Hello again everyone! This is a quick update for our motorsport and EV racing enthusiasts. We’ve had a busy summer so far, and we’re now only a day away from our first-ever Model 3 Challenge taking place at Lime Rock Park. In addition, we’ve made some significant updates to our hybrid 350z which will also be at that event, along with Plaid.R which is coming off of an overall win at GridLife’s Mid-Ohio event!
First-Ever Model 3 Challenge This Weekend
Our first-ever Model 3 Challenge is starting on Friday morning, with 3 sessions per day. Drivers will be able to get a feeling of what it’s like to race with others in a safe environment – when a driver gets within a certain distance of the car ahead inside of a “detection zone”, the lead car must allow that chase car to pass on the next straightaway. Using MPP’s in-house developed electronics, we’ve matched the power levels to give close parity between RWD, AWD, and Performance cars, while also allowing them to run consistently for longer periods of time.
If you’d like to watch the Model 3 Challenge live, be sure to check out the GridLife live stream on YouTube! To learn more about the Model 3 Challenge, check out the website here. We have more events on the west coast in 2023. If you’ve done some lapping days and have MPP gear on your Model 3, you’re likely eligible to join this exciting series. Far more fun than open lapping, and longer lasting than single lap time attack.
KERS Kels – MPP’s Hybrid Electric GT Racecar Will Be At Circuit Legends
In addition to the Model 3 Challenge, we’ll be running our hybrid electric Nissan 350z at the same event. For 2023 we’ve added a number of developments to the car, the most stunning of which has to be the new widebody side skirts, quarter panels and the CFD-developed diffuser. We hope the Z will have plenty more power and downforce to compete for the unlimited lap record at Lime Rock Park.
A new in-house developed hybrid battery has passed two rounds of track testing and this will be the first event run with our new battery technology. With higher voltage and better cooling, we hope to run multiple laps in a row, giving the driver the chance to really focus on driving.
This car also has four-wheel steering, along with a paddle-shifted sequential gearbox and high revving naturally aspirated engine. Here’s a video where you can see how the rear steering system works thanks to live telemetry from our MoTeC data analysis system. We’ll post a similar video from Lime Rock this year.
Plaid.R will also be at Circuit Legends, hot off of a win from GridLife’s Mid-Ohio Mid-Summer Meet
We’re thankful that the Team PGR guys were able to make the very long journey from Minnesota to Ohio for GridLife’s Mid-Ohio Mid-Summer Meet, and it’s awesome that they did, because not only did they win their class, the Plaid.R ended up winning the Time Attack Podium Sprint OVERALL with a 1:27.874! That is a wild accomplishment considering there were many serious full-effort racecars at the event, including carbon-bodied corvettes on racing slicks and time-attack cars with wild aerodynamics. For perspective, according to Wikipedia, a factory-built GT4 racecar on racing slicks has a lap record also in the 1:27s – that shows you just how fast this road car is.
The MPP-built Plaid.R is very much still a comfortable road car, despite using custom competition dampers we’ve valved them quite soft with reasonable spring rates which makes the car not much harsher than the OE air suspension at the lowest ride height! The car also uses our MPP Easy Big Fella big brake kit, as well as all of the MPP suspension links and bearings. It’s incredible how few components are needed to make the car wildly fast.
Lime Rock will be a little bit more of a challenge for the Plaid as it is less of a power sensitive track, and favors lighter, higher downforce cars more. But let’s see how it can make out. Andy is a great driver and with how technical Lime Rock is, that should help a lot.
Catch It All Live
You can watch all of it live this Friday and Saturday – both the Z and the Plaid will likely be in the same run group, towards the end of the “Track Battle” sessions, and the Model 3 Challenge events will be live-streamed at the times indicated below. Here is the complete schedule. Be sure to follow our Instagram as well for all of the updates from us. Thanks for your support and we hope to put on a good show for all of you who are watching.
And of course, if you’re close to Salisbury, CT feel free to come visit the event on Friday Or Saturday. Tickets are still available here!
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