Rick

I'm contemplating purchasing an AIM dash and was curious if any connection can be made to this car's ECU or if all of the data must be gathered via installed sensors.

Anyone know?

Thanks,

Rick

ColorChange

Rick: You need hard sensors. They are working on a 996 ECU tie in and have it for cup cars already.

[edit] looks like I'm wrong. Sorry.

APKhaos

Rick,
The news is better than that!
You can pick up RPM, throttle position, and brake binary from the Turbo S DME/KLR.
Temps, pressures and the rest require hard sensors, but you can always add them later.

penguinking

what kind of AIM dash? MXL?

Rick

I'm leaning towards the Mycron 3 Gold - I can't find a compelling reason (for me) to spend the additional money on the Pista.

Any perspective on the 2 systems?

penguinking

in the karting community the mychron3 gold is incredibly popular - speed, rpm, temp sensors. plus g-force sensors and 3D track mapping - its a steal at the price it costs. the regular mychron 3 and mychron 3 plus don't have the track mapping or the g-load sensors, not worth it IMO. i'm hoping to upgrade to a M3 Gold over the summer. the MXL is just insane. i'd put that thing on an LMP car, but couldnt see any reason to have one in club racing

ngoldrich

I have the MXL pro and have already used/consumed all of the analog channels. So I will be upgrading again so I can use about 16 analog channels.

It all depends on the level of racing you will be doing coupled with what data you want/need to record & analyze.

The MXL is very simple to use and very cost effective compared to the other top systems. My other cars had Pi System 4 plus, Motec, and Prodata Indycar setup - and the MXL is exponentially easier to setup and use and also way more cost effective.

So it just depends on your specific wants and needs. In terms of high quality data acq, the MXL is a good value (in comparison). Although it is still a good amount of money. If you really do not need all the bells and whistles, no need to spend the money; go with a system that does what you really need.

If you really are not going to analyze the data, just get a laptimer that also records rpm & speed (and maybe g).

If you can use an ecu link (CAN or serial) you can get away with fewer analog sensors.

My shifter kart has the M3 Gold XG and it works well...

Hope that helps.

Norm

penguinking

upgrading to the DRACK system? i think thats the next rung up on the AiM ladder

ngoldrich

No, I believe the MXL PRO is now their highest model. I am not sure they are continuing with the Drack. I am not sure they are even continuing with their EVO model, since they have less features than the new MXL Pro.

I may be switching the the new MXL pro which has 12 instead of 8 analog channels and 16 MB instead of 8MB ram. Then add a 4 analog channel CAN expansion box.

I may just go with Motec then I can easily cascade to 32 channels if needed...

I am still researching...

Norm

penguinking

theres one system (not AiM) that has GPS track mapping instead of using wheel sensors...about a grand but i forget what its called. interesting read because it claims using wheel sensors can be inaccurate because expansion of the tire and under load can cause the numbers to read up to 4% +/-

ngoldrich

That's the DL-90 I believe.

I dont have any experience with it.

Norm

APKhaos

That's the Race Technology DL-1. For around $900 [the sagging US$ has driven this up because its made in the UK] it provides good GPS, 2 axis Gs to 2G max or [optional] 10g max Compact flash storage, 8 analog inouts, 4 wheel/shart speed inputs, two RPM inputs [spark plug pickup & EMS signal], lap beacon input.

Its a great package for many drivers, but its not truly competitive if you want the level of logging and analysis that Norm and others at his level demand. Also, its a 'black box' logger. It does not have the real-time dash displays that are a key element of the AIM, Stack and MoTeC systems. Race Tech are releasing a dash display this year, but it will be interesting to see the combined price of their logger and display, and how this compares to AIM's MXL.

The AIM MXL series and the Stack products are probably the next step up. Similarly, MoTeC provides another level of sophistication [and price].

The traditional vendors designed their core technology before GPS was a real option. In their world, track position [adn track maps] are derived from a complex and somewhat innacurate analysis of speed and g forces. Race Tech designed with GPS from day one, which explains why its GPS features are inherent, and the others offer GPS as a fairly spendy option.

Like most things in motorsport, you buy what best suits your needs.

ngoldrich

Tony,

That's why I call racing the consumer sport. It will consume whatever you are willing to feed it...

Norm

macnewma

Rick, that's cool. I would love to check out your data acq setup when you get it.

RJay

I went with the MXL Pista as, at the time the cost differential was only a couple of hundred bucks between it an the M3 XG. Did debate between the advantage of the XGs steering mounted display versus the fixed one of the MXL but in the end the larger display + the potential of the GPS option tipped to the MXL. Contrary to what was said above I don't believe the GPS is available outside of the MXL range. If I were buying today, given the price increase, its a much tougher choice now. And then theres the DaVid to consider! Anyone out there ordered the GPS BTW? Does it eliminate the need for lap beacons?