Before the event, I Googled and didn't see any other posts anywhere about an Air being autocrossed so I figured I'd write up some of my experience for others to see.
Intro: First, for those who don't know, autocross is essentially a segment race on parking lot, runway, etc. with a bunch of cones set up to create slaloms, gates, etc. There is one car on a course at a time, and the course usually takes 30-60 seconds, depending on available space, set up of the day, etc., with speeds generally in the 30-50 mph range. This format of race strongly favors small cars like a Miata, BRZ/FR-S/GR86, karts, etc; however, there will usually be quite a few Corvettes and Mustangs, maybe some Camaros, that sort of thing. I generally take my BWM M4 convertible (F83) so I have plenty of experience, but this was my first with the Air.
I already have among the heaviest, if not the heaviest car, at my local autocross with my M4 (~4,000 lbs). However, it has wider, stickier summer performance tires (PS4S) and has a much stiffer chassis and suspension. Our Air is on the stock 19 inch tires with 245 width, so I knew traction would be an issue, especially with the ~5,000lb curb weight.
The event I was at yesterday was on an old part of a local airport, so it is long and narrow, which usually means slightly faster speeds because there's only so much to do with a long rectangular patch of concrete.
Launch Control: I used launch control for the first time yesterday (used on all six runs) and wow is it easy to activate. Sprint mode, full brake, full gas, send it. (So the only button that was actually pushed was sprint mode.) Launch mode isn't super necessary since I hit the first slalom at around 40mph, but it was still fun.
Experience: I lowered the tire pressures in all four tires to 42 psi before the first run and did not adjust throughout the day. I chalked the tires before the first run and was satisfied with the wear.
As expected, the narrow tires limit cornering G-forces, though the TrackAddict app still got me at 1.0 G at a couple points (I can do ~1.3 Gs in my M4). Braking felt pretty good since the car does have big brakes, though again, the tires limit how quickly I can brake and I had to noticeably brake earlier than in the M4. Traction control also kicked in a fair amount coming out of corners (and I really wish I could control how aggressive the traction control is). When smooth on the accelerator, and into the (short) straights, the car really does get up and go though! The Air will definitely out accelerate my M4 (and most autocross cars). And that's "only" with the Pure's 480 hp.
When street driving, I always use high regenerative braking so I started with sprint mode and high. I left foot brake but still didn't really like the feel of the high regenerative braking so I turned it to standard for the next five runs. I probably could've kept it in high and got used to it, though.
My time started at 43.2 the first run and I took about a second off each of the following three runs to get to 40.5. My final three runs were all within a tenth of a second. It was actually fairly easy to get used to the car, how it wanted to handle, where to brake, how to accelerate smoothly so traction control wouldn't annoy me too much, etc.
Model 3: There were three Model 3s at this event. Two 2018s and a 2023. One 2018 was on summer performance tires with 255 width and the other was on 245 RE-71Rs (the autocross tire). The 2023 is in a league of his own. His car is lowered, has some insane camber on the front, and has RE-71Rs in 295(!). He is consistently the "fastest car with doors" at my local club. Model 3s also weigh ~1,000lbs less than the Air so these competitors weigh significantly less and have better/wider tires so the comparison isn't great but the 2018s ran 38.7 and 40.5. I'm unsure of their experience level but they seemed to know what they were doing. The 2023 finished with 33.4, just a second off the best times that are in cars made specifically for autocross. But I'm pretty happy with how close my tire ended compared to the 2018s.
Efficiency: The car says I finished with 3.7 mi and 7 kWh used for an efficiency of 0.5 mi/kWh. After finishing each run, I exited my car and locked the doors so everything would shut off. I did not use the A/C while racing. My lifetime efficiency with almost 10k miles is 3.5 so I got about 1/7th of my normal efficiency.
My M4 gets ~23 mpg in normal driving (~27 on a highway) but only 6-8 mpg during track or autocross events. So it gets 1/3rd to a 1/4th while competing while the Air got 1/7th. Obviously fewer than four miles isn't much to go off but at least it's one data point.
Summary: It was fun and I'm glad I did it. It was also fun bringing my car out to an event with other car people because many actually knew what the car was, with varying degrees of knowledge, up to and including (not verbatim) "omg I've been wanting to get one of these and after riding with you for two runs I really want to purchase."
Will I do it again? Idk, maybe. Since I can only autocross one car at a time, I'd probably still prefer the M4. I would like to track the Air, but that's more expensive and that's where the efficiency really comes into play because I could really only do one 20-30 minute session before charging. And chargers aren't generally close to tracks (at least where I live).
Intro: First, for those who don't know, autocross is essentially a segment race on parking lot, runway, etc. with a bunch of cones set up to create slaloms, gates, etc. There is one car on a course at a time, and the course usually takes 30-60 seconds, depending on available space, set up of the day, etc., with speeds generally in the 30-50 mph range. This format of race strongly favors small cars like a Miata, BRZ/FR-S/GR86, karts, etc; however, there will usually be quite a few Corvettes and Mustangs, maybe some Camaros, that sort of thing. I generally take my BWM M4 convertible (F83) so I have plenty of experience, but this was my first with the Air.
I already have among the heaviest, if not the heaviest car, at my local autocross with my M4 (~4,000 lbs). However, it has wider, stickier summer performance tires (PS4S) and has a much stiffer chassis and suspension. Our Air is on the stock 19 inch tires with 245 width, so I knew traction would be an issue, especially with the ~5,000lb curb weight.
The event I was at yesterday was on an old part of a local airport, so it is long and narrow, which usually means slightly faster speeds because there's only so much to do with a long rectangular patch of concrete.
Launch Control: I used launch control for the first time yesterday (used on all six runs) and wow is it easy to activate. Sprint mode, full brake, full gas, send it. (So the only button that was actually pushed was sprint mode.) Launch mode isn't super necessary since I hit the first slalom at around 40mph, but it was still fun.
Experience: I lowered the tire pressures in all four tires to 42 psi before the first run and did not adjust throughout the day. I chalked the tires before the first run and was satisfied with the wear.
As expected, the narrow tires limit cornering G-forces, though the TrackAddict app still got me at 1.0 G at a couple points (I can do ~1.3 Gs in my M4). Braking felt pretty good since the car does have big brakes, though again, the tires limit how quickly I can brake and I had to noticeably brake earlier than in the M4. Traction control also kicked in a fair amount coming out of corners (and I really wish I could control how aggressive the traction control is). When smooth on the accelerator, and into the (short) straights, the car really does get up and go though! The Air will definitely out accelerate my M4 (and most autocross cars). And that's "only" with the Pure's 480 hp.
When street driving, I always use high regenerative braking so I started with sprint mode and high. I left foot brake but still didn't really like the feel of the high regenerative braking so I turned it to standard for the next five runs. I probably could've kept it in high and got used to it, though.
My time started at 43.2 the first run and I took about a second off each of the following three runs to get to 40.5. My final three runs were all within a tenth of a second. It was actually fairly easy to get used to the car, how it wanted to handle, where to brake, how to accelerate smoothly so traction control wouldn't annoy me too much, etc.
Model 3: There were three Model 3s at this event. Two 2018s and a 2023. One 2018 was on summer performance tires with 255 width and the other was on 245 RE-71Rs (the autocross tire). The 2023 is in a league of his own. His car is lowered, has some insane camber on the front, and has RE-71Rs in 295(!). He is consistently the "fastest car with doors" at my local club. Model 3s also weigh ~1,000lbs less than the Air so these competitors weigh significantly less and have better/wider tires so the comparison isn't great but the 2018s ran 38.7 and 40.5. I'm unsure of their experience level but they seemed to know what they were doing. The 2023 finished with 33.4, just a second off the best times that are in cars made specifically for autocross. But I'm pretty happy with how close my tire ended compared to the 2018s.
Efficiency: The car says I finished with 3.7 mi and 7 kWh used for an efficiency of 0.5 mi/kWh. After finishing each run, I exited my car and locked the doors so everything would shut off. I did not use the A/C while racing. My lifetime efficiency with almost 10k miles is 3.5 so I got about 1/7th of my normal efficiency.
My M4 gets ~23 mpg in normal driving (~27 on a highway) but only 6-8 mpg during track or autocross events. So it gets 1/3rd to a 1/4th while competing while the Air got 1/7th. Obviously fewer than four miles isn't much to go off but at least it's one data point.
Summary: It was fun and I'm glad I did it. It was also fun bringing my car out to an event with other car people because many actually knew what the car was, with varying degrees of knowledge, up to and including (not verbatim) "omg I've been wanting to get one of these and after riding with you for two runs I really want to purchase."
Will I do it again? Idk, maybe. Since I can only autocross one car at a time, I'd probably still prefer the M4. I would like to track the Air, but that's more expensive and that's where the efficiency really comes into play because I could really only do one 20-30 minute session before charging. And chargers aren't generally close to tracks (at least where I live).
