The Porsche Track Precision App

17/9/2020

The Porsche Track Precision App enables drivers to record videos, lap times and car data in one place, for detailed analysis and sharing.

The Porsche Track Precision App (PTPA) is available for iOS and Android devices and, if a Porsche has the Sport Chrono package, the app will pair with the vehicle to enable the driver to track their lap times on more than 300 racing circuits worldwide.

While most apps or hardware solutions make use of the smartphone’s quite simple sensor data or information obtained via the car’s OBD diagnostic port, the PTPA is unusual in that it receives its data directly from the different control units in the car. This not only gets round latency issues but is also much more accurate. The amount of information available for later analysis is vast, and it can be viewed either as a graph or alongside the video recording.

The standard groups are:

• driving speed, engine speed, gear
• accelerator position, braking pressure, steering angle
• driving speed, lateral acceleration, longitudinal acceleration
• wheel slip
• oversteer, understeer, ESC
• tyre pressure (for each tyre)

In addition, your position is recorded by GPS, which is something many smartphone apps have problems with. In most instances, the refresh rate is around 1 Hz – in other words, your position is determined once per second. While this may be sufficient for navigation, it simply won’t cut it on the race track when you’re travelling at 200 km/h or 55 m/s.

In the case of the PTPA, the GPS antenna of the Porsche is used in a special mode, which operates at 10 Hz. If you want to dial up that precision, you can connect external Bluetooth GPS antennas with 20 Hz. These times can be displayed in an extended lap timer so you can compare with your own best time, or an imported third party time.

The PTPA can also be paired, via Bluetooth, with an external camera, such as a GoPro. The recording can be started and stopped via the GoPro and the results can be integrated into the app later with synchronised timing. And if that’s not enough, it is also possible to synchronise your pulse via Apple Watch, with the data you gather then being available for evaluation on a smartphone or tablet.

Contact 01642 939 439 or info@porscheteesside.co.uk for further details on the Porsche Track Precision App.