If you have been feeling like Micael Shumacher lately and think you could improve your illustrious track performance by knowing your split times as you drive around, you might be tempted by these new items from Race Technology. I have been a big fan of their GPS based stuff, since for the price, it is a great deal. Plus they also now have video linking capabilities.



So know you will not only know how great you are while on the track, you can watch yourself after the track and see how you mastered your competitors all the while pulling some serious g's. And ther is still time before Xmas.

From their recent newsletter:

"DASH1 - Available 1st quarter 2005


Rugged billet aluminium enclosure, sealed to IP65.
Large, ultra clear 40 character backlit display.
Real time lap and sector times without a track side optical beacon.
User configurable display, with up to 30 screens of data.
Compatible with the DL1, AX22 and forthcoming SPEEDBOX and DL2 products.

The DASH1, first member of the DASH series, is a compact, robust, water resistant data display system for use with our range of data logging products.

The DASH1 can be used for road, racing and development applications. It extends the use of our loggers by allowing the user to see the data in real time in the vehicle. The DASH1 is very robust, making it ideal for demanding applications from single seaters to a professional engineering environment.


DASH2 - Available 2005



Ultra slim, water resistant enclosure.
High contrast, high visibility display.
User configurable - you decide what you see.
Compatible with the DL1, AX22 and forthcoming SPEEDBOX and DL2 products.
Optional CAN Data input.

The second member of the DASH Series, the DASH2 is a slim, water-resistant configurable data display with a die cast enclosure and custom high contrast LCD display with adjustable EL backlight. The DASH2 accepts information not only from our existing range of data loggers, but also from CAN enabled devices or sensors. When used in conjunction with a GPS enabled device or lap beacon the DASH2 can display real time lap and sector times, completed/remaining laps and other track specific information.


With user-definable alarm thresholds, the DASH-2 can monitor important parameters and provide customised automatic warnings.

 

wow, awesome.

a friend of mine and i were brainstorming on designing a data acquisition/logging platform, but it looks like half of the idea has been done already..

 

pricing?? links??

 

another interesting system I came across in "autoweek" today
http://www.xtremex3.com/

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chad &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pricing?? links??</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://www.race-technology.com/HomePage.html

 

Speaking of Race Tech equipment, does anyone have any experience with the DL1 logger? Likes? Dislikes? Seems comparable to the 8 channel AIM Evo3, but with added GPS and good pricing. I definitely liked the software, but I haven't had time to check out all the features.

I spoke with the director at PRI...really nice guy.

 

aim mychron or there new dash imo is better and they are comming out with a vid overlay system that looks awsome, its called david. I have a friend with a dl1 and he loves it but i like the dash system aim has and im not even using all 5 channels of my mychron 3 xg log yet and the software is awsome so much more detailed once you start poking around.

 

Too bad it is a UK product... the exchange rates suck right now. I was just in the UK last week and it was $1.94 per 1 English Pound.

 

I thought I saw that AIM was going to add GPS to one of their products. I think the AIM software looks very good, probably better than the Race Technology that I use. But I really like the GPS beacon-less feature, and I think that live sector times in the car would be a great tool. Since you can set as many split locations as you want and anywhere you want in the existing Race Technology software after you download the data, I would imagine that those new real time displays would also allow you to set split locations where you want so you could study improvements around one corner perhaps.

And as for the exchange rate sucking compared to the British pound, now you know how Canadians have felt for a while. Now when I order stuff from the US, it just seems so cheap since our dollar finally went up instead of down. Not that the exchange rate is going to help you with AIM products, as they are made in Italy, and last I know of are priced in Euros too. AiM-Sports-Italy web site: http://www.aim-sportline.com/

Now if I could just figure out a way to get 4 cheap suspension travel potentiometers cheap to go with my DL1 I am hoping to order!

 

That is true, AIM does have excellent software (Race Studio). When I spoke with AIM at PRI, they didn't mention anything about additional GPS features. I hope that wouldn't increase the price too much. Race-technology will have a US base soon.

 

The AIM stuff is top notch. The software is the best part IMO. I have been using the Mychron 3 Gold XG for the past few seasons

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GSpeedR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Speaking of Race Tech equipment, does anyone have any experience with the DL1 logger? Likes? Dislikes? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I have a DL1 logger. So far I am extremely happy with it. Orginaly I was looking into the AIM, but the DL1 was alittle cheaper. Any questions just send me a im.

btw. That dash2 is yummy

Ryan-Who would also like to find some cheap shock pots

 

yah Race Tech UK guys definetely has been working hard. I think total I sold about two dozen DL90's and couple of DL1's. It's an awesome tool, but most people don't track often enough to really use it...

the new stuff looks really awesome. damn the exchange right now though.

 

We used a DL1 to tune up for the VIR 13 hours and were all very impressed with it. I'm counting my Santa dollars to see if I have enough $$ but I'm figuring that it might well be the best investment in the world for me, in terms of potential time gain on the track.

Like some of you, I got a great schoolin' sharing my car with fast drivers. Greg Amy was about 5 seconds faster than I was and the DL1 data made it clear where.

K

 

yep, having good drivers driving your car in autox or road courses is always a good learning experience. if you don't get to ride in it, the datalog will show just about everything. it's a awesome tool. the best part about the DL90/DL1 is it can be setup in just couple of minutes in any car as long as it has a cig plug power adapter.

the new realtime display is going to make it complete. can't wait to try the latest hardware.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by descartesfool &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> . Not that the exchange rate is going to help you with AIM products, as they are made in Italy, and last I know of are priced in Euros too. AiM-Sports-Italy web site: http://www.aim-sportline.com/
</TD></TR></TABLE>

AIM is close to my house!

AIM products are the most used in competition over here!
Exelent stuff and good prices.

 

I have been wanting to use something like for a while now, what do you do about the VSS?

A friend of mine had a faulty stock cluster and it would not go into vtec because there was something wrong with the VSS...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rpm9100 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A friend of mine had a faulty stock cluster and it would not go into vtec because there was something wrong with the VSS...</TD></TR></TABLE>

The faulty VSS doenst have anything to do with the cluster - the VSS is on the transmission case and if it fails, vtec wont engage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The faulty VSS doenst have anything to do with the cluster - the VSS is on the transmission case and if it fails, vtec wont engage.</TD></TR></TABLE>

there was a connection on the back of the cluster that was fried, we changed the cluster with a new one then no problem?

I guess my question is what do I have to do if I don't want to use the stock cluster?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rpm9100 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">there was a connection on the back of the cluster that was fried, we changed the cluster with a new one then no problem?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'd have to check the helms, but I dont think that the ECU receives VSS signal from the cluster - something else is wrong there.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I guess my question is what do I have to do if I don't want to use the stock cluster?</TD></TR></TABLE>

See above

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd have to check the helms, but I dont think that the ECU receives VSS signal from the cluster - something else is wrong there.

See above</TD></TR></TABLE>

if I remember right I think the speedo didn't work either, we had taken out the cluster altogther and no vtec, we put in the new cluster and everything was fine???

 

The DASH 1 system, is it GPS linked? Do you need a special reciever for that, or is it hardwired/built into the unit as it is? Also, do you need to fit all the sensors to it (oil, speed sensor, etc) or are those optional too?

 

Yummy. I ordered my DL1 this evening...



Pic courtesy of http://www.actdigital.com

If you haven't used a DA system on the track, you need to find this racing religion. To put it in real terms, my fast lap at the VIR enduro (2:35.xx) was almost 5 seconds off of Greg Amy's fast lap - a 2:31.01. My theoretical fast lap, according to the data, would have been a low 2:32 so evidence suggests that (a) I need to do the fast stuff more regularly, and (b) I'll STILL have at least a second to find someplace. More importantly, it's not just about knowing the time is out there, it is knowing where to go looking for it.

This is one of two big purchases for me this season - the other being a final drive and LSD for the gearbox, that should net the CAR the biggest bang for the buck available under IT rules. The DL1 is intended to help the DRIVER go faster, making the entire package better.

At something approaching $900 it is not cheap but I'll bet that if you could find a mechanical improvement with the potential to make your car 4 seconds a lap faster at VIR, you'd think it was a pretty good deal, huh?

K



Modified by Knestis at 7:15 PM 1/4/2005

 

welcome to the enlightened club. it is a bargain compare to what i charge ppl - 1 sec. improvement = $1000 (or fractions of). hehheh.

 

Kirk, be sure and let us know how it works out for you. I'm very interested in getting something similiar even if the stupid SS & Touring rules won't let me legally use it during a race.

Do you know what additional inputs you are going to hook up? I imagine you need a tap in the brake circuit (for braking point comparison) and some type of throttle sensor even it it's only WOT.

Anybody else have experience with a DL90 or DL1?