Last night I took my 2016 Premium Plus to the drag strip for an evening of Bracket Racing. I arrived with a full charge thanks to using Charging Mode on the way to the track. In total I made eight passes, five testing and three racing before being eliminated.
Configuration:
"Start" car and wait for it to boot up.
Select Hybrid Mode
Change computer display to show RPM
Put car in drive
Play with Stability Control button until it would turn off. (Seems finicky - Sometimes I had to move slightly, set sport mode, etc. to get it to engage)
Put car in Sport mode
Mute radio
Hide MMI display
Confirm A/C Off
The car was generally very consistent with quarter mile passes between 15.35 and 15.55 seconds and 93-94 MPH in the traps in fifth gear at about 5000 RPM. It seemed like shifting at 5000 RPM was best although that could use some more testing. It would also be interesting to try Hold and maybe even Charging modes. Another time.
However, there was a vexing inconsistency in launch. This thing is a pig off the line. I was up to 0.8 seconds slower in 60 foot times than my competition. If this thing could launch, it would be really fun and would run 14s!
Anybody know how to make this car launch from a standing start?
I'd do my best to engage/keep the gas motor engaged at the line by holding the brake and playing with the throttle, sometime successfully, sometimes not. The run in which I was eliminated I was unable to keep the engine running and had a 2.9 second 60 foot time, the worst of the night. That also messed with my reaction time so I lost. Maybe leaving the car in Charging mode would better keep the engine running. Come to think of it, I did set charging mode while waiting in line once to put some juice back in the battery. I was pleasantly surprised that the battery charge didn't drop off precipitously. Perhaps repeated 90+ to 10 MPH hard braking helped! I left the track with 2/3 battery available for the drive home.
I had a fun evening.
Configuration:
"Start" car and wait for it to boot up.
Select Hybrid Mode
Change computer display to show RPM
Put car in drive
Play with Stability Control button until it would turn off. (Seems finicky - Sometimes I had to move slightly, set sport mode, etc. to get it to engage)
Put car in Sport mode
Mute radio
Hide MMI display
Confirm A/C Off
The car was generally very consistent with quarter mile passes between 15.35 and 15.55 seconds and 93-94 MPH in the traps in fifth gear at about 5000 RPM. It seemed like shifting at 5000 RPM was best although that could use some more testing. It would also be interesting to try Hold and maybe even Charging modes. Another time.
However, there was a vexing inconsistency in launch. This thing is a pig off the line. I was up to 0.8 seconds slower in 60 foot times than my competition. If this thing could launch, it would be really fun and would run 14s!
Anybody know how to make this car launch from a standing start?
I'd do my best to engage/keep the gas motor engaged at the line by holding the brake and playing with the throttle, sometime successfully, sometimes not. The run in which I was eliminated I was unable to keep the engine running and had a 2.9 second 60 foot time, the worst of the night. That also messed with my reaction time so I lost. Maybe leaving the car in Charging mode would better keep the engine running. Come to think of it, I did set charging mode while waiting in line once to put some juice back in the battery. I was pleasantly surprised that the battery charge didn't drop off precipitously. Perhaps repeated 90+ to 10 MPH hard braking helped! I left the track with 2/3 battery available for the drive home.
I had a fun evening.