No matter where in the world the WRC takes the Subaru World Rally Team, information technology is always at the heart of the operation.
The Impreza WRC2007s use a cutting edge programmable electronic engine management system, meaning that computers are the immediate tool of choice for the team's engineers. This ECU is responsible for controlling the engine, gearbox and data-logging systems, essentially determining the car's ability to run.
Every time the team set up their service area, there are more than 20 laptop computers, up to five live stage timing screens, two network servers, one secured wireless network and over 1000 feet of network cable.
Utilising up to 10 gigabytes of storage over the few days of each event, the mobile network is equivalent to that of a small business, but all running from within the team's articulated truck.
When the cars are in the service area, they are each plugged into the network via a network socket located inside the rear driver's-side door. Similar to connecting a memory card to your home computer, it allows data to be downloaded from the car to engineers' computers for analysis and new engine maps to be uploaded.
The parameters of the engine management system allow the engineers to make immediate changes to the engine, gearbox and data-logging systems, directly from their laptops.
By revising engine maps, engineers can change the power and fuel consumption characteristics of the engine, whilst also changing the operation of the gearbox. The data-logger can also be modified online, providing access to the 186 channels and further 400-channel combinations the team use to chart everything from steering input to oil pressure and lateral G force.
Employing network cables for this purpose instead of the wireless network means that data can be transferred at a huge 1000mb per second. When service intervals are timed to the second and last-minute decisions are sometimes necessary, speed is essential.
Far more than a simple plug-and-play system, it takes one of the team's IT technicians a full day to set up all the equipment and hardware, ensuring everything runs smoothly during the weekend. The IT systems are installed as the service park is assembled at the start of a rally week, the cables running like data-carrying veins throughout the structure.
In a season, the team produces more that 24,000 pages worth of data from rallies alone. It takes all this information to keep the three Imprezas running at their peak.
