Measure 0-60/Quarter-mile with your iPhone - g-tac turns iPhone into performance meter
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One day after spotting the "inexpensive" auto performance measurement tool Dynolicious for the iPhone, we've found another, and it's much cheaper. Liberty For One has released its own automotive measurement tool called g-tac, and its going for just $4.99. For less than half the cost of the Dynolicious tool, you get times and trap speed for the quarter mile, as well as times for 0-60 and 60-0. The g-tac utilizes the iPhone's (and iPod Touch's) accelerometer to determine velocity, so the phone doesn't have to be plugged into the car. The tool also graphs out your last three runs so you can hone your launch technique over time. g-tac's feature list doesn't appear to have the robustness of the Dynolicious app, which also features metrics for Lateral Gs and horsepower, and there isn't much documentation to detail what g-tac can actually do. The early reviews aren't so hot either, as the first seven purchasers have averaged a rating of just 2.5 stars compared to the four star rating for the Dyonlicious app. Since cheaper doesn't typically mean better, we intend to test both apps against an even more expensive hardware unit, and we'll let you know if either iPhone app is worth your hard earned digital dollars.

Thats actually really cool.

I will probably buy it for my iPhone soon.

If I had an iPhone I'd spend the extra money on the Dynolicious app. Cheaper=crappier and more prone to not working right.

How the hell does that thing even work. Does it use its accelerometer to do all the measuring? But what happens if you do not place it completely parallel to the floor?

Cooper, it can semi-accurately measure 1/4..using it's GPS....

It won't be spot on..but it's a nice estimate..

and the accelerometer..i'm not exactly sure how that'd work

probably not very accurate but i would love to get an idea how much are they cause i know a few ppl with iphones

That looks pretty cool. I never would have imagined iPhones doing this stuff.

Sounds like a cool idea, but I can see young drivers (mainly ricers) not paying attention to the "safe, level, clear stretch of pavement with plenty of room".

Theres bound to big some big accidents because of this...

Either the car has really bad traction issues or the system is off, but cool idea.

I downloaded the Dynolicious app for my iPhone yesterday. It seems to work fairly well, its able to tell how fast I am going. You have to know how much you and the car weigh or its not accurate. It doesn't use the GPS feature, it only goes based on the acceleromater, but it does it very well. I measured a quarter mile, and sure enough it knew it was that distance within about 10 feet or so.

Dynolicious is the most expensive app I've seen on the store. I'll wait for some more impressions to come out or get the cheap one for a play.

Really? I heard there is a $400+ business app out there. And the site that I saw that review Dynolicious said it was nearly flawless, so I'd see it as being worth the extra dough.

Pretty neat little app there, it's these kind of things that make the iPhone so popular.

Shame I can't get it, as those clever bast*rds only let you buy it with a certain server (of course, I have another).

You can pretty accurately measure indirectly speed and position by using an accelerometer:

integrate acceleration -> velocity
integrate velocity -> position

Accelerometer is a lot more sensitive and accurate than GPS. Sure there are also accelerometers that have inferior performance compared to GPS.

Pretty neat little app there, it's these kind of things that make the iPhone so popular.

Shame I can't get it, as those clever bast*rds only let you buy it with a certain server (of course, I have another).

Same here, you can only have it with MoviStar.

Still, I guess you can buy it on eBay from the US and have it sent to Monaco.



Edit: After seeing the fergielicius website I'm loving this tool. The accuracy stated is 0.08s for the 0-60mph and 0.1s for the 1/4 mile, which is really good. The G's meter is also a really good feature. I'm looking forward to buy this thing!

I can buy it here, but it has to be an unblocked one and that will cost me 900 euros (for the 3G version), which is just rape really.

And even then, I still won't be able to use to it's full capabilities, because I'm not with the right server.

What, are you serious about the 900 euros
Coz I'm pretty sure you can get an unblocked one for less then 200 euros here :|

I purchased the Dynolicious iPhone package the other day and gave it a try. Neat little package - it is out by about 2% but then again for a $12.00 app who cares :)

I like it because when I do changes to my car I can see improvements or not - even a simple change in air filters (from stock to a K&N) make improvements.

What, are you serious about the 900 euros
Coz I'm pretty sure you can get an unblocked one for less then 200 euros here :|

I think you're talking about the old one. Or maybe the 3G one WITH a 24 month contract.

As things stand, if I go to my local electrics store to get an iPhone 3G, it will cost me 900 euros. Maybe it can be found cheaper elsewhere, but I doubt there will be much of a variation.

that is badass