[New Tesla races every week! Subscribe to see the Plaid here first!]
January 27th, 2021 at Orlando Speed World (1/4mi). As usual, the Tesla is on the stock Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires (245/45 19”).
Racing against only All-Wheel Drive vehicles on this rain-shortened night! But the good news was that I got home two hours earlier, allowing me to order the NEWLY ANNOUNCED PLAID MODEL S right away. (I've kept my Plaid PLUS order in place also.)
Pass #, ET, MPH, Reaction, 60-ft W/L
1: 10.826, 122.47, (gave move), 1.58 W
2: 10.789, 122.76, 0.595 (Pro Tree), 1.53 W
[Tesla started with 96% battery, ended at 91%]
All runs in “Ludicrous” mode (Not Ludicrous Plus). Cheetah Stance launch mode was also not attempted for reasons explained below.
Thanks to Billy (EcoBoost Explorer) and Vince (AMG 63S) for these races! Too bad that rain cut things short.
———————————————
People often ask: “Why don’t you use Ludicrous Plus and Cheetah Stance *every* time?”
So many, many good reasons!
1. It uses 3-5X more battery per run! (Pre-heating the battery, then cooling, etc). This usage causes all subsequent runs to be slower.
2. It takes anywhere from 5-20 minutes before it’s “Ready!”
3. Cheetah Stance takes several seconds to stage, during which the light may turn green, causing me to lose before the race even starts.
4. Cheetah Stance only holds for a few seconds, during which the light may NOT have turned green (depending on what the competitor is doing), and then it times out and can’t be immediately re-staged.
5. The pedal usage and “launch” process is so different, it’s not very consistent for reaction times. Usually 2-5 tenths worse on the tree. (With standard Ludicrous, I can generally have a reaction time under 0.10 seconds. With Cheetah, more like 0.3-0.6 seconds. There goes any minor advantage!)
6. Tesla strongly warns about premature wear when using Ludicrous Plus. (Likely from all the extra Battery heating and cooling.)
Cheetah Stance has only ever worked when the competitor in the next was willing to cooperate with all of the above. But why would they? (Unless it’s a buddy.)
And all of these hassles above plus extra battery consumption only gains 1-2 tenths of a second (best ever was 10.49 in the 1/4, and 6.64 in the 1/8th). In my many attempts, it has only caused me to LOSE far more races.
So, if it’s near the end of the night and I’ve got no further races to “save” the battery for, and there’s no one in the lane next me, and I have 15 minutes to go through the battery pre-heating sequence, maybe.
Otherwise, it’s just not suitable for this kind of drag racing (with many passes per night).
Of course, you are welcome to use Cheetah Stance every time in *your* Tesla Raven!
January 27th, 2021 at Orlando Speed World (1/4mi). As usual, the Tesla is on the stock Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires (245/45 19”).
Racing against only All-Wheel Drive vehicles on this rain-shortened night! But the good news was that I got home two hours earlier, allowing me to order the NEWLY ANNOUNCED PLAID MODEL S right away. (I've kept my Plaid PLUS order in place also.)
Pass #, ET, MPH, Reaction, 60-ft W/L
1: 10.826, 122.47, (gave move), 1.58 W
2: 10.789, 122.76, 0.595 (Pro Tree), 1.53 W
[Tesla started with 96% battery, ended at 91%]
All runs in “Ludicrous” mode (Not Ludicrous Plus). Cheetah Stance launch mode was also not attempted for reasons explained below.
Thanks to Billy (EcoBoost Explorer) and Vince (AMG 63S) for these races! Too bad that rain cut things short.
———————————————
People often ask: “Why don’t you use Ludicrous Plus and Cheetah Stance *every* time?”
So many, many good reasons!
1. It uses 3-5X more battery per run! (Pre-heating the battery, then cooling, etc). This usage causes all subsequent runs to be slower.
2. It takes anywhere from 5-20 minutes before it’s “Ready!”
3. Cheetah Stance takes several seconds to stage, during which the light may turn green, causing me to lose before the race even starts.
4. Cheetah Stance only holds for a few seconds, during which the light may NOT have turned green (depending on what the competitor is doing), and then it times out and can’t be immediately re-staged.
5. The pedal usage and “launch” process is so different, it’s not very consistent for reaction times. Usually 2-5 tenths worse on the tree. (With standard Ludicrous, I can generally have a reaction time under 0.10 seconds. With Cheetah, more like 0.3-0.6 seconds. There goes any minor advantage!)
6. Tesla strongly warns about premature wear when using Ludicrous Plus. (Likely from all the extra Battery heating and cooling.)
Cheetah Stance has only ever worked when the competitor in the next was willing to cooperate with all of the above. But why would they? (Unless it’s a buddy.)
And all of these hassles above plus extra battery consumption only gains 1-2 tenths of a second (best ever was 10.49 in the 1/4, and 6.64 in the 1/8th). In my many attempts, it has only caused me to LOSE far more races.
So, if it’s near the end of the night and I’ve got no further races to “save” the battery for, and there’s no one in the lane next me, and I have 15 minutes to go through the battery pre-heating sequence, maybe.
Otherwise, it’s just not suitable for this kind of drag racing (with many passes per night).
Of course, you are welcome to use Cheetah Stance every time in *your* Tesla Raven!