What is the most cost effective way to get lap time data at AMP? Are all of the options GPS based? I assume anything mylaps related would require the other part of the system in the scoring tower to work. Are there any options where you could put the a receiver on the front straight wall or the like, and use that to activate an actual standalone transponder system?

Thanks,

Mike

If your just looking for individual Lap times, The transponders will have that all on Mylaps. But you wont get the Data until the first of the week. The next cheap solution is a HotLap timer. Beacon on pitlain wall and one in the car. That is what i use for Racing just to keep a eye on my lap times. The one I have is old, not sure they make them anymore.

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Watch out for porcupine exiting turn 9!!!!!!

AX-1995 Honda Civic CX FSP
RR-1995 Honda DelSol VTEC GT4
2009 Canadian Solosprint Champion.
ARMS Race Director. Race@armsinc.ca

Thanks Joel. So purchasing my own mylaps transponder would give me the ability to see my lap times even when the AMP system isn't active? ie, on lapping days or the like?

What I'd really like is the ability to see sector splits and the like, which would require something non-transponder based as it would need to "see" multiple points on the track, not just the start/finish. I'm not sold on how accurate those systems are, however. I've used harry's on my phone before (albeit with a slow gps refresh rate), and while I'm sure they're close...I'm not sure how close...

Ben showed me some techniques to maximize corner exit speeds on the weekend, and I'd like to have some way of measuring the effectiveness of differing lines to improve my driving a bit.

Ahhh, yeah the Mylaps will only work on Time attack days when the system is there and ON.

I think one of the more common systems is a AIM Solo2. Scott just bought one and Mike and Ben picked up a used Solo1. Can give you everything you need. You can build your own sectors, and set it up for Predictive lap timing. So it can give you real time info. I think the Solo2 even had AMP already logged in its system. So Scott didnt have to build the track. I did see that there is a new GPS Hot Lap timer from LongAcre out. But its almost the same money as the SOLO2. So not really worth the savings. There are other versions that will do the same thing. I just dont know them.

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Watch out for porcupine exiting turn 9!!!!!!

AX-1995 Honda Civic CX FSP
RR-1995 Honda DelSol VTEC GT4
2009 Canadian Solosprint Champion.
ARMS Race Director. Race@armsinc.ca

we've used harrys a bit for lapping/autocross with a XGPS 160 external GPS (10Hz). We found the accuracy using the internal GPS only gives you +/- 0.5 seconds a lap. The added resolution using the external GPS helps a lot, getting within a tenth of a second per lap. it makes a big difference in the usability of the data. You would actually be able to see small differences in corner exit speed like you suggested. You can give the GPS a try for a session if you have any desire in that.

Having said that. Harry's is super buggy on both iOS and android. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's frustrating enough to me that i won't use it much anymore.

AIM Solo or Solo II are worth there weight in gold. They just work, every time. Gives you all the data you need to improve real time, and post data analysis. We even use them to time our pits stops - all automatic.

The solo2 is more expensive than harry's/GPS, but it just works. I put it in the car and all I did is push the power button. Finds AMP and starts timing as soon as you get on track, with corner split times and LEDs to indicate your sector time relative to your best lap. For racing I disabled all that and set it to static display only, but for TA I could see that being very useful.

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'99 BMW M3 / "Elvic"

Not to hijack the thread, but hopefully help the OP with his decision ...is the AIM SoloII make a good dual use unit for Autoslalom too? (It's name would indicate that it does)

I guess I would like to know that when plugged into a laptop can you overlay different runs, show different driving lines, sync different segments together, etc... I tried a MaxQdata box years ago but it was way too complicated to decipher in the few minutes between runs.

Thanks
Stacy

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The fricton circle for my 911 Porsche resembles more of an oblong... I'm either trailbraking or accelerating while trying to get it to turn!

Pretty sure is does point to point tracks, like Rally or SoloII. Data analysis is very quick - no problem to do between runs. Even if the box does not do it while you are driving, it can be post processed in the click of a button with gps coordinates (dont worry, you dont need the coordinates, you just click on your gps map). I just figured out how to do all that. Youtube videos helped!

For slalom I would want solostorm, something that syncs video and pulls OBD2 data at the same time so you can see throttle position at a minimum. Solostorm is designed to run on an android tablet and an external GPS receiver and has a ton of simple analysis tools.

If you've ever seen an autocross video like this, it was done with solostorm:

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'99 BMW M3 / "Elvic"

Thanks for all the input guys, and the offer to try the external GPS Greg.

I've used Harry's in the past and found it a bit buggy and annoying to use also.

I think I'll pick up a solo2. I was researching them a bit a couple months ago, but never pulled the trigger.

Any thoughts on if the solo2 DL is worth the extra coin to be able to log rpm and some other ecu data? I'm inclined to get the base solo2.

My opinion, once you know how to read the speed trace, combined with the gain/lose graph (which you get on distance compare mode), the other stuff really is not necessary.

Comparing 2 drivers, ones speed decreases faster than the other - one's harder on the brakes...same for throttle. See screen shot below, turn 9, blue got on the throttle earlier than red.

And the SoloII has built in accelerometers (SoloI does as well I think - i does give you G's. just not certain they are from GPS or sensors). But again, if your corner speed it higher, you were carrying more g's. There is a ton of info in the speed trace...see last turn for example of this.

Braking then accel makes a "V" in the speed trace....if comparing to laps, and the "v"s don't line up, you were on a different line. See screen shot below - last turn they were on different lines.

I also like the older Solo1 vs Solo2....new one is not as configurable - at least I cant figure out how to do it.

Gain / loss at the bottom - when it goes up, the fast guy is doing better - again, last corner - it goes up and blue is faster. Where it jumps the most is the biggest difference - if you are the slow guy, this is the #1 area you need to work on and figure out....

I've been using an ancient cellphone/external GPS combo running RaceChrono for the last 7 or 8 years now, and I'll speak up for that sort of cheapo setup if you're on a super-budget. It works pretty well - not as slick as the AIM stuff of course, but way better than you might expect for the cost outlay involved. We're talking under $100 bucks all-in here.

The program itself (unlike Harry's, apparently) doesn't seem buggy at all to me, and it's pretty easy to use. With my 5 Hz external GPS the lap times obtained are accurate to within a tenth (actually probably more than that, but my user-defined racechrono start/finish doesn't line up exactly with the real one). A more modern 10 Hz GPS would be even better. You can look at the data on your phone between runs, or export it to a PC later for more in-depth analysis. There are multiple options for doing that analysis, I used to use the PC version of RaceChrono, but Ken MacKay turned me on to using Racelogic's Circuit Tools 2 instead. Both are pretty slick, they can show you way more stuff than I ever bother to look at.

Your mileage may vary, of course.