Driftbox

DriftBox combines four products in one for just £465 :

 Performance Meter
 Drift Analyser
 Lap Timer
 Data Logger

DriftBox History
Driftbox was initially developed for use in the Japanese D1 Grand Prix series to assist the judges award points during the competition, and has become in effect the fourth "Judge". Every vehicle which competes has a DriftBox Pro fitted during each run, and the judges get a points score for each corner based on Entry speed, Drift Angle and Cornering Force. Cornering force is used to judge how well the car is setup, the higher the cornering force, the more power and skill are needing to slide the vehicle.

The DriftBox Pro is for official competition judging, and communicates in real time to the judges via a radio telemetry system. This system is based on two GPS systems, with antennas placed in line on the roof of the car. Drift Angle is the difference between the Direction of travel and the Direction the vehicle is pointing.

The GPS system used is an RTK system, which gives an accuracy of 0.25 degrees, 0.1km/h and 0.01G.

As a result of the development of DriftBox Pro, Racelogic have been able to use this experience to produce DriftBox.

How Does DriftBox Work?
Housed inside the DriftBox is a high performance 10Hz GPS engine coupled with sophisticated motion sensors. Speed, Postion, Acceleration and Drift are measured 10 times a second. To measure Drift angle, the angle the vehicle is pointing is computed using the motion sensors, and this is compared with the angle the vehicle is travelling which is computed from the GPS.

DriftBox is equipped with an MMC/SD Flash memory card socket. This allows 10Hz logging of Time, Distance, Speed, Position, G-force, Lap Times, Split Times, and Drift Angle.

Data logged to the MMC flash card can be analysed in detail using the PC software provided. For convenience, the DriftBox can be connected to the USB port of a PC compatible computer to download information stored on the memory card.

DriftBox as a Drift Analyser
Drifting is a very exciting form of motorsport where the driver has to continuously slide the car in a controlled manner around a set course. The competition is judged by an expert panel, who base their decision on speed, style, accuracy and drift angle.

Until now, the drift angle had to be estimated, but with DriftBox the guesswork has been removed, allowing much fairer comparisons to be made between competing drivers. Not only does DriftBox give feedback on angle, but also entry speed and cornering G-force. This information is displayed to the driver, and can also be transmitted to the judges and spectators in real time using the optional Racelogic telemetry system.

Racelogic have been involved in professional Drifting for over 2 years, working very closely with the Japanese D1 Professional Drift Grand Prix Series. The DriftBox has been tested and used by the world's best drifters, from Japan, America, England and Europe.

DriftBox as a Performance Meter
Using DriftBox is one of the easiest ways to measure the acceleration, braking and cornering performance of your car. Because DriftBox is based on GPS, you get so much more for your money than just a simple performance meter.

DriftBox uses a GPS system with an update rate of 10 samples per second, which is the fastest GPS engine in its class. From this you get a very accurate speed (±0.1kmh), cornering g-force, acceleration g-force and a very accurate distance measurement (±10cm in 400m).

Using DriftBox as a performance meter could not be simpler, you connect it to your cigar lighter socket, wait a few seconds to get GPS lock, put it into 'Performance Mode' and drive!

To swap between the 6 different performance meter screens, simply press the up and down arrows.

Performance ranges and units are fully user adjustable, which means if you want to measure a specific acceleration or deceleration range, for example 35-65, then this is very easy to do.

Performance meter features

 Speed kmh or mph
 Distance metres or feet
 4 accel ranges - 2 adjustable
 2 decel ranges - 2 adjustable
 4 distance ranges (1/4 mile etc)
 1 foot rollout option
 Peak g-force
 Top speed
 Average speed
 SD card logging

DriftBox as a Lap Timer
Because DriftBox uses a fast GPS engine, it knows precisely where you are every 1/10th of a second. Using this information, it can compare your current position with a number of stored reference points and use this information to trigger the start and end of laps.

Setting it up is very easy and only has to be done once. Just put DriftBox into setup mode, and drive over the point you wish to define as the start/finish line. This point is then converted into a line at 90 degrees to your direction of travel, and stored in the internal memory.

DriftBox as a Data Logger
For drivers keen to improve their laptimes and get valuable feedback on technique, DriftBox includes a sophisticated, fully functioning Data-logging package. Dedicated data-loggers with similar features normally cost more than the DriftBox itself, so the inclusion of this feature is worth the purchase price alone!

To use the Data-logging, simply insert the 64Mbyte SD card (which gives up to 10 hours of logging) and drive. Once you have finished the test, either plug the DriftBox into a PC via the USB cable provided, or remove the SD card and place it in a suitable reader.

Full Data Logging Software

The data is then read into the DriftBox Tools software, which is installed from the CD supplied. This software allows graphical analysis of acceleration, braking, cornering and lap times. You can overlay up to four files, and you get an accurate track map to compare your driving line between different laps. Make no mistake, this is not just token data-logging, this is the real deal!

Formula One car vs Ferrari 430

Circuit lap comparison

Nurburgring circuit plot	Nurburgring circuit overlay