jscott82

Getting a datalogger is long overdue and its time for a new camera too....

My initial thought is to buy a Smartycam. But since it won’t interface with my ECU (too old) I am concerned that GPS data alone will not tell me what I want to know... As much as I'd like to buy an EVO4 and all the sensors, I’m not sure when/if that will happen.

What I think I need:
GPS
RPM
Throttle Position
Brake Pressure
Video overlay
Ability to separately see/map the data
Dont need a dash

Is GPS data alone "good enough" ?
How hard is it to sync data from something like a Traqmate and separate camera?
Or should I just "man up" and get an EVO4, Sensors, and SmartyCam ($3k) up front ?

What say ye ?

Seth Thomas

For a racecar get EVO4, Sensors, and SmartyCam. You get everything you want up front and it will give you real data that can be used to get the last tenths out of your car and driver.

If you have a track/street car then a Traqmate gets it done for now. AIM has a product coming out in the next few months that is the equal of Traqmate but uses the AIM data analysis software. The AIM unit can also be plugged in to other vehicles using the ECU bridge and give you precise data for less than $1K is the rumor.

Larry Herman

Brad Penn oil, don't skip shift, tow with a diesel pickup, nothing but HANS works, and Racepak G2X.


Seriously, PM me if you want to know more about the Racepak.

SG_M3

What do other people around you use? What do your track friends use? How much time are you really going to invest in learning the software? Video overlay is a cool "bling" feature, its not really that helpful. Spend some time with Aim race studio and Traqmate's trackview and see which you like better. Its all about finding something that will match your use, and how much of an advanced user you are going to become.

Aim Solo will be coming out soon, traqmate competition.

Racepak is meh at best.

If you want something very easy to use, you can pretty much pick it with a couple of minute tutorial...grab a traqmate.

Carrera51

JScott:
For good data and easy to use software at a reasonable price, Racepak G2X and Traqmate are great for us club racers. AIM is a fantastic and more expandable, but you will spend a lot more money wise. What do your fellow racer buddies who you hang out with use? If you get the same system, you all can compare and overlay your data from the tracks you frequent.

jscott82

Brand aside... Is GPS alone sufficient?

Looks like adding sensors to Traqmate or G2X starts to push them into EVO4 territory….

None of my buddies use data yet, I will be the first out of the gate, so want to make the best choice possible.

mglobe

+1 Also with Traqmate, you will find the largest number of people with whom you can share data. I'm sure it's not the "best" overall, but it's easy, and sufficient for DE and club racers imho.

SG_M3

Depends on the depth of data analysis you want. I use a TM with just GPS and it works great, its enough to gain most club racers a second or two.

But yes, brake pressure, TPS, rpm, and steering angle would all be nice. You can always upgrade these as you go.

jscott82

Great timing... It just showed up on AIM's site... was not there this morning...

utkinpol

after all talks of smartycam to get new firmware update where they will open it up as datalogger we got this new $800 Solo DL.
http://aimsolo.com.au/

I am not sure what to think. $800 is almost 3 cases of acceptably good french wine for me and I like good wine better than new gizmos.

jscott82

I’m now leaning towards the EVo4 + Smartycam... Tell me what I’m missing...

1) I like the integration, single cable to connect the camera and logger... don’t have to worry about powering them separately...
2) At the end of the day I have data and completed video.... I don’t have to try to sync the two later in real time (for every hour I drive I have to spend an hour creating a merged video)
3) For my buddies with newer cars, they can tap directly to the ECU to get more data
4) Price differential is only 400 bucks…

jrgordonsenior

I use a Smartycam with their MXL Pista in my 99' race car which doesn't have a BUS connection. I added water temp and oil pressure sensors which now display on the dash in in the Smartycam videos. You can add a brake position sensor, throttle sensor, any number of things if you wish....

ProCoach

I sell AiM, Race-Keeper, Video VBOX and Traqmate.

Yes, GPS (Traqmate) is enough for me to help propel a former F1 World Driving Champion to pick up 1.5 seconds on a track he won with in CART racing in a GT car last summer.

If you're the first, you can't go wrong with Traqmate. Easier to compare runs than just about anything and MUCH shorter learning curve to use the software.

Get started on that before tackling Race Studio 2 (AiM Evo 4, MXL Pista or Solo). The data analysis workflow is the same as the more "advanced" systems and this will get you started with way less rabbit holes to break your ankle in.

Have fun.

Bill Verburg

I bought Racekeeper, only extra input so far is rpm, others are easily added, you can run up to 4 cameras which are 1 wire hookup each.

data and track map and video are automatically integrated but can be seen separately if desired, no post processing at all,

the only think I don't like is the form factor, it's a bit wider than I'd like to see for mounting atop the console.

forklift

I sold my DL-1 and bought a G2X since most I know in my region use that and so far I hate the G2X software and really miss the DL-1...even though I was just barely scraping the surface of what was available w/ the DL1 software.

I'm going to give the G2X some more time and try to learn how to use it but so far (2 events) it has just been a lap timer....the last DE showed some kind of error messsage and I didn't get any data.

I'm not much of a tech guy so I'm thinking I should have bought a traqmate.