While I was at CMP a week or so ago MH Motorsports strapped one of thier Race Chrono GPS Data Aquistion units. Gotta say the install took 30 seconds as the units are Blue tooth. Just plug into your OBDII port and suction cup the display to your windshield. Turn on and voila! that easy. YOu can even slice the track into segments and as you drive each segment the screen will change colors, green if you did it faster (and by how much), red if you did the segment slower (and by how much) and blue, no delta.

YOu can then pull the data out of the unit for viewing on PC or use the touch scrren of the unit to look at your laps right there in the car.

Couple of screen shots of the software. Note to viewers, these are not my best laps, I had a problem between my ears that day, but luckily with the data I corrected a little later in the day.

 

sweet.....im just now checking these things out..

-J

 

We threw the RC-Pro OBDII unit in Bryans car just for fun.
http://www.mh-motorsports.com/rc_pro_OBDII.htm

Bryan was about 2-3 seconds faster a lap by the 3rd session...almost getting back to where he was ealier.

 

Yeah somehow I dropped a personal best on Saturday morning of a 1:49.333 and then spent all day chasing it. Lets just say i was overdriving just about every part of the track. The race logic unit showed me a lot that I thought I was doing right, just proves the butt dyno isn't always calibrated correctly.

I see this as a Christmas present to myself

 

Sounds cool I have been considering a data logger of sorts to keep track of my progress. SO many things to buy...

I could really see how this thing could raise the fun factor too. Looks like they start at $450 but you have to add the OBDII adaptor. With only internal GPS how accurate can you really expect it to be? Looks like at least $550 (no OBDII) or go home. I like that you can create your own tracks in there as well. IMPORTANT for AutoX guys.

 

You don't need the OBDII port unless you want to log the Engine and sensor data. The difference between the basic and pro unit is GPS sampling rate and accuracy ratings. The standard pro unit is pretty accurate with full satellite reception. If only get 4-6 positioning units it can drop but in most areas I have run it in I have gotten at least 8, and most times 10. The base system sampling is only 1hz so yeah, it's not that great for Auto-X or competition. It's mostly for those who just want to see data from HPDE or casual track days, maybe log some performance data like 0-60, 1/4 mile times, etc. The pro unit samples GPS data at 10hz and has a DGPS and CEP rating of less than 3M and a DCPI(?) rating of <1.3. It samples other data at 100hz.

One other thing we offer vs the other units is SEPARATE start and finish lines if you want them and bearing related traps so the course can double back on itself and unit can still keep the traps and the track separate.

 

That is really cool! We are starting to build AutoX courses on our own and some do double back and overlap so I really like this feature. What can you tell me about the custom track programming? What is the process like to program your own track?

 

It did also say on there that through OBD it can read throttle position. Does that mean you can see a real time graph of throttle and maybe braking as well? Would be cool if it had an onboard accelerometer to read G forces.

 

You can either map the track while you are on it or afterwards. The easiest way to do it for AutoX is while you are doing your track walk. Have the unit in your hand and as soon as you reach the start line hit “ADD trap” then “Start line”. Walk the course, add split lines where you want them and then when you reach the end you select add Finish. Pretty easy. If you don’t have time then run the course once. When you get back in look at the session and then “Browse traps”. You can scroll through the traveled route and add a start/finish line or a course split where ever you want them

Real time is gauges and not graphs. You can select what you want displayed as you drive, that includes g-force if you want to see it.

 

That almost sounds like cheating

 

That's kind of like one of my past events there where during the TT "Hot lap" I did a 1:49.XX...then as I backed off a bit to cool down I got a 1:48.XX.

funny how that works.

 

tell me about it

 

When I look at it the differences between the pro and standard seem to be worthwhile (in favor of the Pro), do you guys that use it see it the same?

 

it would seem bias if I answered that.

 

Looks like a good unit, how do they compare to other units such as MSD G2X and racepak IQ3 & G2X pro.

 

OK, I guess I can address these one at a time

G2X by MSD/Racepak:

1) GPS only samples at 4hz
2) No on board Lap mapping or pre-mapping
3) Dash only shows Lap time and only when the lap is completed
4) Will show RPM, but has to be hardwired into the system
5) Very good analog sensor sampling at 100 hz
6) Only shows these items:
7) Data analysis can only be done on a PC after the card has been removed and plugged into a PC slot.
8) System must be hardwired in for power, level, and the GPS receiver is hard wired and best if mounted on the outside of the vehicle.

9) Beacon required for some track lap times (AIM loop)
10) Only has 512 MB of memory
11) Price is around $900 and $1K with display depending on where you buy it

12) Will say the RacePak DataLink II software is pretty good
13) Nice built in shift light system
14) Pro just adds more analog channels

IQ3

1) Very nice Dash display with a lot of sensor data available, but requires all of them to be analog and hard wired in. One of the best displays around

2) 32 channels of analog data at 100HZ, one of the best around.
3) Predictive lapping available
4) Data analysis can only be done on a PC after the card has been removed and plugged into a PC slot.
5) System must be hardwired in for power, level, and the GPS receiver is hard wired and best if mounted on the outside of the vehicle.
6) Still requires download to PC to view data
7) Does not show segments or lap progress
8) Only has 512 MB of memory
9) Last time I checked it sampled at 4hz for GPS
10) Price is about $1600, not including the option sensor inputs or the wiring harnesses.

Both of these systems are 2X to 3X more in price, sample at a lower GPS Rate, and require hard wiring to the vehicle. No direct connection to the OBDII or existing digital sensors. The do have 100 HZ analog sampling and can offer warning and shift lights. Basically these units make great dashboard replacements and that's what they are aiming for. Not really just to have lap timing systems.

 

Now that is what I call a reply! Thank you for the info, I agree both those units are a bit pricey and though they are hardwired and have only a 512mb memory limitation, they have quite a bit of features. They also operate on current windows based software which makes them ideal for some situation. I will look at all the options including the Chrono GPS data acquisition unit.