Road Racing, anyone?

[sTeeve]

Spent 7 laps chasing a gaggle of i3s around Road Atlanta last Saturday.

What a hoot! The Spark EV performed well on stock tires and suspension.

A little squirrely, yes, but gobs of power. It easily kept up with the Bimmers!

 

[Homer]

That's a great pic!

 

[Zoomit]

Tell us more about the this. EV only HPDE? Who put it on?

 

[sTeeve]

Tell us more about the this. EV only HPDE? Who put it on?

BMWCCA racing event. Some of my fellow EV Club of the South members are also BMWCCA members, and they invited me to tag along for their "parade laps". Cost $10. Georgia has seen an explosion of DC fast charging stations within the last 24 months; no problem having enough juice to drive up to Braselton, plug in to one of the many RV hookups at the track for an hour or so, drive the 7 laps, plug in again over burgers and fries, then hit a CCS on the way home. Fun day!

 

[Zoomit]

Interesting, thanks.

 

[Nashco]

For those interested in doing track days, my 2014 Spark EV is good for about 27 minutes at full tilt at PIR. Moderate ambient temps meant the AC never came on for battery/power electronics chilling. 20 minutes with no derate would be totally doable on any track and any conditions with either 2014 or 2015+. Beyond 20 minutes, YMMV. I've seen pretty similar amounts of time with hillclimbs, but autocrosses seem to get slightly more drive time (probably due to lower speeds and lower percentage of time on the go pedal).

Bryce

 

[Zoomit]

Have you run on long tracks where you hit the 90 mph limit?

 

[sTeeve]

For those interested in doing track days, my 2014 Spark EV is good for about 27 minutes at full tilt at PIR. Moderate ambient temps meant the AC never came on for battery/power electronics chilling. 20 minutes with no derate would be totally doable on any track and any conditions with either 2014 or 2015+. Beyond 20 minutes, YMMV. I've seen pretty similar amounts of time with hillclimbs, but autocrosses seem to get slightly more drive time (probably due to lower speeds and lower percentage of time on the go pedal).

Bryce

Interesting observations, Bryce. That was my first ever "track day". What a gas! I saw 87 mph, but I was really ignoring the instruments and concentrating on driving, since I was unfamiliar with both car and track. Last thing I wanted to do was to wad it.

This coming Sunday is autoX at Atlanta Motor Speedway (http://peachtreebmwcca.org/index.php/autocross). I've been invited by my i3-driving friends to partake. Should be fun.

Incidentally, at Road Atlanta last Saturday: I arrived at the track with 50 mi range remaining. Plugged-in to my Juicebox Pro on an RV hookup for 69 min netted me 10 mi range. So, we're pulling-on to the track with 60 mi range remaining. After 7 laps, not all of them hot laps, by the way, I was showing 21 mi range remaining.

I wish I had activated Torque Pro before track day so that I could have gathered more information like HV battery temp, SOC, etc.

I'll definitely be doing that at autoX...still on stock tires/suspension...<sigh>

Cheers,
-Bob K.

 

[Nashco]

Have you run on long tracks where you hit the 90 mph limit?

Long tracks? Ha! It only takes about a quarter mile to hit 90, and if you're already going 50 coming out of the corner you hit the speed limiter really quickly. On the back stretch at PIR, I'm at the speed limiter about halfway down the straight and just cruising for a few seconds. I hit the speed limiter on the front stretch, but not as long. Sure is a silly speed limit!

Bryce

 

[Nashco]

Interesting observations, Bryce. That was my first ever "track day". What a gas! I saw 87 mph, but I was really ignoring the instruments and concentrating on driving, since I was unfamiliar with both car and track. Last thing I wanted to do was to wad it.

I hear ya! Definitely wise to take it easy and focus on the car. I had tons of seat time in mine before I felt confident taking it to hillclimbs and track days, where the risk is drastically higher. Even with plenty of car and mental prep, the pucker factor is plenty high using a brand new car for high speed events.

Bryce

 

[suparukuibi]

This is great/funny! Those BMWs with the skinny tires must have been cornering at an amazing 0.72G's!