Road Racing Question--- Session Metrics

[JOEZ06]

I look forward to the day when it will be economically feasible for me to have very accurate time/speed measurement on all points of the track. Knowing my actual brake point distances, speeds at brake points, turn ins, track outs for every turn would be cool. What a powerful learning tool that would be for a novice driver like me. Being able to see the impact of a poor line and how variations and experimentation impact speed.... Over 17 turns and a few laps, there is no way I can remember, and in some cases dare to look for speeds in hairy corners...

I am not sure how you might do that... ? Perhaps when GPS can update so damn fast and accurate it could log/present the complete history, or even some sort of baby inertial navigation system that could do the same.... If anyone knows if this exists.... and costs??????

It would be nice to plug something into a laptop port and have it all.

[DJWorm]

The GEEZ system will do that. It will graph your current and previous laps and it will overlay them to compare. You can even compare with other drivers in the same car.

www.extremegeez.com

[Subdriver]

Joe,
There are about four or five vendors that make systems like what you are looking for.
Most were at the runoffs demoing their stuff. Pretty cool, but not something I can afford right now.
Most use accelerometers as main inputs.

Here is a link to another one:
http://www.competitiondata.com/index.htm

There are several more. Check the computers&equipment add section (#24) of your most recent Sportscar Magazine.

[capn37]

If you ever gat the chance to go to Skip Barber Racing School, do it. Not only is it the most fun you'll probably ever have but you learn a lot about how the car handles. Much of the lesson is spent developing a feeling of the breaking points as well as the threshold breaking technique, which makes it much easier to get through a turn fast.

[Redshift]

I have a home-made system with data telemetry (not quite as fancy as the ones listed above) which shows G-forces and speed plus brake on or off and throttle position and RPM. You can see sample videos at http://www.pfyc.com/z06

If you are interested in your own similar system just let me know.

[JOEZ06]

Redshift...

Do you capture that data only to video (integrated) or can you dump the raw data to a laptop? How many readings per second can you log... ? Pretty cool. Not sure I need all the car views, but I can see that the tire shots would be very helpful to know how much of an apex you catch and how close you really are getting to tracking out points near walls, etc...

If I could get raw data inputs, I think I can code up the rest myself. Many moons ago, I was a programmer/database guy ;-)

The problem with having just the raw telemetry from the car is not having a fixed point of reference. Your videos are good to supplement that.

I wish I had the time to pour myself into this... If I was close to retirement age (not), my project/hobby would be to build a kick ass system that could do this.

OK I am off to check the other expensive options... Thanks everyone...!!

Cheers, Joe

[Redshift]

The telemetry data is an overlay onto the video screen and not a raw input you could get on to a laptop.

Fact is most of us are not at a level of driving that we need that level of data analysis. Sure, people could look at every little thing and make small adjustments to their cars or driving habits, but the majority of us (including a lot of racers I would imagine) are not going to really benefit that much extra by having such complicated data.

My system is more than sufficient to judge how you did at every point on the track, to see hand and foot movements, steering wheel inputs, shifts, amount of throttle and brake, and cornering forces. You just have to compare lap to lap visually and not using a computer. The second line of all zeros at the top right is where you would hook up a lap timer (Hotlap) so that you could see your lap time every time you made a new lap.