Data Recorder

Hey Rob,

I've been using a "Traqmate Complete" for over 3 years now and love it! - The device itself is completely "non-intrusive" to the car - My "sensor unit" is mounted between the seats and is "hard wired" to 12v, but you can obviously get that from the cig-lighter or it's own battery pack.... I made a little bracket that mounts just in front of the reverse lever for the "display unit" and it even looks pretty good IMHO - On a drive it even displays the *time* (and speed/direction etc) in a format that's readable with the roof down!.....[Very possibly the worlds most expensive solution to the unreadable clock issue? ]

The S/W is very easy to use - The only downside is it's "PC only", but if you're Mac or Linux based it runs fine in a VM.

Suggest a search herein for "Traqmate" and many comments will pop up. [Many from me of course ]

If you want to go to "the next level" (recording RPM, throttle position etc) I wrote a "how to" on the Traqmate site: http://traqmate.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=821

Any more Q's, feel free,

Cheers,
Ian

 

PM me, I recommend the TM for it's ease of use.

 

Another Traqmate user here. It's perfect for your application.

 

traqmate!!!

 

Rob, just to amplify. The purpose of a data logger is so much more than just lap times. While I use the lap times recorded to identify, select and analyze each lap, what I'm looking for in a data logger and it's software is the ability to quickly jettison the 80% I'm doing well and zoom in on the 20% of my driving technique that will make a real improvement to my driving.

I have found that people can make great strides just making their braking performance more consistent and closer to the levels that the car is capable of FREQUENTLY and nearly every time you commit to the brake pedal. A simple Longitudinal (Accel/Braking) G versus distance will help you with that.

Another area is the cleanliness and efficiency of transitions in control inputs, i.e. how quickly you can go from full acceleration down the front straight at Summit to maximum braking rate (in g's) without "anticipating" having to brake by letting off the gas pedal inadvertantly and even sometimes without realizing you're doing so.

The software for the Traqmate is such that you can pull up a colored map of the track, based on the forces acting on the car, and identify instantly many of these areas for improvement. That way, you can go right back out with a plan rather than pore over a bunch of user-arranged parameters that you need to set up before you can get the usable (and valuable) information.

All of these units (Traqmate, Race Technology DL-1, RacePak G2X and IQ3, RLC, V-Box, etc) measure the same thing with roughly the same accuracy (far more than you need to find improvement), but it's the ease-of-use that make the difference.

If it's not easy to use, it turns into a glorified lap timer, which is a waste. If it is easy to use, you'll get to the point where it's the first thing you do when you get out of the car and you can't imagine living without it.

After analyzing over 6000 sessions of data, from N00bs to professional drivers, certain trends emerge. It's gotten to the point now that I "see" as I'm driving the "shape" of the graph I am generating in my mind!

It's cool and it is a must-have tool for quantifying objectively what you're doing on-track.

Best, Peter

 

Well said!!

 

What he said.

Peter and I both sell and use the Traqmate to do our private coaching with. It is easy, very intuitive for the users to learn to use, and supplies 85% of the data newbies need to learn what to look for. Let me know if you need any help with the Traqmate.

 

Another vote for Traqmate.