► Porsche’s track driving app
► Free to download, now v3.0
► How does it all work?
This is the third generation of Porsche’s Track Precision app, and the thinking behind it is simple enough. Porsche‘s Experience Centres are over-subscribed and its customers keener than ever to exploit their cars on circuits. Hence a big development of the app, now available with a wealth of additional functionality, from easy video and lap time recording to the ability to scrutinise and compare many parameters, including turbo pressure, revs, throttle position, stability management intervention and individual wheel speeds.
Set-up is simple enough, though your new Porsche will need the Sport Chrono pack to access the app’s full functionality. (Previously the app only worked with Porsche’s top-end GT sports cars like the 911 GT3 RS.) Don’t own a Porsche? You can still download and use the app, though it will clearly be restricted in the data it’s able to record.
Hundreds of circuits are loaded into the app but it’s easy enough to add new ones. Just pull up a satellite view of your location and set a start/finish line and intermediate sectors as you wish. A Preparation section runs through a checklist for you and your car, including a glossary of terms.
Hit start, head out for your session and you needn’t worry about the app again. It’ll go on recording data every 100 milliseconds and displaying your times, including deltas and your predicted lap time. You can also bring up a natty graphic that analyses your driving relative to the potential of the car in that moment, the display filling with feelgood green if you’re exploiting the car to its limits (which the app calculates from the car’s sensors and systems, primarily those related to its stability management) and turning red if you’re under- or over-driving.
But it’s between sessions (or once you’re home) that the magic really happens. Watch the video feed and the obvious information is displayed in simple graphics: steering angle, brake and throttle pressure, stability control intervention, and understeer and oversteer. But dive into the data (you can look at any number of data sets, though steering angle, throttle and brake are the most obvious for self-improvement) and you’re able to quickly and easily work out what you did and where you did it to find time on your fastest laps. You can also compare your laps to those of friends or your instructor.
Lap (time) of luxury: how it works
Get the app
Download the free app to your Android or Apple phone. Sync with your Sport Chrono-equipped Porsche via Wi-Fi or cable.
Secure your phone
Stick your phone in a handy mount if you’re recording video, or just stash your phone somewhere secure if you’re only interested in data.
Go for a personal best
Live displays help trim tenths on the track, while the app lets you plough through myriad data traces between sessions to help buff your skills.
Does it work?
It does. Developed by keen drivers for keen drivers, it’s rich in functionality and easy to use. Given third-party video and lap time recording equipment tends to be costly and fiddly, the Track Precision app scores highly on value and ease of installation. Richly informative if you’re fortunate enough to own a compatible Porsche, it’s also a handy piece of software for anyone keen on enjoying and recording their precious track time.