Dragy Lap

[Vmohan5072]

I have a HPDE event coming up at NJMP Lightning at 4/24. Amongst many other things to set up, I am working out the gopro/telemetry situation. Purple panda mic routed from the license plate to a GoPro suction cupped to the seat will be the video and audio setup, but I am curious about the Dragy Lap app that uses Dragy gps module to record data and sync it with GoPro footage.

The main draw for me is being able to use the Dragy I currently have without needing to purchase a GPS module. But without any way to include OBD2 readings, it will not be as comprehensive as TrackAddict or RaceChrono. I'm still interested as a beginner lap tool, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience using Dragy Lap, or if anyone had any experience using Dragy Lap with a GoPro. Is it worth using, or should I just go fully into RaceChrono/TrackAddict?

[drroc]

Originally Posted by Vmohan5072

I have a HPDE event coming up at NJMP Lightning at 4/24. Amongst many other things to set up, I am working out the gopro/telemetry situation. Purple panda mic routed from the license plate to a GoPro suction cupped to the seat will be the video and audio setup, but I am curious about the Dragy Lap app that uses Dragy gps module to record data and sync it with GoPro footage.

The main draw for me is being able to use the Dragy I currently have without needing to purchase a GPS module. But without any way to include OBD2 readings, it will not be as comprehensive as TrackAddict or RaceChrono. I'm still interested as a beginner lap tool, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience using Dragy Lap, or if anyone had any experience using Dragy Lap with a GoPro. Is it worth using, or should I just go fully into RaceChrono/TrackAddict?

Even if you get RaceChrono Pro, you still need to get an external GPS module as the phone module is not super accurate.

[M3SQRD]

How many track events have you done? The worst possible thing you can do is record lap times and video as a beginner. Going to the track should not be about chasing lap times. It should be about learning the fundamentals and practicing them. With practice, speed and lower lap times will come. However, if you make it about lap times then you’ll never master the basic skills, especially being smooth, and you’ll in the best case hit a plateau, worst case I’ll leave that one up to you to figure out. Don’t judge your progress based on your times vs. other peoples’ times.

[Vmohan5072]

Originally Posted by drroc

Even if you get RaceChrono Pro, you still need to get an external GPS module as the phone module is not super accurate.

Which is why if I went that route I would get an external GPS, but I want to see if I can make by with just using the Dragy on hand to have a decent experience

[Vmohan5072]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

How many track events have you done? The worst possible thing you can do is record lap times and video as a beginner. Going to the track should not be about chasing lap times. It should be about learning the fundamentals and practicing them. With practice, speed and lower lap times will come. However, if you make it about lap times then you’ll never master the basic skills, especially being smooth, and you’ll in the best case hit a plateau, worst case I’ll leave that one up to you to figure out. Don’t judge your progress based on your times vs. other peoples’ times.

That is completely fair, I didn't want to do it to try to constantly chase lap times nor do I intend to really push myself to be competitive with other times by any measure, my intention was for fun and to be able to see myself grow over time without any fixation towards pushing myself during the event itself. Kind of like a before and after picture before a workout and diet plan you know?

I'm on event 3 and still focusing on learning and mastering the fundamentals slowly/smoothly and then building up on that. This was kind of a fun thing for myself to watch rather than trying to push myself past my personal limit, but if it's best to drop it then I have no problem dropping the idea for now, everything you said is fair

[MineralWhiteF80]

I have a Dragy (with their GPS antenna), and honestly, Dragy Lap has never worked for one reason or another. Each time I try it on a track day, something goes wrong, and it takes me the whole track day to figure out why because im already out on track when it needs to start working but wont. Then, when I fix one thing, something else goes wrong. For example, I tried using it at Road Atlanta, and it didn't work because cell reception wasn't good, so it couldn't download the files it apparently needed before the app let me start recording. All I could get is GPS speedometer readout. I've become so frustrated now that I dont even use it anymore because it will just piss me off further.

If you want to see lap times/sector information, there are much better options out there since Dragy was never designed to do anything other than straight line acceleration. And their main app is not good either.

If you are only going to use the GPS on your phone, HP Tuners TrackAddict works about as good as you can get, because your phone is the limiting problem. However, you can buy a used XGPS150A gps antenna on ebay for 50-70 bucks and pair that with TrackAddict, and it's wayyyy better than Dragy and gives you more information, and can also be paired with a GoPro.

You can also just use your GoPro and see what your lap times are by calculating start/stop times at a point on the track (usually the slowest part of the track gets the closest).

You can see that my iphone 14 gps gets a little crazy and i’m off track just a bit in turns 3 and 4 at Atlanta Motorsports Park lol

EDIT: also just want to point out that the phone GPS is not good enough to accurately calculate lap times, so it's basically pointless without a good GPS with a fast refresh rate LOL (as shown by my picture below)

[Vmohan5072]

Originally Posted by MineralWhiteF80

I have a Dragy (with their GPS antenna), and honestly, Dragy Lap has never worked for one reason or another. Each time I try it on a track day, something goes wrong, and it takes me the whole track day to figure out why because im already out on track when it needs to start working but wont. Then, when I fix one thing, something else goes wrong. For example, I tried using it at Road Atlanta, and it didn't work because cell reception wasn't good, so it couldn't download the files it apparently needed before the app let me start recording. All I could get is GPS speedometer readout. I've become so frustrated now that I dont even use it anymore because it will just piss me off further.

If you want to see lap times/sector information, there are much better options out there since Dragy was never designed to do anything other than straight line acceleration. And their main app is not good either.

If you are only going to use the GPS on your phone, HP Tuners TrackAddict works about as good as you can get, because your phone is the limiting problem. However, you can buy a used XGPS150A gps antenna on ebay for 50-70 bucks and pair that with TrackAddict, and it's wayyyy better than Dragy and gives you more information, and can also be paired with a GoPro.

You can also just use your GoPro and see what your lap times are by calculating start/stop times at a point on the track (usually the slowest part of the track gets the closest).

You can see that my iphone 14 gps gets a little crazy and i’m off track just a bit in turns 3 and 4 at Atlanta Motorsports Park lol

EDIT: also just want to point out that the phone GPS is not good enough to accurately calculate lap times, so it's basically pointless without a good GPS with a fast refresh rate LOL (as shown by my picture below)

I see, thank you for the input! I might just ditch the whole idea of a track analyzer for now and get a used GPS to use the proven and reliable apps when I become more experienced.

[BackOnBlack]

The M Performance Drive Analyzer works well for me. Nothing complicated, no lap times and it is not configurable in terms of graphics, but easy setup and use. Of course, you need to have a compatible BT ODB reader.

Appstore:



How it actually looks:

[Vmohan5072]

Originally Posted by BackOnBlack

The M Performance Drive Analyzer works well for me. Nothing complicated, no lap times and it is not configurable in terms of graphics, but easy setup and use. Of course, you need to have a compatible BT ODB reader.

Appstore:

Attachment 3438960

How it actually looks:

Attachment 3438961

This might be perfect for what I need. Easy to use, shows useful info, and no lap time so I don't end up needlessly chasing it as a beginner. I'll run this, thank you!