC/battery temp, Dragy mounting on the car, etc. then the Dragy & M3P will both yield very consistent times.

 

[mpgxsvcd]

Yes, overall it's been very consistent for me. I've found that the strength of the GPS/satellite signal can vary in some locations and if the Dragy moves in the car during acceleration it can throw off the readings. One M3P Dragy user said that their Dragy fell off the dash and into the floor during a pass. It resulted in well over 1.0G of acceleration and their abnormally high record 0-60mph.

The specific new 1/8 mile record that you're referring to (7.18) is a bit suspicious because I've spoken to that user in the past and their acceleration times have consistently been similar or slightly slower than mine. There was no mention of modifications, weight reduction, etc. in this post whereas their past posts have stated the SOC & stock wheels/tires. Their past 1/8 mile runs were much higher at 7.37, 7.40, 7.41, 7.43, 7.38, 7.37, 7.35, 7.40, etc. On that same run as their 1/8 mile record, their 0-60mph also went to 3.14 from 3.34, 3.30, 3.26, 3.24, 3.27, 3.33, 3.35, 3.33, 3.27, 3.29, 3.24, 3.27, etc.

The suspicious thing on these best runs is that there's no temperature or DA (Density Altitude) reported. The user's peak G was also over 1.1G on this run and has consistently been <= 1.0G in past runs. I'm not saying the times are impossible, just suspicious given a single record run with no details provided and the temp/DA not being reported by the Dragy.

If the Dragy user is consistent with the ambient temps, run location, SOC/battery temp, Dragy mounting on the car, etc. then the Dragy & M3P will both yield very consistent times.

Yes, I saw his post and was hoping he would clarify what he changed. He changed something. I am certain of that. These cars are way too consistent for those faster times to just start happening out of the blue without any changes.

 

[EVolv3d]

Yes, I saw his post and was hoping he would clarify what he changed. He changed something. I am certain of that. These cars are way too consistent for those faster times to just start happening out of the blue without any changes.

Luckily there's no proprietary "secret sauce" tuning with these cars unless a company figures out how to hack the controller to tune for more power without being blacklisted from OTA firmware updates, Supercharger charging, etc. AEM has standalone VCUs for Tesla motors swapped into non-Tesla ICE cars that have been electrified, but Tesla's are too integrated for that.

For straight-line performance, there aren't many "mods" to improve acceleration:

• Lighter driver (find someone that weights ~100 lbs since no driver skill is involved)
• Lighter wheels/tires (it's easy to cut 40+ lbs here that contributes towards static & rotational savings)
• Narrow/low rolling resistance tires (more beneficial at higher speeds as power/torque output drops & aerodynamic drag increases)
• Tire diameter/circumference & tire pressure "tuning" (can effectively change the mechanical "final drive" gearing for better acceleration or more top-end)
• Lighter Li-ion 12V battery (can save 20+ lbs)
• Weight reduction (eg stripping interior & compromising street-ability/daily driving comforts - can save 100+ lbs by removing the passenger & rear seats)
• Lowering the car to reduce aerodynamic drag
• Lightweight brake rotors (don't expect huge acceleration gains)

Pretty much all of these are going to have relatively minimal effects on your 0-60mph time. If you can shave 150-200 lbs then you should see improvements in the range of 0.15 - 0.2 seconds.

If his new 0-60mph is accurate & repeatable (not just a one time anomaly), then he would have had to have swapped wheels/tires and performed some weight reduction. There's no reason for anyone to be secretive about their mods since there aren't any secrets at this point. It's just how much you're willing to spend and how much you're willing to strip from your car. It's not like we're changing the motor internals, turbo size, AFRs, Ignition timing, boost pressure, etc.

If you want to go "all out", the next steps could be some custom lightweight CF aero wheels, CF doors, CF roof to replace the glass, CF driver's racing bucket seat, etc. Once you turn it into a full-blown racecar, then you may as well make a custom wiring harness and use the AEM VCU to unlock more power

 

[mpgxsvcd]

Pretty much all of these are going to have relatively minimal effects on your 0-60mph time. If you can shave 150-200 lbs then you should see improvements in the range of 0.15 - 0.2 seconds.

.2 seconds improvement even in the 1/4 mile would be MASSIVE in my view. Even just .1 seconds would give me the Dragy record in the 1/4 mile. I don’t think it would be possible for me to shave .2 seconds off my best 1/4 mile time without true motor/battery modifications.

.08 seconds would be good enough for me.

 

[gearchruncher]

.2 seconds improvement even in the 1/4 mile would be MASSIVE in my view. Even just .1 seconds would give me the Dragy record in the 1/4 mile.

I always love the "every 100 lbs should give you 0.1 seconds!" You realize the car weighs 4,300 lbs and does 0-60 in 3.2? So you're saying it should go 0-60 in 0 seconds if it weighs 1,100 lbs, right?

Plus, why would taking 2.3% of weight away increase acceleration by 3.1%?

Once you turn it into a full-blown racecar, then you may as well make a custom wiring harness and use the AEM VCU to unlock more power

You'd also need to convert it to a Model S, since the AEM VCU is for older Model S/X DU's only.

 

[EVolv3d]

.2 seconds improvement even in the 1/4 mile would be MASSIVE in my view. Even just .1 seconds would give me the Dragy record in the 1/4 mile. I don’t think it would be possible for me to shave .2 seconds off my best 1/4 mile time without true motor/battery modifications.

.08 seconds would be good enough for me.

The fastest 1/4 mile on DragTimes is 11.218 @ 120.6 mph. He ran a 7.15 @ 98mph in the 1/8 mile.

2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance 1/4 Mile Drag Racing

2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance runs 11.218 @ 120.630 in the 1/4 mile

www.dragtimes.com

Mods:

• Weight with driver is 4325 lbs
• 18" wheels
• Lowered suspension
• Rear seat removed

The 2nd fastest's mods:

2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance 1/4 Mile Drag Racing

2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance runs 11.251 @ 118.180 in the 1/4 mile

www.dragtimes.com

• 12lb lithium 12v battery
• 100lb driver
• 19lb Nto3+m wheels
• 225/50/18 ECO Continental True Contact Tires

The 3rd fastest's mods:

2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance 1/4 Mile Drag Racing

2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance runs 11.289 @ 118.810 in the 1/4 mile

www.dragtimes.com

• 18x8.5 lightweight flow formed wheels
• 235/45R18 Long Range Model 3 tires
• MPP LiFePo4 12V battery weight saving: 24lb
• Removed frunk: 12.5lb
• Removed rear seat and side trim: 57lb
• Removed rear compartment cover: 4lb

 

[mpgxsvcd]

I always love the "every 100 lbs should give you 0.1 seconds!" You realize the car weighs 4,300 lbs and does 0-60 in 3.2? So you're saying it should go 0-60 in 0 seconds if it weighs 1,100 lbs, right?

Plus, why would taking 2.3% of weight away increase acceleration by 3.1%?

You'd also need to convert it to a Model S, since the AEM VCU is for older Model S/X DU's only.

You are oversimplifying it. Yes, typically if your car weighs about 4,000 lb then a 100 lb weight reduction might give you .1 seconds in the 1/4 mile. That doesn’t mean EVERY 100 lbs you take off will give you an extra .1 seconds in the 1/4 and certainly not 0-60 mph.

That being said I do think .08 seconds improvement in the 1/4 mile is possible with weight reductions alone. All of the other Dragy times of people who have done weight reductions supports that as well.

 

[mpgxsvcd]

The fastest 1/4 mile on DragTimes is 11.218 @ 120.6 mph. He ran a 7.15 @ 98mph in the 1/8 mile.

2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance 1/4 Mile Drag Racing

2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance runs 11.218 @ 120.630 in the 1/4 mile

www.dragtimes.com

Mods:

• Weight with driver is 4325 lbs
• 18" wheels
• Lowered suspension
• Rear seat removed

The 2nd fastest's mods:

2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance 1/4 Mile Drag Racing

2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance runs 11.251 @ 118.180 in the 1/4 mile

www.dragtimes.com

• 12lb lithium 12v battery
• 100lb driver
• 19lb Nto3+m wheels
• 225/50/18 ECO Continental True Contact Tires

The 3rd fastest's mods:

2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance 1/4 Mile Drag Racing

2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance runs 11.289 @ 118.810 in the 1/4 mile

www.dragtimes.com

• 18x8.5 lightweight flow formed wheels
• 235/45R18 Long Range Model 3 tires
• MPP LiFePo4 12V battery weight saving: 24lb
• Removed frunk: 12.5lb
• Removed rear seat and side trim: 57lb
• Removed rear compartment cover: 4lb

Those DragTimes results are quite impressive especially for those minor modifications. The Dragy times are much slower but that is what I am focusing on.

Deep and shallow staging can affect Dragstrip results. One person hit 121+ mph with a Tesla Model 3 on DragTimes. I don’t think that is truly realistic. His time wasn’t that fast either.

I hit my best 1/4 mile time at the Dragstrip but I had my slowest trap speed(~115 mph) by far.

I don’t think an 11.40 @ 115 mph is truly representative of what the car did considering I didn’t let up at all.

Not sure how these two results were from the same pass?

 

[EVolv3d]

Yes, I saw his post and was hoping he would clarify what he changed. He changed something. I am certain of that. These cars are way too consistent for those faster times to just start happening out of the blue without any changes.

I figured out how he got his latest 3.02s 0-60mph & 7.17s 1/8-mile by checking his Instagram profile. He's posting the acceleration times from his new Harley Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle as his M3P Dragy times. He has a video racing the two and it just so happens that the performance is similar with the LiveWire being ~0.2 seconds faster..

 

[mpgxsvcd]

I figured out how he got his latest 3.02s 0-60mph & 7.17s 1/8-mile by checking his Instagram profile. He's posting the acceleration times from his new Harley Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle as his M3P Dragy times. He has a video racing the two and it just so happens that the performance is similar with the LiveWire being ~0.2 seconds faster..

Awesome, thanks for that info. I knew he was gaming the system. He would never say what he did to get it faster. Usually when people hide what they are doing there is a reason for it.

 

[ajrettke]

So the TLDR, lightening wheels helps a bit.

We're already talking sub 4 second times, so rules of thumb like .1s / 100lbs are no longer relevant.

And it took months of bitching and internet shaming before people started posting data....

Par for the course for online forums.

 

[mpgxsvcd]

So the TLDR, lightening wheels helps a bit.

We're already talking sub 4 second times, so rules of thumb like .1s / 100lbs are no longer relevant.

And it took months of bitching and internet shaming before people started posting data....

Par for the course for online forums.

I would say using lighter wheels alone makes almost no difference. Brooks from DragTimes tested light weight 20” T Sportline wheels and saw no benefit.

The benefit comes in where you use significantly smaller and lighter wheels and tires. I saw the same results(.08 second improvement) that Jason from Engineering Explained saw.

For me the biggest benefit came for the 1/4 mile. There my Trap Speeds increased DRAMATICALLY.

This video explains the results I got.

 

[Sendit1]

Smaller AND lighter is required. Good video.

 

[Sendit1]

I don't have before dragy numbers with my new M3P, but since switching to 18 x 9.5 18.3 lb Apex wheels and 25 lb 255 40 18 PS4s tires, I prefer the feel of the new wheels and tires. The KW coilovers and MPP rear camber and front solid steering bushings are going on next week for a more tunable suspension. If the improvement is "only" .08 seconds 0-60 I'll take it happily because I prefer the feel of the lighter wheel/tire setup and it has more grip now too.

 

[gearchruncher]

18 x 9.5 18.3 lb Apex wheels and 25 lb 255 40 18 PS4s tires, I prefer the feel of the new wheels and tires.

Ahh yes, the old change everything including the diameter of the tires and assume it's the weight that was important. Super old tale.

 

[Sam1]

I don't have before dragy numbers with my new M3P, but since switching to 18 x 9.5 18.3 lb Apex wheels and 25 lb 255 40 18 PS4s tires, I prefer the feel of the new wheels and tires. The KW coilovers and MPP rear camber and front solid steering bushings are going on next week for a more tunable suspension. If the improvement is "only" .08 seconds 0-60 I'll take it happily because I prefer the feel of the lighter wheel/tire setup and it has more grip now too.

lol wheels and tires are not going to reduce your 0-60 times by 25%

using a smaller diameter though, will for sure help you burn through your car's warranty faster.