Things to do with a Roadster

[dhrivnak]

Fun things to do with your Roadster

Take the Roadster to the local drag strip and turn MANY heads when you win most of your heats. All without the accompaning noise the competition makes.:smile:

Now if I can only figure out how to post a picture of the Tesla in front of a nitrous charged ICE pickup.

 

[JRod0802]

Don't be too sure. In my Roadster I've lost MANY street races, and most of them were so bad that by the 1/8 mile (rough guess judging by MPH) I just gave up. I'm a street race junkie -- been doin it almost 30 years -- have owned many quicker cars than the Roadster, and most of my friends own cars quicker than the Roadster. You'd be very wrong if you assume these people don't know how to launch their cars.

You say the Ferrari's 11.7 time is barely attainable. May I remind you that the Roadster's 12.7 time is barely attainable. You need to charge in performance mode, be in performance mode at the moment in time when you decide to race, and be near 100% state-of-charge.

Ok. You win. I guess I was just assuming that people don't know how to drive their cars. Note that I've never actually seen anyone ever actually do an un-planned street race from a stop light, so I figured that if someone did, they'd keep in mind some amount of safety and probably not go more than 80 mph or so. Then again, I live in Massachusetts; the land of potholes and curvy roads surrounded by trees. I suppose there might be more random stop light races elsewhere in the world.

 

[vfx]

... You'd be very wrong if you assume these people don't know how to launch their cars..

I'd challenge you on that William. For every guy that can drive his Ferrari I would say there is another who can only afford his Ferrari.

A line from a movie (which I can't find) where a guy standing next to a supercar says, "the only person who can afford this car is too old to drive it." or something like that.

 

[Jaff]

Agree V...probably even a 1:2 ratio or higher...much higher than that for 911 drivers.

William, it sounds like you hang with a crowd of regular street racer types...probably prevalent in your part of SoCal...not so prevalent elsewhere.

I'd challenge you on that William. For every guy that can drive his Ferrari I would say there is another who can only afford his Ferrari.

A line from a movie (which I can't find) where a guy standing next to a supercar says, "the only person who can afford this car is too old to drive it." or something like that.

 

[vfx]

Well, I do concede that Ferrari owners tend not to be drag racers. It's a rare day when I can egg one on enough to actually race me. They're more inclined to wanna go canyon racing which isn't my scene. I'd speculate that the more expensive the car, the lower the probability that he's a drag racer. Most of the cars that I race against aren't stock, so you don't really know what you're up against. Then again, it's my own fault, as those are the cars that I chase down and taunt. Most of these guys launch very well. You can usually tell just from the tires/exhaust/sound if he's suped up his car or not. Those are the guys I go after.

And those are the ones I avoid. I kinda know what i'm up against with a given stock car. Why give them the pleasure of saying this his suped-up (whatever) beat a stock Tesla? Especially since no customer on earth has anything but a stock Roadster.


Yet.

 

[doug]

I, for one, would like to see video evidence of William's hoonage. :smile:

 

[bonnie]

Waiting for the chest bumping to start. I need popcorn.

 

[Slackjaw]

I, for one, would like to see video evidence of William's hoonage. :smile:

How hard would it be to record the video stream from the rear-view camera? We could have a special youtube channel devoted to being 'pwned' by a Tesla.

 

[vfx]

I don't have enough battery range to drive to my nearest dragstrip, do a few passes, and drive home. And I don't own a trailer. So for my Roadster it's only street racing.

William we have driven our Roadsters to Irwindale's 1/8th Mi drag strip, did about 6 runs and drove home. I'm a bit further than you. They also have 30A 220V for RVs there but we never successfully charged at any of them.

...Everyone knows EXACTLY how fast I am and I have no way to secretly make it faster.

Truer words were never spoken.

 

[dhrivnak]

I will be showing off the Roadster in our 4th of July parade with special Plug-In vinyl signs for the doors to let people know there is an alternative to gasoline.

If by chance others want a copy of this sign they are $35 plus shipping. The are vinyl and seem to stick well. The printer said they are static-cling.

 

[NigelM]

The car on the decal looks like a Prius....

 

[Doug_G]

If by chance others want a copy of this sign they are $35 plus shipping. The are vinyl and seem to stick well. The printer said they are static-cling.

I'd like something along those lines... but the "local" slant on jobs and ingenuity might not play as well here.

 

[vfx]

The car on the decal looks like a Prius....

It's Plug In America's logo. Older than that Prius shape.

 

[dhrivnak]

Yes that is the logo from Plug-In America and a large driving force in more than 2600 charging stations as of May 2011. No need to reinvent the wheel so to speak. I feel all electric vehicle owners need to pull together to educate the general public. Even if Tesla more than doubles Model S sales above estimates for 2012 AND the Volt and Leaf sell over 50,000 cars each that is only a scant 1% of new car sales and less than .1% of the cars on the road. We need far more electrics on the the road than that to reach critical mass.

Many people noticed the signs at the parade today and were visibly impressed.

 

[NigelM]

Get followed home by a stranger who pulls up behind you in your driveway...turns out his son is a huge Tesla fan and he politely asked if he could take a picture and quized me on the usual "It's really only battery power?" etc. I gave him some promotional stuff and a keyfob for his kid. He was delighted.

Wasn't sure at first whether it was creepy or cool to be followed home, but it turned out OK in the end.

 

[S-2000 Roadster]

Wasn't sure at first whether it was creepy or cool to be followed home, but it turned out OK in the end.

I guess I'll never know, because I don't ever go home when I'm being followed, or at least I certainly don't pull into my driveway.

 

[NigelM]

I guess I'll never know, because I don't ever go home when I'm being followed, or at least I certainly don't pull into my driveway.

Sounds like you have been followed quite often? :wink: Of course I wasn't expecting it and didn't realize I was being followed until he pulled up behind me in my driveway.

 

[S-2000 Roadster]

Sounds like you have been followed quite often? :wink: Of course I wasn't expecting it and didn't realize I was being followed until he pulled up behind me in my driveway.

Yeah, I kinda figured that you didn't knowingly lead someone to your castle.

As for me, I can only be absolutely certain that I was followed once, but that was creepy enough that I certainly try to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. I drove past my house and then did a U-turn. When the car following me seemed lost, it was pretty obvious that they didn't even know the neighborhood. Since then I had a false alarm, and again drove past my house, but that one turned out to be a neighbor that I never met before. These days, you can check Google maps to see if the car shows up in front of the house they're pulling into, and that's a pretty sure sign that they really are legitimately in the neighborhood. Of course, the irony of using Google satellite images to find out whether someone behind you is up to mischief or just going home is not lost on me.

To bring this little sidetrack back on topic... Things to do with a Roadster: Be friendly to all the folks who will undoubtedly have tons of questions, but stay alert and aware of your surroundings because driving around a $150,000 vehicle invites a little bit of the bad elements as well as the curious and eager to learn types.

 

[Slackjaw]

I've got both front and rear cameras on my Roadster, so I could document all the times I lose as well.

At the dragstip it's all about just having a low E.T.
If you're bracket racing at the dragstrip then it's all about turning consistent times (not so much how quick you are).

Street racing is different. It's all about being quicker than you appear to be. The two participants, before getting into their cars, negotiate a handicap and a $$$ amount. Example, I might say, "Dude, stop yanking my chain, I can hear your supercharger whining away under your 'supposedly' stock Corvette hood. I want 6 cars." ("cars" = car lengths head start). Sometimes you just run "heads up", meaning neither car gets a head start. Or I might only put up $20 against his $40. Or I might negotiate a shorter run (huge benefit for the Tesla). Sometimes you agree to allow the other person to look under your hood, sometimes you don't. It's all about being faster than you look and being a good liar.

I don't have enough battery range to drive to my nearest dragstrip, do a few passes, and drive home. And I don't own a trailer. So for my Roadster it's only street racing.

Some people just happen to find themselves next to a semi-fast car and (from a roll) decide to floor it for a few seconds and see what happens. I don't consider that "racing" and that's not what I do. What I do is "profile" the drivers (stereotypes are fully in effect), motion them to pull over, talk for a bit, negotiate a race. I'm not as much in the scene anymore since selling my drag car in order to buy the Tesla. The behaviour is so deeply programmed into me that I end up still doing it in the Tesla sometimes, but the car is completely wrong for that type of thing. Everyone knows EXACTLY how fast I am and I have no way to secretly make it faster.

Somehow I missed this post when it first went up - but thanks, very enlightening and a good read. As yet I have not found myself next to a fast car at a stop light. Most of the roads around here are single lane only!

 

[Slackjaw]

Sounds like you have been followed quite often? :wink: Of course I wasn't expecting it and didn't realize I was being followed until he pulled up behind me in my driveway.

My wife was followed by someone in an Aston Martin Vantage recently and she was going to a friend's house for lunch. Not sure how far this guy followed her but when she arrived at her friends' place, the AM followed her into his driveway - then it turned out they Aston driver and the friend knew each other... "Oh, hey Bob!", "Oh hey, Mickey! Always wanted to take a look at a Tesla!" ... Ah, Tesla Time. :biggrin: