Gearmaster offers a supremely easy to use package that is appreciated by both the professional and amateur karter.
The Home screen is where you navigate the program from and once open in Microsoft Excel there is no requirement to use any of the Excel functionality to operate the program.
The program offers the maxiumum flexibility providing Sprocket, RPM and Lap Time calculator options depending on which variable is required.
So how does Gearmaster work?
Imagine that for a given circuit you know the target lap time and the typical RPM of the engine and you want to know what is the best sprocket size that fits these paramters.
With the program at the Home screen you would select the Sprocket Calculator command which takes you to the window shown below. For ease and speed of use, Gearmaster lets you select from a database of tracks which will load the calculator module with your base settings. These settings may then be changed as appropriate for the given day. If you wish to make a one off quick calculation then you can press the Clear Inputs button and enter data as appropriate.
Uniquely Gearmaster will provide the output result, in this case the sprocket size instantly you change a variable and does not require you to press a "Calculate" button. In the example screen below the red cell is the output calculation. All other inputs formatted in blue are varaibles that you can change.
However in another situation you will know your lap time, peak revs and the sprocket used. In this instance the Gearmaster RPM Calculator can be used to determine your average RPM.
Knowing how the average RPM changes from one session to another and for different sprocket sizes is essential for speed optimisation and also shows you the relationship between peak RPM and average RPM and the trade off between the two.
In the RPM Calculator window below you can see the Average RPM output calculated in red.
Once you have made your calculations the "Save to report" command allows you to monitor one session versus another, enabling you to spot trends and improvements. The session report shown below is one of Gearmaster's strongest features. First it is facilitating the recording of test data which is essential if you wish to improve. Secondly the clearly laid out report sets each session results side by side so that changes in lap time or RPM can be easily viewed. Up to 8 sessions may be included for comparison.
Interpreting Results
In the report above it shows that in the first practice session the driver started with a 92T sprocket and the average RPM was 10,250 (RPM is represented by the columns in the chart) with a fastest lap of 55.00 seconds (Lap time is represented by the red line in the chart). For the second and third practice sessions the sprocket size has been reduced showing a lowering of average revs but conversely an improvement in lap time. This is indicating that the benefit of the smaller sprocket in terms of higher top speed is worth more than the speed lost in acceleration that will be given by a larger sprocket size.
In the fourth practice session with the sprocket size reduced by another tooth, we can see that the average revs have dropped significantly from 10,100 to 9,950 and the lap time has increased by 0.25 seconds. So now we have reached the point where reducing the sprocket size to gain a higher top speed is not sufficient to compensate for the loss of acceleration the higher tooth sprocket gives.
Now clearly an experienced karter will be able to make the right sprocket choice without the aid of Gearmaster. But the real benefit of Gearmaster (apart from the superb analysis) comes when you begin to understand the typical RPM range for a particular track. This information can then be used to determine optimal gearing for tracks where you have never raced on. Racers who use Gearmaster to calculate the ideal gearing for a track in advance of their first visit can be confident that from the very first practice session their gearing will be at or close to the optimine and so save valuable track time to concentrate on other performance factors.
How to use Gearmaster to work out what gearing your competitors are using!
As you use Gearmaster and build up your own database of typical RPM ranges for particular tracks you can use this knowledge together with the Kartmaster program to work out what gearing your competitors are using. Sure you may have to use some ball park assumptions on their achieved RPM at first but particular engine types are a lot closer in terms of RPM than you might imagine. So using the typical RPM range from your own test sessions you can use Gearmasters Sprocket Size Calculator option to work out the gear your competitor has used to achieve a particular lap time. Gearmaster gives you the calculation and analysis capabilty to make gearing choices with confidence.
Gearmaster is available free of charge for a limited period.
To request a copy please send us your name and email address via the Request Gearmaster page.