SCCA Solo C Street Discussion

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by TrqlessWonder

That happens, too. Also, drinking while helping out friends who are driving different days. If it's your first time, you should do the full week spectacle anyway.

As for Cornhusker chicks, It's an interesting idea, but my two trips to Lincoln (always stay downtown) didn't really reveal that as an option. I mean, I'm sure they're wild and everything, but Wednesday early afternoon day-drunk doesn't really draw the crowd I'm hoping for. I like my women to have teeth, not a meth habit.

When I was at ASU, Wasted Wednesday always had a good lookin' crowd showing up to the bars! haha

[SeanRTR]

Originally Posted by TrqlessWonder

It's also made worse if you're planning on the Pro Finale. There's only so much testing that could possibly be necessary or useful while waiting around (at an airport, on a concrete pad, with 1,000 dudes) for 3 days. Lincoln is a decent city, but it's not that interesting.

This is what is the biggest bummer for me. Using all my PTO for the year on this single trip essentially. I did the Thur/Fri last year, and made it home my road race qualifying at 10 AM on Saturday....luckily I had a co-pilot, or I would have died trying to drive myself through the night.

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by Shark_Bait88

When I was at ASU, every day of the week always had a good lookin' crowd showing up to the bars! haha

FTFY. But we're going off topic.

Sean, that's impressive and grassroots as f***. Props.

[DylanFRS]

Originally Posted by DylanFRS

I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts on yaw rates and pitch rates. I could see yaw rates being useful to someone when used in conjunction with a lot of analysis to calculate slip angle. Pitch rate though? Damper tuning under braking?

Maybe I spoke out of turn on their usefulness to an amateur autocross driver in a stock class but I just don't see it.

(throttle and brake, definitely, but those are gained through the OBD2 port, not the telemetry box)

Anyone have any thoughts? Usually people on this forum are very opinionated about datalogging, I'd love some opinions.

Edit: Please?

[chucky12012]

Anyone planning on running at the Pro Solo in Blytheville that hasn't registered yet? The event needs more numbers to not get canned (120 minimum cutoff is this Friday), but CS is shaping up to be the largest class with some fast drivers. Great measuring stick to start the year. And no, I don't look forward to driving 10+ hours to northeast Arkansas, but still...

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by DylanFRS

Anyone have any thoughts? Usually people on this forum are very opinionated about datalogging, I'd love some opinions.

Edit: Please?

I have that data available to me in iSpeed for iRacing and I've rarely looked at it because I have steering angle available to me. If you can't get steering angle then yaw angle makes sense to have. Pitch could be useful for corner entry/exit tuning changes like you suggested, but that's still out of the realm of most drivers, myself included.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by DylanFRS

Anyone have any thoughts? Usually people on this forum are very opinionated about datalogging, I'd love some opinions.

Edit: Please?

the box gives you a precision, 3-way accelerometer


without it, all your gyro readings will be GPS based


yaw and pitch are just derivatives of this hardware, which is far more accurate than the gps calculations.

[DylanFRS]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

I have that data available to me in iSpeed for iRacing and I've rarely looked at it because I have steering angle available to me. If you can't get steering angle then yaw angle makes sense to have. Pitch could be useful for corner entry/exit tuning changes like you suggested, but that's still out of the realm of most drivers, myself included.

Of course the box doesn't give you yaw angle, it gives you yaw rate. I agree about being out of the realm of most drivers, including myself.

Originally Posted by 7thgear

the box gives you a precision, 3-way accelerometer


without it, all your gyro readings will be GPS based


yaw and pitch are just derivatives of this hardware, which is far more accurate than the gps calculations.

I am wondering how you use that data to your advantage?

Keep in mind, it gives you yaw-rate, pitch-rate, and roll-rate. You have to accurately take the integral of each of those to give to the instantaneous yaw, pitch, and roll. Let's assume the software does that integration for you (accurately?) then I am still not sure what you do with the pitch and roll. Honestly, I am not even sure what you would do with the yaw except maybe look at the overall slip angle of the car to see where you are getting the most grip (Gs?). Even then, you are missing a large piece of the puzzle without steering angle. All that aside, let's says you have accurately obtained velocity (including direction), yaw angle, and steering angle. What would you do with that information?

I am less concerned with getting information and more concerned about what is within the realm of my ability to analyze AND apply that information to my driving to improve. In the end, I can get as much data as I am willing to pay for but I'd like to avoid paying for more data than I can use.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by DylanFRS

...

[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/Making-Sense-Squiggly-Lines-Acquisition/dp/0983259313/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424193255&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=making+sense+of+squigly+lines"]Making Sense of Squiggly Lines: The Basic Analysis of Race Car Data Acquisition: Christopher Brown: 9780983259312: Books - Amazon.ca[/ame]



[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/Practical-Guide-Race-Data-Analysis/dp/1456587919/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0VZC30RDX7SY8C16XRN9 "]A Practical Guide to Race Car Data Analysis: Bob Knox: 9781456587918: Books - Amazon.ca[/ame]






The FRS/BRZ offers a very large body of sensory readouts, there's lots to do if you're willing to do it, whether it's worth it to you is an entirely personal matter.

[7thgear]

here's a link to a thread I started last year... i'll start updating it again once summer starts for us Canadians, but oyu can get a feel for the sort of information I like to play with

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70598




from the two books that I posted, I only read the 2nd one so far. One of the biggest wow moments was realizing that I could play around with plotting steering input vs lateral loads to differentiate between mechanical understeer and driver induced understeer.


regardless, one point to keep in mind is that YOU have to decide how much effort you're going to put into managing the information presented by the hardware. I've been unable to use the AimSoloDL output live, just not enough time, but then again I don't have a sun/glare friendly laptop and I'm usually juggling the data unit between multiple cars.

I think the SoloStorm is much quicker to use on the fly, which is why it is interesting to me.

But most of my analysis comes after an event.

More often than not you'll see people saying it's a waste of time, but that's their opinion. I think it's a wonderful learning tool if you allow it to be a learning tool.

[simpleisbest]

Originally Posted by DylanFRS

Okay guys, looking for some advice on datalogging. I know... it has been covered in the past on this thread but actually compiling all of those random posts in the hay stack is a challenge to say the least.

So, I have a budget of about $1k (less would be better). My baseline pick right now would be Solostorm for software because I love what it can do and being able to view and compare videos between runs will be great for me. If I go with Solostorm, I was thinking about just picking up everything Solostorm recommends (http://www.petreldata.com/product/so...repro-package/) because it would be easy, but it is also expensive. Does anyone run other, less expensive, loggers with Solostorm? On top of all of this, I need to buy a wifi GoPro because my current is not wifi.

Thoughts?

Solostorm is nice because it allows you to easily split up the course into sections for your analysis. Basically it is a quick way to determine (in a basic way) where and why you were faster and slower for any given run.
Basic stuff to look at would be g's (for acceleration and braking), entry speed, exit speed, and distance.

If you are trying to do quick analysis in-between runs to figure out how to go faster between you and your co-driver (or yourself), I think it is useful. Quick data analysis is like anything else, it just takes practice. Once you get used to the key indicators that are useful for you, it gets easier.

The video download for SS is buggy sometimes for me. For quick video, I use the gopro app.

[DylanFRS]

Originally Posted by simpleisbest

Solostorm is nice because it allows you to easily split up the course into sections for your analysis. Basically it is a quick way to determine (in a basic way) where and why you were faster and slower for any given run.
Basic stuff to look at would be g's (for acceleration and braking), entry speed, exit speed, and distance.

If you are trying to do quick analysis in-between runs to figure out how to go faster between you and your co-driver (or yourself), I think it is useful. Quick data analysis is like anything else, it just takes practice. Once you get used to the key indicators that are useful for you, it gets easier.

The video download for SS is buggy sometimes for me. For quick video, I use the gopro app.

Analysis between runs will be key for me. I have troubles looking at something I did wrong and then applying that to an entirely new course two weeks later. I am hoping to get some more people to co-drive with me this year, there are a few people in my region that I am confident can beat me.

Originally Posted by 7thgear

....

Thanks 7thgear. I think the analysis you are doing may be a bit beyond what I am looking at doing.

BTW, when I read your text, I definitely hear it in the voice of Sheldon.

[Nm86]

Originally Posted by chucky12012

Anyone planning on running at the Pro Solo in Blytheville that hasn't registered yet? The event needs more numbers to not get canned (120 minimum cutoff is this Friday), but CS is shaping up to be the largest class with some fast drivers. Great measuring stick to start the year. And no, I don't look forward to driving 10+ hours to northeast Arkansas, but still...

I plan on running, I will sign up tomorrow. I have to take advantage of close events. 3 hours from little rock is awesome.

[TRev]

Here is my experience...

I have the SoloStorm connectivity package with a GoPro. I used it extensively in 2013 and it is a great program and even more so support was awesome. If data logging is something you are interested in trying, it is a great place to start. I wouldn't dive in too much deeper at the start.

I found that data logging and video took away too much from my concentration and enjoyment. I had messed with data acquisition and video for many years and it started to feel like a job. In 2014, I didn't capture any data or video. I solely focused on course line, car feel, mental replay, competitor feedback, and times.

Data definitely has the potential to make a person and car faster. For me, focusing on my sensory inputs seems to get the job done more effectively. I am confident my car had the setup to potentially win every event I attended this past year. I am not saying my car setup was better only that I had the potential to make up the disparity between my placement in class and first. In the cases where I did not win with similar cars in class, I knew mentally where I had given up time on course that would have allowed me to win. It was a driver issue that I was already aware of and data logging would have only reaffirmed that.