mdrums

Any updates or anyone using a simple GPS Lap Timer like the Performance Box? Is there anything that costs less on the market?

http://www.vboxusa.com/performancedr...ormancebox.php

I have an iPhone 4 and was also wondering how Harry's Lap Timer actually works? Is it accurate? Not sure where in my car I'd mount my iPhone to monitor laps.

My car has the stock interior and is driven on the street so I need this lap timer solution to be plug and play with out any modification to the interior.

Jarez Mifkin

I'm looking into RLC Racing's data systems for when/if I ever get back to racing.

lowest price option from them: http://www.rlcracing.com/track-commander.htm

Next step up
Micro Pod Lite: http://www.rlcracing.com/micro-pod-series-lite.htm


No affiliation, they just look like really nice units.

mdrums

Jarez...that is a little rich for my blood. I don't race just DE and would like a simple GPS laptimer.

himself

You should really contemplate the performance box. I have used mine for years and it is great. They are portable and easy to move from car to car.

And now, they have new software and the ability to take ECU inputs via a module [yeah, it costs extra, but not much].

Every now and again I see one come up on fleabay for around 1/2 price, which is a steal!

-td

mdrums

I've been looking around on fleabay but have not seen a Vbox Performance Box yet. I do see a lot of GPS timers for bikes and Karts but none of them are local in the USA.

Giacomo

check out www.maxqdata.com The basic $289 unit works just fine. With a pocket pc, don't know if it works with iphone, you can get lap times, including current predictive lap time, on the fly. I used it prior to going to the iq3.

KS-CS

Harry's Lap Timer is okay, but I actually prefer Track Pro, which even recognizes automatically what track I'm at, and has preset start/finish coordinates already programmed (Harry's has some, but not the tracks I regularly go to).

I don't know about the iphone 4, but with my 3G you have use the Tom-Tom carkit (holder) for enhanced GPS reception, or else the apps just don't work that well. The good thing is that you can use the Tom-tom holder for other Nav apps as well. I attach mine at the center base of the windshield so I can see my laptimes easily; it has to be plugged into a 12V outlet.

DWS964

MaxQData has a free iPhone app that might work just fine. I have not tried it yet, tho.

I have a MaxQData unit that runs at 10Hz and feeds to a PDA or a smartphone. It works pretty well for me. The software is a bit clunky by today's standards, but you get lap times, speeds, lateral and longitudinal gforces, etc. I do not have it mounted on the dash - I velcro it into the door pocket while on the track and then look at the profiles later.
This allows me to drive Flat Out without any data distracting me.

DCP

I will be trying Harry's this weekend at a defined track without a supplemental GPS. I will post results. My prior iPhone efforts with a different program were not encouraging. I am hoping that the track definition does something to make it work.

I also defined a different track not in Harry's selections using the Harry's application. It was not difficult, but I have no idea whether it will work. I will be going to that track next week. I will post results on that one too.

mdrums

Does Harry's have Sebring in it?

Ilker@SCB

We are the Canadian Racelogic distributor and have great success with the Performance Box. I think for the money you get a lot of data and the new software is quite cool too.
I think you would be really happy with the unit - the VideoVBox is much more money and if you are on a budget then stick with the PBox.

KS-CS

Yes (and I see he's gotten around to adding Heartland Park, but still no Hallett)

I think the only thing the provided track definitions have, is a set start/finish line, which still relies on the accuracy of your GPS signal. The problem with the iphone is that its intrinsic GPS antenna/processor isn't powerful enough to accurately or consistently record your times at racetrack speeds - at least in my experience. That's why both Harry's and Track Pro recommend the use of an external GPS receiver, like the Tom-Tom kit.

savowood

I use Harry's Lap Timer a lot. It has some nice features. One of them is that I can mount it using my TomTom mount and get the accuracy down to extremely good. I've compared HLT with the TomTom against HD 60 frame video and it was dead on.

As for tracks, depending on where you are, you could have either just start/stop, or intermediate points. For example, Harald and I worked on getting Summit Point set up with appropriate spots for split times. I did the one for Shenandoah and submitted it to him for use by others. Harald is very open to accepting input on tracks. If you have one he doesn't, submit it.

Currently, i'm working on one for Harris Hill Road. After that, I'll see what I can do with DriveWay Austin.

There's a lot of good information about HLT on the web site:

<http://web.me.com/hschlangmann/LapTimer_Homepage/Home.html>

You can find a list of currently certified tracks here:

<http://web.me.com/hschlangmann/LapTimer_Homepage/Tracks.html>

My advice, for DE and even low level racing where your budget is either going to brakes or a data system, use HLT with the TomTom mount.

-Michael

CRex

I've been running Harry's LapTimer with a TomTom mount for the past half a year and highly recommend it.

It's got a very good library of tracks, and even if it doesn't have your local circuit the "ad-hoc" mode is very user friendly--basically press once to define starting point and forget about it for the rest of the day.

The track library does keep growing--every other week I seem to find a handful of new, user-submitted tracks. (I myself started uploading some of the tracks in my area too). Harry's very good at responding to uploads and usually posts them onto the server within a day.

Having compared this with other iphone offerings I think HLT's by far the more powerful product out there. On the downside: HLT lacks the accuracy and update rate to pinpoint your racing line. For that you need a a PerformanceBox or or full-fledged VBox setup. Then again, at 1/500th of the cost this is still great value for an amateur/enthusiast like me.

savowood

Bump up the refresh rate and your accuracy will improve. The default setting is pretty low. Push it up to the maximum refresh and you'll get much better accuracy. I had the same issue when I reloaded it recently after a restoration to my iPhone. My settings were blown out and I noted it was waaaaaaaay off. Now that I upped it, it's all good.

We're not talking Racepak level, but for DE it's good enough.

-Michael