Vendor Track Day Guide for Beginner and Experienced Model 3 Owners

[MountainPass]

Track Day Guide

With our years of building, racing and driving in top level sports car racing series in North America, we’ve learned a lot – and we can help give you the simple, useful information you need to make your track day a success. I love the fact that an article like this is not only a good idea, but that it is almost needed at this point. There are so many Model 3’s hitting the track these days and we keep getting asked a lot of really awesome track related questions, so I wanted to take some time to prepare a guide for all of you. Whether this is your first time going to the track, or if you’ve been lapping for many years, this guide is worth reading.

We’ll discuss how you can prepare your car for the track before the event, what you should check on your car at the event, tips for you the driver, and setup advice that you can apply to your car to improve its performance. This page will likely be updated and refined over time, so be sure to bookmark it and check back from time to time.

Due to the formatting not copying over here well, please look at this link!

Track Day Guide

-Sasha

 

[SD_Engnr]

Just stumbled across this while on your website. It's like you read my mind, and then published what I was looking for!

Great stuff, and I'm looking forward to updates!

 

[MountainPass]

Just stumbled across this while on your website. It's like you read my mind, and then published what I was looking for!

It was you who selected Randy Pobst level, isn't it?!

 

[SD_Engnr]

It was you who selected Randy Pobst level, isn't it?!

Haha! I can only dream and wish that I had that amount of time to spend on the track.

 

[GTIceman]

What if we have more than intermediate but less than Randy?

In all seriousness, this is a great read

 

[MountainPass]

What if we have more than intermediate but less than Randy?

In all seriousness, this is a great read

You may not select an option between those

 

[Zcd1]

What if we have more than intermediate but less than Randy?

IKR? That's me, too!

Maybe update the poll with another level?

And no, I don't always "have to be in the fastest run group" ;-)

In all seriousness, this is a great read

Agreed.

 

[MountainPass]

IKR? That's me, too!

Maybe update the poll with another level?

And no, I don't always "have to be in the fastest run group" ;-)



Agreed.

Ok we updated it due to popular demand

 

[gilscales]

Just watching, never been to the track

 

[MountainPass]

Just watching, never been to the track

It is never too late to try something new!

 

[kbecks13]

Awesome work! I'm a bit surprised at the tire pressures though, isn't 33-34 PSI hot low for a 4000 pound vehicle?

Im still trying to find my ideal pressure on my 265 RE-71s and so far think 40-42 hot is good for me, but i am on a stock suspension...

Edit: Also, you should add tape and scissors to your track list! Transponder mounting is the hardest part for me

 

[MountainPass]

Awesome work! I'm a bit surprised at the tire pressures though, isn't 33-34 PSI hot low for a 4000 pound vehicle?

Im still trying to find my ideal pressure on my 265 RE-71s and so far think 40-42 hot is good for me, but i am on a stock suspension...

Edit: Also, you should add tape and scissors to your track list! Transponder mounting is the hardest part for me

We have had great results with those pressures, of course it will vary slightly depending on differences between cars!

Good point, the air skirt vent to the side of the front bumper is a great place to stick the transponder without it being visible.

 

[Vines]

Great read MPP, thanks for taking such good care of the community.
I'd add white shoe polish to the list, so we can settle this tire pressure question for ourselves.

Usually I would tag the heaviest loaded wheels (fronts in my P3D) with a white stripe that goes from the sidewall to the tread area. When you finish a session you can use this to gauge just how far the tire is rolling over under maximum load.

 

[MountainPass]

Great read MPP, thanks for taking such good care of the community.
I'd add white shoe polish to the list, so we can settle this tire pressure question for ourselves.

Usually I would tag the heaviest loaded wheels (fronts in my P3D) with a white stripe that goes from the sidewall to the tread area. When you finish a session you can use this to gauge just how far the tire is rolling over under maximum load.

That's a good idea, and if you have a photographer at the track, reviewing photos is another great way to get an idea of what your tires and suspension are doing mid-corner!

 

[Lucky13]

What if I am more like Ayrton Senna? After all I helped design the new nsx chassis.... J/K

I am slow...

In all honesty Ayrton is my hero.

 

[MountainPass]

What if I am more like Ayrton Senna? After all I helped design the new nsx chassis.... J/K

I am slow...

In all honesty Ayrton is my hero.

The video of him ripping the NSX in loafers is one of my favourites.

 

[Lucky13]

Dude the loafers and all the Japanese press is so classic. Such a pimp.

 

[Lucky13]

For those interested in video

 

[MountainPass]

For those interested in video

Sadly heel-toe shifting is now completely irrelevant for us Tesla owners! But left foot braking is more viable than ever.

 

[Lucky13]

I was thinking, when you come hot off the track do you typically put the car in neutral or let the brake engage? I have always been taught not to engage ebrake for fear of warping rotors and leaving hot spots. Maybe not an issue in this car?