Matt Romanowski

Hopefully a bunch of folks will contribute some best practices and we can make this a go to thread.

To start:

Always log data every session. You never know when you are going to have some "flowing brilliance" as Bruce McInnes says.

Be consistent with channel names across systems, especially across cars if you want to share data with friends.

If you are old school and use a beacon - buy a GPS! And until it shows up, be sure to always put the beacon in the same spot every time to eliminate having to do offsets and correct your data.

Back up your data. There is nothing worse than building up a great library of historical performances and losing it. For race teams, data is a mission critical resource, just like money.

What else do people want to contribute?

924RACR

Great idea!

Always take notes! Data, on its own, can only be half as useful vs. when it's backed up by the driver narrative: car behaviour, traffic conditions, track conditions, etc.

These notes should be taken as soon as possible after each session, for clarity and freshness.

jwasilko

This is key. Log (and keep) every lap. If you ever need to chase a mechanical problem, having historical data can be a huge help.

I picked up a new-to-me Improved TouringMiata last year, and it came with years of data from the MXL Pista. I was chasing cooling problems and didn't understand why the previous owner didn't have them.

In looking thru historical data, I found that the previous owner was never at full throttle unless the wheels were perfectly straight. He was typically 2s+ slower a lap than me, and that started to explain the cooling issues.

-jeff

TXE36

^THIS.^

I have a policy of *always* recording video. I'm pretty good about following it but, for a few sessions last year I got sloppy/lazy and didn't turn the camera on. Sure enough, on one of those sessions, events took place that would have been valuable to review... All I got out of it was a re-commitment to *always* record video.

Same goes for data.

-Mike

ir_fuel

Get a Smartycam. Turn on the ignition, it films. Turn it off, it stops.

ir_fuel

If you use a beacon, put a paper on the door of your trailer / steering wheel of your van with the text: BEACON on it, or you will be buying at least 3 beacons a year.

Trust me on that one

gobuffs

With my Smarty Cam...when I take out a data card, I replace it immediately with another one. One is in the camera, one is in the computer. Always.

ProCoach

Smart!

KaiB

DOH!!!

Thanks....

jwasilko

With more flexible dashes (like the MXL2/MXG) and Motec, what do you think about when you're setting up different pages for different uses?

What goes on a page for qual vs. race vs. diagnostics?

ProCoach

I divide the pages into warmup/diagnostic (engine health, all), qualifying (most effective predictive method), race (elapsed time, lap count)

jwasilko

Good tip. I think I'll order a pair of 16GB cards rather than 1 32GB card...

ProCoach

When you do, order a RETAIL packaged Class 10 SD card for best results and reliability.

I recommend the card manufacturer used for supplying the small capacity cards often included in the cameras, Transcend. Specifically, I use:

Matt Romanowski

Buy the 2 big cards from the start. They are way more than you need, but you'll never run out of space even if you forget to swap them. I'm running 32 and 64 gb cards.

Max1865

I use 8G cards as they will hold a DE weekend or a race weekend easily. Then 1 card per weekend and backup is on the card. Get a Pelican SD card case to store the cards. I find this easier then big cards and deleting sessions, etc.