Dash Replacement

The Race-Technology DASH2 was a purchase I’d made early on in this build (back in 2010) when I saw a basically new one come up for sale for a good used price.  It sat in a box for about two years, until I was ready to get it mounted in the car and wired in (covered here, in the second half).

The Race-Technology DL1 data acquisition system has served me well since 2006 – never a fault or hiccup in what has to be 100+ events, many times crammed into the center console of baking hot cars.  Race Technology’s analysis software has always been good, and they’ve made continuous improvement over the years, both for general purpose and closed-circuit autocross-type events.  The DL1 offers amazing bang for the buck, and at no point had I come close to maxing out its capabilities to datalog many analog signals simultaneously.

Unfortunately I found myself having lots of problems with the DASH2 paired with the DL1.  It required a strange sequence of button pushes to start displaying data, and sometimes it would just freeze while in action.  Any time the car stalled or had to be restarted, you had to repeat the sequence – which served to compound the already aggravating scene of trying to start a finicky high-compression carbureted musclecar with a dying battery.  I spent a lot of time (time that could have been spent advancing other elements of the car) playing with different data speed settings for the serial interface, turning off unused channels, all to no avail.

There have been some data acquisition advancements since 2006.  One is an increase in available GPS frequency – the DL1 MK2 I have is 5hz, and there are now 10 or 20hz options.  The other thing is the availability of combined dash/datalogger units in a single box.  In general I don’t like the proliferation of “magic boxes” and other add-ons inside an interior, preferring things simple and “clean”.

Despite 7 years of nothing but positive experiences (until just recently), outstanding software that might be the most advanced and in-depth *for autocross use*, and excellent responsiveness and attempts to make things right through good service, I decided to punt on the R-T gear.  So what now?

Definitely leaning toward an integrated dash/logger.  I enjoy nerding out on data, diving into deep analysis on the nights between and days after a race – so I need very good software.  It’s got to be of a quality commensurate with the rest of the build, and available in time to have it here and on the car in advance of the SD Tour later this month.

With those parameters in mind, there are really only two other choices – AiM and Motec.

AiM is coming out with their MXL2 very soon now, which appears to offer the combined data/dash capability present in the DL1+DASH2 Race-Technology combination, at a reasonable and competitive price…but it’s not out yet, and retailers weren’t sure exactly when it would be.  They have the Pista dash which does these things, but it is getting very long in the tooth now, and if I went that way, I’d be installing something that is basically already outdated.

That left Motec.  The problem with them isn’t quality or capability or even availability – it’s price.  Their ADL3 (Advanced Data Logger) system used in most professional race cars is amazingly robust and powerful – with a price tag to match.  The ADL3’s cost of entry makes sense when you’ve got big-name sponsors and are vying not just for first, but also for TV time during your race.  Besides being way too much $$$, the ADL3 is also way more than the Camaro needs.  They have a lower-priced SDL3 (Sport Data Logger) which cuts out a lot of the super-high-end features of the ADL3, and about halves the price.  That puts it much closer, but the thing about Motec is they get you with add-ons – the GPS is $$, additional I/O capability is $$, and even turning on the built-in data logging capability is $$.  So, even if the SDL3 started out within the realm of reason, by the time the needed add-ons are tallied, it is back into unreasonable-land.

Fortunately there is one step further down their food chain, the CDL3 (Club Data Logger).  This is a relatively recent unit, introduced at the end of 2011.  Designed for the weekend warrior club racer type, it includes even few features than the SDL3 – but even then, it still does more than I need.

Well, there she is.  Bracketry was a bit rushed, as I’m getting the looming sense time is running out; the impetus is on getting it in (done) and wired (not yet done).  Excited to get some data collected and begin to use their software.