mx5cartalk.com

Ok, been half thinking about this for a while now. I somewhat want this to useful but I'm also the to admit that a general interesting factor is a bit of a motivation too.

My current setup consists of a head unit, external signal processor, 4 channel amplifier, AVI 6.5" splits, an ID8 8" sub and extensive sound deadening. The car was previously used for daily duties and the setup worked well, but recently it's been far more track/weekend orientated. With that in mind I planned on ditching the sub, the deadening, going back to a smaller amp that is more easily removable and swapping in a head unit that doesn't require the external signal processor. I still want my music for the occasional trip around town, the weekend runs and the trek to and from the track. Then in a somewhat unrelated occurrence I've also been thinking about getting a datalogger for track work.

My car is currently running an Autronic SM4 ecu which has an inbuilt logging feature for everything it is aware of (rpm, speed, temps, etc) and the more I think about it, the more related they seem. I know I could just grab a standard off the shelf GPS datatloger and be done with it, but this could be an opportunity to be something more interesting.

So what I've got in mind at the moment is a PC setup that sends signal to an external car based amp and a set of splits.

PC - I already have a VIA mirco iTX board complete with a 12v PSU
SSD - running a heavily stripped down version of XP, the ECU software, a media player and plenty of room left over for said media
7" touchscreen - would be fibreglassed into the tombstone
USB GPS receiver - recording coordinates at a set frequency for later plotting
3 axis accelerometer - recording figures at a set frequency for later plotting
serial to usb adapter - so the ECU can talk to the PC
USB camera - for video recording
2 channel amp - something small and easily removable
6.5" splits in the front doors

This would give me GPS, acceleration/breaking/cornering g's, video to cross reference with, real time gauges from the ECU and of course the full ECU logs. All of which should be achievable for a few hundred dollars.

What it wouldn't give me without significant work is real time lap data and sector times, or the ability to load in new track before I go there for the first time.


Big question is really, am I over thinking this? Should I just grab an off the shelf datalogger and downgrade the audio setup as planned, or is the PC option worth it?

Depends on how much time and money you want to spend.

The off the shelf data loggers are priced, in my opinion, according to how complex and easy to use their associated data analysis packages are.

I think this is the key difference between different data loggers; for example, AIM's Race Studio against Motec's i2 or i2 Pro. Have a go at playing with the software, both types are freely available and come with sample datasets(with the exception of i2 Pro).

They also make it a breeze to configure sampling rates, math channels, catalogue collected data as well as data retrieval.

You could set up your own data logging system but the bulk of the effort would be spent in writing software to synch or even automate the synching of all the different bits of gear your using - your engine sensors, vehicle sensors and video.

Hardware wise you can pick up high quality sensors for cheap, such as GPS units, accelerometers, gyro's, wheel speed sensors, but interfacing them to your PC would be the tricky bit. Could grab a micro or an A/D card (do they make them?) to grab the data off the sensors. Sorting out information spat out from a GPS unit shouldn't be too hard, but it would be cumbersome.

Would be a fun project but I could see a big portion of time devoted to just testing and development - not actually analysing whatever data you have collected in a meaningful way.

I've built a CarPc before for my old NB8A and will be putting one in my SE in the next few days (the dash is bare at the moment!)

For the media:
They can be great things to have around, very useful in the right situation. I loved mine because of the amount of music I could carry around with me and the wow factor. Things I HATED was the lack of a FM radio, you don't realise you'll mind it all that much till it's gone!
The new setup has GPS and FM radio built in, so I'll have a radio at least. There's a number of other features I've tested and they might make it into the car at a later date (auto-connect AirPlay host + Bluetooth handsfree) if I can sort out the issues.

That said it's not for everyone, there's a lot of stuffing around and testing, and costs can blow out surprisingly quickly. If you already have some of the hardware it makes a huge difference to the end cost obviously.

Datalogging:
I haven't had any experience with it, I was going to get OBDII added to it until I realised the earlier MX5s in Aus didn't get it! If the software is available and easy to use datalogging while in the car would be very neat! I think it would be easier to digest on a seperate laptop however... a 7" touchscreen is pretty small!
If you're the sort of person who loves a challenge and likes to tinker with this sort of thing, then go for it! If you'd rather just log data on the track I'd suggest just going the Data logger route.

a normal stereo with a video input is the way to go... also the "centafuse" software is very popular for car audio use. the biggest problem is the text font size on such a small screen.
i have a western digital media player in our people mover running off a 320gig laptop drive with zero problems you dont HAVE to use a ssd in a car. the 2.5" drives are pretty vibration resistant.

id love to get a lilliput touch screen and hook it up to a mini itx intel i3 system.

.heres a link to my medai player...click on the image shack pics...
i fitted it into the unused sat nav box under the passenger seat and hard mounted the hard drive.
i hacked the firmware to customise the graphics and fonts..


http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4527/dsc08659l.jpg

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/4939/dsc08762v.jpg

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/8166/dsc08766.jpg