wparente

Just what does the resent announcement by CDS really mean? Makes me glad I went with the AIM MXL2.

"The owners of CDS have decided (for personal reasons) to dial back their work commitment.
As a result please note the following key points:

CDS will not produce any more NEW Co Pilot 2+ or Commander 3v data logging/display systems.

We are seeking to sell the rights, tooling, inventory, and intellectual property (including source code) to further develop, manufacture, and distribute these systems and the Track Master software."

ProCoach

This has been a long time coming.

At one time (ten or fifteen years ago), CDS was a very powerful, capable pro-level system and software for club-level drivers. But time has passed them by...

No GPS integration (except for wheel speed sensor and beacon substitution), incredibly expensive and onerous software license and feature unlock costs, crude video that had not been updated since the introduction of the ChaseCam in 2006 all conspired against CDS.

I asked Peter to help me help his customers get more and better (turned out to be SOME) use out of their systems, most of which were bought by previous owners. His response was that I would need my own license for more than $2000! I swallowed and bought it. Unreal.

While Peter was notoriously difficult (I was "fired" as a dealer because I was perceived as being critical of his systems, when in fact I was just posting mild pros and cons of several), Sara was and is a true GEM! The major reason why CDS hung on so long.

Unfortunately, this now guts the value of the systems that are out for sale by upgraders, but Peter will be glad to sell you a license when you buy a used one (which you have to do to use it...).

The new MoTeC, AiM and others offer far more user friendliness at much more reasonable cost.

Matt Romanowski

I was a little surprised as Peter was saying that they were the official supplier of data systems for the Gen 3 SRF. I don't know if that was self anointed or was official. The systems were certainly dated.

I've personally seen very few CDS systems out there. In the TA field of over 60 cars, there is 1. I don't see any in the SCCA club ranks and none in the PCA events around here.

ProCoach

Peter's main target audience is SCCA Club Racing. There are some very successful people who have won multiple National Championships with CDS systems, and he is (was) a big dog in an increasingly smaller pond.

John Block and George Main, as well as David Ferguson, have done a wonderful job for a long time and have been his main dealers/supporters/educators, because he himself doesn't do that part well.

The systems that I have seen are quite comprehensive, but the dated hardware/software, lack of current HD video integration, general configuration complexity and increasingly less reliable operation from aging components has really pushed people towards other systems for some time.

Matt Romanowski

The list of people that have won championships with his systems is very impressive. I know John really likes the software. In the NE, there just aren't many of his systems that come out. I don't think I saw 1 all of last year walking through the paddock at races up here.

wparente

Matt - I just happen to have a Gen3 SRF, so I was especially surprised because that was the data collection system that was promoted when the Gen3 announcement was first made. They were giving us a special deal on a package but it wasn't really all that much off. Besides AIM beat CDS by close to $1000 comparing feature to feature and AIM included a much better display. I don't know that it was ever an official endorsement but there was a guarantee that the ECU would be supported by CDS and that was the data collection system used during the development of the Gen3 SRF. I will say that there wasn't much promotion of CDS in the last year after the initial introduction, so maybe Enterprise knew what was going on. From what little I know CDS was stronger in the South East which only stands to reason. I know I was agonizing on which way to go, so I sure am glad that I went with the AIM MXL2, especially with the official AIM SRF3 ECU support in the last software revision.

Circuit Motorsports

Go to the SRF and FE pits. At least half the cars have them.

Matt Romanowski

Not up here. Most of the SRF have Traqmate systems and the FE have the old Pi Systems in them.