track day prep

[mnx]

So I thought I'd start a discussion on prepping the Model S for a track day.

I've been dropping my tire pressure a little for when I go to the track. I found I had temperatures to be best across the tread when I have 40psi front and 41 psi rear...

Anything that could be removed (temporarily) to save some mass? Passenger Seat? Rear Seat? Not sure if there is any low hanging fruit in terms of effort:mass ratio. In the past I haven't even bothered removing the child seats from my backseat except when I went drag racing last Friday.

I've also been setting regen to low and turning TC off. Has anyone pulled the fuse for Stability Control? (It feels pretty intrusive at times, but perhaps it's best left on to save my bacon).

Any other thoughts?

 

[Jason S]

Both TC and Stability Control seem to save bacon and provide no ill effects for performance, so I'd leave both on. Only thing I've seen the fuse pulled for is doing dougnuts, and that doesn't seem very good for track performance.

You've got everything covered that I've read, other than changing the wheel alignment. And I don't think changing the wheel alignment is a trivial task, but I could be wrong.

 

[Gizmotoy]

While not as bad as some cars I've drive, SC seemed pretty intrusive to me in test drives. That said, when it does engage it never feels like a surprise and the car remains very composed, which makes it not quite as big of a deal. However, from some research it looks like the SC fuse kills ABS and a couple other systems you most likely want when hot lapping, so you're decidedly stuck with it.

TC is defeatable, but probably not that big of a factor once up to speed... maybe accelerating out of low-speed turns, but that'd probably be about it.

So that leaves you with brakes and tire pressure, mainly (I can't speak towards weight reduction). I don't what pressures the couple people I've seen with Ss on the track have used, but that'd be my main concern. I'd get a wax tire pen, make a vertical line on the tire like it came from the center cap directly out towards the tread. Run a couple laps and look at the line. If it's completely intact, lower your pressures. If it's scrubbed off halfway up the tire, increase them. You're looking for a happy medium.

It also looks like the S kills your power output before brake heat becomes an issue, so you should probably be OK on the stock pads.

 

[Doug_G]

Turn off traction control; on the track those nanny systems just get in the way. I'd also turn the regen to the low setting so it won't interfere with weight transfer during cornering.

More importantly, bring a torque wrench and re-torque your lug bolts before and after.

 

[djp]

If you want to do a track alignment, Scott Murfin (Can Alignment) is the go-to guy in the Toronto/Hamilton area for track work. You might want to get it done just to confirm your factory settings are all in spec.