Traqmate vehicle settings for Spec E30

#1

Hey guys have any of you come up with all the correct settings to input in the traqmate for our cars?

I heard they were looking at using the Traqmate to determine HP and TQ. Don’t know if that worked out, but if they tried perhaps someone has the correct assumed data for vehicle settings under “Drag Coefficient (Cd) x Frontal Area” and under “Tire Friction Crr Rolling Resistance”???

I think I have the Tire, Diff Ratio and Gear ratios correct at:
Tire 205/50 x 15 = 72.48 in.
Diff 3.73
Gears 1 = 3.83
2 = 2.20
3 = 1.40
4 = 1.00
5 = 0.81

I am using 2720 for weight.

Clearly the Drag and rolling resistance setting make a big difference in HP and TQ readings and I am not really trying to compare verses others but would like to be accurate for my own records.

Playing with these numbers, the HP numbers only began to make sense (150s) when I used:
0.33 for the Drag
0.030 for rolling resistance
TQ was still up at about 11,000 lbs.

I have used Traqmate Complete for about 4 years, just received the TraqDash. Anyone using the Dash who has helpful tips I would appreciate any pointers so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Thanks in advance for help.

Shoe

#2

I don’t think g-meters are accurate enough to calculate hp and torq. It looks like my IQ3 only calculates to a tenth of a G. I know I need to recalibrate the thing when I get on the scales and am perfectly level, but I’m only seeing .1 accel and .3 max on a hard shift. 1.2 max decel. In order to calculate within a few hp and tq you would need something accurate within a thousandth of a G and perfectly calibrated. Calculations based on GPS are even less accurate.

#3

That makes sense to me.

Not really worried about HP and torque. Just didn’t know how much these other data inputs matter to the Traqmates accuracy, and thus fiqured I would try to get input on the numbers others have already determined to be correct.

Does anyone know who was trying to use the Traqmate for HP numbers I could talk to, they may have experience understanding what numbers matter for input and which numbers do not. I don’t want to worry about it if it doesn’t make any difference. A couple of my fellow racers out here use Traqmate as well and we want to all have the same numbers input so we can compare our data.

Thanks

#4

The FL region has been trying use the Traqmate systems in TT for the last few events as a way to ‘validate’ HP specs on the TT cars. That said, the readings have been anywhere from 7-15% off what the dyno sheets state. You are correct that CD has good role in that. Another important variable is the weight. The last important variable is the gear ratios, but we have those and believe those to be accurate data points.

The stock E30 has a CD of .32, the E30 M3 was .33

Here are some things to consider:

Horsepower = (Torque x RPMs) / 5252
Acceleration = (hour / 3600 sec) (5280 feet / mile) (mph2 - mph1) / t (sec)
Force (lb) = mass of car x (average acceleration)

acceleration = force/mass

Gearing is extremely important because it controls RPMs (and therefore horsepower).
Gears magnify torque – hence the acceleration available in first gear.
Racecars have high horsepower due to high RPMs, not due to high torque (see gearing).

#5

Is there a product out there like Traqmate that user have tried?

#6

There’s a number of different data loggers in use, but Traqmate is the most common. Not necessarily the best hardware or software, but still the most common. I have a Traqmate. I choose it because the fact that it was the most common meant that it would be easier to share data.

Re. TM for hp and torque info. That’s a waste of time. Last Spring I spent a whole day, probably 6hrs trying to set up accurate hp comparisons. I wanted to understand if my engine (#12?) was really weak, or if it was just my imagination. I had 6yrs of data for every track I care about, and I had data from other racers too. What I found is that it is surprisingly difficult to set up a rigorous hp comparison. On the surface it seems completely do-able, but as you get deeper in to the details you become aware of more and more difficult-to-control-for variables.