
Tesla Model 3 Performance with Track Mode Beats a Ferrari's Record - evo_9
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-performance-track-mode-release-version-beats-ferrari-closed-circuit-test/
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olyjohn
Maybe I misread something... But it sounds like they upgraded the tires, and
the track mode at the same time, then ran 2 seconds faster. How do we know the
track mode upgrades made the car faster, and not just the tires. Tires make a
HUGE difference. This is a bad test, IMO.

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newnewpdro
Agreed, the times are rendered uncomparable since they changed the tires -
increasing both size and stickiness!

It's bogus.

~~~
toomuchtodo
To you, it's bogus. To a consumer, they're getting Ferrari performance for
hundreds of thousands of dollars less by slapping a different set of tires on.
It's marketing, and it's done well. Just another lever pulled to stoke demand
for the (higher margin) Performance version, _and it was done with a software
upgrade_.

~~~
newnewpdro
> and it was done with a software upgrade

 _What_ was done with a software upgrade? We have zero meaningful measurement
of what the software upgrade alone achieved because they changed so much in
addition to it.

The time improvement is on the order of what would be expected when adding
tire width and softness.

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mywittyname
Randy Pobst is a badass. It was smart of Telsa to hire him to assist with
tuning the Model3. On top of his long racing career, he's had extensive seat
time at Streets of Willow in probably every sporty car made over the past
decade due to his affiliation with Motor Trend.

I'm not sure there's another person on the planet better qualified for the
job.

~~~
gregimba
Randy Pobst's car collection is great:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8teV5nuEEI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8teV5nuEEI)

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vl
Interesting question is of course for how long Model 3 can drive in the track
mode. Cars they compare it to can drive on track for the duration of the
race/track day. As far as I understand Tesla can drive like this only for few
laps?

~~~
jbob2000
Doesn't matter. You think the people who buy Ferraris race them around the
track? Most of them sit in garages and get driven to the golf club.

But with Tesla, you can now own a car that's "faster than a Ferrari" for less
than $100k. Kids aren't dreaming of owning Ferraris now, they're dreaming of
owning Teslas.

~~~
tomatotomato37
>But with Tesla, you can now own a car that's "faster than a Ferrari" for less
than $100k

That's been true for awhile, most Ferraris aren't as fast as their price
implies. They're prestige items; if you just want cheap performance you get a
corvette

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syassami
Better article: [https://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla/model-3/2019/tesla-
mod...](https://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla/model-3/2019/tesla-
model-3-performance-track-mode-release-version-review/)

~~~
nabla9
It seems that they use all tricks available, including cooling the engines and
batteries.

It's impressive nevertheless.

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abfan1127
I find it interesting they tuned it to the driver's preferences. I wonder how
they translate to other driver's preferences. I recall a story about
electronic stethoscopes. They didn't have the same artifacts as the mechanical
ones, so doctors didn't like it. Designers then added back in the artifacts
artificially and had better acceptance. I wonder how much of the Tesla's
tuning was in reality a de-tune to match the driver's preferences.

~~~
mywittyname
They tuned it to the preference of a professional driver, who has also driven
probably every sporty car made in the past decade on that track. So it's not
like his preferences are arbitrary, they are the result of a huge amount of
experience. And clearly his expertise is paying off, as the lap times have
improved considerably.

I also don't think that preference is the right word to use. Cars have unique
characteristics which need to be leveraged differently to maximize
performance. A Mustang GT, a 911 Turbo S, and a Audi TT-RS are going to have
different handling characteristics by virtue of their design.

Since the Model3 is so unique, adapting characteristics of, say, a BMW M3 or
an Audi RS3 to a Model3 might not yield the best results. Which is probably
what the original engineers did.

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IMTDb
I know this may seems a bit far fetched, but I find it a bit dangerous that
they are performing an OTA upgrade that, according to the driver, noticeably
changes the vehicle behaviour.

I do not own a Tesla, so is there a message that tells "Hey ! Your vehicle has
been updated, take care".

~~~
ric2b
It's an extra mode, you have to manually change to it.

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caboteria
Funny that the headline mentions Ferrari but the article indicates that the
benchmark was set down by an Alfa Romeo. I'm not a car guy but aren't Alfa's
more like sedans where Ferrari's are full-on sports cars?

~~~
lodi
> Perhaps more remarkable was that the Model 3 Performance’s new record in the
> Willow Springs Streets actually ended up beating one of Motor Trend‘s Best
> Driver’s Car winners in the past — the 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia, which
> completed the course in 1:22.30.

This is the (last gen) 458:
[http://www.mansory.com/files/media/mansory/sliders/ferrari-4...](http://www.mansory.com/files/media/mansory/sliders/ferrari-458-addon_0.png)

And this is Ferrari's current mid-engine car, the 488:
[https://file.kbb.com/kbb/vehicleimage/housenew/480x360/2016/...](https://file.kbb.com/kbb/vehicleimage/housenew/480x360/2016/2016-ferrari-488%20gtb-
frontside_fe488gtb1601.jpg)

I'm impressed that the model 3 can hang with those.

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dagoat
I wonder how many straights there are on this track, and what its times are
like on the N ring and other larger circuits

