Dennis:
I would submit that a data acquisition system that would require welded-on
brackets to catch ride height/roll changes through string pots and the like
could be a protestable item.
Al Chan
-----Original Message-----
From: dg50@daimlerchrysler.com [mailto:dg50@daimlerchrysler.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 9:37 AM
To: autox@autox.team.net; TeamZ3@aol.com
Subject: Re: GEEZ! Stuff
TeamZ3@aol.com (Mark Sipe) wrote:
>marka@telerama.com writes:
>> At the risk of shooting myself in the foot (as a Geez / G-Analyst
>> owner), it still amazes me that I can't change the shift knob or
>> steering wheel in my stock class car, but I can put in a data aq.
>> system that _everyone_ agrees helps performance.
> Not exactly, nobody's been protested *yet*.
I can't see how a data aqu. system could be a protestable item, as it does
nothing to increase performance in real time.
If you take 2 identical cars, and install a Pi Systems $60,000 SuperUnobtanium
Data Logging System XXIVII into one of them, they will both go just as fast.
In
fact, if you want to split hairs, the car with the logger should be marginally
_slower_ depending on the weight of the system.
Where the logger earns its keep is after the day is over.
I tried analyzing data after each run at one event, but can't say I had any
success with it. It takes time and an organized approach to get information
out
of data, and there doesn't seem to be enough time between runs for that to
happen. There's too much else going on.
That might be different if you had a dedicated data scraper on the crew, whose
whole purpose in life would be to download and analyze data from the car, and
then report back to the driver before the next run - like if you hired Byron.
;)
Now for 2 day or heated events (like Pros) there's more opportunity for
at-event
improvement, but even still, _knowing_ that you're (say) screwing up Turn 3
and
actually driving Turn 3 correctly are two different things. Knowing for sure
is
a big help to fixing a problem, but the driver still has to execute the course
unaided.
A protest against a logger strikes me as an occasion for some mustard and
relish, and maybe a little 'kraut....
DG
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