Race Car Dash Set-up

[North Coast Cab]

Thinking about removing my factory dash and going with an all custom set-up to house all of the gauges and switches I want in my race car.
I've seen a bunch of cool set-up at some of the ALMS races, but I can't find my pictures anywhere.

Does anyone have any pictures of a set-up like this?

TIA, JOhn

[ErVikingo]

John,

The only setups like that that IMHO look Ok are when you go with a MOTEC dash and the like.

I personally like the 911 layout and the shop made some "special gauges" so I got my temp and oil pressure visible all the time. As for switches, they installed blank plates where they installed the switches we needed.

See pics below and feel free to ask.....

Cheers, Juan

[ZOA NOM]

I'm not sure what stuff you have, but I installed a set of brake and throttle lights on my dash that I have found invaluable for improving my performance. They are in view of my video camera, so I can see exactly when I am on the brakes, or how much throttle I am giving, with a view of the track out the windshield. It really helps me review every turn of a track without any fancy sensor hookups and software. I just used magnetic proximity switches mounted near my accelerator pedal, which has magnets mounted to it that close or open the switches depending on the position of the pedal. It works like a charm.

[North Coast Cab]

Juan,
I have a similar set-up to you at this point, but would like to expand my gauge and switch selection. I have the following, not all installed:
Dual CHT Gauge
AFR Gauge
Volt Meter
Fuel Pressure Gauge
Dual Brake Pressure Gauges
Oil Pressure Gauge
Oil Temp Gauge
Fuel Level Gauge
Tach
Shift Light
Racepak G2X
All kinds of swiches for igntion, starter, cool shirt etc.

Looking to layout everything all over again.

[Cory M]

Cutting out the factory metal dash and replacing it with a carbon fiber or fiberglass dash is a ton of work but is said to lower the weight by around 35 pounds, it also allows you to put the gauges and switches wherever you want. It looks really clean too.

Here are a couple of GT cars that run in the POC:

[Mr9146]

Juan, that's one of the cleanest dashes I've ever seen, bar none.

Very impressive.

[North Coast Cab]

I've been searching all over, but can't find the pictures I'm looking for. I think it is primarily the enduro cars which have a larger center panel with tons of gauges and switches for all their redundant components.

[Grady Clay]

John,

Good ideas and advice above.

I too like the 911 layout with appropriate simple gauges - in my case tach and two combination instruments. I also have bright trailer lights for low oil pressure (<45 psi), lack of air pressure under the fan shroud (a 908 part) and low fuel (loss of pressure supplying the surge tank).

I think all the other features are best handled with a data acquisition system monitoring everything you want. In general you don’t want to monitor (as a driver) too much potentially distracting information.

I like Zoanas’ simple light system for his camera. That can be invisible to the driver.

If you only race occasionally and drive a 911 on the street, it is advantageous to keep the race car somewhat the same as your street car (instrument position, angle, etc.)


For a dedicated race car I like welding closed all the openings in the dash (Fire Wall) for safety. Yes it is heavier than a CF dash but it won’t burn or melt (like alu).

I also prefer everything in my line-of-sight to be flat black - except for the gauge pointers.

Best,
Grady

[ErVikingo]

Originally Posted by Mr9146

Juan, that's one of the cleanest dashes I've ever seen, bar none.

Very impressive.

Thank Marco, I have just what I need. I have only added a push-push switch for the video system (from a parachute supply company) and the PTT on the steering wheel for the radio.

[North Coast Cab]

Good advise. It's just nice to have all these extra gauges available when trying to diagnose a problem. There is always warm-up, practice, and qualifying to check the additional gauges for variations. I had some carb problems and found it very useful to be able to monitor the fuel pressure at various RPM's, turns and acceleraton poins. Just looking for some clean ideas to mount them up.

[Grady Clay]

There are three aspects to this:

First and most important is to give the driver only the information he (she) needs to operate a race car at the maximum. Ideally the driver only needs to drive. My son just finished a couple of days in a Formula Mazda Pro Star car. It has all sorts of electronic “enhancements.” Traction control, rev indication and more. Chris feels he can go faster without. The jury is still out.

Secondly is the ability of you or your crew to analyze the condition of the car (and your driving) after each session. This is best done with a good data acquisition system and analysis software. Very worthwhile.

Third is troubleshooting. Race cars are very sensitive patients. Being able to correctly and quickly diagnose problems is critical to success. The other side of this equation is the complexity of the electronics can cause problems.

What to do?

In general I’m a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) person. On the other hand as a graduate EE and instrumentation engineer, I appreciate the value of accurate data. There is a balance.

Back to my prior admonition, while driving there needs to be only the useful (minimal) information presented to the driver – nothing that distracts.

Best,
Grady

[kcpaz]

here's a few shots of one that I did. The spot to the right of the MoTec display is going to have a fresh air vent in it.

[ErVikingo]

I love it, you got a horn on it

[MJHanna]

We just fixed the tach and called it good

[North Coast Cab]

kcpaz,
That's a pretty nice layout. I could use the righ panel where you have your swicthes and cooling controls to house my diagnostic gauges.

[dshepp806]

kcpaz: smokin"!!!!!!!!!!!!!