Hey FFE people,
A couple weekends ago, I drove my FFE down to Laguna Seca (actually, Redwood City to Salinas - 84 miles, watched 2 films while charging, paused over night and then drove the rest of the way) and ran it around the track at the 2015 installment of Refuel by Speed Ventures.
http://www.refuelraces.com/start.php
I've been coming to this event since it started in 2009 -- and it is pretty much the best event ever for people who are into both electric vehicles and motorsports. In 2011 I was there with my old company Mission Motors when we set a lap record with our Mission R superbike http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/06/video-steve-rapp-lays-down-record-lap-at-refuel-sport-electric/ (which we later smashed by 12 seconds during the MotoGP weekend, a record that is still the top for any electric vehicle at Laguna four years later).
2015 is a little different, as this would be the first time I would have my own electric vehicle there to run as we just took delivery of our FFE back at the end of May.
Since I know that tires are the first thing you should ever consider if you're looking to improve the performance of your car, I started there. I pulled my awesome light Enkei RPF1s off my soon to be sold VW GTI, and peeled a set of half worn 225/45R17 Hankook RS3s off them (180 tread wear). I then found a set of stock Ford Fusion wheels on Craigslist for $150 and stuck them on there. Sadly the Fusion wheels were about 10lbs a corner heavier than the Enkeis. With tires mounted they came in 2lbs heavier than the FFE stockers, but hey they were cheap! I drove these on the street for a bit leading up to the event, and they definitely impacted range, and they were SO noisy, but what GRIP. I did a run up Kings Mountain road with them on my way to work one day, and it was pretty fun -- the throttle and brakes were not designed for quick transitions, but it was workable. While climbing the hill I got into the high 900 Wh/mile range (!). The only real problem is that going from a 50 to a 45 series tire dropped the top speed to 81 mph, which I was worried would be an issue on track. It tuns out that only 2 sections (the front straight and between turns 4 and 5) had the car limited, and only for a few seconds, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
With the rear seats folded down the 4 wheels and tires fit in great, and I had enough room for a jack, and all my other random track gear.
Tires in the back.
Unlike Sammy Hagar, I CAN drive 55. Spent a long time in the "texting lane" of the 101 to make this happen.
Don't know why my driving score is so low...
After swapping the wheels over and a lengthy drivers meeting, I rolled out for my first session and came to terms with the intrusion of the stability control nannies -- you really need to keep your inputs smooth so the fun police don't intrude and pull the car down to a crawl. I did manage to get the back end to walk around trail braking into turn 11 after the parade lap, but a little oppo and the grabby hand of the stability control made it drama free (this is where the video opens).
https://youtu.be/HL9P68scc6U
After 2 hot laps, I started to smell brakes, and was concerned so I rolled in to check it out. Thankfully it was coming off a Tesla, and not my car. Regen does a great job supplementing the front brakes as even with the sticky tires, the brakes felt pretty good all day. RWD Teslas don't get this bonus.
I was happy to see my lap timer was showing that I had turned a 2:05, as the previous lap record was a 2:07. I really wanted to break into the 2:03s, which I did in the second session where I did 5 laps and used 50% of the pack in the process (averaging 700 Wh/mile). It seemed to lose a bit of power around lap 4, but there was no indication anywhere that power had been cut or anything had gotten too warm. Since I wanted it to be at 100% for the time trial I took it easy and brought it in to charge up.
For the time trial, since Teslas start derating after one lap, and some of the DIY specials are only good for a single lap, they had us enter the track before turn 10 which gives you exactly zero left turns to warm up your tires befoer turn 11. I found this out as the car understeered immensely entering 11. Thankfully I was able to get it up to the speed limiter before the start finish (where the official lap timing begins) so that had no effect on my time. It did however have an effect on my confidence entering turn 2 as I eased the car into the lap. It wasn't by best, but in the end it was a 2:04.381 which was good enough for first place and a new class record!
It was fun day that was capped with getting a trophy and hanging out with some cool people with similar interests. Highly recommended!
Official Results: http://www.refuelraces.com/sportelectrictt2015.php
Pics:
Corkscrew!
Need way more camber!
Converted Civic
Not often seen at racetracks
Model S on race tires
Topping off before heading home
The winning hardware
The day as seen by myfordmobile
A couple weekends ago, I drove my FFE down to Laguna Seca (actually, Redwood City to Salinas - 84 miles, watched 2 films while charging, paused over night and then drove the rest of the way) and ran it around the track at the 2015 installment of Refuel by Speed Ventures.
http://www.refuelraces.com/start.php
I've been coming to this event since it started in 2009 -- and it is pretty much the best event ever for people who are into both electric vehicles and motorsports. In 2011 I was there with my old company Mission Motors when we set a lap record with our Mission R superbike http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/06/video-steve-rapp-lays-down-record-lap-at-refuel-sport-electric/ (which we later smashed by 12 seconds during the MotoGP weekend, a record that is still the top for any electric vehicle at Laguna four years later).
2015 is a little different, as this would be the first time I would have my own electric vehicle there to run as we just took delivery of our FFE back at the end of May.
Since I know that tires are the first thing you should ever consider if you're looking to improve the performance of your car, I started there. I pulled my awesome light Enkei RPF1s off my soon to be sold VW GTI, and peeled a set of half worn 225/45R17 Hankook RS3s off them (180 tread wear). I then found a set of stock Ford Fusion wheels on Craigslist for $150 and stuck them on there. Sadly the Fusion wheels were about 10lbs a corner heavier than the Enkeis. With tires mounted they came in 2lbs heavier than the FFE stockers, but hey they were cheap! I drove these on the street for a bit leading up to the event, and they definitely impacted range, and they were SO noisy, but what GRIP. I did a run up Kings Mountain road with them on my way to work one day, and it was pretty fun -- the throttle and brakes were not designed for quick transitions, but it was workable. While climbing the hill I got into the high 900 Wh/mile range (!). The only real problem is that going from a 50 to a 45 series tire dropped the top speed to 81 mph, which I was worried would be an issue on track. It tuns out that only 2 sections (the front straight and between turns 4 and 5) had the car limited, and only for a few seconds, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
With the rear seats folded down the 4 wheels and tires fit in great, and I had enough room for a jack, and all my other random track gear.
Tires in the back.
Unlike Sammy Hagar, I CAN drive 55. Spent a long time in the "texting lane" of the 101 to make this happen.
Don't know why my driving score is so low...
After swapping the wheels over and a lengthy drivers meeting, I rolled out for my first session and came to terms with the intrusion of the stability control nannies -- you really need to keep your inputs smooth so the fun police don't intrude and pull the car down to a crawl. I did manage to get the back end to walk around trail braking into turn 11 after the parade lap, but a little oppo and the grabby hand of the stability control made it drama free (this is where the video opens).
https://youtu.be/HL9P68scc6U
After 2 hot laps, I started to smell brakes, and was concerned so I rolled in to check it out. Thankfully it was coming off a Tesla, and not my car. Regen does a great job supplementing the front brakes as even with the sticky tires, the brakes felt pretty good all day. RWD Teslas don't get this bonus.
I was happy to see my lap timer was showing that I had turned a 2:05, as the previous lap record was a 2:07. I really wanted to break into the 2:03s, which I did in the second session where I did 5 laps and used 50% of the pack in the process (averaging 700 Wh/mile). It seemed to lose a bit of power around lap 4, but there was no indication anywhere that power had been cut or anything had gotten too warm. Since I wanted it to be at 100% for the time trial I took it easy and brought it in to charge up.
For the time trial, since Teslas start derating after one lap, and some of the DIY specials are only good for a single lap, they had us enter the track before turn 10 which gives you exactly zero left turns to warm up your tires befoer turn 11. I found this out as the car understeered immensely entering 11. Thankfully I was able to get it up to the speed limiter before the start finish (where the official lap timing begins) so that had no effect on my time. It did however have an effect on my confidence entering turn 2 as I eased the car into the lap. It wasn't by best, but in the end it was a 2:04.381 which was good enough for first place and a new class record!
It was fun day that was capped with getting a trophy and hanging out with some cool people with similar interests. Highly recommended!
Official Results: http://www.refuelraces.com/sportelectrictt2015.php
Pics:
Corkscrew!
Need way more camber!
Converted Civic
Not often seen at racetracks
Model S on race tires
Topping off before heading home
The winning hardware
The day as seen by myfordmobile
. I'm surprised the Leaf was only 2 seconds slower. I bet he also had custom tires.
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