I'm part of the Cardiff Racing formula student team and am currently looking into the application of traction control. As in previous years we will be using the MoTeC M400 ECU. However, in the past we have not implemented the traction control functionality available with this component and there is a general lack of knowledge about determining the correct settings to use.
I was hoping that someone out there may have successfully used MoTeC traction control in the past and be able to give me some guidance. In particular I am currently uncertain regarding the following points:
1. What kind of method of reducing power to the engine is likely to be best? To me cutting the fuel seems like the most obvious thing to do. Cutting ignition would lead to unburnt fuel and I've heard that retarding can lead to high exhaust gas temperatures.
2. What is the best way of determining the optimum RPM Limit for any given ground speed during launch control? Can this kind of data only be collected by testing the car?
3. Is there a way of catering for different track/weather conditions without an onerous amount of testing being required?
4. Has anyone successfully implemented an on-board driver control(s) to tailor the exact performance of the traction control? The MoTeC software seems to provide the capability to do this using aim slip or gain compensation tables.
Any advice on these topics would be really helpful.
Cheers
Wilko