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Once you run the PDR video file through Cosworth ToolBox you find there is a ton of information available. After I had my off track incident in September I sent my PDR video file to Poor-Sha so he could run it through Cosworth's Pi Tool Set. He was able to provide a graph that showed exactly what went wrong in the turn. Unlike previous times through the turn I hit the throttle a little early just as the ground was starting to drop away from the car. As I went to WOT the vertical load went from 100% to 93% which reduced tire grip exactly when I didn't want it reduced and around I went. You don't get that kind of information from Harry's Lap timer or other low cost solutions. Like I have said before the PDR is an excellent data recorder at a pretty good list price and by the way they throw in a Nav system with it. The fact most people can get a discount on the cars nowadays means the PDR costs even less money. They may not be available standard on a 1 or 2LZ car but they are optional.
Garmin Virb Ultra + ODB II ELM327 Bluetooth dongle will do the trick. You will have all the overlay you need with Garmin software and you will get all the readout from the car. Also the quality of the video will be 100x better than the PDR. You can pick between the camera or the ODB II readout for each of the data point.
Garmin Virb Ultra + ODB II ELM327 Bluetooth dongle will do the trick. You will have all the overlay you need with Garmin software and you will get all the readout from the car. Also the quality of the video will be 100x better than the PDR. You can pick between the camera or the ODB II readout for each of the data point.
Still don't see how that gets you the data provided by the PDR. Video quality of the PDR is sufficient to show what is happening on track so having higher quality doesn't buy you much, especially if you post the video on the internet and the quality gets reduced down to the same definition the PDR produces. I have hundreds of PDR files representing 20 minute track sessions. Having higher definition just means I use up more storage with no benefit.
The PDR captures data that you can use to analyze what you do on track. Look at this short video produced by one of our forum members helping us learn what happened and why (data is graphed at 3:44 of the video).
Still don't see how that gets you the data provided by the PDR. Video quality of the PDR is sufficient to show what is happening on track so having higher quality doesn't buy you much, especially if you post the video on the internet and the quality gets reduced down to the same definition the PDR produces. I have hundreds of PDR files representing 20 minute track sessions. Having higher definition just means I use up more storage with no benefit.
The PDR captures data that you can use to analyze what you do on track. Look at this short video produced by one of our forum members helping us learn what happened and why. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F32E7QCijJU
Bill
This is the information the dongle can broadcast to the Garmin Virb
Display current sensor data, including:
Engine RPM.
Calculated Load Value.
Coolant Temperature.
Fuel System Status.
Vehicle Speed.
Short Term Fuel Trim.
Long Term Fuel Trim.
Intake Manifold Pressure.
Timing Advance.
Intake Air Temperature.
Air Flow Rate.
Absolute Throttle Position.
Oxygen sensor voltages/associated short term fuel trims.
Fuel System status.
Fuel Pressure.
And more. It depends on the vehicle.
On top of that, The garmin has it's own GPS , G-Sensor, Speed etc... You can combine all the data form the dongle and the Virb and do an editing in the garmin software to pick whether you want the data from Garmin or the ODB II sensor for each datapoint in the overlay. I do my own video when I got ride my bicycle. I have all the sensor from my bike (power meter, cadence) and all the data from the garming (speed, g-force, gps data.) It is super easy to edit afterward.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C7 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Originally Posted by Bill Dearborn
Still don't see how that gets you the data provided by the PDR. Video quality of the PDR is sufficient to show what is happening on track so having higher quality doesn't buy you much, especially if you post the video on the internet and the quality gets reduced down to the same definition the PDR produces. I have hundreds of PDR files representing 20 minute track sessions. Having higher definition just means I use up more storage with no benefit.
The PDR captures data that you can use to analyze what you do on track. Look at this short video produced by one of our forum members helping us learn what happened and why (data is graphed at 3:44 of the video). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F32E7QCijJU
Bill
uploading a video doesn't automatically mean the quality is reduced to the garbage PDR's resolution.
other than that, outside of the PDR/cosworth toolbox using the Garmin Virb gives you good video with some neat over lays but doesnt really give you actionable data for coaching.
If you don't have a PDR get something like an Aim Solo DL and if you want data overlay on video use race render.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C7 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Originally Posted by Fogboundturtle
This is the information the dongle can broadcast to the Garmin Virb
Display current sensor data, including:
Engine RPM.
Calculated Load Value.
Coolant Temperature.
Fuel System Status.
Vehicle Speed.
Short Term Fuel Trim.
Long Term Fuel Trim.
Intake Manifold Pressure.
Timing Advance.
Intake Air Temperature.
Air Flow Rate.
Absolute Throttle Position.
Oxygen sensor voltages/associated short term fuel trims.
Fuel System status.
Fuel Pressure.
And more. It depends on the vehicle.
On top of that, The garmin has it's own GPS , G-Sensor, Speed etc... You can combine all the data form the dongle and the Virb and do an editing in the garmin software to pick whether you want the data from Garmin or the ODB II sensor for each datapoint in the overlay. I do my own video when I got ride my bicycle. I have all the sensor from my bike (power meter, cadence) and all the data from the garming (speed, g-force, gps data.) It is super easy to edit afterward.
Seeing the data on a video and analyzing the video along a graph and being able to compare individual data points lap per lap is more important than having some visuals on your action cam on youtube tho.
(dont get me wrong I love my garmin Virb XE but for data coaching and driver development I use my aim data)
Seeing the data on a video and analyzing the video along a graph and being able to compare individual data points lap per lap is more important than having some visuals on your action cam on youtube tho.
(dont get me wrong I love my garmin Virb XE but for data coaching and driver development I use my aim data)
I believe the file containing the data and can be exported into a format that you can load into whatever coaching software you are using. I do understand your point thought. I just found the PDR potato quality video just awful.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C7 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Originally Posted by Fogboundturtle
I believe the file containing the data and can be exported into a format that you can load into whatever coaching software you are using. I do understand your point thought. I just found the PDR potato quality video just awful.
You "can" but it's nowhere near as concise as the PDR data or Aim data and the software is more generic you can't just use RaceStudio 2 or 3 or something like that (cant easily export garmin data as DRK files)
some cool things to do with your Garmin data tho is to export your data as KML and load it in google earth and compare your driving line over every lap. That will really helps with your consistency. (this is assuming your garmin is new enough to have 10hz GPS tho for it to be accurate)
Last edited by lobsterroboto; Jan 4, 2019 at 12:44 PM.
PDR has awful video quality, regardless of resolution. Keep in mind, Hubble space telescope also started its life with about 720p, but you'd not call it low quality.
Anyhow, that's still not the problem why I didn't opt for PDR when I speced my new car. It's the lack of live data. Short of the current lap time, we don't get any data regarding what's currently going on: did taking that turn in 3rd instead of 2nd gear pay off? Did the max speed drop (sign of heat soak)? Is this a good lap, or should I just use it to cool down the car and tires a little? Information like these are critical to get while you're driving, not when you're back home in front of a PC. Sure, post event analysis is great, especially when you have had an incident or critical lap times to analyze, but information like live delta from last best lap of the seasons is much more critical for most drivers' self development. Sure, you can't always keep an eye on the phone screen, either, but there are always places where you have an opportunity to take a quick glance.
It's not like you're making a major motion picture with the video, for me it's about documenting what happened and providing context to the data. I generally look at the data in between sessions. There is only so much data you can process while on track without it becoming a distraction. I typically still run an Aim Solo just for the predicitive lap timer but all my data analysis is done off the PDR data since it's way more comprehensive than what the Aim provides. Here are the channels I have in Pi toolbox with PDR data (some are calculated math channels).
As you've also pointed out, you ended up using a second device since it doesn't provide any predictive lap timing, or sector times. As its name indicates, it's data recorder, not a lap timer, and is not sufficient by itself for most.
It's just like taking a pic with a digital camera vs. taking it with an impressive film camera: you can have beautiful results with the film camera, but you'll not know what worked, and what has not until you get back home, which adds a massive delay to your learning/feedback loop : )
