Conference napalm::musclecars

    Too much!  I love it.
    
    The performance is actually quite good on a 325.
    
    Rich

    Eric, when will the Windows version be available? ;-)
    
    Harry
    

Harry, I'm gathering stuff now for a windows effort.  It will probably be quite
a while before I have anything useful.  I'd like to incorporate some graphs
for time/distance, time/rpm, torque curve, G's vs. speed, etc.

A Windows version  with graphics would be ideal.  It just ain't there yet. 

Eric

    Last night I found the 'sound' function. What a hoot! :-)
    
    I'm not sure that I completed everything correctly, but the base run
    that I did on the ThunderTruck(tm) had a few negative G's in the
    printout. I know it's heavy, but it ain't THAT bad when it shifts! ;-)
    Besides, the Turbo 400 is set on stun and is capable of barking those
    12.50 x 35 inch giant kitty squasher tires quite well as it catches
    second gear. 
    
    It's a real blast to see the look on astonished drivers faces as they
    see that big, ugly, rusty beast roar away from an intersection!
    
    Harry
    

Hi,
Eric and I tried this software using the data that we could remember for
Eric's 351C powered Maverick. The results were damn close to reality.
If we list all of his engine rpm / HP numbers from a dyno sheet would the
acceleration curve be more realistic ???  The final ET/MPH are right on,
but getting there is slightly off. A Cleveland like Eric's has less bottom
end and amazing top end, so that the 60 foot times are actually in the 1.9
range rather that the 1.6 that we get... 
Anyway we will try it again with more accurate numbers...


				Thanks...

					Brian...

Thanks all for the input.  I appreciate you taking the time, and understand
that pre-release software is often more trouble then its worth.
                                                               
RE: Harry.  
Negative G's - The negative G's you saw were likely during a shift.  This isn't
an error; just an instant of time that's usually overlooked.
Weak Shifts - make sure you selected an Automatic Transmission.  The other 
input is Shift Duration (Driver Option dialog).   You should set this value
to 0.05.  This is an area that I've been waffling on.  I need to come up with
some set of defaults that represents automatic transmission shifts for various
levels of performance (street, performance, race).  Right now, the time to
complete a shift stays at 0.2 - unless you modify it.  This value works for
and aggresively shifted manual, but is waaay too slow for all but most
sickly  of automatics.     

RE: Brian.
Listing all rpm/hp numbers from a dyno is ideal!  Use 10 values in the 
engines useful operating range.  The program should generate an extremely
accurate torque curve.  Let me know how this works, as its an area I haven't 
been able to beat on too much.  I know my test cases work, but I generally use
smooth curves.  Real world dyno numbers  don't necessarily follow this.

Thanks Again,
  Eric

    "It's a real blast to see the look on astonished drivers faces as they
    see that big, ugly, rusty beast roar away from an intersection!"

That's what people usually say abouot the Goose (AKA Stealth Wagon TM)!

...Eric I can't wait to try the SW...I plan to put it on my LAPtop so's 
I can bring it to the track!
    
When you going to have the option to down-load the perfect params to your
chip?!?

/tb/

    This is cool...
    
    I think I need to dial in my tranny numbers, but my 67 289 4bbl
    260ish hp mustang did low 14s.  I know I did something wrong, cuz I 
    must've left 60 feet of rubber on the 'road' - thats not MY car.
      :-)

    ShiftMaster x2.2 is available.  This is a full boogy version with
    rotational inertia and rolling resistance stuff added over x2.1.
    
    See LEDDEV::DISK$USER8:[GOEHL.PUBLIC]SMX22.ZIP  for compressed image.
    
    I'll try and answer any questions posted here.
    
    Eric

I found a bug.  Sorry 'bout that.  I put in a fixed version smx2.3.
                                                                   
The bug only affects cars capable
of lifting the front wheels off the ground.  The code allows weight to keep
transfering even after the moment created by the mass accelerating exceeds
the moment of the front weight at wheelbase length.  What would happen
is the car would flip over.

The fix was to limit weight transfer to a maximum of 100%.
            
    See LEDDEV::DISK$USER8:[GOEHL.PUBLIC]SMX23.ZIP  for compressed image.
                                              
    I'll try and answer any questions posted here.
                                              
    Eric                                      
                                              

Copy over the compressed, self-extracting file

	LEDDEV::DISK$USER8:[GOEHL.PUBLIC]SMV3.EXE  
                                             
Copy the file to a floppy and enter smv3.  This will uncompress into a bunch of
other files.  Run the install.exe program to create a directory and copy over
the appropriate files.  This procedure will automatically detect numeric 
coprocessors and rename the appropriate .exe to sm.exe.  

Run ShiftMaster by entering "sm" at the DOS prompt in the newly created 
directory.

Eric

Hi,
Is SMV3 still availible ???  I can't seem to access LEDDEV...

				Thanks,,,
					Brian...

its network address should be 29.911. Do a "mcr ncp sho node leddev" - if
it isn't 29.911, your system needs to be updated.

Hold off till tomorrow. I'm putting in yet another version with a fix for 
a fairly serious memory leak bug.  

The bug showed up many different ways - validators flagging good data as bad.
Inability to open dialog windows, random crashing.  The particular error was
part of the compiler.  Truly a difficult thing to locate.  

Anyhow, its fixed, and I'll package everything up tonight.

Eric

I've gotten a few inquiries over the last week about the location of the latest
and greatest ShiftMaster. The answer is that I haven't posted a new version.
Mainly because I'm trying to sell the software, and I was concerned about it
being spread around.

However, I'm gonna post it anyway. This version is, to my knowledge, bug free
production quality software. The version is 3.0c. This version includes more
then 60 example vehicles. That should make it easier to set up your own car by
finding something similiar. FILELIST.TXT holds a description of all files in the
ShiftMaster for DOS package. 

Please don't give this version away. It is for users of this conference only.

I'm interested in all comments - good or bad. 

I've packaged everything up into a self-extracting ZIP file. After running the
self extracting file, run the install.exe program. 

Copy over 	LEDDEV::DISK$USER8:[GOEHL.PUBLIC]SMV30C.EXE

be well,
  Eric

    Has anybody out there had trouble with ShiftMaster missing mouse
    clicks? Particularly when pressing buttons on the vehicle to open a
    dialog box.
    
    I've seen this several months ago, but I thought I had tracked it down.
    I know of at least one person who is seeing this behavior again.
    
    To those of you who took time to document problems, bugs, and general
    feedback, I am indebted to you. It really helps out. Thanks!
    
    Eric
    
    PS Expect a new new release :-).

    
    	Eric,
    
    		Us Canadians are extremely impressed. The accuracy with
    	the correct info entered is incredible. I think your doing
    	the right thing to copywright this. Your looking at a very specific
    	market of interest but if your serious about selling it I'd be 
    	happy to see if the local speed shops here in Toronto are
    	interested in this sort of thing. They could give thier customers
    	examples of what rear end or tire etc changes would have on
    	the cars performance. Anyhow, if you want a Canadian "Distributor?'
    	let me know DTN-631-6700 mb 2844
    
    						Jeff Scherf

Hi All,

	For those of you who don't know, Eric Goehl has released ShiftMaster
as shareware. You can currently find pointers to the latest versions
on the Dragnet web page and somewhere on AOL. I'm in the process of
creating a ShiftMaster web page for Eric. One thing we are trying to do
to make it an interesting page is to include info on current ShiftMaster
users. The user page will post information about users vehicles including
the shiftmaster .pro file so people can download other peoples setup's to play 
with. Photos(or other multimedia) of each vehicle will also be included
if available.

	So, since you lucky DEC racers have had access to Shiftmaster longer
than anyone else I'm looking for folks who would be willing to let me
post your Shiftmaster setup's on the WWW. If you are interested please send
me mail(ricks::callander).

What I will need is the following :

- The shiftmaster .pro file for your vehicle(a pointer where I can copy it
  from or just mail a uuencoded file)

- A  description of your vehicle(including ET and MPH)

- A brief description on what you use Shiftmaster for

- An image(JPEG or GIF) of your vehicle. I have access to a scanner
  so if you have a photo, but no way to generate an image, I can scan it for
  you. 

- Let me know if you do or do NOT want your EMAIL address posted on the web 
  page.

I'll post the pointer to the ShiftMaster WEB page once it goes on-line.

thanks
Mike

(posted in musclecars and drag_racing)

You can find the shifmaster home page at -

http://www.ultranet.com/~shftmstr

/mike