Tesla has once again raised the bar in electric vehicle performance with the release of the Model S Plaid Track Package, designed for the ultimate track experience. This comprehensive package delivers high-speed stability, maximum cornering force, and repeatable stopping power during high-performance driving while unlocking an impressive top speed of 200 mph.
Starting in June 2023, the Track Package comes with several excellent parts to make your car perform better and last longer, both on the racetrack and on regular streets:
Aluminum forged wheels: These wheels are made from strong and lightweight metal, which helps your car go faster and use less energy.
Track-ready tires: Special tires designed for better grip on the racetrack, making your car more stable when you drive fast or take sharp turns.
Brake fluid: A special liquid that helps your car's brakes work smoothly and efficiently, so you can stop quickly when needed.
Carbon-silicon carbide rotors: These are special brake discs made from a mix of materials that make them strong and good at handling heat, which helps your brakes last longer.
One-piece forged calipers with high-performance pads are powerful clamps that squeeze your brakes for better stopping power. They're made from a single piece of metal, which makes them more robust, and they have special pads for better performance.
The Model S Plaid has already been showered with accolades for its speed and performance. A quick YouTube search will reveal hundreds of videos showing the Model S leaving super cars in the dust, or blowing past cars on the Autobahn.
Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit: A Game-Changer for Braking Performance
The Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit is the heart of the Track Package, featuring continuous-fiber technology and a unique 3D matrix to add strength and manage heat more effectively. The kit includes 410 x 40mm front and 410 x 32mm rear carbon-silicon carbide rotors, 6-piston and 4-piston one-piece forged calipers with high-performance brake pads, integrated caliper-mounted parking brakes, and track-ready brake fluid. In addition, a ceramic friction layer covers the entire rotor surface to reduce brake dust, corrosion, and wear while improving the pedal feel for daily driving.
What's all that mean? The kit has big, fancy brake discs and powerful clamps that squeeze the brakes for better stopping power. There's also a special coating on the brake discs that helps keep them clean and lasts longer. This all helps make the brakes work well not only on the racetrack but also for everyday driving.
Wheel and Tire Components for Enhanced Handling
The package also features 20X10J and 20X11J Zero-G wheels with 285/35R20 and 305/30R20 Goodyear Supercar 3R tires, TPMS, Zero-G center caps, tire nut valves, and lug nut covers. These wheel and tire components have been carefully selected to enhance handling and grip, ensuring your Model S Plaid is ready for the racetrack.
Tires are essential because they are the only part of your car that touches the road. Good tires help your car stick to the road better, especially when driving fast, turning, or stopping. In this package, the special Goodyear Supercar 3R tires and other wheel parts have been chosen to ensure the Model S Plaid has the best possible grip and control on the racetrack. So, having the right tires can make a difference in how well your car performs and how safe it is to drive.
Updated Track Mode
Tesla's list of included components also lists 'Updated FW tuned for peak performance," hinting at an updated Track Mode that will give drivers more insight into how the vehicle is performing.
Tesla briefly teased the improved Track Mode feature in a video they shared on Twitter. Your vehicle's speed is now front and center on the illustrument cluster, with tire pressure appearing to the left. Tesla doesn't go into details on what's new or impoved, but it looks like Plaid owners can expect some changes to Track Mode if they have the Track Package installed.
While it is unclear if this feature will be exclusive to the Track Package or available via an OTA update for Model S Plaid vehicles, it is an exciting potential addition that could further elevate the Tesla track experience.
Tesla introduces the Model S Track Package
Tesla
The Model S Plaid Track Package is compatible with Model S Plaid vehicles produced in 2021 and later. To achieve the top speed of 200 mph, vehicles must be fitted with the Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit and proper wheels and tires. The kit is not compatible with 19" Tempest wheels but works with 20" Zero-G and 21" Arachnid wheels (sold separately). Please note that Goodyear Supercar 3R tires are not recommended for winter use or in temperatures below 40℉ (5℃).
Unleash the full potential of your Model S Plaid with the Track Package, and dominate the racetrack like never before.
Plaid Track Package in Action
Tesla let AutoTopNL have an early look at their new Track Package and below is their video review.
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Tesla appears to be preparing to expand its Robotaxi geofence in Austin, Texas, with numerous engineering vehicles taking to the road. One of the most interesting sights, between the short and tall LiDAR rigs, was a Cybertruck validation vehicle, which we don’t often see.
Tesla’s expansion is moving the Robotaxi Network into downtown Austin, a dense urban environment that is currently outside the geofence. It appears Tesla is content with the latest builds of Robotaxi FSD and is ready to take on urban traffic.
The inclusion of a Cybertruck in the validation fleet is noteworthy, as the rest of the vehicles are Model Ys. This suggests that Tesla may be addressing two challenges simultaneously: expanding its service area while also addressing the FSD gap between the Cybertruck and other HW4 Tesla vehicles.
Tesla Validating Downtown Austin before expanding the Robotaxi geo-fence area. pic.twitter.com/ylFATtjcDi
Recent sightings have shown a fleet of Tesla vehicles, equipped with rooftop validation sensor rigs, running routes throughout downtown Austin and across the South Congress Bridge. While these rigs include LiDAR, it’s not a sign that Tesla is abandoning its vision-only approach.
Instead, Tesla uses the high-fidelity data from the LiDAR as a ground truth measurement to validate and improve the performance of its cameras. In short, it essentially uses the LiDAR measurements as the actual distances and then compares the distances determined in vision-only to the LiDAR measurements. This allows Tesla to tweak and improve its vision system without needing LiDAR.
This data collection in a new, complex environment right outside the Robotaxi geofence is an indicator that plans to expand the geofence. Tesla has previously indicated that they intend to roll out more vehicles and expand the geofence slowly. Given that their operational envelope includes the entire Austin Metro Area, we can expect more locations to open up gradually.
Once they expand the operational radius to include downtown Austin, they will likely also have to considerably increase the number of Robotaxis active in the fleet at any given time. Early-access riders are already saying that the wait time for a Robotaxi is too long, with them sometimes having to wait 15 minutes to be picked up.
With a larger service area, we expect Tesla to also increase the number of vehicles and the number of invited riders to try out the service.
After all, Tesla’s goal is to expand the Robotaxi Network to multiple cities within the United States by the end of 2025. Tesla has already been running an employees-only program in California, and we’ve seen validation vehicles as far away as Boston and New Jersey, on the other side of the country.
Cyber FSD Lagging Behind
One of the most significant details from these recent sightings is the presence of a Cybertruck. Cybertruck’s FSD builds have famously lagged behind the builds available on the rest of Tesla’s HW4 fleet. Key features that were expected never fully materialized for the Cybertruck, and the list of missing features is quite extensive.
Start FSD from Park
Improved Controller
Reverse on FSD
Actually Smart Summon
It may not look like a lot, but if you drive a Cybertruck on FSD and then hop in any of the rest of Tesla’s HW4 vehicles, you’ll notice a distinct difference. This is especially evident on highways, where the Cybertruck tends to drift out of the lane, often crossing over the lane markings.
Tesla was testing parts of Downtown Austin, TX with this Cybertruck which had a massive roof rack, and sensors.
We previously released an exclusive mentioning that a well-positioned internal source confirmed with us that a new FSD build for the Cybertruck was upcoming, but we never ended up receiving that particular build, only a point release to V13.2.9. The AI team’s focus had clearly shifted to getting the latest Robotaxi builds running and validated, and while a flagship, the Cybertruck fleet was small and new, and really a secondary task.
The Cybertruck’s larger size, steer-by-wire, rear-wheel steering, and different camera placements likely present a bigger set of challenges for FSD. Deploying it now as a validation vehicle in a complex environment like downtown Austin suggests that Tesla is finally gathering the specific data needed to bring the Cybertruck’s capabilities up to par. This focused effort is likely the necessary step to refine FSD’s handling of the Cybertruck before they begin rolling out new public builds.
When?
Once Tesla’s validation is complete, we can probably expect the Robotaxi Network to expand its borders for the first time in the coming days or weeks. However, we’ll likely see more signs of the expansion, such as Robotaxi vehicles driving themselves around the area, before the expansion actually happens.
Hopefully, the Cybertruck will also learn from its older siblings and receive the rest of its much-needed FSD features, alongside an FSD update for the entire fleet.
Tesla is rolling out a fairly big update for its iOS and early-access-only Robotaxi app, delivering a suite of improvements that address user feedback from the initial launch last month. The update improves the user experience with increased flexibility, more information, and overall design polish.
The most prominent feature in this update is that Tesla now allows you to adjust your pickup location. Once a Robotaxi arrives at your pickup location, you have 15 minutes to start the ride. The app will now display the remaining time your Robotaxi will wait for you, counting down from 15:00. The wait time is also shown in the iOS Live Activity if your phone is on the lock screen.
How Adjustable Pickups Work
We previously speculated that Tesla had predetermined pickup locations, as the pickup location wasn’t always where the user was. Now, with the ability to adjust the pickup location, we can clearly see that Tesla has specific locations where users can be picked up.
Rather than allowing users to drop a pin anywhere on the map, the new feature works by having the user drag the map to their desired area. The app then presents a list of nearby, predetermined locations to choose from. Once a user selects a spot from this curated list, they hit “Confirm.” The pickup site can also be changed while the vehicle is en route.
This specific implementation raises an interesting question: Why limit users to predetermined spots? The answer likely lies in how Tesla utilizes fleet data to improve its service.
Here is the new Tesla Robotaxi pickup location adjustment feature.
While the app is still only available on iOS through Apple’s TestFlight program, invited users can download and update the app.
Tesla included these release notes in update 25.7.0 of the Robotaxi app:
You can now adjust pickup location
Display the remaining wait time at pickup in the app and Live Activity
Design improvements
Bug fixes and stability improvements
Nic Cruz Patane
Why Predetermined Pick Up Spots?
The use of predetermined pickup points is less of a limitation and more of a feature. These curated locations are almost certainly spots that Tesla’s fleet data has identified as optimal and safe for an autonomous vehicle to perform a pickup or drop-off.
This suggests that Tesla is methodically “mapping” its service area not just for calibration and validation of FSD builds but also to help perform the first and last 50-foot interactions that are critical to a safe and smooth ride-hailing experience.
An optimal pickup point likely has several key characteristics identified by the fleet, including:
A safe and clear pull-away area away from traffic
Good visibility for cameras, free of obstructions
Easy entry and exit paths for an autonomous vehicle
This change to pick-up locations reveals how Tesla’s Robotaxi Network is more than just Unsupervised FSD. There are a lot of moving parts, many of which Tesla recently implemented, and others that likely still need to be implemented, such as automated charging.
Frequent Updates
This latest update delivers a much-needed feature for adjusting pickup locations, but it also gives us a view into exactly what Tesla is doing with all the data it is collecting with its validation vehicles rolling around Austin, alongside its Robotaxi fleet.
Tesla is quickly iterating on its app and presumably the vehicle’s software to build a reliable and predictable network, using data to perfect every aspect of the experience, from the moment you hail the ride to the moment you step out of the car.
![Tesla Updates Robotaxi App: Adds Adjustable Pick Up Locations, Shows Wait Time and More [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/tesla-app/robotaxi-app/25-7-0/robotaxi-app-25.7.0.webp/4ac9ed40be870cfcf6e851fce21c43b9/robotaxi-app-25.7.0.jpg)
