Got iPhone?
Get Dynolicious.
From Autoblog:
One app that has us really psyched is a new automotive performance meter called Dynolicious from BunsenTech. It uses the accelerometer inside the iPhone to let you record 0-10 through 0-100 times, quarter mile and trap speed, Lateral Gs, horsepower and more. Results are also displayed in real-time on the phone itself with graphs and a speedometer. You can also configure the tool with updates to your car, weight, before and after performance measurements, and keep a complete history of all your runs. The kicker is that you don’t even have to plug in your iPhone anywhere, just set it in the cup holder and drive.
Sounds fascinating. But how does it work? Must be a GPS thing, right?
For $13 at the app store, it’s got to be worth a look.
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Swade, It says it uses the accelerometers in the phone, not the GPS. I From what apple new sites are saying, developers are still not able to use the GPS function of the phone. On the Itunes site it also says that it is compatable with the ipod touch, which does not have a GPS either. It’s amazing if you can get all that info just out of the accelerometers in ipone/ipod.
Saw that, but I have no idea how an accelerometer works. I assume that you’ve got to hit buttons to let it know when to start/stop. Fascinating stuff. – SW
Well, now that I’m Saabless, I feel a little like an impostor here, but I can lend some advice on this.
I have another product called a G-meter that does the same thing as this. It’s all very mathematical and complicated, but by measuring and recording the g-forces applied (with the accellerometers) it can be calculated how fast you are travelling at any given time. GPS is not required. This can give pretty decent 1/4 mile and 0-100 times.
For the record, my Stage 1 (and a bit) 9-5 managed a 0-100 in 7.1 sec and a 1/4 mile time of 15.2 sec.
It also, more impressively, managed to generate 0.8G in hard cornering and 0.7G while accellerating hard in 3rd gear…
I miss my turbo…
I’m guessing Apple included an accelerometer to sort out warranty claims from abuse.
Similar for my waterproof camera. It comes with a built in depth meter as an added bonus!
@ GWC/ swade
The iPhone’s accelerometers are always on. Their main purpose is the figure out when the iPhone is being held up next to the face, upright, or horizontally (the display changes based on the situation.)
I saw that…. looks really cool, wish I had an Itouch/phone now just because of this.
This is old news, and has already been done using a wii remote. Now, when my OBD to computer interface turns up in the next few days I will be also hooking up the GPS for gathering some stats.
cool stuff. its probably old news to some, but most people dont realize i phones and some smart phones have accelarometers…
one thing that im skeptical of, is horsepower… but if you’re serious enuf about measuring this stuff, ul buy separate equipment
Saaboy: HP is actually quite easy to measure with an accellerometer…
If you know the weight of the object, and the rate at which it is accellerating, you can calculate the power being applied to the object – BHP, Kw – whatever figure you prefer.
You do, however, need the exact weight of the vehicle, with you in it, and however much fuel you are carrying.
Car Maintenance is another iPhone iPod Touch App worth looking into. It tracks your gas millage. Pretty cool.