Fuel Calculations Getting Complex?
Run Your Fastest, Lightest Racecar (That Won’t Run Out Of Fuel…)
Fuel Calculator by YourDataDriven
Fuel is heavy. Heavy is slow.
Yet winners are fast. So go go go!
Boldly you say “Take all the fuel out!”
But oh! … You need that fuel to go flat-out.
Your race is short, your race is long.
How much fuel is your optimum?
So what is it to be? Are you going to wing-it?
How good would you feel if, you could predict it?
Of course no-one need tell you, you already know:
*Predict it* is what the winners do.
And now, with this fuel calculator, that can be you… ???
Why Handicap Yourself? Lighter Is Faster Right?
You know that the heavier your racecar – kart / bike / even sim racecar (!) – is the slower you will be able to lap. And that is a problem because fuel can add a lot of unnecessary weight to your racecar.
You’ve already invested significantly to make your racecar faster – new tyres, engine rebuilds, aero tweaks … the list goes on. The last thing you want is to handicap yourself by running heavier than you need to be.
You want the fastest racecar. Light and nimble. A racecar that is going to give you the best possible chance to compete. To run at the front. To win.
“To finish first, first you have to finish.”
Of course, you need some fuel to make your engine go!
No-one wants to run out of fuel – to be remembered as that person who ground to a stop whilst leading on the last lap. Ouch!
Or worse, to be that person who got disqualified post-race. Either for finishing underweight or without enough fuel left for those scrutineering checks …
How much fuel is the right balance?
Endurance Racer?
So how should you approach longer races? Endurance events where you must refuel. Should you simply brim-it each pitstop and trust it to luck?
Lose too much time in the pits, you might as well have not bothered. Remember you lose time:
⏱️ On the pit entry
⏱️ Stationary in your pit box
⏱️ Refuelling (and remember – more fuel takes longer to add …)
⏱️ Getting back up to speed again
And you lose all this time, every time you pit …
You’re in a race! The pits is the last place you want to be.
Which Strategy Is Best … For You
❓ Should you put in a larger fuel tank to extend your range?
❓ How many pitstops will that mean you need?
❓ When should those pitstops be?
❓ How much fuel should you add each stop?
❓ What affect does a fuel safety margin have on your number of pitstops?
❓ Is it faster to run lighter, with less fuel, but pit more often?
❓ What can you do to save a pitstop?
❓ How does this tracks layout effect the calculations?
❓ What effect does a minimum pitstop time in your regs make?
❓ Would lapping slower, saving some fuel, actually be faster overall?
❓ How can you use what happened last race to predict your best strategy on this track?
❓ What difference does it make to have a timed race or a lap based race?
❓ Is it possible to easily work this stuff out?! (Spoiler Alert: For you, yes! ?)
Phew! So many questions.
Your Fuelling Strategy Quickly Becomes Complex!
With so many variables is it totally understandable why many just guess. Fingers crossed. Hoping for the best.
But what if YOU did not have to guess?
What if you had answers to all these questions? … and more ???
Complexity Made Simple
How good would it feel to be confident, when your competitors were unsure? To know you had looked at all your options. To have found the fastest way to run your race.
Perhaps a way that none of your competitors would think to try. An opportunity to spring a surprise. To have that 20-20 hindsight … ahead of time.
Take the strategic lead. Know the precise amount of fuel to add. The precise moment to pit – or, indeed, if you needed to pit at all …
A balanced, thought through and reliable fuel strategy for your race – short or long!
Imagine having a simple plan to run the lightest, fastest racecar. A racecar that you know won’t run out of fuel.
👇
Fuel Calculator
By Your Data Driven
The Fuel Calculator by YourDataDriven is a simple predictive tool.
An interactive guide to help with your fuelling strategy decisions. An Excel tool to help you quickly answer your race fuelling performance questions. Questions like:
✔️ How long will it take you to complete the race laps?
✔️ How many laps will you be able to complete in the race time?
✔️ What is the total fuel you need for your race? (don’t run out mid race!)
✔️ What’s the average fuel weight per stint in the racecar? (less is better!)
✔️ How much fuel will be left at the race end? (including a custom safety margin)
✔️ How many pitstops will you need?
✔️ When should those pitstops be? On what lap? After what time?
✔️ Is it better to run lighter and stop more often? If so precisely how much better?
✔️ What is the minimum fuel you can safely carry for the fastest race?
✔️ And more …
Updated… Now Choose Your Preferred Units
Since launch the biggest feature request has been unit switching. This makes so much sense. You are used to working in your familiar units and the odd UK ones are a pain.
Upgrade done!
Simply chose the units that work best for you and away you go. Everything seamlessly updates so you can focus on perfecting your fuel plan.
Watch this guide to the Fuel Calculator Pro version.
The fuel calculator gives you everything you need to calculate your fastest route to the finish line.
Four Options. One Goal.
Requires MS Excel
Prices include your local taxes where applicable.
All versions include lifetime free updates, revisions and corrections.
Subject to our Fair End User Licence Agreement
Need >5 licences? For bulk discounts email hello@yourdatadriven.com
A Worked Example:
How to gain 36+ seconds (and save £50)
Scenario 1:
You have a 120 lap race and decide to start with your tank brimmed to 90 litre capacity.
What happens 👇
Results:
Filling to 90 litres each time needs 2 stops.
Race takes 194.9 mins.
A huge 28 laps (37.3kg) of fuel remains at finish …
But…
Could you do better?
👇
Scenario 2:
You decide to adjust fuel fill amount using the fuel calculator:
You manually iterate or use the auto fuel level optimiser: [Pro only]
Get INSTANT results:
Results Scenario 2:
Running 76 litres is 36 seconds faster than 90 litres.
Each stint averages 4kg lighter.
Only 4 laps (5.3kg) of fuel remain at finish.
You have just gained the equivalent of:
36 second head start
or
3/10ths per lap
for FREE!
Plus
You haven’t run out of fuel,
You have in fact saved the cost of:
24 laps of fuel
or
Save over £50.00
How The Fuel Calculator Works
Easy as 1-2-3
1 Build Your Performance Models. [1x Basic, 4x Pro]
– Setup your track (Name, length)
– Setup your car (Tank capacity, time to refill it, fuel usage)
👇
You instantly get:
Fuel usage:
+ 3x Quick lookup tables like this:
Create up to 4 performance models [Pro]
For rapid comparison of (say):
– Dry verses wet,
– Different tyres,
– Different aero packages,
– Engine modes,
– Lift and coast stints,
– Safety car,
– or … you choose ?
2 Select Your Race Type – Laps or Time
– Set your race length (Sprint or Endurance)
– Choose a fuel safety margin
– Add your initial fuel amount
Or
👇
You instantly get:
Your Race Fuelling Strategy:
Your performance questions answered:
3 Optimise Your Fuel Strategy
– Select your performance model
– Adjust fuel amount to minimise stops and weight
– Go faster … go win! ?
Switch between up to 4 performance models: [Pro]
Then
Instantly adjust & optimise your fuel level:
Simple As That!
About The Creator
Hi, I’m Samir Abid from Warwickshire in the UK. I’ve been a professional engineer for over 20 years on road cars, racing cars and in pro sports.
I host the Your Data Driven Podcast and create courses, books, articles and calculators on race engineering topics. Plus, I coach and race myself at club level!
Previously I built fuel calculators for pro teams. This is one is a scaled down (yet improved upon!) version of one I made for the Ford GT GTE Pro team in 2019. Hope you like it!
Samir
FAQ – Fuel Calculator
Yes. All race vehicles will be quicker running less (virtual) fuel.
Both. Endurance racers will get most benefit because of the pitstop optimisations. Sprint races can easily calculate the fuel they need, plus use that information at future tracks.
The tool is based around knowing how much fuel your car uses in all the difference scenarios you would like to investigate. If you are sim racer or have a live telemetry system on your car, you are in luck! This information is already at your finger tips. If you don’t then a method is to run a representative race session in practise. Work out how much fuel you have used and your average lap time. The calculator will then do the rest for you.
This is personal choice. I prefer to run at least one whole laps worth of fuel as a margin. This helps account for any inaccuracies in the initial measurements. It also gives you more options with little time penalty.
Yes. You have the option of putting in a competitive refill time or a fixed minimum time.
In theory there is no limit. In practise, the charts are the limit. They will show you around 26 hours or 1100 laps. Hopefully that is enough! If you need longer get in touch – because you’re probably crazy ?
Yes!… Not at the moment. If you would like an alternative version let me know. If there is enough interest from customers, then I’ll create this. I will then make it available to any purchasers as a future free upgrade. Hopefully you see that is a fair compromise. As promised, upgrade done ?
Yes. Clearly in a sprint race you are locked in whatever happens. In an endurance race though many things can happen that might change your ideal race running. Because it is so quick to change the tool, I would say yes you can benefit mid race. For example, if there is an effective race reset – say after a safety car or red flag – you can quickly adjust the race duration to what remains. Then re-optimise your refuelling to get you to the end. Just ask if you want to discuss this point more.
Windows PC with Excel 2016. It should also work on Mac Excel and earlier versions of Excel but I’ve not tested it. Just let me know post purchase if you have any issues with compatibility and I’ll help.
Yes. My hope is that you can put this together yourself. If you would like more personalised support, choose the consult option here.
Yes. The Fuel Calculator is subject to our Fair End User Licence Agreement. You are granted one license to install and use on a single computer. You may create backups to the software but please do not circulate/distribute them. Like the title suggests, the licence aims to be fair to all. Please respect it.
Yes. If you live in a country where the local economy makes our products and services impossible to afford, we now offer “Parity Purchasing Power” (PPP) by request to adjust our prices to your local income. Motorsports is not cheap in any country. Most will get their money back on this fuel calculator in one race meeting. However, everyone’s circumstances are unique. More information and included countries are here.
If you are not 100% satisfied, send me an email within 7 days of purchase. I will endeavour to help you to get the outcomes promised. If the tool is still not for you then, yes, I offer a 100% no-questions-asked money-back guarantee.
Great! Happy to help you. Email me at hello@yourdatadriven.com