Drifting

This will be my first GT3 and I plan to hit the track at least once a month as I have with my other cars. My previous Porsche came with sports chrono and so came with the "Sports chrono" lap timer in the middle of dashboard, which I never used in that car, and would have preferred not to have on my dashboard.

The lap timer clock is a better fit for the overall vibe of the GT3, compared to a regular Porsche, but I don't ever use the thing.

Are most of you on the forum specifically ordering the lap timer for your 991 GT3, and if so, did you use it on previous cars?

Mike in CA

I never used the Sport Chrono timing function for autocross in my Carrera S, and rarely for anything else, although unlike you and others, I like the wart. IMO, it's a throwback to the old days of sports cars when in-car timers were more prevalent. I ordered it for the GT3 because I like the way it looks and it fills an otherwise barren expanse of dashboard real estate. It's also better integrated on the 991, IMO. (I didn't get a painted key so I had to find something frivolous to blow a little cash on. ) But for actual lap timing it's not really useful and there are much better aftermarket options available.

silverrules

LOL. Yep the timer is similar to the painted key. Originally I didn't order it 1st but like Mike said it seems there was something missing on the dash so I added it in. I have it on my .2 GT3 and have had it on all my TT's so on. Lot's of people don't care for it but I like it. Compared to the painted key at $400 it makes it a bargain.

Claudef2

Forget the Porsche lap timer, you cannot drive well and fast while at the same time remember to push or pull or do whatever on the console stalk. If you are serious about lap times get an aftermarket unit with a beacon. This way you will concentrate on your driving and on improving your skills.

FastLaneTurbo

Good Advice!
But the AIM SOLO unit works very well and does not require a separate Beacon.
Some HPDE's discourage separate free-standing Beacons.
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/gr...FUsV7AodW3cAWQ

skuplist

One use I have found for it to set it when the engine is cold. I set it to allow 30 min of engine warm before I let the engine rev high. Other than that I never have used it. Too complicated to use as a lap timer.

GrantG

If you have an iPhone, nothing is easier or better value than Harry's Lap Timer app from Germany.

http://www.gps-laptimer.de/Home.html

orthojoe

You need a real timer like the aim solo. I love mine. Sport chrono won't get you stuff like this:

GrantG

Not as nice as that, but Harry's is almost free and gives some HD video and data too (good starter system for almost no investment). I use the iPhone in the RAM windshield mount that I use for Navigation:

orthojoe

True that HLT is nice, but I would say the 'cost' is more than just the app fee. The internal GPS is not accurate enough, so you need tack on $100 for an external GPS receiver to get accurate times. Nonetheless, cheaper than a $400 Aim Solo or $700 Solo DL. Then there are reliability issues with HLT. My buddy saved 5 seconds the other day by because HLT teleported him through an entire sector instantly. LOL

GrantG

I haven't bought an external GPS and my times seem pretty consistent for comparison purposes. Does your buddy have iPhone 5? I think they have better internal GPS than the 4S.

997TTMeteor

I’ve been using HLT with an iP5 and an external GPS signal booster & RAM mount but want to upgrade to an Aim system this year so I can overlay more data and also have a larger lap timer display.

Joe – are you using 3rd party editing software for the overlay & sync or does the Aim Solo come with everything you need to do what you did on the above video (other than cameras, of course)?

orthojoe

All of us abandoned HLT during the iPhone 4 days. The refresh rate back then was 1hz. Is it faster now on the 5 and 5S? Keep in mind that we were using an external GPS running at 5Hz on the iPhone 4. The other issue was getting obd2 data to transmit reliably. Being wireless is convenient, but also a liability. Too much dropout. Too many times you would drive out and be missing obd2 data or not have anything at all when you come back in. When I switched to solo, I never had a single dropout or failure.

I am using trackvision to do my data overlay. If you want seamless overlay without having to do any editing at all, look into getting aim solo DL and connect it to a smartycam HD. My friend is using one, and it starts recording when the car moves, and stops when the car stops. She pulls out the SD card at the end of the day and watches her video full with overlay. Done. The problem with smartycam is the internal mic is worthless and the external mic isn't available yet. I got a chance to play around with my friend's smartycam HD in my spyder
This is what it looks like: