Larry Cable

the solution to this is to get a Garmin Catalyst IMO

Westcoast

Hmmm. bought a GT car with most of this stuff essentially built in, heck GT4 owners even have to add some stuff that the Spyder defaults with, so we should have a reasonable expectation that Track Precision should work and be supported?

And for me and the number of times I go to the track, investing in yet another solution won't happen, especially at this price, besides the telemetric's from the car is something that I would want to have.

Fast-Eddie

Fully agree with bold statements above. I also want to get this app working correctly and consistently, including video, overlays, export of video and data. The Cataylst is a good device, but it won't provide the detailed telemetry like throttle, brake pressure, steering angle, wheel spin, understeer / oversteer, tire pressure/temperature.

I emailed PCNA about getting support for PTPA and got a canned reply directing me to my service department who specialize providing support for Porsche products. :-O

I'm willing to work with the PTPA developers or tech support and provide any logs, screenshots, etc. to fix the issues that this app is having... I just don't know "who" is providing support for PTPA ????

Larry Cable

This is correct, but can you make use of that telemetry? what the Catalyst does offer though is easily digestible, actionable analysis of your laps ... and video absent of vibration from phone mount.

Westcoast

Not Fast-Eddie, but for me, the braking acceleration steering angle when overlaid with the position on the track will tell me loads, braking too early, turning in too soon, lifting too early and list goes on...

Besides Larry, other than the app, it is already part of the car... why not take advantage of it?

Westcoast

Eddie, do you have a link to this mysterious FAQ? Did you ever find a manual?

The information in the app is weak at best, and when I go to the Porsche Connect web page it seems to only talked about the Connect app and services, I didn't see Track Precision anywhere but I could have missed it?

Cheers!

Larry Cable

I dont disagree - but life is too short to mess around with flaky s/w ... for me at least, since that is my day job anyway - I dont need to take it to the track!

BTW the Catalyst will provide that same information but w/o the need for the user to interpret that telemetry...

TDT

PTPA has such much potential, because it has access to all of the data channels - but its implementation and support is GARBAGE.
The final versions of v2 did become pretty robust and you could get it to work with a repeatable process... it also had proper features for connection to external cameras and external GPS sensors - and export of video and data including to youtube and .vbo files for Circuit Tools.
But since v3... its great looking UI, but a total dumpster fire wrt functionality and stability.

If you want reliable data logging - that works and you don't have to lose driving time trying to get running on a track day - you NEED go with something else.
A dedicated setup with AIM or Racelogic Vbox is obviously best...then you have the Garmin and Apex systems...., but even a phone based setup with HLT or RaceChrono, and external GPS sensor and GoPro works really well (these apps auto-sync imported video to recorded data very very well) - minus some of the detailed car telemetry; Thats a nice to have though and you don't really NEED that stuff for driver analysis to make you faster... you can derive what you need from the video and speed/G traces anyway.

Westcoast

@Larry Cable and @TDT Thanks for weighing in guys and all good points and with options for better products for the 'Real Track Rat's'...

But I am a part-timer, I get invited up every once and awhile so I am not looking to dive into that deep end, just had the strong wish that something that Porsche had offered to us with these cars would be there and working as advertised.

TDT

Yep its quite frustrating... that what they have produced just isn't fit for purpose....
even are a part-timer - you just want the thing to work everytime.... even with less features.

Larry Cable

I totally get it ... it should work all the time ... if it did it would be great ... but the last thing I want to be doing at the track is problem solving technical issues with the app ... Harry's LT pro is another option ... the problem is that its a s/w issue, and there is little an owner can do about that other than complain to Porsche and hope they improve it!

you should try Harry's for not much outlay

Fast-Eddie

I'm not aware of any FAQ or manual for the app... it does have some FAQs built into the app, there are just "mildly" helpful in my view... what I need is contact with developer to troubleshoot these flaky issues. I'm also a career IT guy, and I've tried just about everything the app will let me do... to no avail. I still only get metric data, even though my car is set to imperial units (the app is supposed to take the units of measure from the vehicle, and it doesn't). Video exports only provides data for my last 4 laps, but I can view all laps with data in the app itself.

And several other issues, like I can export tracks and data, but can not re-import them (like when you delete and re-install the app). Import is supposedly as simply as "clicking on the exported file to launch PTPA; problem is there is no association of those filetypes with PTPA, so it never launches PTPA to import the data. I haven't figured out a way around this yet... frustrating, since basic "backup/restore" is essential for video and data... especially with a buggy app.

I think the iPhone guys have better luck, than those of us with Android. I suspect that PTPA was developed for IOS and then ported to Android, like a lot of other apps.

Fast-Eddie

Agree again with Westcoast here... it's really the ability to compare your best lap or sector with other laps or sector... and look deeper into "why was I faster"... Did I brake later or less... greater corner speed? less steering and when... etc. Most of the time you can find a corner that had a higher exit speed that gave you a better time... the thing I want to know is "why" did I exit faster? That's what the detail data tells.

There are other and more stable timing and data acquisition systems for sure, but I personally don't want to invest in them when I go out to the track about 4-5 times a year. I'm nearly an expert with Harry's Laptimer, and I have a setup with OBD data, external 10Mhz GPS and run 2 external GoPro cams. It took me a few years to get all that synced and working.

I'd rather have PTPA to simply connect to the car's Wifi and an external cam... IF IF IF it would only work... [sigh]

Westcoast

Thanks Eddie, I can't say if the export works for overlays past a couple of laps, I got caught in the rabbit hole of connections at the track, most of what it was suggesting was wrong or misleading so I gave up and just had some fun at the track. Because of this I have only driven around the block a couple of times to check on the app and it's use, it has worked fine in this setting and exported just fine.

I don't know about the iPhone guys getting much better results, my buddy with a GT4 couldn't get much at all and it stopped repeatedly throughout his efforts, but at least with CarPlay he can operate the app from the PCM screen which IMHO is a plus. My Android Box does this as well, and uses the PCM screen so it would be the way to go for me if I could get into the settings and add that external camera with unknown attributes...

I haven't given up yet and have reached out to Porsche and wait a reply, also reached out to a forum member on Planet-9 who uses Android and has some experience with the app.

Fast-Eddie

I never had the prior version, but yes, V3 "looks" great", but functionality and support are broken... If Porsche would host a forum and/or beta program, there are a few of us the might test various configurations and provide feedback on issues.

I'm interested to see if Westcoast gets any response, but I'm not holding my breath. I have a hunch that Porsche just outsourced the development of this app to a 3rd party and they delivered whatever the were contracted to develop and that's it... leaving no one at Porsche who can work with this code.

[RANT]
I'm almost annoyed enough to write a highly critical letter to PCNA, that they should be embarrassed at the lack of quality and support for this PTPA app... that it does not embody the engineering precision and quality that Porsche is known for... and that a Camaro ZL1 has a much better integrated data logger and built in video in a $60K vehicle.
[/RANT]