Track Mode has long been exclusive to Tesla’s Performance trims. Still, one owner just showed it runs fine on a regular Model Y. Michał Gapiński, the software engineer behind the Tesla Android project that unofficially brings Apple CarPlay to Tesla screens while Tesla drags its feet on an official implementation, recently enabled Track Mode on his non-Performance refreshed Model Y.
“It’s not that it doesn’t work, it does!” Gapiński wrote in a post on X. “Not shipping it is [a] business decision.” He hasn’t explained how he unlocked it yet, but he says he may start a series enabling hidden or model-locked software features he’d like to have.
Gapiński is a well-known tinkerer in the Tesla community. He recently retrofitted an AI4 FSD computer into an older HW3 Model 3. Before that, he installed Tesla’s new fan-cooled wireless phone chargers — currently exclusive to the Model Y L and much better than what ships in the rest of Tesla’s catalog — in his own Model Y Premium. This was presumably the same Model Y he now has Track Mode working in.
Gapiński’s Track Mode Jailbreak
Track Mode appears under Settings > Dynamics next to Traction Control Mode and Steering Weight on Gapiński’s Model Y, much like it does on Performance variants. It has its own Customize button. Tapping it brings up the same warning Performance owners see, noting that the mode was designed for vehicles with the Performance Upgrade Package and that “Performance and endurance is comparatively lower without performance tires and brakes.”
Once it’s on, a “TRACK” indicator appears next to the gear selector. The screen switches to an overhead view of the battery, motors and tires, with tire pressures and a G-meter, plus a prompt to set a finish line on the map. Settings include saved profiles with Race and Drift presets, with custom profiles letting the user adjust Stability Assist and regenerative braking level.
What Track Mode Does and Why It’s Performance-Only
Tesla’s Track Mode lets you shift Handling Balance between the front and rear motors in 10% increments, adjust Stability Assist from -10 to 10, and fine-tune regenerative braking. It also adds Post-Drive Cooling to bring component temperatures down after a session, plus a lap timer that saves dashcam footage and telemetry for each lap. Tesla says it’s meant for experienced drivers on closed courses and shouldn’t be used on public roads.
Tesla limits it to Performance trims because they come with beefier brakes and performance tires better suited to repeated hard laps. Still, Gapiński’s test shows the software itself isn’t the barrier, which backs up his view that it’s a way to set the Performance trims apart.
Elon Musk has teased before that Track Mode could come to non-Performance models, but that was a while ago. Tesla is unlikely to unlock it officially anytime soon. In the meantime, maybe Gapiński will share how he got around Tesla’s software lock on Track Mode so others who want to try it out can follow his lead.
