Sadly the Model 3’s front left tire will not survive for a second trip to the track
In the recent video posted by Erik of YouTube channel DÆrik, professional driver Tommy from Pikes Peak International Raceway takes the wheel of a Tesla Model 3 Performance. Tommy does not seem to be pushing the car too hard in the video. But he does not pull his punches either, and puts the Model 3 Track Mode through its paces.
You can hear the tires squealing as they round a corner at about the 3:40 minute mark. Then the car accelerates on the straightaway, hitting 109 and putting a smile on the Tommy’s face. “That’s awesome,” he says, calling the car pretty good for a street legal vehicle. He does point out that the traction control is noticeable while going around corners. But it does not appear to significantly impact speed and provides “the optimal amount of slip.”
“It handles a lot better than I anticipated, ” says Tommy “Especially for that weight, it’s pretty nimble. Especially with that track mode enabled. You can really use that weight transfer to your advantage and dive the thing onto its nose or huck it into a corner smoothly.”
The regenerative braking also seems to have caught his attention in a positive way. “You don’t even need to be on the brake before it starts decelerating. That in itself really kinda helps.”
“Normally in a regular combustion engine, as I’m transitioning from gas to brake or vice versa there is obviously very minimal engine slowing going on there. This is kind of helping us keep our nose planted as we work our way through the corner. It allows you to really hug that corner a little bit tighter with all that weight so that’s pretty rad.”
Unfortunately, the guys had to cut short their time at the track. Before long, the Model 3’s front left tire took a heck of a beating. “So the left front tire we kind of tore up a little bit! Probably from some of the spins that we ended up doing taking the corners a little too hard.”
Be sure to check out the video above for the full comments and footage.
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