The DL won't take external sensors, so no easy way.

 

No, no way to add channels that don't come over the BUS from the ECU>instrument cluster or off the vehicle-wide BUS.

The 987.1 came out for the 2006 model year more than a decade ago. It wasn't until later (the 987.2, with a different ECU) that brake pressure, wheel speeds and other measures were "shared" throughout the car and thus "sniffable" by the two wire connection used by AiM, VBOX and others to log.

The simple way to get both the CAN signals from the Bosch ECU on your 987.1 and allow for adding an analog sensor tapped into the front hydraulic circuit for brake pressure, is to sell the Solo DL and buy an EVO4 with a G-Dash. The interface would be familiar, the equipment is small and compact, and it wouldn't be hard to put in.

While longitudinal G, especially from a properly calibrated electromechanical accelerometer (present in the Solo DL), is a good gauge of the end result of brake pressure (yes, you can SEE modulation intentional or not in the trace), braking performance IS one of the greatest variables not only between drivers, but between ONE driver's performance from lap to lap. So it IS valuable to see.

Let me know if I can help further.

 

If you refer to my original post, it is possible to get brake pressure by setting the device configuration to ECU Manufactuer: PORSCHE / ECU Model: 997_987_MK2_OBDII and connecting to the OBDII connector. However the only other channels you will get are the 4 wheel speeds and accelerometer data.

I confirmed with the AIM support folks in Italy that the SoloDL can only process 1 data feed at a time (CAN or OBDII) and no other additional sensors.

The data is there, but no good way to access it and the other important traces as well. I plan on reconfiguring the device at the track when I need to look at the brake pressure.

 

Right. And the tested, verfiable OBDII protocol is ISO 9141/2. If you do the direct CAN connection, the protocol is 997_GT3, which matches the BOSCH ECU present in the 987.1 vehicle and gives you brake status (on/off)

From AiM (and tested):

Boxster/Cayman (987 MK1) all models 2006-2008
OBDII ISO9141_2
CAN Bosch 997_GT3

The ISO 9141/2 doesn't have brake status (switch on/off) on it, just RPM and PPS (throttle position) as useful driver input channels.

I'm not sure how that is possible. The 997.2 and 987.2 cars use a completely different ECU (Siemens) and a completely different protocol. They transmit data at different bus speeds, have different sensor sets on each version of the car, not the same car at all, electronically...

Please post sample data collected from your 987.1 car showing brake pressure (again, that is not even available on the CAN, so not sure how it can be present on OBDII).

I suppose you could buy one of the new dashes, an expansion harness and run the second CAN with a different protocol. But sheesh.... Do you trigger any MIL lights doing this?

 

This sample is from Summit Point. Brake Pressure is visible over OBDII, using the Porsche OBDII protocol not ISO9141_2. I'll be at your VIR event in two weekends so you can look at it there as well.

 

Remarkable. I'll forward that to Italy and see what happens. Nothing soon, I am sure, but this is great. Thanks for posting!

 

Peter-

Any word from AIM on potentially getting a new CAN configuration for the 987.1? I sent you an email with the details we discussed at your class back in Feb.

 

Nothing in the pipeline right now. But your discovery was enlightening!

 

Yes, Brake Pressure is listed, but not available on the 987.1.

 

I have an MXS and a SmartCamHD in my 987.1. After being a bit surprised that I could not get brake pressure from the CAN connection, only brake switch, I too noticed brake pressure available on the ODB-2 connector using my Durametric cable for some other work.

I don't suppose it would be possible to use both CAN and ODB-2 in this setup?

Now that Spec Cayman is "a thing" for the 987.1 and a bunch of folks are building them, perhaps AIM would consider focusing some resource on exposing the brake pressure data on the CAN connector and making AIM a much better choice.

BTW Peter, have you heard anything back from your inquiry in April?

Thanks, Tim

 

I have not, Tim, but both Matt and I will redouble our efforts, both for getting a more full featured template to allow the Solo DL to get usable data from the SPB ECU connection and to see what we can do to get brake pressure from the SPC with all the other goodies.

Sometimes, the information comes over the bus at different speeds and of course the PID's are different between the CAN and the OBDII. Big issue is that we can't combine or couple the two separate busses, but we'll keep working on it!

 

Thank you Peter.

I will make do with long accel until this is available or, I break down and install a brake pressure sensor and a hub for it. Probably a season before I crack.

 

If you have a dash logger like the MXS, go ahead and install a brake pressure sensor. This is one the the major KPI's in any sort of driver performance analysis.

Unlike the new dashes, which are capable of writing custom CAN template for, any changes for the older hardware need to be done through the factory in Italy, which would issue new information in an updated configuration software release. It may come, but you need this now!

 

Why would you need a hub? Sensor plus a patch cable and you're set!

 

Sorry to bump an incredibly old thread, but I wanted to add some input based on my experience. All my research before buying a Solo DL (and then a Solo 2 DL) stated that the 987.1 Cayman did not support brake pressure data over CAN. This is true if you assign the ECU correctly for a 987.1 Cayman as per the AIM user manual.

However, if you assign the ECU as Cayman Bosch M4, there is indeed a brake pressure channel captured by the Solo DL / Solo 2 DL. I've tested it on both the Solo DL and the Solo 2 DL, both paired with the SmartyCam HD Rev2.1 and it works flawlessly. No extra sensors required. This is over the CAN line, not the OBDII.

Not sure if that's common information or not, but I can't find anywhere on the internet that states this so thought I would throw this out there. Cheers