MoTeC thoughts ...

[Tom W]

Bill prompted this with some MoTeC questions. So, some random thoughts on going MoTeC.

First a picture...


Not much to see for over $10k invested.

I had my engine go kablewie (tech speak for lost a rod bolt and ended up with a big hole in the case) a couple years ago. I had a new one built and one of the options selected was to switch from Porsche's Motronic to a MoTeC ECU (I opted for the M48). This choice was made because the shop that built my engine used MoTeC and was very familiar with how to program it to get the most out of the engine. With the stock ECU and "old" exhaust the new engine made only about 260 hp on the engine dyno. After adding MoTeC and spending time to program/optimize it, it put out 300 hp (at the flywheel, 268 hp at the wheels). The conversion cost roughly $5k.

Last year I bought a Traqmate to see if collection of data and analysis would help reduce my lap times - and also to see if I would put the effort into spending the time analyzing the data or simply be content with dabbling for fun. I found I did drop lap times and I did spend the time, but was frustrated by the lack of data I was getting (I simply had the GPS and a throttle position sensor hooked up).

Over the winter I decided to spend the money to get a good cage into my car (I had a "bolt-in" that had been welded in) and to drop weight to get close to the class minimum to ensure I would be competitive. My car was at 2450 lbs without me and I needed to get to close to 2100 lbs. One of the questions to answer in the conversion was what to do about data - keep only the Traqmate (probably not) or switch. With a switch one option was to get rid of all the stock gauges and simply go with a "dash" from AIM, MoTeC or other vendor. I enlisted the aid of Ellen and Dave Furguson (Veracity Racing Data). Their view was that if I was getting rid of all the other gauges, only the MoTeC was robust enough to count upon to run without problems. It's a huge difference in price, but to me the question was "what's it worth to pay the entry fee, get to the track and not be able to run due to a 'computer' problem?". I decided to go to MoTeC as economically as I could (what a joke).

I got a Sport Dash instead of an ADL2 to save a few thousand. I paid more for a backlit version as I entertain thoughts of running enduro's at night in the next year or so. For the initial sensor package, I opted for fuel level (using the stock sensor), oil pressure, oil temp, gearbox oil temp (do I need a tranny cooler - only one way to get the data), oil level (stock sensor, still haven't got it working right), throttle position (existing for the ECU), F & R brake pressure (I have a dual MC), and wheel speed at RF and LR. I had wiring installed for a beacon and shock pots as likely additions. After 3 events I had them added.

So, is it worth it? Well, I think so but I'm biased 'cause I already spent the money and I'd do it again - only I would spend more and get the ADL2 and go GPS instead of the beacon.

I will not attempt to list everything you can do with the dash or the analysis software, the options are incredible. I'll try to paste a few example screen shots though.

Here's a simple plot showing the oil and gearbox temps during a session...


The red trace is rpm and it's pretty easy to see where I was waiting on grid, the 'out' lap and then the 10 laps of the race with an 'in' lap. The software automatically selects the fastest lap (#2 here) when you open it and I've got so much displayed you can't see much of anything other than the increase of the oil temp to about 190 where it levels off (air temp is 86)and the gear oil temp continuing to rise the whole time to about 200. The oil pressure is in the lower panel. lowest panel in this display is speed.

Here's a basic data dump showing (from top down) rpm, speed, throttle position, g-force and then brake pressure (f & r) for lap 2. Lowest panel shows the whole sessions speed and on the right the track map with position indicated.



Here's a simple track map showing brake pressure and throttle position with the max and min speeds and gear position.




And a simple shot to show what sort of calculations you can have it do (and automatically have available to plot)...

[Bill Verburg]

Outstanding! Thnk you for that explanation!

It looks like a very powerfull tool

[kang]

Way cool. Way beyond my level, but still way cool.

[Don Plumley]

Oh My. Thanks for a great explanation. Look forward to seeing the "new" Turtle next month at Thill.

I have a friend that races Formula Mazda, and says that it is fun/instructive to compare the data from the fairly equally matched cars. I think having all of the data (gearbox temps at 200!) would be great as well.

Are you/will you run EGT?

Cool.

[Don Plumley]

Oh My. Thanks for a great explanation. Look forward to seeing the "new" Turtle next month at Thill.

I have a friend that races Formula Mazda, and says that it is fun/instructive to compare the data from the fairly equally matched cars. I think having all of the data (gearbox temps at 200!) would be great as well.

Are you/will you run EGT?

Cool.

[Tom W]

Bill: Spend some time with Geoffrey looking at the data analysis package in i2 Pro. The tiny bit above is such a poor representation of what it can do. For example - If you look at the track map just above the main window is a thin layer that shows "1: Samples" over on the left side with 9 tabs off to the right (and track map is number 7). These are predefined views of the data that are fully configurable depending on how you like to examine it. 'Samples' is only 1 of 7 views, each with multiple tabs, used. I have one called 'engine' that plots all the parameters pertinent to the engine (multiple tabs/views of the data too), one for suspension analysis, one for braking, etc. I had a couple hour 'course' on how to view and manipulate the software from Dave Ferguson when I was getting started. And that doesn't even count the time learning about what you can configure on the dash.

I have my dash configured to show the tach (easily seen in the photo), what gear I'm in (calculated based on speed, rpm and gear ratios) and then values that change depending on the screen, situation and what I select. I have it compute and display minimum corner speed to provide immediate feedback on what I'm doing in the corners (and I can mentally compare it to what I know I've done in the past), it can show running lap time or a differential between the current lap and my reference lap (my best lap), the time I've been out for the session or race (nice to have when you know it's a 30 minute race), the lap number I just completed, the lap time for the just completed lap (held for x sec before reverting to the running lap time) and then a row with a display that is selected by a button push - nothing, gearbox and oil temp, fuel level, oil pressure, etc. It has incredible flexibility to show what you want, when you want it and how you want it.

Don: No, I don't see a need for EGT. I think I have all the sensors I need/can handle now. I'll be concentrating on learning to use the shock data for a while (brake pressure and throttle position are pretty easy to interpret). I also have a steering wheel sensor but have not see any benefit to it yet.

While I don't know how to interpret the bump/rebound on the shocks yet (lesson to be provided soon) I have seen that part of the reason for my high-speed understeer is that my aerodynamics are off. I'm getting about 400 lbs of downforce in the rear at 100 mph but nothing from the front. I'll be looking to get that balanced out soon.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Tom W

Bill: Spend some time with Geoffrey looking at the data analysis package in i2 Pro. The tiny bit above is such a poor representation of what it can do. For example - If you look at the track map just above the main window is a thin layer that shows "1: Samples" over on the left side with 9 tabs off to the right (and track map is number 7). These are predefined views of the data that are fully configurable depending on how you like to examine it. 'Samples' is only 1 of 7 views, each with multiple tabs, used. I have one called 'engine' that plots all the parameters pertinent to the engine (multiple tabs/views of the data too), one for suspension analysis, one for braking, etc. I had a couple hour 'course' on how to view and manipulate the software from Dave Ferguson when I was getting started. And that doesn't even count the time learning about what you can configure on the dash.

I have my dash configured to show the tach (easily seen in the photo), what gear I'm in (calculated based on speed, rpm and gear ratios) and then values that change depending on the screen, situation and what I select. I have it compute and display minimum corner speed to provide immediate feedback on what I'm doing in the corners (and I can mentally compare it to what I know I've done in the past), it can show running lap time or a differential between the current lap and my reference lap (my best lap), the time I've been out for the session or race (nice to have when you know it's a 30 minute race), the lap number I just completed, the lap time for the just completed lap (held for x sec before reverting to the running lap time) and then a row with a display that is selected by a button push - nothing, gearbox and oil temp, fuel level, oil pressure, etc. It has incredible flexibility to show what you want, when you want it and how you want it.

Yeah, I've been bending his ear a lot. His latest Motec creation is very impressive and the next will be even more so. I'm leaning toward a Motec 3.8 based on a GT3 bottom end