AutoCross Fun

[mmarx82]

Stop babying your cars and go have some fun! Recorded my brother on my first run of the day at Roebling Road Raceway, check out his reaction lol.

[charlietuna]

NICE RUN. Looks like you had a blast.

[jbotta]

Looks awesome,,,,

[Stephen12ZL1]

My autocross experience was o.k. at best. This layout would have been much better than the spiraled course my local group constructed for the last outing. My course was "miata friendly" but horrible for mega powered ZL1 cars. I enjoyed it and it is the best spectator sport ever. Lots of tire smoke! Fun times!

[Matt@510]

Nice! looks like a great time. i highly recommend everyone take their car to a track at least once. isnt that the reason we all drive performance cars to take them out and make them perform.

[JDP Sales]

Looks like a fun course and a good one for the ZL1. Lots of open area and places to be on the gas.

Autocross is a blast!

Best regards,

Tyler
888-308-6007

[RLHMARINES]

Looks like you guys had a ton of fun. I totally forgot about the auto cross date and just knew it was something I was missing out on especially since I was off last weekend.

[BAD ZL1]

A couple questions....

Are you supposed to go around the cones and not over them?

Where is the rock band? (kidding with those)

Seriously, how do you get that display to show up on your video, is it something from your car that you see on a heads up or is it just edited into your video once you post it?

[pumpkinrancho]

Nice run. I love autocross also.

[danvillekidd]

Starting to run the Z like its meant to be. Had a blast the first time I did AutoX in my ZL1. Ran my SS at C5FestIII. Only time to run so far, so a true rookie in this video... http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a6g4bUm...%3Da6g4bUm8SSg sorry dont know how to embed. Next thing on my list is hitting true road courses!

[2012-1822]

Autocross is really fun. I may be moving to fabulous Hotlanta, Ga in about a year, may have to join in on some events then. I know we have them here, but tough to make it out to them at this point.

[Stephen12ZL1]

What lap timer program is that? Works with a go pro?

[BaylorCamaro]

Originally Posted by BAD ZL1

Seriously, how do you get that display to show up on your video, is it something from your car that you see on a heads up or is it just edited into your video once you post it?

Originally Posted by Stephen12ZL1

What lap timer program is that? Works with a go pro?

Agreed, what program are you using. I'd love to do something similar to my videos when I autoX mine.

[mmarx82]

Originally Posted by Stephen12ZL1

My autocross experience was o.k. at best. This layout would have been much better than the spiraled course my local group constructed for the last outing. My course was "miata friendly" but horrible for mega powered ZL1 cars. I enjoyed it and it is the best spectator sport ever. Lots of tire smoke! Fun times!

Sorry about that, it is a blast if your local group knows how to properly prepare a course.

Originally Posted by RLHMARINES

Looks like you guys had a ton of fun. I totally forgot about the auto cross date and just knew it was something I was missing out on especially since I was off last weekend.

There is another coming up in November 10, this one is at Hutchinson Island.

Originally Posted by BAD ZL1

A couple questions....

Are you supposed to go around the cones and not over them?

Where is the rock band? (kidding with those)

Seriously, how do you get that display to show up on your video, is it something from your car that you see on a heads up or is it just edited into your video once you post it?

Yes you are supposed to go around the cones lol, I only hit one on that run lol. See the end of this post for how to do the vids.

Originally Posted by danvillekidd

Starting to run the Z like its meant to be. Had a blast the first time I did AutoX in my ZL1. Ran my SS at C5FestIII. Only time to run so far, so a true rookie in this video... http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a6g4bUm...%3Da6g4bUm8SSg sorry dont know how to embed. Next thing on my list is hitting true road courses!

You cant use the mobile or secure site (https) if you want the youtube videos to automatically show on this site. Road courses are next for me too, costs a bit more though...

Originally Posted by 2012-1822

Autocross is really fun. I may be moving to fabulous Hotlanta, Ga in about a year, may have to join in on some events then. I know we have them here, but tough to make it out to them at this point.

You should check out the Atlanta Motorsports Park then, not sure if they do autocross there but their track is amazing.

Originally Posted by Stephen12ZL1

What lap timer program is that? Works with a go pro?

See the end of this post, yes it works with a GoPro.

Originally Posted by BaylorCamaro

Agreed, what program are you using. I'd love to do something similar to my videos when I autoX mine.

What I used:
iPhone 4S (an iTouch or iPod should also work but you would need a GPS tracking Device, mentioned below)
TrackAddict Pro for iPhone (there is not an android version, and one is not planned to be made)
GoPoint BT1 OBD II Scanner
BadElf GPS (not required but allows for better tracking)
GoPro was used for the main video
RaceRender brought everything together for the video you guys saw above.


TrackAddict can do GPS tracking natively but a Bad Elf GPS will give you a faster refresh rate for your GPS datalogging, Track Addict can record video natively of your run (front or rear camara) and also Turn on and start the recording on a GoPro. In my video I recorded my brother with the iPhone front camera and the GoPro did the outside shots. If you don't have a GoPro then all you need is the TrackAddict app and the GoPoint OBD II Scanner to make videos like mine because the app can do it. With the OBDII scanner the app can record and data log upto 8 things. See this thread for what can be recorded from the OBD II port.. In the app you want to mark your finish line, make sure that you also set the heading direction for the finish line because if the track is narrow and your supposed to loop back around it may inadvertently stop your recording too early if it's not set.

Things I found that was bad about using the iPhone, there is a possibility to overheat your phone so keep it off until your ready to use it. Highly suggest you turn off the Cellular Data if you will be using the phone for any video. (Settings>General>Cellular) The reason for this is if you get a phone call or text while your driving the phone will stop video recording. The datalogging will continue but your video recording will stop.

I used RaceRender for PC because it's made by the same company, easily integrated their datalog file and allowed me to do my Picture in a Picture (only program I found that would do PIP native), everything that can be displayed is customizable, including the ability to make your own gauges. It's a bit of a steep learning curve but once you do a video or two you should be able to get the hang of it. I did verify that since they are on v. 2.9b that any orders placed now will be upgraded to v.3 for no charge when it comes out btw.

Other Possible apps are Harry's Lap Timer and DashWare. While I thought that DashWare overall looked like it had better guages it does not have Picture in a Picture and I had alot of difficulty trying to get it to work with the TrackAddict log file. I think this had something to do with the fact that AutoCross is Segment Racing rather than circuit or drag racing. I'm not sure but I got frustrated trying to make it work. Harry's Lap Timer does have a profile within DashWare so I would think they would work just fine together.

Things to note:
1. There are free versions of all the programs I mentioned but you will most likely end up purchasing whichever product you feel works best for you. Especially since not everyone has an iPhone
2. Again if you have no other cameras and your recording with the phone you don't need RaceRender or DashWare.
3. A RAM Mount is the suggested iPhone holder for in your video so that you get accurate G-Force readings and minimum video vibrations.
4. I found that Accelerator Pedal Position is a better indicator of how far you put your foot down rather than Throttle Position when using the OBD II scanner.
5. If you are using a GoPro make sure you use a Bluetooth OBD II Scanner (doesn't have to be a GoPoint), Main reason is because you have to be connected to the GoPro Wifi network on your phone for the TrackAddict app to be able to turn it on and start the recording. If you had a Wifi OBD II scanner then you would have to choose between which device you want the app to control because then it wouldn't be able to do both.
6. Make sure you bring up the app just before you pull up to the line, the will allow enough time for the app to connect to your GoPro if you have one, OBD II Scanner and lock onto GPS satelites.

Hope that helps you guys!