Thinking about trying Autocross

[Rogue Synapse]

The other day, I had an exhilarating high-speed ascent up 3 or 4 miles of very twisty-turny mountain road in my P85D. It was a spontaneous thing, I was alone, and I sort of drove a little wilder than I typically would have with the wife and kids in the car. It was so fun that I thought I’d like to try some sporty driving deliberately (more than just Insane+ launches to show off to friends; that hardly qualifies).

I’ve never done any kind of racing or really anything that would qualify as sporty driving, but it seems that after reading online a bit, Autocross events are pretty accessible and egalitarian in terms of level of experience and types of cars welcomed. I know the Model S isn’t an ideal car for it, but still it seems like it would be fun to give it a try, maybe learn more about the limits of my car, and learn a few new driving skills. There’s a pretty legit-looking Autocross club here in my small city of Asheville (Highlands Sports Car Club, Autocross Events in Asheville, NC - Highlands Sports Car Club).

Does anyone have any experience with Autocross in their Model S? How did you get into it, and did you take any lessons or classes? How high is the barrier to entry in terms of equipment, tires, being able to wrench on your Tesla? I’m not super mechanically inclined but willing to learn. My car is totally stock obviously, with Michelin Primacy MXM4s on 19” cyclones. I’d love to hear about anyone else’s experiences as I’m exploring getting into this.

 

[beatle]

There really isn't anything you need to do to prep your car if you just want to casually autocross it. Sure, you'll be faster with better tires and more aggressive brakes, but as long as the car is safe to drive on the road, it should pass a tech inspection without having to do any wrenching or prep. Maybe just set the suspension to low.

Years ago I did about half a dozen autox schools and learned a LOT about how to control a car at the limit. However, I never really got into the sport due to the limited amount of seat time you get each day. With only 4 runs or so in a day, I spent too much effort learning the course (and going off course) and not enough enjoying myself. Some people have a knack for it, I just didn't.

That said, I would definitely say to try it out and see if you like it. It is inexpensive and a good way to meet other gear heads. Most of the truly great drivers are more than happy to help educate a newbie. The traction control system can be pretty invasive and keep you from really exploring the car's limits and rotating it around the cones, but there's no reason you can't still have some fun with it (as you've already seen).

 

[Dithermaster]

I've autocrossed many cars, including my Model S P85+ (RWD Performance). The torque and pull out of corners was amazing, but it's a very heavy car and scrubbed a lot in the corners. It was fun, but maybe hard on the car (at least the tires). The Model S is more of a touring sport car than an autocross machine. It actually reminded me a lot of my old '82 Porsche 928A which was also large, heavy, and had lots of torque. A Model 3 Performance would make a much better vehicle for autocrossing I'd think if you wanted to do it a lot.

 

[David29]

In years past, i belonged to a car club (Mercedes Benz Club of America) and did some autocrossing with my E-class sedans. (In the club, we used the term "gymkhana" rather than autocross.) The courses we ran were designed with MBs in mind, and cars were run in classes according to size and performance (E class separate from the S class cars, and those separate from the SL sport cars, etc.. Cars were also separated by year, as I recall, because older cars were generally less powerful, and suspensions had changed, and so on. I helped to organize a few events like that over the years, and had fun setting up the courses and then running them.
I enjoyed it enough that I decided to try driving in other local autocross events and found a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) section that ran events about once a month in the warm weather. What a difference, though. Their courses were extremely tight, on a smaller footprint than we used for the MBCA events, so as Dithermaster says above, the larger E-class sedan sort of "plowed" around the course in contrast to most of the other cars, which tended to be true sports cars or sport sedans, small and more agile than mine. It was still fun, but there was no one else running a car like mine so I only went a couple of times. Unfortunately, my local MBCA section has given up these events. Most of the members are older now and less interested in the level of effort needed (which has happened in other organizations, too), although some of us have competed in national events in other geographic areas of the country.
I have wondered if some of the Tesla clubs might consider running some track events, so folks could see how their cars handle and get into a little competition with other drivers, using comparable cars. The autocross events would need to be tailored to the sizes of our cars (although Model 3 could run on much tighter paths than model S, I suspect). We could also do regularity runs in which you try to match your times closely between two runs over the same course, speed trials, and acceleration runs. Abandoned airport runways are good for this sort of thing, or large parking lots, but a race track is best for speed trials. It takes a fair amount of organization, liability insurance, many volunteers to staff the physical roles (we always brought our children along so they could run out and pick up the cones that got knocked out of place!), and a good location. Plus publicity to attract enough drivers for the effort to be worthwhile.
It takes a while to build up an event like this, develop a crew with the necessary skills, and attract a group of folks that will come year after year.
Who wants to start? I should think some Model 3 owners would have a blast doing some events like this....and then when the next generation Roadsters come along, wow!

 

[Rogue Synapse]

The Model S is more of a touring sport car than an autocross machine... A Model 3 Performance would make a much better vehicle for autocrossing I'd think if you wanted to do it a lot.

I know the Model S is pretty much the opposite of ideal for an autocross car, but I just like the idea of learning how to toss it around, get to know my car better, and maybe get into a new hobby. Who knows, if I really get into it after a while, maybe I'll get a M3P just for sporting. The Model S is my family car daily driver, and I don't have the financial means to have multiple Teslas just yet!

It takes a while to build up an event like this, develop a crew with the necessary skills, and attract a group of folks that will come year after year.
Who wants to start?

What a great idea. I'm sure as more M3Ps and eventually Roadster 2s get out there, a critical mass of performance-oriented Tesla drivers will lend itself to these sorts of clubs forming organically. For now, at the tail end of the early-adopter era, having sweet electric cars show up and put up a decent showing at ICE-dominated sports is another way to spread the popularity of electric vehicles and therefore save the planet.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Maybe just set the suspension to low.

Why is that? Lower center of gravity? I wouldn’t imagine it would make any difference.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Does anyone who has done this have any recommendations for tires?

 

[rudeman]

Google "moment of inertia". Lowering that point makes a tiny difference every time you try to move the car slower, faster, left or right. By the end of an autocross, it will make a difference. Try it both ways, and you'll learn more than I capable of mansplaining.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

So this is all just theoretical because I have never run an autocross and will have to wait for the new season in several months before even trying - and also I don’t plan on getting any kind of upgrades (even tires) until I learn how to drive my current poor traction setup - but does anyone have any comment on choice of wheels? Is the extra contact patch of 21” wheels/tires worth the extra weight? Or maybe the lower profile tires that would be mounted on 21s have less sidewall to flex?

From forum searching it looks like @Zextraterrestrial seems to have the most experience with autocrossing a Model S - I’d love your input. Did you find a way to battle the traction control? With the caveat that this is all theoretical because I haven’t even tried yet and just like the idea, I could see a world in which I get into it enough to get a P3D to have a better car for this (or a Roadster 2020, if I win the lottery... )

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Does anyone who has done this have any recommendations for tires?

Definitely RE71R tires. Also stick with 19” wheels ideally. I got 20” just so I could use an 8.5” wide wheel and run F street (since my car came with 21” 8.5”) the square setups also wear good vs staggered. If you have a P85D I’m not sure about traction control. I can turn it off in the P85. It seemed scary pulling a fuse in the D!
I retired my P85 this October and just picked up a P3 & 19”265 RE71R...can’t wait!!
This car makes the S seem slow. It’s probably quicker in a downpour than the S on the best summer asphalt w/ prime RE’s

Did I say how much I am dying to race this car!!!
I raced my S for 6 solid years of auto X,first year I did a hill climb that I plan on killing in Princess!!! Lots of Endurance auto cross races(still have 1 record, yay)
TheP3 is a completely different feeling beast than the S! I sadly still haven’t even put it in track mode, it lets you get a little rear slip on corners as it is.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

I wound up skipping the 2020 season due to COVID and am planning on giving it a try this year. In the meantime, regardless of performance status, ALL model 3s and ALL AWD model Ss have been reclassed to Super Street by SCCA. I get that the P3 probably was too much for B street but damn, moving heavy-ass Model S to SS just seems punitive. Fortunately I get to run as a novice this year, but it doesn't really seem fair to class a 5000 lb sedan that seats 7 with RX7s, 911 turbos, S2000s, etc.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I wound up skipping the 2020 season due to COVID and am planning on giving it a try this year. In the meantime, regardless of performance status, ALL model 3s and ALL AWD model Ss have been reclassed to Super Street by SCCA. I get that the P3 probably was too much for B street but damn, moving heavy-ass Model S to SS just seems punitive. Fortunately I get to run as a novice this year, but it doesn't really seem fair to class a 5000 lb sedan that seats 7 with RX7s, 911 turbos, S2000s, etc.

S in SS is a joke for sure! they are pre-classing the plaid and including all models w/ it. RWD 3 should be in BS too probably!
SS for a P3 is the only place for it though. pretty competitive in PAX I think.
I took top Pax for our club last year, won a hill climb (on street tires!) 4th overall in another on A7 Hoosiers...3P is funtastic