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  • Tesla owners ready for track day as Tesla Corsa expands its racing community

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    By Dacia J. Ferris

    Posted on March 24, 2019

    Tesla Corsa is back for its third Tesla-only racetrack experience on Sunday, March 31 at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in California. Having completed two successful track events this past January and October, the Tesla Corsa looks to fill a few remaining open slots that would give Tesla owners the opportunity to experience the all-electric performance benefits of their vehicles in a safe, controlled environment.

    Tesla owners looking to have some fun on the track will be matched by driving experience and also by their vehicle’s power and handling characteristics. The event encourages Roadster, Model S, Model X, and Model 3 owners to fully enjoy the unique track experience while providing a sense of community and platform for exchanging tips and techniques.

    “This is a scenario where it’s a lot easier for drivers from a safety perspective, but also a lot easier for drivers to learn from each other, compare notes, and improve their driving,” Unplugged Performance Co-Founder Avi Fisher told eBay. Unplugged is Tesla Corsa’s sponsor and organizer.

    Tesla drivers on the racetrack during Tesla Corsa’s inaugural event in October 2018. | Credit: Tesla Corsa

    Tesla drivers zipping around the racetrack during Tesla Corsa’s January event. | Credit: Tesla Corsa

    Tesla owners are generally aware of the great performance specs their vehicles offer but lack the opportunity to fully experience them, thus missing out on so many opportunities the ownership experience can bring. Even highway speeds can’t legally and safely provide a venue for a Model S Performance to unleash Ludicrous Mode’s maximum potential, for example. Similarly, Tesla’s Track Mode optimizes their electric cars’ performance and handling so drivers can push the limits of their vehicles in the same types of environments offered by Tesla Corsa.

    The experience of pushing a Tesla to high-performance levels on the track has the added potential bonus of delivering a driving skill set that enhances overall safety, something Fisher was sure to mention to us.

    “For anyone, the opportunity to explore the car in a safe environment is incredibly fun and rewarding. It’s a whole side of your Tesla that many never get to experience…A natural byproduct of this is that if you are ever in an emergency avoidance type of scenario your ability to control your car under adverse conditions is significantly improved.”

    Anyone wanting to simply be a spectator during the Tesla Corsa event is also welcome with no fee required besides the $10 gate fee, something which also applies to drivers to gain access to Buttonwillow’s track.

    “Like any Tesla-owner event, there is a great chance to network. In the case of the last event, it was especially cool for attendees because Tesla sent a lot of their own staff there to interact with and interview Tesla owners. There were also a lot of SpaceX people there running their own cars or hanging out,” Fisher detailed. He also told us that Tesla Corsa has a private Facebook group for attendees where a lot of daily discussion takes place.

    A racetrack event like Tesla Corsa’s involves plenty of memory making, and that’s also been factored into the whole experience. As part of the participation fee, drivers are given access to everything produced by the professional photographers and videographers present on behalf of Tesla Corsa, both on and off track. Fisher explained to us that Tesla Corsa purchases the photos and videos produced and gives attendees full rights to them.

    The long-term plans for Tesla Corsa’s organizers are to bring its racetrack events to Tesla drivers and enthusiasts worldwide and possibly get Tesla in on the action as a sponsor.

    Watch the below video for more about Tesla Corsa’s prior events and dreams for the future

    To participate, drivers can signup via Tesla Corsa’s website. Both beginner and advanced drivers are welcome and will be grouped accordingly.

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    Tesla owners ready for track day as Tesla Corsa expands its racing community

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  • Tesla Model 3’s emergency braking system saves driver from icy collision

    Simon Alvarez

    By Simon Alvarez

    Posted on February 2, 2019

    A Tesla Model 3 owner is thanking his electric car’s emergency braking system after a recent close call on a dangerous, icy highway. A video of the nail-biting incident showed the electric sedan seemingly detecting and anticipating a road hazard well ahead of time, allowing its driver to successfully perform a “threading the needle” maneuver, avoiding a potentially deadly crash in the process.

    The short dashcam video showed the Tesla Model 3 navigating an icy highway smoothly, before it braked and moved to the right just as a stopped hatchback came into view. The Model 3 did not lose any traction when it performed the maneuver, unlike a white sedan that almost spun out when it evaded the vehicle.

    In a post on the r/TeslaModel3 subreddit, Long Range Model 3 AWD owner u/thenext44 noted that he felt his electric sedan start braking even before he saw the stopped car on the road. Sharing his insights further, the Tesla enthusiast noted that when he swerved to the right to avoid the other vehicle, he could feel the Model 3 keeping itself in a straight line. This allowed the electric car to avoid losing traction, similar to what happened to the white sedan in front, which almost spun out when it tried to evade the stopped car.

    Due to the circumstances of the incident, the Model 3 owner admitted that he was not really sure if Autopilot was engaged when his car’s emergency braking system kicked into gear. Explaining further, the Tesla enthusiast explained that the trip had been a six-hour drive, and that there have been times when Autopilot disengaged due to the weather. That said, the Tesla community member lightly stated that after he successfully threaded the needle, he immediately felt relief.

    Tesla’s vehicles are among the safest cars on the road today, and this has been evident in the accolades the Model 3 has received since its release. Last year alone, the Model 3 received a “superior” front crash avoidance rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a nonprofit organization funded by auto insurers dedicated to reducing the number of accidents and injuries on the road. During the IIHS’ evaluation, the Model 3 showed impeccable automatic braking capabilities, reducing its speed by more than 10 mph during the organization’s 12 mph test, and exhibiting a speed reduction of over 22 mph in the 25 mph test.

    Just like its two larger siblings, the Model 3 boasts an incredibly high safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Last August, the safety organization gave the electric sedan a perfect 5-Star safety rating in all categories and subcategories. In its frontal crash, side crash, and rollover tests, the Model 3 performed superbly, displaying a level of industry-leading driver and passenger safety. Analyzing the Model 3’s NHTSA results, Tesla has noted that the electric sedan is the vehicle with the lowest probability of injury among all cars that the agency has tested so far. 

    Watch the Tesla Model 3’s automatic braking system in action in the video below.

    Threading the needle. Model 3 auto braked and kept from sliding out, avoiding a crash while driving too fast for conditions. from TeslaModel3

    Tesla Model 3’s emergency braking system saves driver from icy collision

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  • VR Might Let Us Drive Whatever We Want

    It might be about time for people who are serious about the auto industry to start paying attention to virtual reality. Up to this point, some hesitation would have been understandable. Virtual reality has been a little bit underwhelming in the gaming and action arenas, primarily putting forth spins on – but not necessarily improvements upon – existing types of gaming. There are several different examples.

    Shooters – VR developers are approaching FPS games in different ways (FPS standing for first person shooter), and no one’s quite landed on a jackpot just yet. Locomotion in FPS games can be jarring when in FPS, which has led some to develop what are called “rail shooters,” in which you move along a determined track, only moving your field of vision and controlling your gun. That, though, has left some gamers bored or uninspired. In short, some VR shooting games have been fun, but none have been groundbreaking, which is a disappointment when you consider the popularity of the genre.

    Casino Games – Casino games have been designed in VR, but the trouble may be demand in this case. While it’s true that we’re always looking for more immersive experiences, casino games just don’t require virtual environments. People are attracted to poker tournaments online, and different themes in arcade and slot games. They spend time looking for casino bonuses that can basically give you free money to play with, rather than worrying about the 3D quality of a slot reel. It could be that VR will eventually hit – particularly where poker is concerned – but for now casino games seem to be doing just fine online, with VR adding little to the experience.

    Character Games – Have you heard of Lucky’s Tale? It’s a good bet many readers haven’t, which is actually astounding given that just last year it was written that it could be Microsoft’s biggest VR game. The plan was for “Lucky,” a cartoon fox, to be a sort of foundational character for a VR franchise, in the vein of Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog. For now though, the idea of a character-based platform arcade for VR just doesn’t seem to have been a good enough fit to catch on.

    Basically, they’re all fine, or capable of being fine. But none of these prominent types of games have produced anything special. Driving games can.

    In a driving VR game, everything just makes a little more sense, because sitting at home and looking around in VR isn’t so very different from sitting in the driver’s seat and doing the same. As a result, driving games can be beautifully overwhelming, as one write-up with some gorgeous visual examples put it. It can feel truly immersive, and thus incredibly exciting, to race around in virtual reality. And even better, VR has the potential to allow us to drive any vehicle we could possibly want. That might mean old classics, modern racing vehicles, hybrid combinations of existing cars, or even future concept cars or flying machines. It’s just a matter of how creative developers want to get, because at this point we know that this, more than any other type of gaming, works in VR.