This track map was created by an AiM DA system. The output is based on g-force and distance data. This is from a kart track, but the process is the same for a stock car oval or a road course. This gives the racer a very powerful tool to develop and compare setups back-to-back without having to actually run back-to-back. The opportunity to compare various setups based on multiple experimental runs is present with this tool. The ability to look at a graphic to view rpm, speed, how far the throttle is opened, and how much steering input the driver is using is valuable in helping the tuner make decisions. This tool gives you the ability to compress your learning cycles.
There was also a considerable number of racers interested in engine parameters in addition to vehicle parameters. The means to measure every parameter the racers wanted to measure was available. When the time came for the racers to decide if they were willing to pay to measure all they were interested in, their tune changed a bit. When the question was framed with a cost per parameter, the number of parameters that were important was reduced significantly. The list shortened to speed, rpm, lap times, g-forces, and possibly two pressures: one for brakes and one for oil pressure.
There are several hurdles that may be difficult to overcome if we want to use DA in the cars we race on Saturday nights. First, many rule makers have made the use of DA illegal in many classes. The fear of the unknown is confusing the rule makers the same way it did when fuel injection was introduced. They often think they are saving us from ourselves by making DA systems illegal in an attempt to help us save money. DA is illegal in NASCAR for this reason, although the teams show up for test sessions with enough DA systems to monitor the Space Shuttle, so who are we trying to kid? If racers see value added to their program through the use of DA, they will find a way to take advantage of the product, even if it means using DA only on test days.
Many of the cars raced in the Bomber and Hobby Stock classes cost less than the price for the least sophisticated DA system. It may not make sense to install a $900 DA system in a car that costs $500, but then again a good DA system is just another tool that will help your racing program. The price of knowledge is hard to pinpoint. A racer may install a $500 tachometer on the dash, but the information it provides is limited.
The major players in DA are Pi Research, AiM, Racepak, MoTeC, ART (Advanced Racing Technologies), and Stack, to name a few. The idea here is not to profile a specific brand or product, but to give the racer some insight into what DA can do for his or her program.
If you want columns of numbers, those are available, too. Here is a horsepower analysis. This is from a kart, but the system can be moved to a different vehicle. It is not too difficult to calculate horsepower and torque if you have rpm and acceleration over distance and vehicle weight. Aren't computers grand?
Drag racers were the first to truly embrace DA at the highest levels. They were followed by kart racers. Across the different types of karting, karters were buying and using simple DA systems long before they were accepted as mainstream in other forms of motorsports. Initially, the systems were tachometers and speedometers with some rudimentary memory. These were followed by systems that recorded multiple channels and parameters and drew pictures of the track based on g-force measurements and distance. While this seems more like a gimmick, it is a very valuable tool. The ability to see your car's specific position on the track as well as rpm, speed, various engine parameters, throttle position, steering position, and suspension position gives you a better idea of what the car is doing.
When a driver is being debriefed, he may say that he is going flat out through a specific portion of the track when he may be lifting and/or applying the brakes without knowing it. This is valuable information that will help you understand how the things you are doing as a tuner affect performance.
As systems developed, they started to gain dependability and the software interfaces became more user friendly and increasingly menu driven. Now any change that yields a difference on the car can be measured-from every suspension movement to just about every engine parameter the engine builder can imagine. You can even monitor tire pressures and temperatures.
For the Saturday night racer, DA offers unique insight to how your car is performing, and more importantly, how it responds to the changes you make. It is possible to make a change to the car that yields no discernable change in lap times, but it may help off the corner and hurt at the end of the straight as the car enters the corner. The lap times may not yield a difference (delta) in lap times, but the places on the track where the car is faster have changed. This kind of data is very difficult to capture using a stopwatch alone. These are the kinds of things that DA can help you visualize.