What has been your experience with Race Technology?

Hi:

I am contemplating replacing my current data acquisition system with one from Race Technology.

They've got a neat system called the DL1 PRO that works with a nifty display.

The problem is: first their distributor in the US is not very available and doesn't return emails and or phone calls, which I believe is never the best way to handle business when people want to give you money for your products. Or maybe I`m asking for too much.

I got in contact with RT last April as I wanted to order a DL1 Pro and a Dash 4 display. System wasn't available at the time, I was told to wait 5 weeks. I've checked over the summer for availability of the DL1 Pro (the one in the waterproof enclosure), we're now in Septembre, and the last time I checked (a month ago) I was told by RT that the DL1 Pro would be available in 5 to 6 weeks - maybe.

I would like to get people's opinion, from actual customers of RT. Did I hit the US seller on bad days, or do you get satisfactory replies from him?
On paper the products they have are great - I think - but I don't want to spend a bunch of money on hardware that comes with bad support either. As well, I wonder why they've been so late getting that new product to the public. Any experience with RT products? Are they reliable?

Thanks,
Jean

A stopwatch that works, is better than a data system that does not.


No opinion or history with them or their system.



If a vendor is unresponsive before a sale, I would consider that indicative of how available they will be afterwards, for tech support.

I am not sure who you are referring to when you say their US distributor is not very available, but have your spoken with Ellen and Dave Ferguson at Veracity Racing? They sell the DL-1 systems, in addition to many other data systems, and are terrific people to work with, plus they are active racers themselves. Contact info for Veracity: 805-238-1699 or ellen@veracitydata.com.

A few years ago we had a DL-1 in our FF and loved it but could not make it work in the tight confines of our Swift simply because we had no place to mount it in our cockpit. I recently saw the whole RT DL-1 Pro system set up in a Spec Miata, including the GPS, dash system, and four separate cameras that were integrated into a video with the data overlaid. It was very impressive to see all the different aspects integrated into one system and according to the driver very easy to use.

HTH

Tom

I have no experience with Race Technology, but I have a Racepak G2X that I bought for a similar reason - the hardware is great for the price. Sort of the same thing with RT, as far as I can tell, their hardware seems fantastic for the prices they charge.

My conclusion is that the hardware is the least important aspect of data analysis.. It's all about the software and the support that you get with your product. And really, the reason most bigger data companies are so expensive, is they sell a niche product to a very small market, but still need to maintain a staff of highly skilled people to support the product and develop the software, etc. Smaller companies (definitely looks like the case with Racepak..) outsource their software and are very slow to release updates or fixes. The support staff can be stretched thin - takes me about a week to get an email reply from Racepak. And even if I reply straight back, it usually takes another week to hear back from them again.

If I knew what I know now, I would have bought an AIM system. They're still relatively affordable and the support (and the number of ways you can get support) is a lot better. Plenty of people with TONS of experience and knowledge about AIM's race studio, including John Block's great classes.

Anyway, it all depends on how deep you want to go with this. Driving an FV, I wouldn't go crazy on a data system.. There's only so much you can do with a vee as far as setup (and hence analysis of the results..) goes. The only reason I'm still spending money with my data logger is I seriously enjoy playing with the data and figuring out new ways to look at it. But I consider data analysis a side hobby, not just a tool to help with my Vee. It certainly does help, but I'm way past the point of diminishing returns.. :)

fake edit: If Veracity sells the Race Technology stuff, some of my comments may not apply :) Their customer service is legendary and I would definitely get in touch with them before buying. If they recommend it, I'd have no problem with it.

Still, I'd walk around the paddock and ask what the majority of the racers is using around you. Not that some people will voluntarily share data, but who knows :D

Hi,

Thanks for the heads up, I'm interested in the unit too. The person I've been dealing with at RT is the "official" distributor in North America, as far as the RT website says.
... Veracity Racing, I had not heard of them before thanks for heads up.

So you've actually seen a DL1 Pro (the DL1 mk3 that is weatherproof) in North America? I've been told by the RT online support that currently it's only available in the UK...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tom Valet

I am not sure who you are referring to when you say their US distributor is not very available, but have your spoken with Ellen and Dave Ferguson at Veracity Racing? They sell the DL-1 systems, in addition to many other data systems, and are terrific people to work with, plus they are active racers themselves. Contact info for Veracity: 805-238-1699 or ellen@veracitydata.com.

A few years ago we had a DL-1 in our FF and loved it but could not make it work in the tight confines of our Swift simply because we had no place to mount it in our cockpit. I recently saw the whole RT DL-1 Pro system set up in a Spec Miata, including the GPS, dash system, and four separate cameras that were integrated into a video with the data overlaid. It was very impressive to see all the different aspects integrated into one system and according to the driver very easy to use.

HTH

Tom

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RT has the real time lap time prediction, which is offered at a much lower cost I believe than the AIM MXL. This is where RT has the edge I believe, for low budget racers...

If you know what to look for, data acquisition is of huge help in any type of racing, including FV. Setup is one thing, knowing what the driver is doing wrong is another thing that will get uncovered by data acquisition.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tiago Santos

I have no experience with Race Technology, but I have a Racepak G2X that I bought for a similar reason - the hardware is great for the price. Sort of the same thing with RT, as far as I can tell, their hardware seems fantastic for the prices they charge.

My conclusion is that the hardware is the least important aspect of data analysis.. It's all about the software and the support that you get with your product. And really, the reason most bigger data companies are so expensive, is they sell a niche product to a very small market, but still need to maintain a staff of highly skilled people to support the product and develop the software, etc. Smaller companies (definitely looks like the case with Racepak..) outsource their software and are very slow to release updates or fixes. The support staff can be stretched thin - takes me about a week to get an email reply from Racepak. And even if I reply straight back, it usually takes another week to hear back from them again.

If I knew what I know now, I would have bought an AIM system. They're still relatively affordable and the support (and the number of ways you can get support) is a lot better. Plenty of people with TONS of experience and knowledge about AIM's race studio, including John Block's great classes.

Anyway, it all depends on how deep you want to go with this. Driving an FV, I wouldn't go crazy on a data system.. There's only so much you can do with a vee as far as setup (and hence analysis of the results..) goes. The only reason I'm still spending money with my data logger is I seriously enjoy playing with the data and figuring out new ways to look at it. But I consider data analysis a side hobby, not just a tool to help with my Vee. It certainly does help, but I'm way past the point of diminishing returns.. :)

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Was it Al Seim you spoke with, he is the one that Race Technologies sent me to.

I am interested to know if the DL1 MK3 in weather proof version is available, I am concerned water may damage the unit during rain sessions.

I am under the impression that the weather proof version is not available in the US yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hysteria

Hi,

Thanks for the heads up, I`m interested in the unit to. The person I`ve been dealing with at RT is the "official" distributor in North America, as far as the RT website says.
... Veracity Racing, I had not heard of them before thanks for heads up.

So you`ve actually seen a DL1 Pro (the DL1 mk3 that is weatherproof) in North America? I`ve been told by the RT online support that currently it`s only available in the UK...

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Low cost GPS based predictive timing is what interests me in the DL1 too. The Dash 4 display is compact too and can be installed on the steering. The AIM MXL seems bulky.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hysteria

RT has the real time lap time prediction, which is offered at a much lower cost I believe than the AIM MXL. This is where RT has the edge I believe, for low budget racers...

If you know what to look for, data acquisition is of huge help in any type of racing, including FV. Setup is one thing, knowing what the driver is doing wrong is another thing that will get uncovered by data acquisition.

---

I have had good responses from both Al Seim of RT in Virginia and from Jeremy Lucas of

http://www.fasttechlimited.com/

Based on the responses and the information they and users provided I bought a DL1 and a Video4 package. I have not had much chance to use the system yet but after sale support (i.e. learning curve help) has been excellent.

Dick
85 VD RF-85
North Carolina

I run a DL1 with Dash3 on my DSR, and support another racer with a FV with DL1 and Dash4.

We've had a helluva time with his car getting any tach lead to work. This is with both one of my AIM MyChron3's and with the DL1. He's still running points, makes it far worse. Saw a good suggestion here in the FC forum (someone was having trouble with the same using a Pertronix ignition) recommending a separate sensor and pickup, Hall effect off a crank pulley. Makes all the sense in the world.

With his car, we were getting incorrect readings and as far as corrupted data files. For now, we're just running without the tach lead, and just using the GPS - takes care of everything other than gear selection, which is well enough established for the Vee, he knows what he needs for gearing.

Re: water: I think even the DL1 is fairly robust for the rain; I ran 2 very wet races (between hailstorms) in my DSR, DL1 sits on the floor under my seat. I was pretty well soaked through, but got great data.

I like the simplicity of the hookups for the DL1. Like most systems, it has its idiocyncracies. While I run it off the main switch in the DSR, we've put it on a separate battery pack in the FV; if it loses power before stopping logging, it won't save a complete, useable file. The AIM definitely doesn't have this problem.

The analysis software from RaceTech is powerful, yet not as intuitive as others. Latest version is much better, but some tradeoffs, some problems still to be sorted due to new release (though we've been Beta testing it for a while).

The other area where the RT stuff seems to struggle is dash visibility. The Dash3, while wonderfully compact, is very difficult for me to read; the LCD is very dependant on viewing angle, lighting etc. The Dash4 may not be much better, from what I'm hearing, unfortunately.

I never ran the AIM sytem in an open cockpit, but I see a lot of guys using it, and expect it's got good visibility then.

I used the DL1 in my DSR for years.

I worked with Al and he was always nice and helpful. There were times it was hard to get ahold of him because he was at the track. I found it sometimes necessary to call more than once to get a reply.

I did like the flexibility of the system and the data collection worked well. There was a lot of set up on the front end, programming the inputs and setting up the analysis software. The dash was very nice and was laid out well.

The bad part was the lap timing. Unless they have fixed this then the in car lap timing was poor. There is no beacon and to set one in the dash you had to press a button on the dash when you crossed start finish. Similar to other systems but the DL1 did not store the data once the car was shut off. So every time you went on track you had to reset the marker. For the race you would have to push the button at the start of the race if you didnt cross start finish on the warm up lap.
The only other problem I had was the wire from RT for the sensors had a resistor in it and it would break if the wire had any vibration too it.

Mat

With at least the current SW/HW, it's pretty straightforward to handle the lap timing, sectors too - they can be set up as a marker file, either using the dash or in the analysis SW. These are then loaded up when you fire up the system and start logging, and automatically applied and lap timing starts. Only catches are if you maybe don't have good GPS lock, or, if using multiple sectors the next sector after powering on the dash will be used as start/finish... which can mean your lap timing can get off one sector...

OTOH, this is all just display on the dash; as long as you've saved a good data file, you can mess about with it to your heart's content after the fact, move stuff around etc.

Oh, it is also possible to bring in a beacon now too... though I'm not familiar with how that works, I've only ever used the GPS-based stuff. Having used beacons with the AIM system, I'm tired of messing with 'em...

FYI for hillclimb or autox applications RT revised the software a few years ago to handle open circuits (separate start and finish). Lots of "auto start" options also.

Dick
Brand new to using RT so not an expert by any means.