High Tech Racing: Corvette and Cosworth Unveil Performance Data Recorder
The Corvette is known for offering a lot of value for the money. It provides incredible levels of performance at thousands of dollars less than European competitors. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Chevy announced it will offer a videographer for the 2015 Stingray – the Performance Data Recorder.
Have you ever heard of a little UK firm called Cosworth? The people that provide data acquisition and telemetry electronics for the Corvette Racing team? Yeeeeeah… They helped developed this industry-first that Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer, says, “combines the ability to record and share drive videos with the power of a professional-level motorsports telemetry system.”
The PDR is made up of three main parts. A 720-p, high-def camera in the windshield header trim records the track surface as it turns into a grey blur by the Stingray’s 460-horsepower LT1 V8. A dedicated cabin microphone picks up every “Holy crap, this thing’s fast!” from the driver as well. The self-contained telemetry recorder uses its own GPS receiver that runs at five cycles per second (five times faster than the in-dash navigation unit), which allows for more exact positioning and corner tracing. It’s also hooked to the Corvette’s Controller Area Network (CAN), so it gets vital info such as engine speed, gear selection and braking force. The last component of the PDR is in the glove box, in the form of an SD-card slot which is solely responsible for the recording and transferring of video and car data. You can cram about 200 minutes of hot-lapping into an 8-gig card and up to approximately 800 minutes into a 32-GB unit.
Chevy’s recorder even has its own built-in graphics department. Three overlay options, provided in real time, are available:
–Track Mode: displays the most information on the screen, such as speed, revs, the number of Gs you’re pulling, a location-based map, your lap time and more
–Sport Mode: a little less info, but it still covers the basics of speed and g-forces, among others
–Touring Mode: no data displayed, but it still records and plays your drive’s audio and video
The Performance Mode captures the big numbers: 0-60, 1/4-mile speed and trap time, 0-100-0 mph blasts, etc.
You can show your friends your track attack footage on the ‘Vette’s eight-inch touchscreen (when parked, of course) or download it to your computer for even further editing. (Yes, unfortunately, even the trick PDR gear can’t set its video to rock music with a killer minute-long guitar solo.)
It will be interesting to see how many people will actually use the PDR for serious training (as opposed to illegal street racing videos destined for Youtube) after it becomes available in the third quarter of 2014, the start of regular 2015 Corvette production. It will also be interesting to see how much the Performance Data Recorder will cost (which will be revealed around its launch time).
via [Chevy]
