Sharptt

What's the consensus on the Sport Chrono package in the GT3/RS? Unlike the lesser models the sport button is standard and most of us who DE the cars use more modern tools like Traqmate. Would you order in on your next GT3 or consider purchasing a car without the wart?

fc-racer

The wart provides no useful benefit. I ordered my car without and would do the same again. As you noted, a traqmate would be far more useful.

John Boggiano

I have it, and do quite a bit of track work but don't take it too seriously.

To be frank, for that sort of use, it works well and I do enjoy using it, but the wart part is useless if you have PCM - it's all there and more on the in-dash display and on the PCM screen. I would love to do away with the wart and keep the rest (which you can't, of course). I'm using the whole thing less, though, as the novelty wears off and it IS a bit fiddly to use, which is not really what you want on track.

For instance, having set the whole thing up, you have to push the lever away at the start point, then knock it down once, then push away twice at the end of each lap - way too messy!

It is a nice thing to have for recording lap times reasonably well across the day, for someone who doesn't really care too much about total accuracy in the timing, but is just out there to have fun.

For serious use - forget it.

If I was doing it all again, I think even I might decide to leave the box unchecked.

C.J. Ichiban

it would be better used for timing the nordschliefe- but for actual track laps, probably quite a mess. I personally would never order it and am glad it hasn't been in either of my cars

WalkerInTN

I've played around with it some, definitely not something I'd spend even a penny on again.
And dashboards look so much better without it.

MJones

The mechanics to make it work are completely useless... two taps of the stalk for each lap.

The visual display on the PCM screen where the circle changes color showing if you are slower, faster or the same, is very cool and easily seen without really looking is innovative.

The "wart" is useless and not needed.

If the lap timer could be triggered remotely like a "hot lap timer", the display would be great.

dan212

I liked the changes that it made to the throttle, but as a timer it was nothing short of daft - distracting and counter-intuitive. I can't imagine that whoever designed it ever drove a car on a track.

TTRob

I both wanted it and didn't want it, but I ended up ordering it.

I admit it.. I got it solely for its added visual effect. The dial and bezel are attractive, but the unit is not as well integrated as it could be.

It would be cool if the pod (wart) flipped down/over into the dash. This way, it's there if you want it, or flip it over and have the clean dash look.

John Boggiano

Agreed - that would be a good idea.

allegretto

useless, as noted.

i never ordered it, only came on cars i didn't order. and that's virtually all the ones w/wart.

made me wonder if the dealers got an extra $100 in profit from it or something

340Elise

It adds unnecessary weight; another crap option that can malfunction and create a possible visit to the dealer service department. Adds unneccessary complexity. My wrist watch is much easier to use.

Throttle mapping changes on non-GT cars are ridiculous and just a gimmick; just like on the BMW M cars. "When I press this button, the car goes faster." Really? "It feels so sporty now that I pressed the sport button." OK Sporto!

crispenigl

I like using it to know how much time is left in my run session - it is great for that.
Also nice for long road trips.

carrering

the wart itself is useless, but i actually like how it looks on the dash. the rest of the lap timer stuff with pcm is better than a wristwatch. I don't have timing device for laps but I have used this successfully to time laps at csw, buttonwillow, ws, seca, and the ring. The two pushes are not hard. just one to start a new lap at start/finish. second one a few seconds later. sometimes i would forget a lap but again its better than nothing. if you are at all serious about timing the money is better spent on a real data acquisition unit. for occasional use and in a pinch it works.

nat3970

As has been repeatedly stated by others the start/stop activation and having to move the stick up and down to select function while driving on the track is not practical. Person who designed this could not possibly have spent much time on a track or used his own interface for that matter.

I ended up going for aftermarket solution. I use PerformanceBox by Race Logic and have found it to be well designed, compact, easy to use and most importantly its set and forget which is what you want from any data acquisition device.

Bottom line the technology should be seamless and in the background and should in no way intrude on the driving...Multiple button presses as one is trying to read a hard to see screen while driving at 130+ mph is not helpful. I will not buy this factory option again in the future.

carrering

a set and forget solution is of course way better than the sport chrono function but when equipped with the pcm unit i think its not nearly as bad as you make it out to be. for one, you don't have to move the stalk up and down except for the first time, this can easily be done before you go out by starting a another lap, once in that position its 2 pushes per lap, one to trip it at start/finish, the second to confirm. when i do this i'm on the front straight, push twice all while looking down the front straight without leaving my hand from the wheel. i made it a routine, check mirrors, check gauges, push stalk. its not hard. i never read the wart but i do see the lap time in the instrument cluster which is very easy to read. I think there was a lot of thought that went into it especially considering that the car could be optioned with or without gps which means this would have cost way more had it been an automated unit. not to mention the legal ramifications of possibly having it. the car is not a race car. anyways, i want a data acquisition unit to play around with and learn how the car responds and what I am doing to it in each corner but this sport chrono w/ pcm I think is adequate for a street car. besides i broke under 8 minutes from my commute to work and I have proof! :-)