Tesla Details Plaid Track Mode, Rolling Out for Model S in North America

Tesla has officially announced on its blog the introduction of Plaid Track Mode, now rolling out for its Model S sedans in North America.

Plaid Track Mode made its debut with software update 2021.44.30 for Model S owners this week. Tesla’s Track Mode first debuted back in 2018 for the Model 3 Performance, but now it’s available for the fastest production car on the planet.

“With Plaid Track Mode our goals were simple: achieve the quickest lap time for a production electric vehicle at Germany’s Nürburgring, and allow individual adjustability of stability control, handling balance and regenerative braking to give drivers more authority over vehicle control at the racetrack,” explained Tesla.

Plaid Track Mode was made to maximize the company’s tri-motor platform and over 1,000 horsepower, with the following features–check out the brief overview (more details are on Tesla’s blog post):

• Optimized Powertrain Cooling – battery and motors keep cooler for longer; also increased regenerative braking to better recapture energy and reduce load on brakes for better thermal management
• Lateral Torque Vectoring – Model S Plaid’s dual rear motors enable full lateral torque vectoring, allowing for increased cornering speeds and harder acceleration on corner exits
• Adjustable Vehicle Dynamics – “Tesla’s Vehicle Dynamics Controller (VDC) evaluates steering angle, accelerator, and brake pedal inputs to determine where the driver wants to place the car and will permit tire slippage and automatically adjust torque split to give the driver even more authority and improved agility during high-speed cornering”, explains the company
• Adaptive Suspension Damping – allows for “reduced pitch during hard braking and fast acceleration, rebalanced damping to improve responsiveness, and faster settling of vehicle disturbances over bumpy segments to increase driver confidence.”
• Performance UI – “track-focused user interface to provide critical performance data, including a vehicle thermals monitor, lap timer, G-meter, dashcam video capture and vehicle telemetry,” says Tesla.

Tesla says with Plaid Track Mode, the new features will allow a Model S Plaid to be “as quick around a racetrack as it is at the drag strip.”

“Our approach focuses on allowing greater driver control and adjustability while promoting driver confidence, and like most aspects of Tesla vehicles, we’ll continue to improve Plaid Track Mode over time with future over-the-air updates,” concludes Tesla.

Tesla says it recommends owners purchase the Model S Plaid Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit and Model 3 Track Package for the “most ultimate track experience.”

Check out the video of Plaid Track Mode versus Dragstrip Mode below in 2021.44.30 from i1Tesla: