Racepak Smartwire

[Smittymgs]

Does anyone have any experience with the Racepak Smartwire PDM? Getting ready to start my build (Coupe, Gen 3 Coyote,PS,IRS,AC,Custom Dash, Dakota digital CAN BUS instruments). Mostly a street car with just occasional track days. It’s down to the American Autowire HW22 or the Racepak. I love the programmability and simplicity of the PDM but I can’t seem to find much user experience and durability information. I guess most people use the RF harness with a fuse block but I tend to geek out over wiring and would like to make the harness custom to my build unless you guys think that is going to create major problems. Thanks in advance for all your help.

Matt

[Alan_C]

Maybe the folks at Holley can hook you up with people actually using the Racepak Smartwire PDM. That said, it is an expensive solution but probably interesting for the guy who likes to experiment. There have been other smart wiring systems in the past, but the problem I see is if there is not a large enough following, the products go out of production. Then you are then stuck with a largely unsupported wiring system that could become detrimental to the use and value of the vehicle.
I am a retired electrical engineer and there is value in simplicity.

[lewma]

I'm finishing up wiring my Coupe using an AimSports PDM32 and digital dash. Sold the Ron Francis wiring harness and I'm about 90% done with the wiring. Its an expensive endeavor and there's a lot to learn but it can be done if you take it slow. I'm using a BluePrint 427 LS3 based engine and I even removed the fusebox that came with the ECU too. So no old school fuses in my build up to now. Alan_C makes a valid point that these products could come and go but AimSports seems to have a good following and theres a ton of information on the products on youtube. I really like being able to program what each circuit does and also like to show custom layouts on the digital dash. This is the first one I've done and no doubt i'll run into issues when I get to go-kart stage but up to now its working out well.

[NAZ]

I use a Rackpak dash and various sensors on my drag car. There are other brands with similar equipment that I haven't tried as I've been happy with Racepak products.

As for building your own wiring harness, that's all I've ever done as I've never found a store bought solution that worked for my custom one-off builds. No different for my hot rod -- it was easier to build from scratch than modify the wiring harness that came in my kit. But it's always been more expensive to build my own than use a store bought solution if I could find one that fit my needs. My latest race car was factory built and I pulled all the wiring and threw it in the dumpster. Then sketched a schematic of what I needed, ordered the supplies, then went to work building what I needed.

If you have the skills, roll your own but don't expect this to be a cost savings.

[Smittymgs]

Thanks to everyone for their excellent insights. You are all much more experienced and knowledgeable at this than I. The Smartwire system has been around for quite a few years and Racepak stuff is known to be good but still there are a very limited amount of people using their PDM and they are generally full blown race and drag cars. I think at my level it may be wise to go with the American Autowire system. I can still fill my need for customization, good well supported product, and someone to ask the multiple questions start popping up.

[TommyF]

I am running the smart wire currently on my R car. It has been great. Works in conjunction with the IQ3 dash, Holley Dominator, and the Vantage data logger. Any questions I can try to answer

[csmith]

I’m looking at the autometer invision dash possibly since it looks like it’s as simple as splicing wires that would already be on the wiring harness. I don’t have it in hand, so I couldn’t confirm, but that might be another approach. Just depends what features are important to you.

[Smittymgs]

Tommy F
I sent you a PM with a couple questions if you have the time.

Thanks
Matt