# 1st day with Stealth P3D at Adams Motorsports Park



## Ole1 (Jul 7, 2018)

... since there isn't a track days forum ....

As you can tell, I am not a frequent auto crosser, or track day person (except on motorcycles) .... this write up is just a quick description of the fun I had with our Stealth P3D on her first mini track day.

Four weeks after picking up our Silver Stealth Performance Model 3, I took her to Adams Motorsports park last friday ... and of course, I had a blast !
http://www.adamsmotorsportspark.com/racing/time-attackgrip/
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.008476,-117.3825933,17z

The Friday night track layout starts in the center area, heading into the CCW hairpin, going then going down a short straight, where the small CW hairpin is not used, instead, it is a long CW sweeper into a longish straight, into a long CW sweeper, into a couple kinks - into a long 90 right, into a long (100 yard ?) straight, into the finish about 40 (?) yards before the last heavily banked CW hairpin.

The way the sessions ran, we would leave the start for a warm up lap, and as we passed the finish (flagging station), they would throw the green flag to start your first timed lap .... as you came around the second time, they would throw the white flag (starting your second timed lap), and your last time past, the checkered flag. Each "session", we would get three of these three lap runs, and there were three sessions - 6pm, 7pm, and 8pm ... I ran the first two sessions. Each session is $25.

The acceleration of this car is amazing, but the stock 18" Aero tires are TTTTerrrible on the track (of course) .... I dont think I was ever able to over use the brakes, because I was so traction limited by the tires .... here is a description of how a lap went: Braking hard into the first CCW hairpin left, enter with left front tire on the candystripes, car starts to rotate (rear end sliding), and contiues to rotate till traction control shuts off power momentarily - till traction is regained, then hard on the throttle down short straight to first long right sweeper, four wheel drifting the whole way around, limiting my speed to keep from sliding off the track, then max throttle down next longish straight, braking way early because at this point, tires have no grip, and skid like crazy if braked too hard .... through the kinks, and similar to the first corner, right wheel on candy stripes, car rotates just enough (no traction control shut off) ... then max throttle down the back straight .... but brake way before the flagging station into small chicane (cones ... i forgot to mention this part) into banked hairpin right, into kinks and short straight past start line and repeat. .....

For reference, I have been to this track four other times, with Mazda P5 and 1967 Cougar (canyon suspension and brakes), both on sticky summer tires with good brakes .... With the Cougar, on the last part of the track, I could wait to brake until "long after" the flagging station (right at the chicane, basically 15-20 yards before the hairpin) ... becuse of the stock tires on the model 3, at the end of the last straight, I had to brake way before the flagging station to prevent sliding off the track in the banked hairpin.

Still, I had a blast, and I was moved up to the "fast group" for the 7pm session (I was never fast enough for that i my previous visits to this track).

Next time, I will have summer tires and maybe better brakes (I already have the brakes ... just haven't put them on yet)


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## Oyster Bait (Sep 15, 2018)

Nice write up. Thanks.

Was the track layout the same as the previous times you ran with your other cars? If so, please give us some lap times to compare.


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## Jonathan3 (Aug 26, 2018)

Thank you for sharing your experience.

What brake upgrades are you doing? I am curious what upgrades people are doing that fit with the 18-inch wheels.


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## ev0lm3 (Nov 3, 2018)

Awesome! What was your time in the p3d. I used to track there in my evo 8 that I had a few years back, and I would do a 42 seconds. Good to see people using these cars for the track!


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## Ole1 (Jul 7, 2018)

hate to say it ..... but stock tires were terrible ... my best times were in the 49s .... fastest cars were in the low 46's
.... very much looking forward to seeing how i do with sticky tires and better brakes

..... haven't put them on yet ..... I got brakes from racingbrake.com - full set of front and rear two piece rotors (huge weight savings) and XT910 pads for stock 18" wheels - got to meet the owner/engineer/designer, who gave me a very detailed tour of their facility, and very detailed descriptions of all the unique (patented) things that they do with their brakes (insert smiley icons)


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## Jonathan3 (Aug 26, 2018)

Please let us know how those breaks work out for you.


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## ev0lm3 (Nov 3, 2018)

Ole1 said:


> hate to say it ..... but stock tires were terrible ... my best times were in the 49s .... fastest cars were in the low 46's
> .... very much looking forward to seeing how i do with sticky tires and better brakes
> 
> ..... haven't put them on yet ..... I got brakes from racingbrake.com - full set of front and rear two piece rotors (huge weight savings) and XT910 pads for stock 18" wheels - got to meet the owner/engineer/designer, who gave me a very detailed tour of their facility, and very detailed descriptions of all the unique (patented) things that they do with their brakes (insert smiley icons)


Not bad! I ran R compounds on my evo doing <45 sec. That made the biggest difference


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## Ole1 (Jul 7, 2018)

2nd day at Adams Motorsport park, now with 255/40-18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires .... Awesome, everything I expected ... I shaved 2.7 Seconds off of my lap times, I am now getting closer to the fastest guys .... next time, I will have new brakes on her .... 
..... to get used to driving her briskly, I took a little side trip on some of my favorite SoCal twisties on my way to Adams:









Even just "cruising" thru the twisties, I learned right away that the tires are now way better than the brakes, and the stock brakes are not sufficient for "brisk cruising" ... additionally, during one of my middle sessions at the track, I got "real brake fade" coming into one of the fastest corners ... slightly exciting ... I learned how to drive around it to not overheat the brakes.

Here is the time sheet from my first day at the track (with stock 18" tires)









and here is the time sheet from last night (I am the "light grey Tesla")








.... Audi TT is the same one from October


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

Absolutely beautiful picture. The mountains look nice too.


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## Ole1 (Jul 7, 2018)

... and a shot comparing the Michelin Pilot 4S, 255/40-18 ... to the stock Michelin Primacy mxm4, 235/45-18.
...
Picture is deceptive (?) tire specs say that the Pilot 4S is only 0.3 inches shorter than the stock tire.
...
... also, I am kinda wondering about the wear pattern after one evening at the track on the Pilots ... as you can see in the picture, the outer half of the tire wore a lot (and the inside half didnt hardly wear) .... pressure was 38 psi cold, and outer edges of the tires were wearing perfectly (right out to the edge, not "rolling over" - except for left front, which was worn a little bit past the edge, since it is basically an all CW track)
... do i need to raise the pressure - while achieving max grip and even wear ? 
(forgive me if i have mis-stated anything, I am no tire expert)
...


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## MountainPass (May 15, 2018)

We need a motorsports section!


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## Mr. Huggins (Dec 18, 2018)

It was a pleasure meeting you at AMP! Excellent job with those times!


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## msjulie (Feb 6, 2018)

> .. do i need to raise the pressure - while achieving max grip and even wear ?
> (forgive me if i have mis-stated anything, I am no tire expert)


The key is a tire pyrometer and knowing how to use it  As you drive harder the temp will go up generally meaning dropping air out to prevent overinflation. I always had folks helping me keeping the tires at the right temp for the track and how I'm driving it but I will say the tires look like you had a good time and I don't see big chunks of melted rubber so.. where I do see a little (seriously not much) makes me think it's just the alignment/camber. I've had much bigger bits of rubber chewed out of street tires than that so I think you have more room to push.. Track tires (like almost no tread) don't melt as much but they will easily pick up rubber from other cars on the track. But like I said I didn't see any of that on your tires - they look pretty healthy to me FWIW after a day of tossing a heavy car around at speed.

I'm real curious on the rotors you selected; are both front and rear larger diameter, meaning both come with different caliper brackets to space them? Real curious how they would compare to the kits here https://www.mountainpassperformance.com/ I have an irrational 'need' for the lighter rotors, with more sweep up front too - and I'm likely to never track this car - probably.. Can you post the specifics of the rotors you got? thanks!

Edit - never mind, got this https://www.racingbrake.com/RB-2pc-Rotor-Kit-320-335-for-Tesla-Model-3-Base-p/tes-irk-02.htm which answered some of my questions.


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## Ole1 (Jul 7, 2018)

*Front RB 2pc (vs. OE 21 lbs)*









*Rear 2pc (vs. OE 16 lbs)







*

I should be putting them on some time before January


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## Ole1 (Jul 7, 2018)

msjulie: how do i use a tire pyrometer ? 
( i can search the web and find many opinions, but Id like to hear your's first ... )


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## Ole1 (Jul 7, 2018)

Big thanks to Mountainpass for providing us with instructions for installing front and rear brakes:

Front - https://www.mountainpassperformance.com/page-mill-bbk-install/

Rear - https://teslaownersonline.com/threads/diy-parking-brake-disassembly-rear-brake-pad-replacement.9049/

Yesterday I started my install of front and rear rotors and brake pads from RacingBrake.com for improved braking and brake cooling with stock 18" Aero wheels:


















Some tech notes about RacingBrake Rotor Technology: https://www.racingbrake.com/Articles.asp?ID=257

I will be posting a couple more pics of the rear rotor install in the Mountainpass rear brake install thread later today ....


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## msjulie (Feb 6, 2018)

@Ole1 I know what they do and why but coming up with the numbers still seems like a little magic to me - crew chief back in the day knew the 1990s spec VWs we raced so well he just knew what the starting pressure should be based on the air temp at the moment, the tires we were using, etc. I could make a reasonable guess as to starting pressures when a given day's starting weather felt like others I had driven but sometimes I was just off ( a pound or 2 made noticeable differences in those cars due to their suspension and tire setup )

This site, though, is pretty good : https://nasaspeed.news/tech/wheels-...cordingly-can-pay-dividends-on-the-racetrack/

Drive with HOD or another similar group as vendors have been known to show up and just help folks with those kinds of things.

Drive safe!


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## MountainPass (May 15, 2018)

Ole1 said:


> I will be posting a couple more pics of the rear rotor install in the Mountainpass rear brake install thread later today ....


That's quite alright, you don't _have _to advertise competitor's parts in our DIY post!


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## Guest (Jan 1, 2019)

Ole1 said:


> Big thanks to Mountainpass for providing us with instructions for installing front and rear brakes:
> 
> Front - https://www.mountainpassperformance.com/page-mill-bbk-install/
> 
> ...


looks like RB also offers an application for for the P3+. Any feedback after your install? More pics? Does the black zinc finish change colors after use? TIA


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## Ole1 (Jul 7, 2018)

per discussion about anti corrosion coating on RB website, black coating on rotors wears right off with pad break in or normal driving ....


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2019)

Yep read that was thinking of more real world impressions. Especially aftrer the pad have grabbed a number of times.


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