Plaid Drag Racing - Not such a great night

[windings]

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

 

[MrSlowEv]

I was at my local track Wednesday night and the best I could do was a 9.61@148. That was on the pass with my best 60ft which was a 1.6. All my other passes were 1.7 60fts. What’s crazy is my tires were squealing almost to the 330ft. It must’ve been bad prep or something. My tires don’t even squeal on the street. The other plaid at the track went a best of 9.4@147. My best pass was at 95% state of charge, the other plaid’s was in 73%. SOC’s sound similar to your experience. Both mine and the other plaid were on 21’s. My 60fts were consistent worse than his. So it leads me to believe that the extra power I was putting down from the higher state of charge was exacerbating my traction issue.

The first pass the track was around 60 degrees with the sun still up but as the sun went down it obviously got a lot colder, not sure what the temperature was later.

All in all it sounds like your car ran well.
What was your 60ft on your best pass?

 

[Sam1]

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.

Thans

So those are good times with the 21" setup, the 19" are faster on the drag strip.

I haven't used the new brake pads on the 23's but the original ones on the 21 model were horrendous. Either way, if you plan on racing a lot, I'd recommend immediately getting a set of race pads from Unplugged, and changing the brake fluid to something like an RBF600 unless they started using DOT4 in the 23's (it was dot3 previously).

On the staging in launch mode, that's a pain in the butt. But the way to do it is whoever you're racing, let them know you're going to double bulb it and once you do that, you need 7 seconds of time before you're ready to go. This way they don't think you're trying to rush them. Usually as soon as I pull up, I'll chirp the tires twice before the bulbs to clean them a bit, then go straight to the second bulb before they are done doing their burnout. That will almost always give me enough time to get into launch mode before they stage. At this point I don't even pay attention to the first bulb when staging.

 

[Sam1]

I was at my local track Wednesday night and the best I could do was a 9.61@148. That was on the pass with my best 60ft which was a 1.6. All my other passes were 1.7 60fts. What’s crazy is my tires were squealing almost to the 330ft. It must’ve been bad prep or something. My tires don’t even squeal on the street. The other plaid at the track went a best of 9.4@147. My best pass was at 95% state of charge, the other plaid’s was in 73%. SOC’s sound similar to your experience. Both mine and the other plaid were on 21’s. My 60fts were consistent worse than his. So it leads me to believe that the extra power I was putting down from the higher state of charge was exacerbating my traction issue.

The first pass the track was around 60 degrees with the sun still up but as the sun went down it obviously got a lot colder, not sure what the temperature was later.

All in all it sounds like your car ran well.
What was your 60ft on your best pass?

They're squealing on the track because of all the rubber on the track and not much traction. So it's a combo of no prep/bad prep and the existing rubber.

If you're running 1.6-1.7 60's, I'd guess this was a no prep night because that's usually what I do on no prep...and squealing to almost the 330.

 

[MrSlowEv]

They're squealing on the track because of all the rubber on the track and not much traction. So it's a combo of no prep/bad prep and the existing rubber.

If you're running 1.6-1.7 60's, I'd guess this was a no prep night because that's usually what I do on no prep...and squealing to almost the 330.

Okay, that makes sense. what are your 60fts on a good passes?

 

[Sam1]

Okay, that makes sense. what are your 60fts on a good passes?

On a prepped surface, my best is a 1.53 but it's usually 1.58 or 1.59 ... 1.60 is what Tesla plaid channel goes for to consider it a good launch.

On unprepped surfaces, I'm high 1.6's almost always with or without launch mode.

 

[MrSlowEv]

On a prepped surface, my best is a 1.53 but it's usually 1.58 or 1.59 ... 1.60 is what Tesla plaid channel goes for to consider it a good launch.

On unprepped surfaces, I'm high 1.6's almost always with or without launch mode.

Do you notice any difference in launching with cheetah mode fully staged vs partially staged?

What do you set your tire pressures to for the drag strip?

 

[NeuroRad]

45 is not good temperature for the plaid. I notice significantly better performance in hot temps vs cold. Your trap speed is pretty close but I’m guessing your 60’ isn’t great

 

[windings]

Okay, that makes sense. what are your 60fts on a good passes?

See pics. The slowest pass, I launched too early and it fell on it's face. I felt what seemed to be tire spin on the other two launches. I'm super competitive when it comes to racing and with the other Plaid running 9.2-9.3, I was bummed. I used to run 11.3 @119-120 in my 22 Model 3 Performance all the time. Cecil County is a fast track, so I expected better from my Plaid. But I guess between 21's, summer tires and 45 degrees out, it makes sense?

Also, They are still using DOT3 brake fluid! Wut?!? Why would they not have Brembos like the Porsches and GT500's on this car from the factory? It's odd. I feel like I am back to my Fox Body Mustangs again with the brakes....

 

[windings]

Do you notice any difference in launching with cheetah mode fully staged vs partially staged?

What do you set your tire pressures to for the drag strip?

Yes

and no, 41 PSI. but so was the other Plaid.

 

[Sam1]

Do you notice any difference in launching with cheetah mode fully staged vs partially staged?

What do you set your tire pressures to for the drag strip?

Whatever they are at when I show up. 40-42

 

[MrSlowEv]

See pics. The slowest pass, I launched too early and it fell on it's face. I felt what seemed to be tire spin on the other two launches. I'm super competitive when it comes to racing and with the other Plaid running 9.2-9.3, I was bummed. I used to run 11.3 @119-120 in my 22 Model 3 Performance all the time. Cecil County is a fast track, so I expected better from my Plaid. But I guess between 21's, summer tires and 45 degrees out, it makes sense?

Also, They are still using DOT3 brake fluid! Wut?!? Why would they not have Brembos like the Porsches and GT500's on this car from the factory? It's odd. I feel like I am back to my Fox Body Mustangs again with the brakes....

I totally get you being competitive. I was trying to make you feel better about your experience because I had a slower night haha.

Yeah it sounds like your Model 3 P was a quick one.

When I was looking at your time slips, based on your reaction times, it looked like you ran a 9.54 with Cheetah, and a 9.42 without it?

If that’s the case, I’m gonna try running without it next time.

 

[Sam1]

Do you notice any difference in launching with cheetah mode fully staged vs partially staged?

What do you set your tire pressures to for the drag strip?

Oh another thing I forgot to add is that if the track is excessively slick out of the hole (1.8 60's), I'll put the car in track mode and turn traction control to +10. This will let you get at least a 1.2G launch and back in the low 1.7's high 1.6's. When in track mode I don't think it changes the stance even if launch mode is enabled.

 

[MrSlowEv]

Oh another thing I forgot to add is that if the track is excessively slick out of the hole (1.8 60's), I'll put the car in track mode and turn traction control to +10. This will let you get at least a 1.2G launch and back in the low 1.7's high 1.6's. When in track mode I don't think it changes the stance even if launch mode is enabled.

That’s a great tip. I felt helpless trying to get my 60fts down. With ICE vehicles, you can make adjustments as a driver to try and improve. I really wasn’t sure what I could do with an EV other than flat foot it and hope for an improvement. But, if having traction issues means I’m still running 9’s, there is very little to complain about.

That is super helpful. I will definitely give that a shot.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Imagine being upset enough about a 5,000lb 4dr sedan "only" running mid 9's in the quarter mile in low temperatures to create a thread about it.

In all seriousness, temperature plays a HUGE role in traction. This is why purpose-built tires are needed to hit this kind of 60ft times typically and even those have heaters on them and/or are heated up dramatically each run. Their compound is engineered to be stickier the hotter they get. Conversely, the same compounds made to be sticky in warm temperatures tend to get harder sooner in lower temperatures.

This is why all-season tires exist and their compounds are made specifically to remain pliable in colder temperatures. This comes at a sacrifice to ultimate traction in summer/warm temperatures. This sacrifice is necessary for vehicles that spend time in cold climates because otherwise summer tires feel like marbles on a glass surface due to how hard they get.

It's very likely that your experience going against someone running A/S tires had a traction advantage at those lower temps compared to your summer tires as they were already likely starting to stiffen at those temperatures.

Back to reality... your 5,000lb 4dr family sedan that seats 5 still runs 9's. Do you know how comical that statement would be to make 10 years ago? Some of the fastest multi-million dollar purpose-built exotic cars capable of over 200mph weren't even capable of that.

 

[Sam1]

Imagine being upset enough about a 5,000lb 4dr sedan "only" running mid 9's in the quarter mile in low temperatures to create a thread about it.

In all seriousness, temperature plays a HUGE role in traction. This is why purpose-built tires are needed to hit this kind of 60ft times typically and even those have heaters on them and/or are heated up dramatically each run. Their compound is engineered to be stickier the hotter they get. Conversely, the same compounds made to be sticky in warm temperatures tend to get harder sooner in lower temperatures.

This is why all-season tires exist and their compounds are made specifically to remain pliable in colder temperatures. This comes at a sacrifice to ultimate traction in summer/warm temperatures. This sacrifice is necessary for vehicles that spend time in cold climates because otherwise summer tires feel like marbles on a glass surface due to how hard they get.

It's very likely that your experience going against someone running A/S tires had a traction advantage at those lower temps compared to your summer tires as they were already likely starting to stiffen at those temperatures.

Back to reality... your 5,000lb 4dr family sedan that seats 5 still runs 9's. Do you know how comical that statement would be to make 10 years ago? Some of the fastest multi-million dollar purpose-built exotic cars capable of over 200mph weren't even capable of that.

racing isn't about being happy with what you can do compared to 10 years ago. How many times have you seen a top fuel dragster driver do a post race interview and say "well, I know that 3.9 @ 305mph was terrible, but at least it's better than I ran back in 2008"?

 

[MrSlowEv]

Technology has come a long way, and it is cool to take a step back and admire what these cars do, and how easily they do it. But the drag racer in me wants to get every .1 I can put of it without making any modifications to it.

 

[Yelobird]

racing isn't about being happy with what you can do compared to 10 years ago. How many times have you seen a top fuel dragster driver do a post race interview and say "well, I know that 3.9 @ 305mph was terrible, but at least it's better than I ran back in 2008"?

Using that example I would bet the difference is he didn’t load his child in the same car and head to the grocery store after the race in the same car.

 

[Sam1]

Using that example I would bet the difference is he didn’t load his child in the same car and head to the grocery store after the race in the same car.

Replace top fuel dragsters with pro mod, and I can show you pictures of passenger buckets with 5 point harnesses for their children to ride in

 

[gillmj24]

Where in PA if you don't mind my asking?

Feel free to PM instead if you prefer