Cool! Give me a call, and we can talk about your installation.

 

Thank you. I am sure I will take you up on that.

 

RaceKeeper website has now added the microphone muffler and a low-gain microphone to the accessory page.

 

http://www.race-keeper.com/deadkitten
http://www.race-keeper.com/mic
http://www.race-keeper.com/lowgainmic

I just bought the new mic and the headless kitten carcass. Fingers crossed! : )

 

I installed my unit today. I do not have the OBD-II installed yet. The plug that comes from RK has one locking clip in the center and my receptacle has two slots for locking clip one on each side. See photos. Were your plugs from RK the same as mine or did it match the receptacle properly?

Mine did not snap in properly and that is what got me down there with a flashlight to look.

Thanks.

 

It'll fit. Just push it on harder because it's a tight fit and definitely won't fall off on its own. Of course I haven't installed my system yet (except for pushing on the OBD-II connector) so I can't confirm the wires will work.

 

I think that Allen is saying that the distance from the edge of the center blade to the inside edge of the plug is enough to go outside the tab at the top of the recepticle.

 

That is not what I am referring to. I am talking about the black bezel not having the relief for the tab in the center. The black bezel has two but on either side.

 

Ahhh....I get what you're referring to. At first I thought what Bill said.

You mean the black bezel (or trim) around the outside of the car-mounted OBD-II port has two reliefs for locking tabs on the OBD-II cable. The Race Keeper OBD-II cable has one locking tab in the middle.

Not sure what the standard is (if any?) for OBD-II connectors.

...I made mine fit by pushing real hard though. A file, sandpaper or Dremel to reduce the thickness of the center tab on the OBD-II cable might help you out. If you do this, just do a bit at a time so the fit is still snug.

 

It'll go, just cram it in there It will click into place. To remove, rock it side to side.

 

NEWS!!!!! The RENNLIST discount code is active again, from now through Monday 12/6 - still 15%.

 

Could anyone give me an idea on what data the RK is able to pull from the ECU through the ODBII? I am wondering specifically about yaw, brake pressure, TPS, individual wheel speed, etc.

Thank you.

 

OBD will publish an approximate value for road speed, throttle position and rpm, but it's not the kind of sampling rate (accuracy) one might like to see. If one keeps in mind that, by definition, it's "diagnostic" output, not "real time data acquisition" so it's much better at reporting catalytic converter values, etc.

I believe RK is working towards more data coming out of the OBD. For brake pedal, accurate throttle position, steering angle, suspension, load cells on aero surfaces or whatever, they have various analog devices (pull string pots, etc.)

While I agree it would be interesting to have real time individual wheel speed, it's a very safe bet that nobody you'll ever meet could make any realistic use of such raw data. Maybe if you could accurate measure wheel speed combined with real time tire temp sensors (this was "state of the art" on race cars a decade ago, but I'm not sure they even both these days other than maybe some esoteric off-season R&D for F1 or the tire manufacturers.)

If we could get accelerometer data for pitch and yaw, I'm pretty sure any half-way decent driver or engineer could put that kind of "processed" data to good purpose. The same would be true for ABS intervention, stability control events, traction control events, all interwoven with steering angle, brake pedal position and pressure, throttle position, steering angle, suspension travel on all corners, vehicle ride height, load on the various aero surfaces. Even if the driver couldn't make it happen -- in terms of micro adjustments to control inputs to adapt to vehicle data or clicks on a brake balance bar or adjustable sway bars, etc. -- at least you'd be playing with real data and putting to rest doubts from the usual cast of "I think I need more down force on the rear" players in the story.

I'm looking forward to having a car with all the data acquisition and even real time information on a heads-up display to tell me when to brake, when to turn in, whether to push on more brake, more power or even change gears. That mind sound a bit sterile and "where's the skill?" but this is purely for learning and practicing "optimized" control inputs. Imagine driving a 100 lap sequence of tests where an heads-up display tells the driver exactly when to brake on each lap for a given turn of the circuit, in order to incrementally reduce braking distances by trial and measurement; to increase or decrease apex and track-out speed and so on. Then, with a few dozen samples of each variable, the computer could run the combinations and permutations (in real time, on board during the laps) and refine the next lap of tests or take data from mistaken driver inputs and still refine and optimized accordingly. Just like taking the "theoretical best lap" but making adjustments interactively and gathering data at much finer resolution than just segment times. After enough data and analysis, the computer would know several ideal laps and lines for shortest distance, highest fuel stretch, best overtaking speeds relative to "racing line" or best out-braking, etc. With these facts, the race engineer have real data to take to battle (even if they're not taking all that data acquisition into battle ... at some point, where's the sport?) they're taking optimized practice and I think that helps level the playing field instead of leaving hard core data analysis to the big budget teams.

 

Thank you for the detail response CGT. I will keep my RacePak for now I think and see when they complete their ODBII connectivity option.

 

For anyone interested in integrated data/video acquisition, Race-Keeper is giving away a system unit on 12/31/2010. Just go to the website - www.race-keeper.com and register (on the home page, click 'About Us' and then 'Enter to Win'). They also are on facebook and have a channel on youtube.
Anoyone who purchased a system in 2010 will have the choice of a second system or a refund.