IAIA

If you set the performance data recorder with no overlay whatsoever, is some of the optional overlay information still available/recorded somewhere in the car? In other words, if I didn't want my speed seen from the visual recording overlay, could a dealer for example still pull that info from the PDR or even from somewhere else in the car? (And yes, I realize one can get a rough idea of the speed by timing the rate of passage of physical milestones on the road, if those can be seen/identified)

scuba pro

All that information is on the SD card, I do not know if they would be able to get that without the card though.

MCK_Z06

Yeah, telemetry is recorded if you use the overlay or not.
You need to put the SD card in a PC running an application that can see it though, otherwise it just looks like a video file.

Why not just back it up somewhere other than the SD card its on and erase the one in the car if you are worried about someone looking at it?

Bill Dearborn

Why do you care whether the dealer sees it or not? That doesn't do anything to block any part of the warranty. My dealer sees plenty of my 150+mph runs around various tracks every year.

Bill

IAIA

I never said anything about not wanting a dealer to see it. I was thinking if anyone can pull the information out--if it's possible in the first place--it would be a dealer.
Rather, I am more concerned about it being used to establish that I was driving fast if someone cuts in front of me and I want to show them at fault. I don't track the car, but I use the PDR as a dash cam.

So, is it that other file in each pair...not the mp4 but the smaller one..that contains the telemetry info?

Marcho Polo

I don't think so, the other file is just a small image to show the thumbnail when bringing up the videos to replay on the PDR.

I only load the actual video in the Cosworth software and it has all the info, so it's likely stored as metadata in the video file.

MCK_Z06

No, I think its embedded in the mpeg. The small file is a thumbnail photo if I remember off the top of my head and the .gpx file is specific data about a race track.
So if you just pop the SD card for the PDR out and put it in your pocket the data can't be had... that being said though if you get into an accident that data is recorded in a built-in module that can be accessed by your insurance company or whoever has the correct tool to access it. (Maybe even On-Star remotely.)
Basically you can easily pocket any video evidence & telemetry you may have recorded but the information that's recorded in a significant accident is not so easy to get rid of... on any modern vehicle really

Marcho Polo

in fact, I opened the mp4 in a text editor, and at the end of the file, there are sections for the following:

Boost Pressure Ind
Coolant Temp
Intake Boost Pressure
Oil Pressure
Oil Temp
RPM
Accel Pos
Clutch Pos
Brake Pos
Tyre Pressures (all four)
Tyre temps (all four)
Gear
Trans Oil Temp
Fuel Level
Fuel Capactiy
Steering Angle
Distance
Speed
ABS Active
Traction Control Active
Vehicle Stability Active
Corner Exit Setting
Driver Performance Mode
Speed Request Intervention
Speed Control Response
Engine Speed Request
Engine Torqure Req
Battery Voltage
Lateral Acceleration
Longitudinal Acceleration
Vertical Acceleration
Latitude
Longitude
Altitude
Heading
GPS Fix
Beacon
CPU User
CPU System
CPU Free
CPU IO
CPU IRQ
Disk Read Rate
Disk Read Operations
Disk Read Time
Disk Write Rate
Disk Write Operations
Disk Write Time
Recording Event Odometer

so, lots of info in the video file.

chuckrbt

The PDR is not your enemy on this. If the police think you are speeding, they can read your "black Box" and get that information. It has nothing to do with the PDR - the data comes from your OBD port. I have been told that the police don't need to get a warrant to download your data. You might want to confirm that if you know a lawyer.

Grand Slam

From what I've read, the black box only saves a short amount of time - like 5 seconds before an air bag deployment. If so, police (or insurance companies) couldn't get much information from it.

IAIA

Just to be clear....nothing has happened (yet) that I'm trying to cover up. I was just wondering about what's actually on the SD card with no overlay in case I need to use it to show bonehead moves by other drivers when I'm going even 5-10 mph over the limit. Someone above mentioned copying the file onto a computer, but I can't see how that changes the file at all.

Marcho Polo

in this case, what you can do is save the video to a computer, and use some other video software to edit the video and save a new file. This should remove the stored information. Uploading to youtube would also remove the data and only show the video information.

Maxpowers

OP - I've thought about this as well. I use my PDR as a dashcam often times. In cases where I'm over the speed limit (as is every other car), could that be used against me? The cops probably wouldn't care, but the insurance company might. Good advice above on how to delete that data.