MoTeC is a tool used by a number of real-life race teams to set up their race cars to have the optimum setup and extract the final few tenths of pace from their car. The software at the root of it is a data collection tool that collates and displays information in a readable and understandable format.
The information collected from the car, such as brake pressure, throttle application, or damper rebound, is translated to visual interpretations of data such as line graphs or histograms. Race engineers then use this information to turn data and numbers into real-life setup changes that tailor the car to a driver’s preferences.
So what relevance does this have to ACC and your own driving? With the strive for ultimate realism, Kunos has given all the users of ACC the ability to translate in-game data to real-life representations that can reflect the same information you would see if you had collected data in the race car on the track. Using the MoTeC for ACC will allow a driver to further improve their car, develop a set up for all situations, and learn some real-life car handling lessons along the way.
How To Download And Install MoTeC
Before being able to read any MoTeC files from your own laps or from Coach Dave Delta, you need to have the MoTeC application. To download MoTeC there are a few simple steps, first, note that all ACC users have access to the full pro version as this is only for personal and noncommercial uses.
Step by step guide to the initial set up of the MoTeC software:
- Visit the MoTeC site and download the “Motec i2 Pro V1.1.4.0454 (64 bit)” and then follow the install steps.
- Go to “documents/Assetto Corsa Competizione/MoTeC/Workspaces” and copy “base_ACC”.
- Place this copied file into “documents/MoTeC/i2/Workspaces”.
- Reopen the MoTeC software and you should now see the ACC workspace available to select.
- Now to go to ACC and record some sample data to finish the setup process.
- Start ACC in your chosen game mode then go to the vehicle setup and select the ‘Electronics’ tab.
- Under the telemetry laps parameter set the number of laps you want to record – for the setup process, three laps are fine for the initial setup.
- Complete the three laps then quit the game, note that if you complete more laps than stated it will record the latest ones to be completed.
- Return to the MoTeC folder under the “documents/Assetto Corsa Competizione/ MoTeC” and simply double click the “.Id” file. You can also open multiple different sessions at once to allow a comparison of your recorded telemetry.
Extracting MoTeC data from Coach Dave Delta
The next step once you have set up your MoTeC application, is using it with Coach Dave Delta to compare your laps you are now recording against all of the laps set from the variety of setups the Coach Dave Academy team have created.
Once you have loaded into your ACC session and you have Coach Dave Delta open, you will see all of the setups on the right hand side that are available to you. Each setup has a drop down menu with various bits of useful information, including the MoTeC data we need to extract.
If you click on the MoTeC data icon/area this will automatically download the MoTeC files to your PC. When you locate the zipped file from your download section you can open this and you will see all of the ld and ldx files for these setups.
At this point you can choose to select just one of these files, or all of them. As good practice we recommend highlighting the entire folder and hitting right click which will bring up some options for you. Here you need to extract the files to a specific folder in order for you to access them and use them with the MoTeC app.
Hit the ‘Extract to a specified folder’ like what is highlighted above and you are greeted with an extraction path and options. From here you find your documents folder, find your ACC folder, find your MoTeC folder and click that specifically, then press ok.
When you next go into your MoTeC folder located from your ACC folder in your documents, you will see all of the ld and ldx files have been extracted successfully and this means they are now ready to use with MoTeC. It’s that simple.
Now these are ready, you will be able to import these alongside your own MoTeC data recorded from your own laps and see where the differences are between your laps and ours. These are done through MoTeC worksheets.
Worksheets
Now we have some telemetry to work with we can begin to use this data to make improvements to our driving and setups. However, there is a lot of different pieces of data we can use to make these improvements
All the data you will see within the MoTeC software is displayed on something known as a worksheet. In simple terms, a worksheet is a single frame representation of your data using either one or a number of visual data representation techniques. Below you will find a more detailed explanation of what these techniques are and how you can use them to your benefit.
Compare
The first sheet we can see when we open the telemetry is the compare worksheet. This view displays multiple channels of information that can be configured by yourself. The original space will show speed, rpm, gear, brake, and throttle information in a number of line graphs. This screen is a great place to compare multiple sessions and laps to see how your corner speeds, brake pressure, and throttle application change during a stint or across your best laps.
Driver
The next tab you will see is the driver worksheet, this will show much of the same information as before. However, you will now also see steer angle and longitudinal/lateral g forces. This information can add a second layer of understanding to your lap time and driving as you can begin to understand the relationship your steering angle and the corner speed have to one another.
Understanding this relationship can give a driver a better understanding, for example, of how inputs to the steering relate to increased grip, once paired with the g produced during a corner. The basic rule of understanding is; a higher corner speed and more g will indicate more grip is being produced.
Wheel Speed
Continuing along with the worksheets you will now see the wheel speed data. This information is mostly useful to an engineer as it can indicate excessive amounts of wheel spin produced under acceleration or heavy breaking. This information is often used in tandem with tweaks to ABS and traction to help understand the optimum settings for track conditions and car setup.
Understeer/Oversteer
The Understeer/oversteer worksheet is a particularly useful piece of data for drivers as this turns multiple data sources into a single-digit number indicating understeer, negative, or oversteer, positive. It must be noted, however, this number is a calculation of speed, steering angle, lateral g, oversteer, brake, and throttle. This can be used to understand a car’s behavior and also the confidence of a driver by their reaction after an oversteer movement.
Engine Revs
Engine revs is simply a visualization of the gear selected and the engine usage throughout the recorded period. This can be particularly useful as finding the optimum shift point can provide extra speed on the straights, which is even more vital in the fixed gear ratios of a GT3 car.
Suspension Histogram
Suspension histograms are some of the most useful pieces of information for setting up a car in ACC. What this worksheet visualizes is the damper velocity. The ideal visualization of this data is a bell-shaped curve. What this indicates is that the suspension is remaining in the low-speed rebound and compression which is generally more conducive for providing grip as the suspension is not working to its peak. It is also good to remember changes to the aero balance of the car will require changes to the damper settings to achieve the best car balance.
Suspension Travel
The suspension travel worksheet can often be used in tandem with the damper histogram. You will gain the most use from this in understanding how the downforce of the car compresses the suspension. Using this information to understand the pitch of your car is also key to getting the maximum effect from your aero set up as the flatter you can make the car throughout a lap the more stable the car will be.
Track Report
The track report worksheet is one of the most visually striking and potentially the easiest to interpret as it has a real-life representation of the track to overlay the data on. The initial set up of this page will indicate a number of different data points. It is best to look through the potential data sets you have available such as brake and throttle and color code these with gradients to your liking.
You can do this by right clicking on the worksheet selecting properties and double clicking on the unavailable track colour categories. You will then need to find the corresponding channel to activate these and select the way in which you want the information displayed, gradient and a custom colour is recommended.
The best use of this worksheet is to gain understanding of the brake pressure and throttle percentage applied through a corner. This information can then be related to the other worksheets highlighting instability and loss of grip from the car.
Channel Report
The channel worksheet contains a multitude of data streams collated together to give an easier way to compare laps to each other. At the top of this, you will see a turn by turn analysis of your speed, lateral g, and steering angle at the apex of each turn, with numeric representations of this on the left-hand side of the screen. On the right, this is then displayed as a histogram to give a more visual interpretation. The bottom of the screen is reserved for the straights, this uses the same variables to produce its results.
Section Times
The final worksheet will be the section times, this gives the classical sector time data and takes it up a notch in detail. To display your sector times in full right click and go to properties, then range group and select outings/laps/track/sections/default. The sectors will be broken down into much smaller sectors allowing you to really get an understanding of where you gain and lose time through a lap. The column to the right is known as the rolling minimum, this is a complex ideal lap time using all these small sectors to give a realistic interpretation of what your best lap could be.
Final Thoughts
With all this information it is very clear MoTeC is not a simple piece of software. To master the use of the software to its full potential will take lots of time and learning. The information provided is a great place to get you started.
However, getting on track driving and looking at how the differences in the data are, from your best to worst lap is a great way to apply this learning and begin to improve your understanding of the software. Another good place to find more information on car characteristics and how they relate to ACC is through youtube videos, online forms, and the fundamentals of a car’s parts and how these relate to setup.
Using the software and getting to grips with MoTeC will improve your driving style, consistency and help you understand what it is in a car setup that compliments you as a driver, all key things to becoming a consistently fast driver.
MoTeC will always give you an advantage over the competition, as in racing the more information the better, this tool is used by the best teams in real-life racing for a reason. MoTeC will allow you to learn about yourself as a driver and learn the setup of the car. With this information you will be on your way to creating your own setups and becoming a faster driver.
Finally, with all the Coach Dave Academy ACC setups we include 3 lap runs of data from our Setup and Development drivers, helping you understand where you can improve and take the next step as a driver.
