Hello Tesla performance enthusiasts,
I'm signed up for my first-ever track day at Circuit of the Americas (near Austin, TX) about a month from now. My car is a Model S 85D. I've been looking over the informational material from the organizer.
The first part of the tech inspection form, concerning brakes, has me a bit concerned. I'll attempt to paste in here:
I'm not concerned about the rotors or pads. My car is about a year old and 15,000 miles. The part I'm worried about is the brake fluid. I've had my 1 year service from Tesla fairly recently (was less than a year, but over 12,000 miles). I imagine they didn't replace brake fluid. From what I've read on this forum, Tesla does the brake fluid every 2 years. So I should still be on the original brake fluid.
I've done a bit of Googling about track day prep in general (not Tesla specific) and everything I read talks about the importance of brakes. Clearly a vital safety issue and brakes will take a lot more abuse on a race course than on the street.
I know we have some people here who have tracked their Model S. So for those people I ask, what's your approach to brake preparation?
Do your own brake work?
Have a 3rd party shop that caters to amateur racers and is comfortable with Model S brakes?
Schedule an appointment with Tesla service to do an out-of-cycle brake service?
Ask for special high-temp fluid or is Tesla's regular fill sufficient?
Again this is my first event like this and I don't expect to be very fast. Just want to be prepared to satisfy the tech inspectors at the track. This is a Tesla specific event, so I've e-mailed the organizers, but I don't know if they anticipated this particular issue with Tesla service. The tech inspection form is pretty much boilerplate for any event at this track (it has all the usual drivetrain stuff most of which doesn't apply to our cars).
Thanks for any and all advice!
I'm signed up for my first-ever track day at Circuit of the Americas (near Austin, TX) about a month from now. My car is a Model S 85D. I've been looking over the informational material from the organizer.
The first part of the tech inspection form, concerning brakes, has me a bit concerned. I'll attempt to paste in here:
Braking system: [ ] fluid is clean [ ] fluid has been replaced within the last 6 months [ ] reservoir is full [ ] pedal is firm [ ] all brake lights are working [ ] master cylinder - no leaks or corrosion [ ] calipers - no leaks [ ] pads are at ¾ life or better [ ] rotors show no signs of cracks, discoloration, unusual wear, and are at correct thickness
I'm not concerned about the rotors or pads. My car is about a year old and 15,000 miles. The part I'm worried about is the brake fluid. I've had my 1 year service from Tesla fairly recently (was less than a year, but over 12,000 miles). I imagine they didn't replace brake fluid. From what I've read on this forum, Tesla does the brake fluid every 2 years. So I should still be on the original brake fluid.
I've done a bit of Googling about track day prep in general (not Tesla specific) and everything I read talks about the importance of brakes. Clearly a vital safety issue and brakes will take a lot more abuse on a race course than on the street.
I know we have some people here who have tracked their Model S. So for those people I ask, what's your approach to brake preparation?
Do your own brake work?
Have a 3rd party shop that caters to amateur racers and is comfortable with Model S brakes?
Schedule an appointment with Tesla service to do an out-of-cycle brake service?
Ask for special high-temp fluid or is Tesla's regular fill sufficient?
Again this is my first event like this and I don't expect to be very fast. Just want to be prepared to satisfy the tech inspectors at the track. This is a Tesla specific event, so I've e-mailed the organizers, but I don't know if they anticipated this particular issue with Tesla service. The tech inspection form is pretty much boilerplate for any event at this track (it has all the usual drivetrain stuff most of which doesn't apply to our cars).
Thanks for any and all advice!