I just got back from doing a track event and someone showed me a really cool app on their Android phone. It did Google Earth for the map of the track and for GPS speed but it also did a Bluetooth sync with a wireless OBDII dongle for throttle position, gear and RPM. It did all of this on a "green screen" while recording video and I found this to be impressive.

I have the iPhone 4 and saw a little bit about Harry's LapTimer Pro which is supposed to be like that Android app. When reading about the info in the App store, it never said if it recorded any of the data from OBD. I was wondering if anyone has experience with this app at the track and if so, does it pull data from OBD? Just wondering before I go ahead and purchase the wireless dongle to connect on Bluetooth.

 

I believe it does log OBD, though like all of the phone-based apps, it's a toy compared to a real datalogger.

 

Definitely. I just thought it was a cool thing to have to move from car to car over the weekend when we are out testing different street cars.

 

Takes a bit longer to set up, but I really like the Race-Keeper. The logging doesn't have lag like phone based systems, and it's easier to secure down in a car.

 

this thing actualy works, dont know about all the its features but the lap times were in the milliseconds close to the actual time


gray was testing it last weekend at ferari pilota corsa, i was impressed and imediatly installed it

 

Hello everybody,

@Harris: LapTimer has full integration with OBD II data. Relevant data is stored for later analysis and / or fancy video overlays:

Nordschleife Test Video (early LapTimer v15 including POI and speed inserts) - YouTube

@Simba: new technologies enable new ways of solving issues; I hear statements like this regularly, especially from people used to the legacy (and able to spend hundreds and thousands in equipment); there is no relevant difference in timing accuracy between transponder (or other GPS based) systems and LapTimer; LapTimer has more functionality than any other LapTimer software around; and it is extremely inexpensive; from my PoV the only reasons to go for a dedicated system is if you have extreme requirements for mechanic stability, or want to have very sophisticated desktop analytics functionality; on the lag - please let me know what you mean, maybe I can clarify

Happy to further discuss :-)

- Harry

 

For lap timing, I'm sure the accuracy is comparable. The issue for me is the obvious and significant lag in the data metrics-- specifically RPM and throttle.

Granted, that's much less of a problem for something that is a consumer-targeted gadget for track days and such.

 

Good to see you here. I tried searching for your app on my Android phone but couldn't find anything. Is it only available for the iPhone OS?

 

Hi again,

A 'lag' in the video can be adjusted. As any overlay software, LT allows adjusting the alignment between video, GPS, acceleration, OBD data. For the realtime views, any lag results from sensor and bus speeds. So if your car has a fast bus, you will get instant and continuous display. In case the bus is slow, it is certainly deferred. Same is true for GPS, those with high update rates have less lag then others. Processing speed of a device (which by the way is a magnitude better for current smartphones than any set top box around) is not significant for any perceived lag.

So it really comes down to the quality of the device / in car electronics integration - which is not a question of smartphone or not.

Hope that helps, Harry

 

Yes, currently Harry's LapTimer is available for iOS only. BTW, an inexpensive iPod touch + an Emprum Ultimate GPS or Dual XGPS150 make up a good solution.

- Harry