Took my P3D+ autocrossing today vs. 73 other cars. I'm very into racing, have read tons of books on theory, and have a sim racing setup at home. However, this is the first time I've actually brought a real car to a track. Long story short, I came in 30th place, beating cars like Camaro ZL1s and Shelby GT350s driven by autocross veterans. I'm very, very happy with how the car performed. The majority of the cars that put in a faster time were stripped and race-prepped Miatas with roll cages, no windshields, slicks, and not street legal. Laps were about 40 seconds long and covered a little under a half mile. With such a short course and 10 minutes of cool-off time between runs, I did not run into any power reductions and had full acceleration and braking performance for each of my 6 passes.
Having said all that, I feel like I could have shaved 3-4 seconds off my lap and been within striking distance of the podium if Track Mode was available. The traction control was cutting power left and right on the short course. The understeer is very controllable and the car is very predictable at the limits. But if I could have just rotated the back end around in a few spots instead of understeering, and not have it cut power in a few other places, things might have been even more interesting.
The only other tiny criticism is the brakes. They are definitely powerful enough, but the feel isn't as good as the Boxster S I traded in for it. You could tell exactly what was going on with the brakes on that car. The Tesla felt a little vague, in that I would press down harder on the pedal, and it didn't feel like the car was slowing down any faster until I jammed it down some more. It could just be that it's a 3800 pound car too. I have steel brake lines on order from Unplugged Performance, and will swap out for racing fluid and sport pads and see if that makes things a little more direct.
I'm super impressed with how the car performed today, and I can't wait for all the mods AND TRACK MODE (and the carbon fiber spoiler!) I have planned to see if I can turn this thing into an autocross monster. The 0-40 acceleration is unreal on the Tesla, and that's a huge advantage on an autocross course. Thanks everyone!
Having said all that, I feel like I could have shaved 3-4 seconds off my lap and been within striking distance of the podium if Track Mode was available. The traction control was cutting power left and right on the short course. The understeer is very controllable and the car is very predictable at the limits. But if I could have just rotated the back end around in a few spots instead of understeering, and not have it cut power in a few other places, things might have been even more interesting.
The only other tiny criticism is the brakes. They are definitely powerful enough, but the feel isn't as good as the Boxster S I traded in for it. You could tell exactly what was going on with the brakes on that car. The Tesla felt a little vague, in that I would press down harder on the pedal, and it didn't feel like the car was slowing down any faster until I jammed it down some more. It could just be that it's a 3800 pound car too. I have steel brake lines on order from Unplugged Performance, and will swap out for racing fluid and sport pads and see if that makes things a little more direct.
I'm super impressed with how the car performed today, and I can't wait for all the mods AND TRACK MODE (and the carbon fiber spoiler!) I have planned to see if I can turn this thing into an autocross monster. The 0-40 acceleration is unreal on the Tesla, and that's a huge advantage on an autocross course. Thanks everyone!
