Tesla is ready to race: Elon Musk’s firm releases ‘track mode’ update for the $64,000 Performance version of its Model 3 car
- Update will dramatically change the performance of the car
- Is designed to only be used on a track or on closed roads
- Will allow owners to ‘drift’ their car around corners and boost responsiveness
Tesla has finally released a ‘track mode’ software update for its $64,000 Performance Model 3 car.
It will allow owners to race their cars, and even drift them, with a host of performance boosts.
Tesla boasts the update will ‘make highly technical driving effortless’ and ‘make any track driver, amateur or professional, feel superhuman on a track.’
Owners who paid for the Performance version of the car will receive the update for free.
‘Since the introduction of Tesla Roadster in 2008, we’ve exploited the immediate availability of motor power and torque to achieve unprecedented straight-line performance, making the car’s forward acceleration a pure extension of the driver,’ Tesla said.
‘With Track Mode, which is designed specifically for use on closed autocross circuits and racetracks, our goal was simple: use that same motor power and torque to make cornering on the track feel just as natural as forward acceleration.’
The update will also allow owners to tweak their car.
‘With track mode, we want to open up a bunch of settings,’ Musk said in a previous interview.
‘You can adjust settings. It’s kind of an expert mode and you can sort of adjust traction control, adjust battery temperature – you can basically configure a bunch of things.’
WHAT IS TESLA’S LUDICROUS MODE?
The name ‘Ludicrous mode’ comes from Mel Brooks’ 1987 ‘Star Wars’ spoof ‘Spaceballs,’ where a spaceship is able to surpass light speed – traveling so fast it turns plaid.
It adds a ‘smart fuse’ to a car’s battery pack to the motors which improves the responsiveness of the motors, speeding up its acceleration times.
The mode is currently available as a $10,000 option on the Model S and Model X.
It allows the Model S to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds – and now, in 2.5 seconds in the new P100D.
Tesla had referred to a previous package as ‘Insane Mode.’
The Model 3 can go from 0-60mph in under six seconds. However, the exact change in performance with Ludicrous mode remains a mystery.
Earlier this year, a car website took passengers on a ride in the dual motor sedan and filmed their reactions when Insane mode hits. The Ludicrous mode promises to be even faster
Elon Musk is also considering launching a feature called ‘dog mode,’ for when canine owners have to step away from their vehicle for some time while their pooch is still inside.
The idea was prompted by a request from a Tesla owner on Twitter.
Twitter user Josh Atchley asked Musk if he could implement a ‘dog mode’ feature ‘where the music plays and the AC is on, with a display on screen saying ‘I’m fine my owner will be right back.”
To this, Musk simply replied: ‘Yes.’
WHAT IS TESLA’S MODEL 3 ELECTRIC CAR?
Tesla’s Model 3 is the company’s first lower-cost, high-volume car.
The electric sedan is crucial to Tesla’s goal of becoming a profitable, mainstream automaker.
The five-seat sedan will travel 215 miles (133 kilometres) on a single charge.
It will be sporty, accelerating from zero to 60mph (0-100kph) in under six seconds.
The Model 3 is Tesla’s first lower-cost, high-volume car. The first models of the $35,000 (£27,000) electric vehicle began production in July 2017
The car has no traditional dashboard, but instead a computer monitor in the center of the car which shows details about the car and its route.
It will be controlled via a touchscreen and each side of the steering wheel will have a single scroll button.
The first models of the $35,000 (£27,000) electric vehicle began production in July 2017.
But the company has suffered production woes ever since, frequently missing the targets it set itself when the vehicle was announced in 2016.