Thread: Newbie w/ laptop and Megasquirt

I too am setting up a megasquirt setup with a in car computer, as far as a way to mount your laptop where its out of the way, do you plan on keeping they laptop always attatched so you can datalog? are you planning on keeping it in the drivers view at all times so you can read the guages? my setup is going into a `84 VW GTI, i got rid of my my dash completely, then fabbed up a small dash out of aluminum for tach, speedo, oil pressure, temp, and fuel. once megasquirt and pc are installed i plan on adding a second section of the dash where the stereo, heater ect all would normally go to house a touchscreen.

i would worry about solely relying on the guages on the car pc for real time data, as there will probably be some lag. even a 1/10th of a second of lag means a missed shift point, or even worse that much longer before your oil pressure gauge tells you your ****in oil.

as far as tuning goes, it may sound like basic advice but 2 ppl in the car one driving one tuning, ive seen ppl ditch dive due to tuning and driving at the same time, its not pretty.

you could possibly cut out part of the dash near the glove box to mount the laptop, so its recessed out of the way but still able to angle it into the view of the driver.

sheb

Im planning on using the normal police mount style placement for now. But eventually I want a dash mounted touch screen.

My car was professionally tuned thanks to my new sponsors so I didnt have to worry too much about that. I was fortunate enough to have a few good base maps to work from. So I did a few datalogs, stared at it and went back out.

we should make like an MS computer car club lol.

I'm not sure I'd use a laptop if you're planning on placing it out of the way. I'd go get a Nano or Pico ITX based computer and run xp with an LCD. Laptops require a lot of cold airflow. The power supply and processors that are used in commercial laptops are REALLY hot. Even if it does work for a while, you will soon be replacing that laptop. PicoITX technology is used for industrial purposes and is fanless so it won't be blowing grease and dust into your unit. Also, since it's for industry (read HEAVY Industry) it's also resistant to high temperatures.

I'm currently rebuilding my 91 Mazda 626 for rally use (just for fun, not sponsored) and I'm looking to use a megasquirt with a PicoITX system, and then I'm gonna build another NanoITX system to run an audio/video media center in my car. Ever since I found them i've been in love!

Anyway, just thought I'd tell the community about it. I've seen a lot of MiniITX but not Nano or Pico...