Beantown Kman

I stripped and caged my 2012 Cayman this winter. The shop upgraded my AiM SoloDL to a MXL2 dash. With 8 screens and a Christmas tree full of LED's I'm left feeling a little uncertain where to begin. Does anyone have any suggestions for a basic setup to help get me started? Does it make sense to use different shift lights for each gear in a Cayman?

ProCoach

I set them up before I send them, and I don't think you need all the screens. No more than three, preferably two. One for warmup (engine vitals, in the paddock) and one for sessions (driver info).

Set the shift lights first. I do it F1 style with them coming in from each side. Don't set it so it's before the max desired RPM, set it for max RPM so you don't "compensate" and shift early. I do two-by-two, with the top two being in the center, SLM style. Green/Blue/Red is my advice. Use 200 RPM spread at the very top (between the last two light thresholds), then 300 RPM spread (between the middles and the upper and lower), then a 400 RPM spread between the threshold for the bottom two thresholds. Revs climb slower at higher revs, so you need finer resolution in the shift lights. They'll all flash above the top limit.

I think gear-dependent shift lights are useful, but only at the highest level of car and driver performance. Unless you have an existing MoTeC SLM table, or want to create one in Excel, I would avoid this feature at the Club Racing/DE level.

Then, select alarms first for health issues (pressures/temperature thresholds, above a particular RPM), be SURE to add a text popup or label in addition to the light to tell the driver what the alarm is for!

Then, you can use the extras for "driver carrots," for instance: throttle position more than 90%, brake pressure above a particular amount, basically to incent the driver to "make the lights come on."

This weekend at Road Atlanta I set three lights on the MXG to show throttle at 50%/70%/90% to encourage progressive and full throttle application.

Too much info is BAD for the driver. Better to use multiple screens with fewer fields than one screen with too many measures.

For lap timing, set the timing field on the display to read +/-, then set the lap time "hold time" to 12 or 15 seconds. That way, you see your time, but then it goes back to a real-time report card of how you're doing, updated ALL the time! Great tool.

Start SIMPLE in the beginning, then tweak as you go.

ir_fuel

Nice advice.
Never thought of using the warning lights as "driver carrots". Interesting!

ProCoach

SLM's are wonderful training tools for training drivers on ABS and traction control (managing rear drive grip under acceleration on powerful cars) by displaying wheel speed variance in percentage on all four corners, too.

pmason

Thanks for the info, I'm learning too, I have a standard TraqMate in my one car, but the new spec miata I installed a MXL. Haven't been out at the track yet, but I know the rev lights are all wrong, thought I did it correct, but I like what you outlined above.
Been watching some of the videos which are great for analyzing the data, but there doesn't seem to be much info on the usage while your in the car. Like can I review laps from the dash at the end of a session.

ProCoach

Yes, you should be able to press MEM button with the car not running after the end of the session to see stored information in the MXL.

Matt Romanowski

I think there are specific situations/cars that the gear specific shifts lights are very important for. On your Cayman, you can do them, but it's not necessary.

For screens, I think 2-3 is normally enough. You can have one that you normally use to drive with, one that covers items not on the first page that you might still want to see, and then a very simple last page that just gives you the +/- predictive time so you can really focus.

For alarms, I like to put all the important, pay attention now kind of lights on one side. So that usually means oil pressure, battery (on an aircooled car it could be the fan belt), and oil temp together on the left. That way you know if anything on the left comes on, pay attention. Then I use the right side for stuff that is important, but can wait like trans temp, fuel pressure, and whatever else you want to monitor.

I've also developed a couple tricks I like to put in with the colored lights on the new dashes. We can talk about the next time we meet up. I'm happy to help you clean things up and simplify your config.

Beantown Kman

Very happy I posted this. And VERY grateful for your advice Peter and Matt!! There is much more functionality to the MXL2 than I anticipated. I'm very eager to set it up using your suggestions. I think this is going to be a great tool.

My apologies for not purchasing the dash from one of you. As I'm sure you understand, when someone builds your car they want control over everything. Thank you for being so generous with your advice!!

What does SLM stand for?

Matt Romanowski

SLM is Shift Light Module. http://www.motec.com/slm/slmoverview/ AiM doesn't have an equivalent.............

No worries on where you bought it. It's more important you have something that works for you and we can get it to work the way you want. I'm happy to help out with answers or helping you configure it so it works the best for you.

RickBetterley

Matt, Peter, Jerry, and a host of other contributors to Rennlist are amazingly generous in sharing their knowledge on Rennlist. I am so grateful for that.
Thanks, guys.

Rob in VA

I like that carrot concept.

ProCoach

Makes a BIG difference.

People need live, CURRENT feedback. I can yell on the radio as much as I want, but when you see the green light, THAT'S money!

ir_fuel

It's a lot faster too than you seeing something, yelling it in their ear, their brain processing it and they reacting to it.

amso3

I've programmed my MXL 2 to turn on a LED 1 green light if I drop below 80 (turn 1 Sebring) and LED 4 green if I fall below 60 (turn 16 Sebring). I have not tried it yet, but I think it should be good feedback during the laps. Obviously both will be on in turn 7, but that's OK. I am hoping that down the road we will be able to set alarms using GPS coortinates in the evaluation criteria.

ProCoach

That's cool, Jerry. There are other systems that offer that same conditional "geofencing" criteria. Hope it happens down the road!