“Lap timers” thread

[GoatAutomotive]

Hello, friends. I need your help and wisdom. Search results didn’t reveal what I’m after.

I had my first track day in the GTI on 3/15 at Harris Hill Raceway, my local track and personal oasis of Motorsport.

I am on a ridiculously small budget for car mods this year, so I’m interested in an affordable but reliable lap timer system.

This is strictly to track my progress; to fine-tune my driving; and see how I compare to faster cars and drivers.

I probably don’t have Vbox money unless I found one used in good condition, and considering that I don’t do track events during the summer because of the Texas nuclear heat, I don’t think I can justify spending more than $150-200 total for a lap timer.

Consequently, I am also open to any GPS-based app on the iphone that is accurate within a second.

I am a tech Luddite, so I always consult the more tech-experienced folks for their tribal wisdom.

My next track day is 4/12, and another in May, maybe 5/10?

Then a hiatus until September when temps start to level off.

Side note: I recently obtained access to go on track in the mornings at HHR when the ambient temps are cooler.

I can do that almost any day of the summer, so that may get me some extra track days during the months I normally avoid fast driving.

Pics to reward you for reading my post.

 

[jay745]

I use an older aim solo. They have a newer DL version now so you can find the older ones cheap. Gps based, and pretty cool. It's accurate to ~4 inches so you can use it to compare drive lines to see which is faster in the PC app.

 

[GoatAutomotive]

Thank you, Jay! May I ask what version this is?

My search revealed 3 generations.

This one looks the closest to yours:
https://www.aim-sportline.com/us/out-of-production/solo/index.htm

Any recommendations for how I can verify its function if I pick up a used one to save some coin?

Thanks in advance,

-mcs

 

[GoatAutomotive]

A careful search revealed that I can afford exactly ONE Solo mount, case or accessory for under $100.

...Just not the $300-800 item itself.

Looks like I may go old-school and wear this medallion around my neck (like the broke peasant I am)...

On a serious note, this also looks promising for the poor folk dipping their toes into HPDEs:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/laptrophy-racing-lap-timer/id1244558686

 

[MonkeyMD]

Why not a gps sensor for $160, obd reader for another $80 & your phone for recording & running Track Addict or Harry's lap timer

GPS
https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/9473

OBD Reader
I got this cheap one
https://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Product...pcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A2VZTJP6N0Z6QL

But apparently frequency of data is better on something like this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H9S71LW

 

[GoatAutomotive]

Why not a gps sensor for $160, obd reader for another $80 & your phone for recording & running Track Addict or Harry's lap timer

GPS
https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/9473

OBD Reader
I got this cheap one
https://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Product...pcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A2VZTJP6N0Z6QL

But apparently frequency of data is better on something like this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H9S71LW

This!

https://racerender.com/TrackAddict/Features.html

https://www.gps-laptimer.de/

Awesome recommendation, friend. These are what I’m seeking.

 

[TheMaOdy66]

As a 10 year user of Harry's Laptimer (www.gps-laptimer.de) I am convinced enough to give it another recommandation. As long as we talk about cell phone apps.

 

[GoatAutomotive]

As a 10 year user of Harry's Laptimer (www.gps-laptimer.de) I am convinced enough to give it another recommandation. As long as we talk about cell phone apps.

 

[MonkeyMD]

Oh. And for your GPS Receiver, get this suction mount & some Velcro. Like the 1 inch circle from Walmart will work.

https://www.sportys.com/windshield-suction-mount-for-bluetooth-gps-receivers.html


& A phone holder if you want video. I did this one, but if I'm doing it again, I'd probably get a headrest mount so I can see steering inputs.

https://www.tackform.com/products/w...r-phone-mount-3-5-4-75-8-arm-suction-cup-base

 

[aaronc7]

I've bought all of the phone app lap timers and without a doubt I would recommend RaceChrono. The paid version supports OBD data as well.

 

[MonkeyMD]

Have to check that one out as I'm not too thrilled with Track Addict. It's fine, but I really want more detail, better editing

 

[kep]

Cell phone apps are worthless without an external GPS unit. The build in 1HZ GPS on a cell phone will not provide any useful information.

If you're a novice on a budget, I say skip the lap timer entirely. You're not at the level where it's required as a learning tool. You'll grow as a driver with just seat time and instruction. In my opinion, people put too much emphasis on raw lap times.

That said, I use an AIM solo 2.

 

[GoatAutomotive]

Just verifying my comprehension here. Veteran track hounds please confirm the following:

1) The OBD plug-in units are to acquire the car's telemetry and engine activity

2) The external GPS unit is to more precisely locate the car's position on track

3) The cell phone apps w/integrated phone GPS are NOT up to the task of helping novice-intermediate track folk to time themselves on track?

I have an i-Phone 13 Pro that's "wicked smaht" with its hardware and software.

But I haven't researched the GPS unit's limitations before, since this is all a new exploration for me.

 

[Cliff]

3) The cell phone apps w/integrated phone GPS are NOT up to the task of helping novice-intermediate track folk to time themselves on track?

The phone's internal GPS has a frequency of 1Hz, and acquiring position information once per second is too slow to accurately position your car in space. You use the phone to connect to the external GPS receiver via bluetooth to accurately record the position of your car. The app you are running on the phone will merge that data stream with the data it is gathering. An OBDII scanner is optional - for your needs as a novice to data acquisition I would just start with your phone and the external Dual 10Hz GPS receiver. You can always add the OBDII scanner later. You'll need mounts for the gadgets and RAM Mount is the best source for those.

Another option would be to buy a GoPro that has an internal GPS receiver (Hero 5 black or newer) and import the GPS data from the GoPro into RaceChrono for subsequent analysis (https://racechrono.com/article/2753). Nearly new GoPros are easy to find at a good price on Ebay. The GoPro camera is probably going to capture better quality video that your phone, and it removes the bluetooth connection from the mix. I used to use an iphone running TrackAddict with an external Dual GPS receiver and OBDII scanner (edit: and multiple GoPro cameras). The bluetooth connection was brittle and my devices would occasionally stop talking to each other. If you're out on track then you can't fix this without pitting. It was not an infrequent occurrence and that was one of the annoyances that motivated me to move to an AiM Solo device 6 years ago (currently using an AiM Solo2 DL).

I have some friends whose opinions I value and they have settled on RaceChrono as their smartphone software of choice, so for what it's worth, there is a software recommendation for you. I don't have personal experience with this software.

 

[aaronc7]

That's a great point about using a Gopro w/ GPS and just import that into Racechrono. I think mine is something like 18-20hz GPS inside the gopro.

What you miss out on is real time laptime display or the ability to overlay with OBD engine data.. But as others have said.... you've got plenty of other things to worry about while driving when you're new (myself included here). You'll also miss out on checking out the data between session too. Transferrring big files over wifi takes quite a while. I found file transfer over USB/sd card reader was much faster. The import into racechrono is seamless though.