How we used data acquisition to find lost speed | Articles

BTW, I spotted a couple of minor typos in the article — the OEM rear end ratio for the NB 5-speed is a 4.3, not a 4.4.  Also, at one point the article says that the other car was finishing the straight in 5th, which doesn’t seem to be reflected in the data (starting in 2nd, 2 shifts puts it in 4th).

As for the conclusion:

Also note that we didn’t use any esoteric functions of our data equipment. A simple speed trace was the most valuable tool in our arsenal when it came to solving this mystery.

I would argue that an RPM trace wold have solved the mystery sooner, because the gearing ratio discrepancy would have been immediately apparent in the data instead of something you had to infer from shift points. 🙂

Mmmm what happens when you don’t have access to the other car’s data???

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

BTW, I spotted a couple of minor typos in the article — the OEM rear end ratio for the NB 5-speed is a 4.3, not a 4.4.  Also, at one point the article says that the other car was finishing the straight in 5th, which doesn’t seem to be reflected in the data (starting in 2nd, 2 shifts puts it in 4th).

As for the conclusion:

Also note that we didn’t use any esoteric functions of our data equipment. A simple speed trace was the most valuable tool in our arsenal when it came to solving this mystery.

I would argue that an RPM trace wold have solved the mystery sooner, because the gearing ratio discrepancy would have been immediately apparent in the data instead of something you had to infer from shift points. 🙂

 

Thanks for spotting the typos. I’m a zillion miles away but I’m sure the CFla-based web crew will get th ecorrections made.

As for an RPM trace, I don’t completely disagree, but an rpm trace wouldn’t necessarily instantly reveal a higher mid corner speed the way a speed trace would….