Seeing Is Believing (FreeEMS Show-casing)

[Fred]

A lot of people will never learn about, or come to appreciate what FreeEMS has to offer for them without some sort of demonstration. People like things they can understand, feel, touch, watch, listen to, etc. Nothing has proved this to me more than how excitement is generated by PCB designs, even though they're very much the easier part of the overall project. (not easy, just easier)

Over the coming year or so, I'd like to see some specific things done with FreeEMS, so I thought I'd put this thread here to document my thoughts, collect feedback and further ideas from people. Below is a rough list of tasks for people to tackle. No one has "dibs" over anything, first in, first served. Quite a few are location specific, but some can be done anywhere, too.

Sub 10 Minute Lap Of Nurburgring

This is a pretty easy task, on a dry day, with light traffic, and no accidents. It takes a well setup car with good brake balance, a not too firm ride, and a bit of power. The main element here is driver skill. Th' 'ring is VERY MUCH a driver's track, which is why when I was there in a ~170hp FWD 1990ish Mazda MX-6 with horribly biased brakes (way too much front, maybe 0.7g max retard), on UHP street tyres, I managed a 9:49 on my second lap. The first lap was horrible, I wasn't expecting the volume of traffic, first time driving LHD fast, didn't want to nuke the car (not mine), didn't want to nuke various other vehicles, etc. On that second lap, I only got passed a few times by the quickest of cars, and myself flew past various cars you'd expect never to catch, such as an F40 Ferrari. Doable. Do it! Take me with you if soon :-)

Bonus points for sub 9 minutes, that car had done 8:30 with the owner on a good clear day. My truck could be made to do this if it were in the right hemi-sphere... but it isn't, you're safe.

Sub 10 Second Quarter Mile Pass

If you're low on driving talent, or corners make you sea-sick, this might be more up your alley. Knock up a high horsepower, softly sprung, RWD street car, add some slicks, and configure launch control and flat shift, and show them who's boss. I think that my truck could do this on 30PSI with appropriate tweaks. Be warned.

Bonus points for sub 9 seconds, my truck will never go this fast, don't worry! :-)

300+ KPH Bonneville Salt Flat Run

Perhaps you're more into aerodynamics than sheer power, or perhaps both, if so, this one is for you. Smooth something down until you'd rather run your finger over the surface than your girlfriend's behind, add a good dollop of power, and some fins, get out there and drive until you get lost. I drove 8 miles out in the FreeEMS Volvo before it was FreeEMS powered, all @ 100 MPH, that's all it'd do. My personal goal is to run up to 300 KPH in my truck on the street, I doubt it'll ever get there, but it can hit the limiter in 5th in 17 seconds from a stop @ 210kph, so it might get close. You've been warned.

Bonus points for three-fiddy (350) kph, no, truck will never do this either.

Quadruple bonus points for 4 hundy (400), no, no shit show in hell of truck doing this.

Win a national class in auto-cross in the US

We don't really have that scene in other countries (I looked in Spain, and it's small-time in NZ). Build to a spec, kick some arse, easy, right? :-)

The Naked Truth

The thing is, NONE of the above represent what FreeEMS can do at all. They're all about car setup, power, and skill in varying amounts. But your average moron just thinks circuit boards look pretty and doesn't appreciate the intricate beauty inside the firmware, so this is the only way we can reach their hearts and minds, by showing them what it can do. It's not relevant that MS1 could also do all of the above, honest.

OK, I'm done for now, too sore to continue. Ideas, humour, bullshit, and other critique welcome.

Fred.

[SleepyKeys]

A simple spec sheet can flex the firmware muscle for people who are not able to look at the code themselves. Typically a smart ECU shopper will look at the specs to see if it will cut *their mustard. If multiple products will make the cut then it comes down to other factors cost/bells&whistles etc.

The longer I'm in this game the keener eye I have for *false or exaggerated claims. Post the hard specs and put their *icks in the dirt oh and get a video of someone going 300MPH down the salt flats with nothing more than a monkey siting on top of the engine spraying ether into the intake tract while resting his other hand on a trigger based distributor.

Accuracy over precision.

-sean

[Fred]

You're the king of tangental posts! :-)

A simple spec sheet can flex the firmware muscle for people who are not able to look at the code themselves.

Of course it can, but I'm not talking about the sort of people that are capable of reading ;-)

Typically a smart ECU shopper will look at the specs to see if it will cut *their mustard.

Not really talking about smart ECU shoppers, either. And even if we are, your avatar tells me I'm right on the money. People love fancy looking hardware and other stuff they can see and touch and involve themselves with, somehow. Firmware ain't it. Even for those who can read and possibly write and at a stretch, think, you need to get their attention. Photos and videos of cars going fast, idling smoothly, revving up, etc do that really well.

Accuracy over precision.

Velocity over speed.

Weight over mass.

:-)

I was hoping for more stunt ideas! :-p Maybe a drift car?

Fred.

[SleepyKeys]

King indeed lol.

Maybe the R1 rail 15 feet in the air after jumping the irrigation canal, just west of the dunes in socal.... /stunt

[Fred]

DO IT! Exactly what I was after :-)

[ehb]

Win a rallye with it, be it smaller competitions or bigger like Dakar or something.
Pike's Peak would be nice too.

[johntramp]

Since when did we want the attention of illiterate morons?

[Fred]

Nice idea, ehb! :-)

Since when did we want the attention of illiterate morons?

Even for those who can read and possibly write and at a stretch, think, you need to get their attention. Photos and videos of cars going fast, idling smoothly, revving up, etc do that really well.

That's Fred-speak for "intelligent normal people", by the way ;-) IE, since never. Though they will come, eventually.

[ToxicGumbo]

Bump. Any takers? The Formula Student video certainly fits this category.

I would think even some mundane action videos that represent weekend fun (aka: FreeEMS in a fully usable vehicle) would be nice:

- Offroading
- Dyno
- Donuts
- Autocross
- Drag boat (I'd love to FreeEMS an airboat and take it down a bayou, full throttle)
- Drifting
- Muscle/classic cruise
- Scenes going down a drag strip, even if modest numbers aren't shown
- Multi-state or cross-country road trip
- Scenic exploring

The last one could be part of a PR campaign: Faces of FreeEMS. Those of us with working vehicles could video some scenes while driving around in our areas of the world and talk about what FreeEMS "means to me" (ie. independence, autonomy, education, freedom to develop, self-confidence, community, fraternity, lots of late nights drinking, emotional battery from our significant others, etc.). Since English is the language behind its core development, I'd encourage everyone to speak in their native tongue and hopefully include a translation that can be subtitled. Adds more individuality to it and would, in my opinion, compliment non-native speakers better to a wider audience.

Kansas is a very visually fascinating state due to all the farming, wind, and flat horizons that shower golden sunsets across the land. I'll try to put something together once I can actually drive my truck around. Can visualize the sequence and voiceover already.

-Jeff

[pishta]

Sub 10 second quarter? Wow, your goals are lofty! I might be able to produce a 100 foot broadie, but it would be under a 49 year old car......with a 45 year old driver. I would be happy with a sub 14 slip with my slant 6.