Is this a foreshadow of the race to come?
The 2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance in the video above will attempt to set a record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on August 30. Driven by Blake Fuller – he holds the standing record for Production Electric Vehicle at America’s Mountain – and powered financially by the community of electric vehicles fans at large, you can stay abreast of all the developments and get more insight into the effort by subscribing to the Electric Performance YouTube channel.
While preparing for the big event, the all-electric sedan made its way to the 2-mile track at the Carolina Center For Automotive Research for some testing. Luckily for us, while it was there Kyle Conner of Out of Spec Motoring fame found a few moments to squeeze into its Sparco racing seat and take it around the circuit for his One Lap video series.
Surprisingly, the car is pretty close to stock, at least when it comes to add-ons. The suspension, tires, and brake pads are the only real equipment upgrades. Before it takes to the mountain, it will also be blessed with a proper roll cage. Much of the interior, however, has been removed and the aforementioned racing seat is now the only throne.
The added lightness does a few things for the vehicle. It is, of course, quicker, but also be more engaging. That’s if you enjoy the sci-fi whine of an electric motor, at least. Their song is easily heard as the accelerator meets the floor to begin the lap.
With Track Mode engaged, the electronic nannies turned to minimal, and the motor bias set to 30 percent front, 70 percent rear, the car aggressively attacks the track. Conner registers no complaints about the handling as he winds his way around, so it’s probably fair to say it wasn’t fighting his attempts to corner at speed.
Crossing the start-finish line at 118 miles per hour, the run lays down a solid marker. The lap-time of 1:45.27 now sits at the top of the list of vehicles to be put through their paces so far. By comparison, the next fastest vehicle – the Volvo V60 T8 Polestar-Engineered plug-in hybrid – was a full five seconds slower.
Overall, the lap saw a great result and we’ll enjoy seeing what vehicle manages to best this time. Rumor has it a certain all-electric Porsche is being sought out for an attempt, so keep your eyes peeled and we’ll share that result if it happens.
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