Pi Research engine and rider development data acquisition
Do you want
to make your boat faster? Do you want
to make yourself a better rider? Data
Acquisition could be just the thing you are lacking. With experience gained from over 18 years of auto racing at a
professional level, we can help you set up a system that will be the most
valuable tuning tool you have ever seen.
Christine’s XPL is fitted with a Pi Research data
logger. We use this system for 2
separate functions. First, we use it as
a rider development aid, and second we use it as an engine tuning and
development tool.
Imagine
putting a pro rider on your boat? The guy (or girl) that everyone watches in
AWE wondering how they do it out there.
Well imagine if 
you could ask that person to take a few laps on
your boat, and then overlay your best laps on top of theirs. Imagine what you would learn? Practically a road map of what you need to
do to go faster. The image on the right
is a “screen dump” overlay of Christine on her XPL, on top of a lap of another
rider. Have a close look. The gray traces are the “datum” lap, or “the
pro rider” lap, the colored traces are Christine’s lap. On this overlay we are displaying: Throttle position in blue, Lateral “G” in red, and engine Revs in teal. Notice how much earlier the “pro rider” pulls to 100%
throttle? Notice how much higher the
lateral “G” forces are in a turn. No
your eyes are not deceiving you, they are pulling over 3g lateral, and this is
a limited prep boat. These were the
last laps of that particular practice day.
Christine was down to an all day best of a 0:29.40 (min:sec.tenths) Just
to give you an idea of how fast this type of information can move you along,
She started in the mid 30’s, and with the help of the data we worked out her
weak points. For example: turns 1 and 5
are basically high speed chicanes.
Christine was drastically squaring them off, and breathing out of the
throttle through them. The data showed
her the proper line, and the fact that full throttle operation through those
areas of the course was possible. The
possibilities are virtually endless, people will spend thousands of dollars to
make 5 more HP in their engine, and it will net maybe .2 or .3 seconds in a
lap. Rider development can easily yield
full seconds and more.
Just about
every engine tuner has installed a tach onto their boat, maybe the better
tuners have even tapped their exhaust manifold and added a thermocouple (EGT)
probe or 2. Most people tune by making
a wide open throttle pass across the lake and watch the display. If the EGT starts climbing out too fast,
they make an adjustment before burning down a piston. Well how many closed course races have you been to that have a
strait section as far across as that lake?
Now there is no substitution for the instant reading delivered by your
dash mounted EGT, it WILL save your motor, but if you tune for the wide open
long strait section, you would be very surprised what you would see when you
are on and off the throttle heavily loaded running bouy to bouy. The Data logger stores all of the data, so
that you can come back to the beach and review the entire test run. Literally view the engines vital statistics
from bouy to bouy. Now realize that
information, and tune your engine to the course that you are racing on right
now!!
The “screen
dump” on the left shows a 1200 ft full throttle acceleration on Christine’s XPL
while the new engine package was being tuned in. The Teal trace is engine Revs, the first
gray trace is battery voltage, the first
blue trace is EGT, the second blue trace is throttle position, the second
gray 
trace is engine
water outlet temperature, and the purple trace is fuel pressure. The Pi Research system in Christine’s race boat can log all of
the channels you see on both screens and more for over 45 minutes of data.
If anyone is
interested in a system like this, the prices are far less than you may
think. We are a Pi Research dealer, and
can offer very competitive pricing. We
have worked out a system that is very tidy, is contained in a water proof
“pelican” camera style case, a Mil-Spec wiring harness that if well cared for
will stand up to even salt water for many years. All connectors are water proof, and the system can be installed
into a boat in just a few hours. The
prices vary on the amount of instrumentation you wish to install. You only need a laptop computer, and basic
computer skills to operate it. We have
already done all of the engineering, and all of the design work. We can assist in the installation, setup,
and even the on water engineering services if necessary.
à E-Mail Louis Milone for more information