A question that comes up from time to time from a chassis perspective is what data channels do you actually need? I get asked this on average once every two years and I first wrote about this in 2016, re-visiting the subject in 2018.
As this is actually a very valid question, it is wise for us to re-visit it again here because there is a lot of good stuff to consider.
In short, in order to obtain the useful data you need to engineer a racecar, you don’t need to monitor everything, so it won’t cost you the earth. This also offers a timely opportunity to remind ourselves how regulatory authorities love the idea of dumbing down motorsport on the altar of cost cutting. As we will soon see, not only is this unwise, it is a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Before we get started, let’s first clear up one huge misconception that abounds in this business, and that is in order to engineer a car properly, you need to spend a king’s ransom on data acquisition. Not only is this categorically false, it’s a dangerous misconception, particularly in the junior formulae, where damper pots and the like are banned.
Data literate
As a case in point, categories like Formula 4 have been created as the new nursery for drivers, engineers and mechanics learning their
