Trackpedia's Full Traqmate Review

[ProCoach]

Originally Posted by jstecher

I personally feel that the Traqmate needs a bigger LCD screen that is more readable in all lighting conditions as well as easier from the driver’s seat. I have better than 20/20 vision and found it hard to read easily while on the track qualifying.

Wrap it up already will ya John
Overall when you consider the cost of everything else you do on track to try to squeak out the last few tenths of a second the investment you can make in a data logging system like the Traqmate is far more valuable in my opinion and more than likely is going to get you better returns . Once again its worth getting up on the soapbox here and saying again improving the driver is far more valuable than improving the car at the amateur level. The Traqmate will also continue to give back by allowing you to perpetually realize those returns as you travel from track to track and car to car. While that new set of Ohlin shocks will give you a performance advantage on the car you’ve installed them on, this investment will go with you wherever you go and whatever you drive.

Thanks again for the awesome folks at Traqmate loaning us their system.

Great review, John. While I agree that the display is on the small side, it is adjustable both for contrast and backlighting, which improves things considerably! Permanently wired, it makes sense to do that.

Originally Posted by jstecher

While that new set of Ohlin shocks will give you a performance advantage on the car you’ve installed them on, this investment will go with you wherever you go and whatever you drive.

I think this is where DAQ really pays off. This is exactly why the pros rely on this stuff so much. In order to quantify a valving (or even shock) change, you have to have accurate segment data. So, above even the long, hard climb up the driving competency and skill set ladder, you can keep using even these relatively basic systems well into a top amateur or semi-pro levels to get usable gains.

Check out Don Knowles' article in this month's Road & Track. Pretty enlightening and emblematic of how lower costs and greater simplicity of this realm once reserved for F1 and Indy Car teams has transformed amateur motorsports and allowed drivers ed to progress to the next level.

-Peter

[1LapSRT]

Originally Posted by Lolaman

Great review, John. While I agree that the display is on the small side, it is adjustable both for contrast and backlighting, which improves things considerably! Permanently wired, it makes sense to do that.

-Peter

I recently asked about the backlighting and was informed to push the "Traqmate button" above the display to activate the backlighting all the time. This probably isn't recommended on the battery pack though....

When I asked about the fact that the button is not visible, I was told that the information about the buttons presense and purpose was "clearly hidden in the instruction manual".

Now I can read my screen all the time while on track.

Thanks to Ron for a great product!

[DaveN007]

One thing to know about the PDR...it eats AA batteries. Less than 30 minutes and it will be dead. Not an issue when hooked into your 12v, of course, but I was a bit surprised. Great system otherwise. I really like how it knows where the start/finish are after the first run. That way you don't have to worry about hitting "start" out on the track in the heat of battle.

[ProCoach]

If you use the expensive AA Lithium's, it'll last four times that long, but all the installs I've ever done have been hard-wired for that reason.

[Skeen]

I've had good luck with Traqmate's Li-ion rechargeable battery pack. It hasn't run out in a weekend's worth of data collecting.

[RangerGress]

I use the Traqmate & Chasecam solution. The auto synch of data and video is a huge time saver. Also, Traqvision, the version of the interpretative software that allows you to see the video and data is very nice.

I have the gear hard wired for power so that's never been an issue.

Folks with late model cars would appreciate it if the Traqmate had an OBDII connector, but that is apparently still in the works.

I use 3 cameras and a video processor to provide dual picture-in-picture. Then TrackVision to provide the dashboard overlay. To see an example do a search on YouTube for RangerGress.

Folks that want to do P-I-P should look at security camera grade units instead of the Chasecam video processor. It would require two of their pricey video processors to integrate 3 cameras. And only buy 1 nice lipstick camera. Don't buy nice ones for the little inset P-I-P images.

If you don't buy the Traqmate Display Unit initially, you will eventually regret it. The DU is very handy, and if you buy it after the fact it will cost you an additional $100.

[glenfoxman]

That thing looks pretty nice and convenient... Id be tempted to buy one, but my Borg came with a CP on/off, and thats good enough. Dont need to change it if it works fine.

Great review though.

-Z3R0
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