mikew968

Does anyone have any experience with the RLC dataloggers?

Thanks, Mike

mikew968

Anyone?

andrewdr

My father in law is researching it as he wants to get me one for DE. Wish i had some more information for both of us. Orbit Racing, the company that takes care of my car is not familiar with it.

Circuit Motorsports

What do you want out of a data logger?

mikew968

The short answer I want to improve my driving. I have a Aim mrchron 3 gold with throttle position sensor. I am a crew of one and having the time immediately after a session to down load the data and learn from it is difficult. Also, learning to interrupt the data is not easy without someone to teach it to you.

Thanks, Mike

Circuit Motorsports

What do you think the RLC will do that the Mycrhon can't?

Data is data. RLC won't give you any different data than the AIM system. It will display it slightly differently but it's still the same stuff.

If you want GPS, there are new GPS systems you can plug into the Mychron dashes (they are from CDS not AIM).

As a crew of one it will always be tough to download the data and learn in between sessions no matter what you do.

If I were you I'd spend my money on a brake pressure sensor and steering angle sensor for the AIM and learn how to read the data. Those two along with the throttle position will help you more than any other data piece you can add. In between sessions once you get comfortable with the download and display of data you should be able to focus in on the 2 or 3 places you were working on in the session.

I don't see the transition to an RLC really helping you much.

Also curious. What kind of car?

mikew968

I race a 968 in GTS-2 with NASA . I have a local pro that helps me look at the data in the shop; I guess i just have to work with him more to learn what I need to look at while at the track.

Thanks, Mike

Circuit Motorsports

Are you using hte dash to show oil pressure and temp and water temp?

mikew968

Not at this time although it is on the list to do. I am now using the the Aim as my main dash so I need to add the other sensors.


Mike

Circuit Motorsports

That will be the problem you'll run into the the Mycrhon 3 Gold dash. It has limited inputs so you'll have to start picking and choosing what you want to record. After the two oil and 1 water inputs you only have one more channel you can record. For driver improvement I strongly recommend the Steering, brake and throttle sensors. Oil and Water data is nice to have if there are some issues you are having with teh engine but it's never helped me with my driving.

kgorman

Data is data it's true, but the software interface helps to decode what it means for you. So a choice about what data logger to use should be done by evaluating the software as well, this helps the data to be more meaningful to you. Don't forget that part. ;-)

For driver improvement I agree with the above posts, get TPS, Brake Pressure or On/Off, Steering Angle, RPM and/or Gear.

Don't try to do too much at the track, get your workflow down at home, then at the track just do quick compares against your baseline (your fast lap) or someone else's fast lap. One workflow we use, that is helpful, is to get your baseline loaded up, then add in the lap you just did. Use a channel that shows time delta relative to your baseline (in Traqview/Traqmate it's called "Timegap Vs Distance"), we also show channels for velocity (speed), TPS, Brake, RPM all at once, and then you can compare where/why you were slower or faster to your baseline. Look at where the timegap was slower, then see what you did there.. did you brake less? Did you use a different gear? Then use this information in your head as a new 'ruleset' for your fast lap. Once you reset fast lap, make that your new baseline.

Isn't data cool? Hope this helps some..

mikew968

What I think this all means for me is to run the data comapison as soon as the run is finished so I can coorelate what I see from the data to what I remember from the just completed on-track session. Is that aabout right?

Mike

kgorman

Yeah, but get your workflow figured out so you can do it pretty quick, since normally it's busy at the track. And no need to 'remember', thats what the data is for. Just compare your baseline to the lap you just completed and get a couple areas to work on, then next session go work on those areas. Just pick 1 or 2 areas at a time.

Tom W

I agree that data is data (how can you not?) and after TPS, a brake sensor is a huge help. As pointed out simply changing the logger is unlikely to help. A quick review in between sessions is unlikely to help much too.

I used a Traqmate last year to see I would have the time and ability to play with the data and see if it a data system would help me improve. It helped but I became frustrated with only GPS and rpm, data. It was obvious I needed TPS and brakes to get much more out of it. I used that info to switch to MoTeC when I had my car rebuilt over the winter. All stock gauges were replaced with a MoTeC dash and new sensors added where needed. It's a big help and now there is even more data to take even more time to analyze to figure out what is required to improve. Throwing more money at it and adding more sensors for more data will do nothing if you don't have (or take) the time to analyze what data you have collected. It gets easier with practice, but learning to interpret the data is also a time consuming process.

The problem with data alone is that you will not necessarily be able to remember that you were slower in lap 2 at turn 6 because you had traffic in front of you or if you just didn't have the guts to get on the throttle sooner. To get the most out of it, you really need to add video so you can see what was going on around you when you get the time to analyze the data. I use a Chasecam and TrackVision in conjunction with the MoTeC data to address this.

It's a bunch of money and a serious time drain to get much out of it other than some superficial easy fixes. Be sure you are willing to make the commitment.