Lap timing gear

[Steven_K]

Hi Guys,
What are people using re lap timing / predicting in their cars ... I need something giving lap count and time ... Also need a pit board (but that's another post)
Cheers
Steven

 

[-D4N-]

It's not automatic or 100% accurate but it does the job

 

[TarkMalbot]

About 10 years ago I used to use a T100 lap timer but I am sure things have moved on a bit since then.

 

[MG cup]

Depends which circuits you go to. If they have the beacon for certain types of timers, at knockhill most use demon tweeks timers and they are left in for most track days to.

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/lap-timers/demon-tweeks-lap-timer

And the beacon if you need it.

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motor...tweeks-beacon-to-suit-demon-tweeks-lap-timers

Race logic performance box and V-box is another great piece of equipment, quite expensive but quite accurate and you can lay data over the top of each other to see exactly where your going right/wrong on a lap.

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Produ...Data Loggers&gclid=COKAhdmT4MQCFSoEwwodhEMAaA

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/lap-timers/racelogic-vbox-laptimer

 

[MG cup]

It's not automatic or 100% accurate but it does the job

Dan how do you find the operation of the Summit equipment, I'm going to have one if their steering mounted controls but I have yet to decide.

Their new raptor and talon range are very nice.

Which operations do you have through yours and is it 100% in operation as far as the buttons?

 

[Steve]

Don't get seen at a trackday or you may get asked to leave.
You will invalidate their insurance.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Don't get seen at a trackday or you may get asked to leave.
You will invalidate their insurance.

Seen with what?

 

[imprezaworks]

Timing equipment

 

[Steven_K]

Don't get seen at a trackday or you may get asked to leave.
You will invalidate their insurance.

Thanks Steve ... It's for race day chap... My Harry's laptimer is good for TDs in the old pocket

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Timing equipment

Surely that depends on the day? Lots of race cars goto track days with timing gear built into the car.

 

[Steven_K]

Yup ... They do get funny tho so they always come over and have a nose and sat its a "track day"
The reason is that test days are circa £370 ... Track days offer good value in comparison.

 

[Steven_K]

GPS timing equipment looks like the one ... I'll do a bit of eesearch on the vbox gear later... But it's all just the same as the harrys laptimer and a GPS signal module.. Umm could mount the iPhone in the car for a race then ?!?

 

[imprezaworks]

Surely that depends on the day? Lots of race cars goto track days with timing gear built into the car.

On a trackday its a big no no. You get caught, kiss your day away.
On a race day etc, then its fine.

 

[Adam G]

If it's just so you know your laptimes, then TSL provide a lap by lap breakdown for each competitor via your transponder. If you want deeper analysis then VBOX seems a popular choice.

 

[Steven_K]

In hindsight I should have been a bit more specific ...
I'm looking for a dash mounted lap counter / timer for race day... Following my 1st race I needed something to work too and in car laptimer would help out.
Vbox laptimer looks good ... As does the simple beacon system ... If it offers analytics post race then it's good as a comparison but not critical.

 

[Steven_K]

On a trackday its a big no no. You get caught, kiss your day away.
On a race day etc, then its fine.

What he's saying is if these race cars go to a track day as a corporate day or shake down then it's a case that they can't disconnect all the timing gear (often linked to data logging etc) just to do a track day ...

Of course ... You just switch it on after leaving the pits and off when you do a cool down lap

 

[imprezaworks]

Well there is that I guess.

 

[-D4N-]

http://www.starlane.com/vedit/15/cr...co-acquisizione-dati-PRODOTTI.asp?idprod=1134

I was looking at these last year, they look quite good could easily mount where the original clock is on the clio

 

[MicKPM]

Just throwing this out there... we sell Race Logic products... hint, hint, discounts

I use my personal RL VBox when ever I go to track days purely for the video and data overlays but it's nice seeing your delta/time slip is pretty nice. I also found that the harder I tried, the slower I actually went so it actually helped me improve. If you were closer I'd invite you over for a play.

Mick

 

[Steven_K]

Just throwing this out there... we sell Race Logic products... hint, hint, discounts :wink:

I use my personal RL VBox when ever I go to track days purely for the video and data overlays but it's nice seeing your delta/time slip is pretty nice. I also found that the harder I tried, the slower I actually went so it actually helped me improve. If you were closer I'd invite you over for a play.

Mick

Thanks for the offer Mick.
Happy to hear prices on the laptimer ... I like the display element ... Just looking through their site at the mo regarding the features etc

 

[MicKPM]

They're currently out of stock until the end of April, there's obviously been a big uptake on these this year... No doubt because it's brilliant!

It retails at £595.00+VAT+postage. I can do it for £535.00+VAT with free postage.

Mick

 

[sonny172cup]

I'v been using the VBOX lite with the OLED timer (above ) now for over a year and its a great bit of kit.

This is the set up I have http://www.racelogic.co.uk/Store/products.php?product=Video-VBOX-Lite-and-OLED-%2d-Caterham-Package

Added benefit of analyzing your lines afterwards and google earth overlays etc and overlaying your previous lines to compare current lines etc

The OLED is great, during qualifying I have it set to predictive lap timing so I can see my best time and if im driving slower etc

 

[MicKPM]

Exactly the same setup I use Sonny and in addition, it's so simple to use to. It's not cheap but for what it gives you, it's an invaluable tool in a race car.

 

[sonny172cup]

Exactly, im hindsight I wish I paid extra for the HD VBOX Lite as im not a great fan of the lower pic quality of the main cam, I also purchased the CAN cable to read RPM but having problems reading the gen90 (any ideas?) in edition I also changed out the main cam lens for a better closer field of view.

 

[Rolls]

Bit left field, but if you don't want live times, but want to analyse after why not use something like strava? It's a GPs fitness app that'll give you what you like I believe - it's certainly the case that on garmin bike computers you can set up laps to give you the exact info you'd be after!

 

[harry289]

I have an AIM Solo GPS lap timer

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/lap-timers/aim-motorsport-solo-gps-lap-timer

 

[Steven_K]

I have an AIM Solo GPS lap timer

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/lap-timers/aim-motorsport-solo-gps-lap-timer

How do you get on with it ?
Do you use the software ??

 

[harry289]

lap timing wise. very accurate. Pretty much turn on and the GPS knows which circuit you're at and where exactly the finish line is. I haven't used the software as yet. it shows lowest speed and highest speed reached per lap. you can mount it to your dash or even to the centre of the steering wheel. of course it shows split times so in qualifying you know if you're going faster or not. if you should keep the hammer down or back off and prep yourself for next lap.

 

[MicKPM]

Exactly, im hindsight I wish I paid extra for the HD VBOX Lite as im not a great fan of the lower pic quality of the main cam, I also purchased the CAN cable to read RPM but having problems reading the gen90 (any ideas?) in edition I also changed out the main cam lens for a better closer field of view.

Ditto, I wish I'd gone the HD route to but I imagine that the file sizes would be crazy where as I can do do an entire day with 6Gb with this setup, so swings and roundabouts.

Regarding the Gen90 issue, I'm afraid I don't know too much about them. I'd imagine it'll be down to the data stream/channel ID's being different to those of the original management. It can be done though with something like a breakout box. How are you connecting to CAN: ODBII connector or direct/inductive connection to the H/L lines?

Mick

 

[sonny172cup]

I purchased the vbox can cable that plugs into the diagnostic port, I spoke to Vbox who said they haven't got a file for gen90..tbh my knowledge is limited so havent got a clue otherwise.

 

[MicKPM]

It's most likely that the lack of a CAN Config for the Gen90 is the issue but, I assume you've updated the VBox in Scene Manager to correctly display the RPM data and the (more importantly) told it to pull it from CAN/ODBII?

 

[MarkX]

I have an AIM Solo GPS lap timer

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/lap-timers/aim-motorsport-solo-gps-lap-timer

I had a look at one of these at last Sunday's track day, very impressed, they really are a switch on and go timer, automatic track recognition etc......Saving my pennies for one

 

[Steven_K]

I had a look at one of these at last Sunday's track day, very impressed, they really are a switch on and go timer, automatic track recognition etc......Saving my pennies for one

To be honest I'm hooked on this also, at £300 and it gives instant readout etc I can't fault it... I was at brands this week with a Vbox and its an amazing bit of kit but even at the laptimer entry it's over twice as much and I'm just not sure at this stage of my racing I'll get the full benefits of vbox over the solo.

 

[MicKPM]

It's a fair comment to make as we're talking £300 Vs £1200 but, and I'm not just giving you the sales pitch because I happen to sell Race Logic kit, the extra information the VBox kit gives is invaluable and once you see the results of analysing your lap data (times, lines, brake zones, etc) you'll wonder how you did without it.

I don't think you'll particularly loose money with the AIM Solo but I do think you'll end up wanting more.

 

[sonny172cup]

They are both 2 fantastic tools thats cant be compared.

The Video Vbox great, i like how you can have 2 or more screens and compare your own lap times as well as driver actions (at what stage you change gear, steering position etc etc).

However It would be better to overlap different driver overlays for a true reference.

Mick have you overlaid any of your track data on google earth? If so have you noticed that it isn't quite synchronised and looks like a few feet off?

 

[harry289]

I use a GoPro and the AIM Solo together. You can see my feet working and gear changes on board. It is compulsory to have a HD Camera in our championship so I have a GoPro HD Hero 3+. The lap timer was an afterthought. £1200 is wayyyyy out of my budget, silly money. People who can afford it, fair play!

The lap timer for me is only used in practice and qualifying. Our racing is so tight we are often 2 or 3 cars wide into corners each lap so race speed is usually much slower than qualy speed.

 

[Steven_K]

Harry ... That's exactly my plan AIM and gopro and really for qualifying and lap count for race ... Albeit I'll have a timer going as its 45mins ....

 

[Steven_K]

Mick... The vbox was neat stuff, in my driver training the guy could show me were I was not braking late enough and the time / distance lost in the corner. The video side by side was good as it compared like for like ... It also allowed me to "prove" that it wasn't always me that effected my laptime lol ... When he would say id lost two tenths there is get the video up and more often than not there's a clio spinning or a classics dropping some fluid of sorts.
Aims are £300 new and I've watched 3 sell on the bay for £250-£260 so they don't hugely depreciate which is good ... When the time comes I'll up grade (and be on the phone to you of course) but knowing the data is only half, actually deciphering the data needs experience something I won't get for a season or two I feel ...

 

[sonny172cup]

Racelogic do free training lesson on hoe to use the data effectively fyi

 

[MicKPM]

Mick have you overlaid any of your track data on google earth? If so have you noticed that it isn't quite synchronised and looks like a few feet off?

I've not yet but that's because I find the GPS traces in the studio software are more than adequate for my use. The only thing I've used Google Earth for was to create my own circuit map for Bedford SEN.

Did you try exporting the circuit map along side your lines to see if it was a GPS error Vs a map error?