PJRManagement

Pete's Mustang GT, track day, Spring Mountain, new 3.1 mile 'HUNT' layout, Nov. 16, 2014

dmichaels

Looks like a fun track. and SO MUCH RUNOUT.... jealous of that. Love the mountains in the background, very scenic.

Would love to do a cross country track day trip sometime and try out some of the tracks outside the New England area.

Do you just use a gopro for video? Gotta try the iphone with Harry's Lap Timer app...

PJRManagement

Thanks, Spring Mountain is an awesome facility, with so many different configurations. And it's only 1 hour from Las Vegas, 3-4 hours from Los Angeles. I'm too cheap...I use an old basic Nikon digital camera with a windshield mount. No GoPro or Harry's for me...at least not yet. I'd love to go to New England and drive Lime Rock and Watkins Glen.

dmichaels

I have done the same for video in the past... when I finally got an iphone though I figured Harry's was well worth the $15 or whatever.

LRP and the Glen are both fantastic tracks. Maybe we should switch cars for a couple events - fly out, drive, fly home

Or if Avis would rent me a GT350....

PJRManagement

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So...please tell me about Harry's. Do you mount your iPhone to the windshield, and run the app? Do you also compliment it with an OBDII port for vehicle info (speed, RPM, gear, etc.)? How does it all work together?

dmichaels

It's really incredibly easy - I'm cheap too (engineer... in the blood...), but Harry's was well worth the limited money I paid.

Basically its as simple as download and install the Harry's app on the iphone, get a cheap mount for the phone and attach it to the inside of the windshield, and then load up whatever track you're at, hit "start" and it will automatically start recording when you pass the finish line. At the end of the session, you just stop the recording.

To further enhance the data collection, you can get a GoPoint BT1 OBDII interface which cost me about $100. It also syncs up with Harry's automatically once you pair it with the iphone (just like any other bluetooth device). Then you get 5 Hz sampling rate on many parameters. The iphone GPS only has a sampling rate of 1 Hz, so for speed, the OBDII is much more accurate.

This is the mount I use. It's gone up in price a bit, but it works wonderfully... I've used it at maybe 15 events and it's never once departed from the windshield.
The integration of everything and data overlay on videos is seemless. Once done a session, you can review each lap for time, cornering force, sector times, etc etc and pick and choose which laps out of each session you overlay data for the video.

I have a friend who has a AIM system I believe it is and he's compared accuracy of Harry's to be within hundredths of a second, so highly accurate (and plenty good for a guy like me who does all this recreationally!!)

PJRManagement

Thanks for so much great info, Derek! Awesome. Which leads me to more questions! So how much free space do I need on my iPhone for a typical track day? Four sessions, approximately 30 minutes each. My son has my iPhone monopolized for his apps...drives me crazy - takes up a lot of space. Next, will Harry's give me any data like speed, RPM, gear, etc.? Or will I need the OBDII device?

5.M0NSTER

Nice work Pete, I love to see Mustangs chase and pass NSXs

Track looks great! Good work with your line, I think mine would be nearly identical.

Is your car Auto? How well do you like it on-track?

PJRManagement

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Thanks, Monster. Our Mustangs are really great, fun, cheap track cars. They can hang with 90% of the group...and pass many of them...at a fraction of the price. I love it. About the line, that is all due to the instructors that I've worked with. These are Porcshe (PCA) HPDE events, and they offer free instruction ride-alongs. So these guys really know their stuff, and the simple steps of late apex, extend the straights, look ahead at the next cone, save your brakes, etc. all pay off. About the transmission, sadly, yes, it's Auto. All of my sports cars have been stick. Deal I made with wifey in order to get this car...Sync, power and heated seats, leather, and Auto. That's why no Boss. But, it's still a great car on the track.

5.M0NSTER

Couldn't agree more. No better alternative for the price if you ask me. Mustangs rock at track days.

You make that tranny work hard, I was listening to the down downshifts. Good work out there. I love my MT, but as transmissions in these cars get better eventual it will make more sense to go with a 9-speed sequential gearbox. When the shifts take ~200ms it's hard to compete with.

dmichaels

You have the option to select which resolution you record at to reduce storage space required. I record at 720p and with that, a 25 min session uses maybe 1.5-1.8 GB. Full HD takes up more room of course. I usually try to clear out about 6 GB of space before an event. And I usually will end up deleting video from one or two sessions that don't get great times or don't have anything interesting happen

With just Harry's you get speed, track position, g-forces and lap times. OBDII adds a lot more... Rpm, gear, throttle, coolant temp, wheel speed, etc etc

dmichaels

That's why I bought mine. By far the best bang for the buck. And parts cost so little... I've been amazed at the cars I hang with, even with vastly inferior tires (300 treadwear that I ran most of the season). Soon as I put on slicks at limerock I was about the fastest car out there. That day at least. Hugely impressive and makes me happy

5.M0NSTER

Ditto. I also bought mine with the intent of it being a weekend track warrior, and something to put a big goofy grin on my face 7 months out of the year.

The aftermarket support gives you the endless ability to upgrade and make it what you want it to be. 'Merica.

PJRManagement

I could not agree more. Most of us track rats take our $35k Mustang, upgrade the suspension, brakes, wheels/tires, then we terrorize the other driver's of $75k-$100k cars...awesome. And we then drive it every day around town.
Here's my YouTube channel with my track vids:
www.youtube.com/user/PeterReingold

dmichaels

I'll check out a few videos later in when I'm on wifi.

I really do enjoy being the "underdog" at track days and keeping pace with almost everyone. Really makes me look forward to doing aero and more serious suspension upgrades down the road... Slippery slope tho!!

PJRManagement

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Hey - another question please. Which Harry's? Rookie $9, Petrolhead $20, or GrandPrix $28 ? They're not giving me details on the differences...do you know?

dmichaels

I have Grand Prix. I don't remember the differences tho. It was $15 for Grand Prix when I bought it so easy choice. If you buy the basic you should have the option to upgrade later for the difference in cost.

PJRManagement

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Thanks!