Calabogie 2018

[az3579]

In case anyone is interested. This time I got to play with two GoPros, one trained on the instrument cluster and the other in the overall interior view. I definitely got some experience with Adobe Premiere this time around. Video quality is 4k 60fps.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlAFlsVqe4g&t=1052s

I have another video I'll be uploading soon, as soon as I finish editing and uploading it with my horrendously slow Comcast upload speeds.
The second video will be the final result of the weekend, whereas this video is my baseline for the weekend.



Video description:

July 15, 2018 - #1
Calabogie Motorsports Park
Hosted by BMW Car Club of Ottawa
The car: 2005 BMW 330i w/ Performance Package (ZHP), 6MT


Performance modifications:
* Bilstein PSS10 coilovers (set to 10 all around)
* Wilwood Forged Superlite 4-piston calipers, all around
* PFC11 front brake pads, Hawk DTC60 rear pads
* BMW OE M3 Euro cast-drilled semi-floating rotors, front and rear
* Wilwood EXP 600 brake fluid
* Shark Injector software
* GruppeM intake
* UUC (Corsa) TSE3 catback exhaust
* BMW Performance short shift kit
* Hankook Ventus R-S4 tires, 255/40-17 all around
* Apex ARC-8 hyper-black wheels, 17x8.5 et40 all around
-- All other mods don't impact the performance of the car, or do to a very minor degree


Intermediate Run Group (Group 2) - signed off for solo


The event started with the car immediately breaking down. About a quarter way through the first session, a the idler pulley decided to retire and immediately proceeded to relieve the drive belt from its duties. As a result, the shredded belt also chewed up the tensioner pulley, resulting in the car losing power steering while on track, as well as engine temperatures rising. Luckily, that was in the last couple of corners to the track, so I immediately pitted and proceeded to spend the next half day sourcing parts and repairing the car. HUGE thanks to Jay at Powersports Garage for supplying parts and know-how, as well as Bennett for providing a covered space and tools to work with!


This video was taken on Day 2, one of the early sessions of the day. This would serve as a baseline for the rest of the weekend since I lost most of the track time the previous day. My personal goals for this weekend were:


1) Use the dead pedal and seat bolsters to brace my body in the turns without the use of a harness. The goal of this was to ease my grip on the steering wheel and "steer with my fingers".


2) Use reference points on the track to monitor my speed to see if attempted techniques resulted in faster exit speeds.






In addition to my personal goals, my instructor (Bennett) also set some for me:


1) Turn 8 (Temptation) - In order to maintain momentum (being a momentum car), stick to the outside of the turn all the way until turn in towards the apex, attempting to make the exit as straight as possible to carry speed through the exit. Use less brakes going into the turn. Measure speed at the cone between turns 9a and 9b as a point of reference for progress.


2) Turn 15 (Spoon) - Stay more to the left of the track and wait to turn in until the cone. Short-shift to 4th to make the car's power more stable through the turn. Make the transition across as straight as possible.


3) Turn 16 (4 Left) - Wait until the car has settled, then very lightly tap the brake to settle the front of the car to make the fast left-hand turn.


4) Turns 18+19 (Watts Up, Wicked) - Downshift to 2nd gear to be able to power through turns 19 and 20. The car bogs in 3rd going into the straight, so 2nd should provide extra oomph.

[704sw]

Good audio, BP. My GoPro seems to pick nothing but wind noise.

One thing I noticed in my own videos is the need to switch to spot metering. The matrix metering overexposes the images outside the car. It’s not as bad in your car since you don’t have a black interior, but something to think about maybe.

[az3579]

Good audio, BP. My GoPro seems to pick nothing but wind noise.

I actually have an external mic that was installed in the trunk and connected to the "overall view" camera, but it was a significantly crappier sound than with my previous GoPro. My old GoPro died so I bought this 6 to replace it. I don't know why the audio was so crappy; I may have to revisit this later.

The audio in this video is actually from the instrument cluster camera, a GoPro 5. I was pleasantly surprised by the audio.



One thing I noticed in my own videos is the need to switch to spot metering. The matrix metering overexposes the images outside the car. It’s not as bad in your car since you don’t have a black interior, but something to think about maybe.

Umm... wat? lol

[704sw]

I actually have an external mic that was installed in the trunk and connected to the "overall view" camera, but it was a significantly crappier sound than with my previous GoPro. My old GoPro died so I bought this 6 to replace it. I don't know why the audio was so crappy; I may have to revisit this later.

The audio in this video is actually from the instrument cluster camera, a GoPro 5. I was pleasantly surprised by the audio.

Gotcha. Well I use a 4 which means bad audio and no stabilization.



Umm... wat? lol

Nerd talk for how the camera’s light meter assesses a scene.

The default is matrix metering: the camera will read the entire frame and expose for it. In this situation the view through the windshield only makes up a small portion of the frame, and it gets washed out/overexposed for the sake of correctly exposing the “whole scene,” which is predominantly the less bright cabin.

Spot metering will read the light value at a single point in the frame and expose for only that point. You’re basically saying “inside the cabin be damned, I’m going to make the view of the track priority.” In your case the cabin won’t be that dark because you have NB and not just black (minus my white helmet the cabin view would look pretty damn dark).

Here’s a quick and dirty example I just took to demonstrate the effect:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180730/ea8e80ffa08f11ae38f2119b57705f4c.jpg

[az3579]

Ah yes, that makes perfect sense. It would be nice if it used an average of two different points to make both look ideal. I'm not sure what metering capabilities the GoPro 6 has... have to check.

[704sw]

Ah yes, that makes perfect sense. It would be nice if it used an average of two different points to make both look ideal. I'm not sure what metering capabilities the GoPro 6 has... have to check.

That would be the 3rd of 3 options, usually called “center weighted.” I’ve never checked to see if GoPros have all three metering options.

Without being too much of a photo geek, it’s basically an inability of cameras (whether film or digital sensors) to capture the same dynamic range as the human eye. And when it does, it usually looks fake as shit (see: the terrible HDR trend in the early 2010s). We’ll get close as technology advances, but I doubt we’ll ever truly be able to replicate exactly what the eye sees—it’s truly a remarkable organ.

[az3579]

That would be the 3rd of 3 options, usually called “center weighted.” I’ve never checked to see if GoPros have all three metering options.

Without being too much of a photo geek, it’s basically an inability of cameras (whether film or digital sensors) to capture the same dynamic range as the human eye. And when it does, it usually looks fake as shit (see: the terrible HDR trend in the early 2010s). We’ll get close as technology advances, but I doubt we’ll ever truly be able to replicate exactly what the eye sees—it’s truly a remarkable organ.

It looks like the GoPro 5 and 6 both have exposure control, which was described as "not quite spot metering", but allows you to choose where to focus the exposure settings. So it looks like I can tell it where it should base its exposure settings.

[derbo]

Nice BP!

[nsk040]

1) Use the dead pedal and seat bolsters to brace my body in the turns without the use of a harness. The goal of this was to ease my grip on the steering wheel and "steer with my fingers".

Do you pre-lock the seat belt? You can put your seat back a few inches, move the belt abruptly so it locks, and then put your seat back where it needs to be.

[az3579]

Do you pre-lock the seat belt? You can put your seat back a few inches, move the belt abruptly so it locks, and then put your seat back where it needs to be.

No, I usually use my harness, but didn't have the time to install it. Locking it this way also isn't ideal because I'm very particular about seating position, and can never seem to get the seating position right when trying to pre-lock the belt.

[WOLFN8TR]

Awesome BP! The ZHP sounds great! Guys this ZHP has 300K on it, so impressive!! Go Speed!!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suCm1w_KTiY

[az3579]

Guys this ZHP has 300K on it, so impressive!!


Probably why it's so slow. LOL

[johnrando]

Ha. Very cool BP

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[danewilson77]

Probably why it's so slow. LOLHehe.... Have you had it compression tested?

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[az3579]

Hehe.... Have you had it compression tested?

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Yeah, about two years ago on 08/19/2016... numbers were great.


Cylinder 1 - 166, 185, 181, avg 177
Cylinder 2 - 180, 180, 187, avg 182
Cylinder 3 - 178, 182, 182, avg 180
Cylinder 4 - 180, 186, 187, avg 184
Cylinder 5 - 181, 185, 183, avg 183
Cylinder 6 - 190, 195, 195, avg 191

[orange260z]

Good to see you back on the track, buddy. Too bad we couldn't stick around to see you head out after the repair... hopefully next year!