I've been looking at a couple of inexpensive data-acquisition systems and wondered if anyone here had opinions, both about the particular products, and whether they are useful or even essential for autocross & tracking? There seems to be several good systems in the $1K++ range, but two GPS-based, less-expensive options appear to be the MQGPS from MaxQData and the G-Tech Pro/RR from G-Tech, both in the $200-$300 range.

Any comments or other product suggestions?

Thanks, John.<a href="http://www.maxqdata.com/products.htm" />

John,


I'm not familiar with either, but it certainly is a shame that Porsche didn't go 'all the way' with their SC / PCM package. They already have ALL the necessary sensors, GPS, display,and setup to make a world class, built in data acquisition package....


Ah well, maybe the next variant.


Paul

It most certainly is. When I first tried the lap-timer in SC+, I couldn't believe it wasn't using the GPS to help it track laps.

This looks interesting as well: http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2...pFirstLook.htm

Ihave beenusingMaxQData for about 2 1/2 years. It is a good system, especially since it connects to the ODBII port, hence you can overlay any data that car's computer captures on top of what the internal sensors of MQ unit capturers. It is very useful. However, it is not the most user friendly. It has a Windows and PocketPC interface, but there are many settings that you need to set if you want to have comprehensive data and you need to know what you are doing. It can be a teaching tool for sure Also, with all of these systems, the real money is in the analysis; that is the real tough part. Understanding what the device is telling you and translating that into setup changes is the real work.

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FT

I have a Traqmate and love it. www.traqmate.com. It's extremely portable and gives great information. A great feature is the ability to compare your driving to someone else's. I club race and when racing at a new track try to befriend a fast driver in a similar car who knows the track well. You can then superimpose your data with his and quickly find the big problem areas. Using this for example at Road Atlanta which is my home track, I was able to compare one of my good laps to David Murray's laps and found a couple of areas that I could improve on drastically, shaving off 3 seconds from my lap time quickly. You can upload your data to the Traqmate site for sharing and download other driver's data which is organized by tracks around the country. Traqmate is mentioned in the June Excellence issue in the article 'Tripping On Technology'. There is a scanned copy on this thread: http://www.caymanclub.net/topic.asp?...le=Cayman+Chat

Thanks very much for thinput chaps. I think I'm going to try the MAXQData system. Hope to have it in place in time for the next GGR PCA Autocross on May 10th - will post any interesting results.
Cheers,
John.

Since 2000 Porsche has been testing a Bosch data acq system called 'Darab' (I have it loaded somewhere) They recently sent several Porsche Motorsport techs toclass less than 2 months ago for the latest release. We ran it on a GT3RS back in 2000 in ALMS. I fully beleieve they *will* have something for street cars in the near future.


MAXQDATA, looks like the best bang for the buck to me!! Cool setup. I'm used to seeing the really high end MOTEC/STACK/AIM setups.. This looks like a great compromise. The RacePaq setup is decent also.


Dont forget the video overlay software 'Dave'


B

MaxQData is a bit of a hassle to use compared to the competition like Traqmate. I personally now use a Race Technology DL1.

__________________
97 Turbo | 06 Boxster S | 06 Cayman S (sold)

just picked up the tracmate last week, arrived yesterday. Can't wait to use it on the track in 3 weeks.

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Craignyc
Cayman S 2006 - Sold
Boxster 2001 - race car and current track toy.
www.nycs4.com/cayman_track_times.html

http://www.g2xtreme.com/main.htm


i've used the g2x before with great success.

I've run several events now with the MAXQData MQGPS and unfortunately, not been terribly pleased with the results. Perhaps the biggest problem is getting reliable GPS data, it seems that the GPS unit keeps losing satellites as your tear around an AX or road course, particularly when cornering and so all the G-force readings get messed up. I've tried mounting the unit in several places inside the car with the widest possible view out the rear or front windows with no improvement. I think I may have to tape it to the top of car!!



One thing it has been useful for is getting a good track map during a autocross course walk, which I can feed into into a racing simulator that I use that has an AutoCross mode (Live For Speed). Here's last weekend's PCA Golden Gate Region AX#5 course:



[img]/UserFiles/AX5-track-in-LFS.jpg[/img]



Has anyone else had sucess with GPS-based units, and if so, where do you mount the receiver?

Edited by - johnw3d on 07/14/2006 10:00:31 AM