# Model 3 road racing (SCCA & others)



## Jim H

garsh said:


> A Model 3 Performance with the OTA power bump decimates a Ferrari 458 in the 1/8 mile.
> 
> Tesla Model 3: 7.441s
> Ferrari 458 : 7.602s


"Meanwhile" while the M3P continues to impress on the drag strip, an M3P just won BS at the SCCA Pro Solo in Fontana, Ca. Chris Cox pulled out a victory this AM over a nationally competitive BMW M2. Many great drivers were in this class, Chris certainly one of them, to finish up class competition this am in Fontana. First SCCA Pro win for a Model 3 P. Great job Chris, and Tesla.
Elon was correct when he said the M3P will be faster than the BMW. Not only in a drag strip, but now at a National Pro Autocross event.


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## garsh

Jim H said:


> "Meanwhile" while the M3P continues to impress on the drag strip, an M3P just won BS at the SCCA Pro Solo in Fontana, Ca. Chris Cox pulled out a victory this AM over a nationally competitive BMW M2. Many great drivers were in this class, Chris certainly one of them, to finish up class competition this am in Fontana. First SCCA Pro win for a Model 3 P. Great job Chris, and Tesla.
> Elon was correct when he said the M3P will be faster than the BMW. Not only in a drag strip, but now at a National Pro Autocross event.


Jim, can you start a new thread on that topic? Maybe with links to articles, or pictures? That is awesome, and it probably deserves more than a mention in the middle of a drag racing thread.


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## Jim H

garsh said:


> Jim, can you start a new thread on that topic? Maybe with links to articles, or pictures? That is awesome, and it probably deserves more than a mention in the middle of a drag racing thread.


Once SCCA post coverage of the event, I'll send a link. I'm sure the M3P will be mentioned since it's the first Natl evevt win for a M3P. I'll keep a watch out for photos, these guys are not big photo shooters!


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## Jim H

garsh said:


> Jim, can you start a new thread on that topic? Maybe with links to articles, or pictures? That is awesome, and it probably deserves more than a mention in the middle of a drag racing thread.


Link as of today
http://sololive.scca.com/BS.php

Chris has been competing at a high level for many years. Last car I believe was GT3. Also note, he had a co-driver, who also has been competing for a long time, plus another Model 3 (fellow Tesla Online member) and BMW's, Porsche's, and a Lotus. Quite an elite group for the M3P to prevail over. Pretty big deal!!


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## garsh

Nice video of a Tesla Model 3 Performance running two laps at the Nürburgring


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## Jim H

garsh said:


> Jim, can you start a new thread on that topic? Maybe with links to articles, or pictures? That is awesome, and it probably deserves more than a mention in the middle of a drag racing thread.


This weekend SCCA has a ProSolo in Grenada, MS. In BS, a Tesla M3P finished second between a BMW M2 and BMW M1, followed by a Lotus in 4th.
The Pro Solo competitors will find the limits of these cars, and is making the M3P a force to be dealt with. At this point the M3P and just having some great 200tw tires, and great drivers to produce the results. Once success continues, shocks will be added, and maybe stiffer roll bar, (if available) to continue development. Wheel choice is limited due to rules. 
Another good week for M3P in competition!


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## garsh

I just had this pop up in my YouTube recommended list. I'm watching it now.


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## Jim H

This past weekend saw another victory for the M3P. SCCA had another Pro Solo in New Jersey, where Matthew English scored a class win for the M3P. This time the Tesla beat out a Shelby GT 350, BMW M4, Lotus Evora, BMW M2, BMW M1, to take the win. I believe the Tesla squeezed on some BFG 275's on the 8.5" rims. That probably gave the tire mounter a challenge.
http://sololive.scca.com/BS.php On another racing front, One Lap of America kicked off this past weekend, and in the Alt Fuel class, a M3P is currently leading that class, over a P100D, and BMW 335D. Should be interesting to see how the charging works out between stops, since almost every day they race then go to the next stop, and repeat.
http://www.onelapofamerica.com/event/CumResultsClass.do?eventId=39&className=Alt Fuel 
After seeing the success's the M3's are having, I think it's about time to get back into the game with my Stealth M3P. Might as well have some fun on the track as well! More challenging than the Drag Strip, and it's time to try out that track mode, with some real tires.


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## Taxed2Death

Jim H said:


> ..., and repeat.
> http://www.onelapofamerica.com/event/CumResultsClass.do?eventId=39&className=Alt Fuel
> After seeing the success's the M3's are having...


The name of the team is priceless.


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## OldnSlo

After driving Buttonwillow in Tesla Corsa 2 with my wife I knew that to do another Track day I wanted to have dedicated track wheels and tires and an upgrade in brakes. At a minimum I wanted to get another set of stock wheels and tires that I could flog as I'm staying in the beginner class for now to work on my lines, but also have a hard time not charging into corners. We have the P3- with the 18" Aero wheels and the MXM tires as our daily drivers.

As luck would have it I recently found a set of used 18" aftermarket wheels (Ambit RE18) with 255/40/18 Bridgestone RE71R's. What luck ! Put them on to test them out for a week and even my wife says they go around corners really nice ! Hmmmm. So now for the brakes. I had thought of approaching Tesla to buy the stock Performance Upgrade Package brake system, but was led to believe they were only releasing them to those who had them as original equipment, which I didn't. The car is my wife's daily driver, although I am in line to "inherit" it when the Model Y we ordered gets delivered probably sometime in 2021.

This week started with her desire to get her center console and steering wheel parts wrapped in satin silver as she was now tired of the fingerprints on the gloss black. We had looked at some of the online precut kits, but I wasn't especially happy with how those looked installed. She also had inquired about getting her brake calipers painted a light purple (her favorite color) which should go well with the silver color of the car (and the purple CA carpool stickers if we decide to deface the car with them). I was told that painting the calipers without removing them was an iffy thing as the paint could cause damage to the working parts if not done properly. Better was removing them completely and having them powder coated, but that would require a complete rebuild and would require the car to be down for a while. But this was something she'd like for Mothers Day so I did my best and bought a new bright red Brembo brake system so we could remove her brakes for a while. Unfortunately they don't make a rear upgrade kit for the Model 3 so I can't remove the rears until I can find a replacement, but the Brembos up front are very smooth and should be nicely seated by the end of June for Tesla Corsa 4. Unplugged did both the custom install of the wrap on her console and parts of the steering wheel and the installation of the 6 piston Brembo GT system (355x32 mm) along with the TS20 brake pads. Also added upgraded street/track rear brake pads, stainless steel performance brake lines, flush and Motul fluid. Hopefully I can eventually source a new or used set of the rear red performance brakes for the Model 3 and install them and then take both the stock front and rear calipers and get them powdercoated and rebuilt for her birthday later this summer (or maybe Christmas). I'll swap them back as I probably won't have another race day until next year, and the Brembo's will have served their purpose to make my wife happy. When I "inherit" the car the Brembo's can stay on full time. See you at Monterey, I think we'll be ready this time.


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## Jim H

A you tube video of the Pro Solo win for the M3P in New Jersey link. 




With the success the car is having, there is discussion regarding the M3P is too much for the class. Similar to what MPP reported when the EV was DSQ after winning at a track event for not using "gas".

The video shows how much of an advantage the M3P has over the BMW M1, and this was in wet conditions. Clearly the ICE industry is not pleased with what Tesla has produced.


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## Rocklobster

Well. We did it. We finished Onelap and finished pretty well. 17th overall out of 77 cars, 1st in alternative fuel class, 2nd in stock touring side class (should have been first, top finisher was a grossly misclassed camaro, 2 doors in a 4 door class and modified). My co-driver got really fast and scored some top 10 finishes, I did not adapt as well to how this car needs be be driven fast. Track mode is a potent weapon but the car takes a different approach to get ultimate speed out of it than ICE cars we've driven. Our biggest challenge was we were unable to find proper track brakes for the rear, nobody had anything useful available. The fronts, from racing brake, pads and rotors, were solid but we had to baby the rears a bit, all week. It didnt matter in the events where it was raining but we completly cooked a set of brakes at Road America which should surprise nobody who has driven there. The car has SO much more potential and in stock form is a top 10 car with good brakes. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4s 265/40R18 tires performed amazingly. It's just astonishing the leaps and bounds of tire tech in the past decade. 300 TW rubber of today has grip levels of R-comps from 10-15 years ago. I firmly believe with some development, including suspension upgrades, which would lower and stiffen up the car a bit with a motorsport damper setup, and upgrades to allow caster, camber, and toe alingment changes front and rear, this car could compete for an overall win, especially if a few events are wet. Anyone who has the budget to do this in the forthcoming roadster, assuming it arrives as advertized, will murder the field.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/...-one-lap-of-america-toughest-street-car-race/

teampgr1 on instagram

teampgr on youtube and twitter


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## donymo

Fantastic! 
Great to see a Model 3 do so well.
One of my track friends, Jack Beachum, has run this event in his Ariel Atom in the past.


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## Jim H

Rocklobster said:


> Well. We did it. We finished Onelap and finished pretty well. 17th overall out of 77 cars, 1st in alternative fuel class, 2nd in stock touring side class (should have been first, top finisher was a grossly misclassed camaro, 2 doors in a 4 door class and modified). My co-driver got really fast and scored some top 10 finishes, I did not adapt as well to how this car needs be be driven fast. Track mode is a potent weapon but the car takes a different approach to get ultimate speed out of it than ICE cars we've driven. Our biggest challenge was we were unable to find proper track brakes for the rear, nobody had anything useful available. The fronts, from racing brake, pads and rotors, were solid but we had to baby the rears a bit, all week. It didnt matter in the events where it was raining but we completly cooked a set of brakes at Road America which should surprise nobody who has driven there. The car has SO much more potential and in stock form is a top 10 car with good brakes. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4s 265/40R17 tires performed amazingly. It's just astonishing the leaps and bounds of tire tech in the past decade. 300 TW rubber of today has grip levels of R-comps from 10-15 years ago. I firmly believe with some development, including suspension upgrades, which would lower and stiffen up the car a bit with a motorsport damper setup, and upgrades to allow caster, camber, and toe alingment changes front and rear, this car could compete for an overall win, especially if a few events are wet. Anyone who has the budget to do this in the forthcoming roadster, assuming it arrives as advertized, will murder the field.
> 
> https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/...-one-lap-of-america-toughest-street-car-race/
> 
> teampgr1 on instagram
> 
> teampgr on youtube and twitter


Great job on the One Lap finish. Good to see the car can compete in this difficult event. Also good to see the charging between the events did not pose a problem. Many miles between the events, not much sleep, makes a long week. 
I noticed you listed the 265/40 17's. Which 17''s fit over the P brakes? What offset are the wheels for the 265''s not to rub up front?


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## Needsdecaf

Rocklobster said:


> Well. We did it. We finished Onelap and finished pretty well. 17th overall out of 77 cars, 1st in alternative fuel class, 2nd in stock touring side class (should have been first, top finisher was a grossly misclassed camaro, 2 doors in a 4 door class and modified). My co-driver got really fast and scored some top 10 finishes, I did not adapt as well to how this car needs be be driven fast. Track mode is a potent weapon but the car takes a different approach to get ultimate speed out of it than ICE cars we've driven. Our biggest challenge was we were unable to find proper track brakes for the rear, nobody had anything useful available. The fronts, from racing brake, pads and rotors, were solid but we had to baby the rears a bit, all week. It didnt matter in the events where it was raining but we completly cooked a set of brakes at Road America which should surprise nobody who has driven there. The car has SO much more potential and in stock form is a top 10 car with good brakes. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4s 265/40R17 tires performed amazingly. It's just astonishing the leaps and bounds of tire tech in the past decade. 300 TW rubber of today has grip levels of R-comps from 10-15 years ago. I firmly believe with some development, including suspension upgrades, which would lower and stiffen up the car a bit with a motorsport damper setup, and upgrades to allow caster, camber, and toe alingment changes front and rear, this car could compete for an overall win, especially if a few events are wet. Anyone who has the budget to do this in the forthcoming roadster, assuming it arrives as advertized, will murder the field.
> 
> https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/...-one-lap-of-america-toughest-street-car-race/
> 
> teampgr1 on instagram
> 
> teampgr on youtube and twitter


Awesome, contrats! How much of a PITA was it to charge? Curious to see how you handled that.

EDIT: just read the article and sounded like charging wasn't too bad. So sounds like you averaged 391 wh/mile including all the timed track events? Not bad!

I disagree with Brock Yates Jr's assessment that an EV won't win this "in his lifetime". Not unless he drops dead in the next 5 years. I could easily see a Roadster winning this, or even something like a Rimic or the Pininfarina car from Geneva.



donymo said:


> Fantastic!
> Great to see a Model 3 do so well.
> One of my track friends, Jack Beachum, has run this event in his Ariel Atom in the past.


Must have been a lot of fun during the transit stages!


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## Rocklobster

I think a model 3 has a legit shot at a podium finish. Especially a developed one. The car needs to be lowered, be stiffer with more tunable suspension, good dampers, all alignment adjustable, etc. Also needs rear downforce, so a wing and/or a properly developed diffuser would go a long way.

But, if the next gen roadster is delivered as anything close to advertized by tesla, it would murder the field, assuming no failures and decent drivers.



Jim H said:


> Great job on the One Lap finish. Good to see the car can compete in this difficult event. Also good to see the charging between the events did not pose a problem. Many miles between the events, not much sleep, makes a long week.
> I noticed you listed the 265/40 17's. Which 17''s fit over the P brakes? What offset are the wheels for the 265''s not to rub up front?


Typo, actually used 265/40R18s on 18x9.5 +35 enkei PF01. With the racing brake rotor hats it's like running a 3mm spacer also. So if you were running stock brakes you would need a 3mm spacer to make it work properly on a performance car.



donymo said:


> Fantastic!
> Great to see a Model 3 do so well.
> One of my track friends, Jack Beachum, has run this event in his Ariel Atom in the past.


Funny the guys who ran the Model S, their original intent was to run it in an Ariel Atom that was turbocharged with 700hp. They kept twisting axles off....the models was actually their distant 3rd option.

Pictures: https://highlanddesignstudio.pixieset.com/team72-2019oloa/


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## orekart

BRAID USA 17x7+25 wheels fit the Dual Motor don't know yet about the M3P+ willing to meet up if any M3P+ owner is curious.


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## SD Tesla

Had such a good time at the event! Now all I can think about are the modifications that I want to make. Which would you do first?


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## doczila

Had a great time with the Tesla Corsa and Unplugged Performance crew at Laguna Seca. Beautiful day and perfect weather.

RWD with T-sportline springs, UP brake pads and sway bars. Stock 18 wheels/tires Michelin MXM4. Can't wait for the next one!!! Hopefully I will have a Performance Model 3 by then 

Tesla Corsa 4 Session 1 - Advanced Group
Tesla Corsa 4 Session 2 - Advanced Group


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## Jim H

This week SCCA has the National Championship competition in Lincoln, NE. The competition started off this weekend with the Pro Solo Finale. The Pro Solo combines a Xmas tree start and then proceeds to two mirror image autocross courses. Early in the year the Model 3P cars had some success, but leveled off somewhat as the year progressed. This weekend at the Pro Solo Finale, the M3P prevailed again. The winning M3P in BS, was driven by David Marcus from the Florida region. David started the year out in a BMW M2, but chose the M3P over the BMW and dominated the field at the finale.. David beat out some of the best best Solo drivers in the nation. The field was made up of BMW M2's, Ford Shelby GT 350, another M3P, and a Lotus Evora.
The SCCA National Championship's starts on Tue. with the Tesla's running Thur and Fri. Many Tesla M3P's are entered, and I'll follow up with a review once that is completed.
Pro Solo results: http://sololive.scca.com/BS.php


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## dburkland

Jim H said:


> This week SCCA has the National Championship competition in Lincoln, NE. The competition started off this weekend with the Pro Solo Finale. The Pro Solo combines a Xmas tree start and then proceeds to two mirror image autocross courses. Early in the year the Model 3P cars had some success, but leveled off somewhat as the year progressed. This weekend at the Pro Solo Finale, the M3P prevailed again. The winning M3P in BS, was driven by David Marcus from the Florida region. David started the year out in a BMW M2, but chose the M3P over the BMW and dominated the field at the finale.. David beat out some of the best best Solo drivers in the nation. The field was made up of BMW M2's, Ford Shelby GT 350, another M3P, and a Lotus Evora.
> The SCCA National Championship's starts on Tue. with the Tesla's running Thur and Fri. Many Tesla M3P's are entered, and I'll follow up with a review once that is completed.
> Pro Solo results: http://sololive.scca.com/BS.php


Looking forward to hearing how the Teslas do!


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## ynguldyn

M3P (David Marcus) is leading in BS after its first day!


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## Jim H

David Marcus driving a M3P has won BS at the Solo II National Championships today. David won the Pro Solo Finale this past weekend and year end BS class win for the Pro. Now he adds the National Championship to that achievement and shows how great of a performer the Tesla Model 3 Performance car is. The M3P beat out a Shelby Gt 350, a Lotus Evora, a Ford Focus RS, a BMW M2, and a BMW M1 for the win. Tesla M3P had 3 trophy positions. First, Ninth, and Thirteenth. The M3P has proven itself on the drag strip, and now a Solo II National Championship as well. Looks like Elon was correct when he said the M3P out perform's everything in it's class. 
Great achievement for David Marcus and for Tesla.


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## ynguldyn

David didn't just win a random class - he outdrove Mark Daddio who's usually referred to as an "alien" for his inhuman driving skills.


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## Jim H

Jim H said:


> David Marcus driving a M3P has won BS at the Solo II National Championships today. David won the Pro Solo Finale this past weekend and year end BS class win for the Pro. Now he adds the National Championship to that achievement and shows how great of a performer the Tesla Model 3 Performance car is. The M3P beat out a Shelby Gt 350, a Lotus Evora, a Ford Focus RS, a BMW M2, and a BMW M1 for the win. Tesla M3P had 3 trophy positions. First, Ninth, and Thirteenth. The M3P has proven itself on the drag strip, and now a Solo II National Championship as well. Looks like Elon was correct when he said the M3P out perform's everything in it's class.
> Great achievement for David Marcus and for Tesla.


Just received my November "SPORTSCAR" from SCCA, and the winning Tesla made cover. "For The Record, David Marcus becomes SCCA's first National Champion in an electric car."
Pretty big deal, not only beating out great drivers in great cars, but making cover as well. This was David's second championship, and described driving the Tesla as "Fast but not fun. If you're accelerating, it's amazing, if you're not, it's somewhat painful. I wanted the car to win." So did we !
Great job for David and Tesla.


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## Needsdecaf

That’s really cool. Wonder how much better it would be with decent seats.


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## EchoCharlie3189

Needsdecaf said:


> That's really cool. Wonder how much better it would be with decent seats.


I wonder if anyone has tried the Unplugged performance FIA approved 4-point harness. I really like the seats they show in the picture too and would love to see that seat and a 6-point combo somewhere:
https://unpluggedperformance.com/pr...ia-4pt-racing-harness-for-tesla-applications/


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## Jim H

Jim H said:


> Just received my November "SPORTSCAR" from SCCA, and the winning Tesla made cover. "For The Record, David Marcus becomes SCCA's first National Champion in an electric car."
> Pretty big deal, not only beating out great drivers in great cars, but making cover as well. This was David's second championship, and described driving the Tesla as "Fast but not fun. If you're accelerating, it's amazing, if you're not, it's somewhat painful. I wanted the car to win." So did we !
> Great job for David and Tesla.


Update to this post. As result of the M3P great performance at SCCA National's in 2019, SCCA has re classed the M3P from BS to SS starting Jan. 1 2020. That class is the top stock class there is for SCCA Solo competition. Included in this class are Porsche GT3's, Nissan GTR's, McLaren's 650s, some serious fast cars. 
It was bound to happen, most concern revolved around the OTA updates. A car classed at the beginning of the year, has the potential to have increased performance with OTA updates, so that same car's performance is different than it was when initially classed. Of course this only applies to the Tesla M3P for now, but the non P cars are also being looked at after the recent performance boost option. OTA updates are certainly the future, now that Tesla has shown the way, and car classifications for racing have an interesting challenge ahead.
Seems that Tesla is making waves in all areas of the Automotive industry.


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