Toby Pennycuff

I'm looking to install the AiM Steering Angle Sensor on my 2001 GT3 Cup and would appreciate suggestions on mounting and recommendations on calibration. This is the final sensor I believe I need to add to the car (oil pressure, coolant pressure, coolant temp, fuel level, brake pressure and now steering angle).

Looking for suggestions on mounting of this sensor on the column. The pictures of the sensor and its belt mechanism look pretty straightforward, but it's not clear how much "distance" is available between the potentiometer's toothed pulley and the toothed collar that mounts to the steering column rod.

If someone has already tackled this on an early Cup/R/RS/RSR and is willing to share recommendations and details, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Toby

ProCoach

Jerry can answer better than I about specific installation help in your car, but I have moved away from the belt-driven rotary potentiometer "kit" from AiM in favor of an AiM string pot.

This is for ease of installation and ease of maintenance.

The pro for the belt drive kit was lower cost of the kit. The con for the belt drive kit is the significant amount of time it takes for installation and proper tensioning of the belt (relatively easy to do because of the angle plate mounting for the rotary pot), plus I have seen belts broken due to, well, you don't want to know! I recommend that if you install one of these kits, put a spare belt over the steering shaft so nothing has to come apart to replace it.

The pro for the string pot is easy installation, the con is it's about $100 more.

String pot installation shown below.

Matt Romanowski

I would suggest the same as Peter. Funny that I had a blog post going on this today! http://www.trailbrake.net/featured-a...sensor-install

One thing to add is that sometimes the circumference of the steering shaft is pretty small so it only uses a small portion of the string pot travel. You might want to increase the shaft diameter to get better data and a finer resolution.

Toby Pennycuff

Thanks Peter and Matt. Peter, can you give me a better clue as to where this string pot is attached in your picture? I already have one of these string pots to use as a throttle position sensor, so securing a second is not really a big deal.

And you guys should already know that I'm going to ask about calibration! I know the sensor is defined and available in RS3, but how does one go about the calibration aspects of the sensor. This is one of the things I pressed on Roger about yesterday. The lack of usable documentation really needs to be addressed.

Toby

ProCoach

Calibration is through a wizard. Just like in RS2.

This picture is taken from a vantage point in the driver's side footwell area, inside the car. Just fashion a bracket that allows the linear movement of the cable in and out of the body of the sensor.

Matt Romanowski

This is the calibration for RS2. RS3 is similar. It gives you an idea of what you have to do in RS3.

Toby Pennycuff

Thanks Matt. Good information.

Just an FYI.... During yesterday's seminar, I asked Roger about doing a Gear Calc video. He was pretty reluctant! I hope AiM will allow Roger to do one as not all of use have gear position sensors in our cars!

Toby

ProCoach

Actually, he has a video on how to do this more reliably via software, but it is limited to "after the fact."
I've always had a tough time doing it in the car, but this is the documentation for older equipment.

http://www.aim-sportline.com/downloa...ce_108_eng.pdf

Toby Pennycuff

Thanks Peter. I'll try the math channel version to see how well it matches up. Sadly, since my car does not have the Bosch ECU, I have no integrated gear position sensor available to monitor.

Toby

kristap

With the string pot, you could also mount it under the front of the car (shielded from debris) so that the end of the string is mount to a tie rod and the sensor to a central point. I'm not familiar with the under carriage of your car so this might not be an option. However, for my BMW it was the better option as there wasn't a good point to mount near the steering shaft.

Toby Pennycuff

Thanks kristap. I suspect that Peter's recommendation will likely be optimal for me. Can't wait to work on my yoga positions when I attempt to install my sensor!

ProCoach

There are at least three ways to do this.

1) Rotary pot with bracket using two cogged pulleys and a toothed belt. Pros: low cost ($141 for the kit) Cons: difficulty of installation (takes two to three times longer to do a standard install)

2) String pot inside the car (or in the engine compartment but recommended near to the bulkhead, say near a u-joint or flexible joint on the column) Pros: ease of installation Cons: higher cost ($252 sensor only), vulnerable to damage on installation (if you let it "snap back" into the housing, it'll break the clock spring) and the tether is light duty. Must be aligned to the housing and out of the way of road debris if in engine compartment.

3) Linear sensor on the rack, one end fixed, one end to bracket made and fastened to one inside TRE. Pros: very rugged, simple installation. Cons: higher cost ($249-$269 for sensor alone). This is the only method I recommend if the sensor is mounted outside in the engine compartment or under the car. I use this on my car (sports racing, purpose built).

JoeMag

i've had string pot on my 993 for about 5 yrs and it works fine. zero issues. mounted just about exactly as shown in the pic above.