Walk the paddock at just about any professional event and you'll spot a VBOX HD2 mounted somewhere in the car. They're that common in pro motorsport, and for good reason. But when we talk to privateers, HPDE drivers, and gentleman drivers, we still run into the same assumption: that the VBOX is basically an expensive camera with a lap timer bolted on.

It's really much more than that. (If you want the full spec breakdown and package options, we've covered that separately in our HD2 buyer's guide. This one is about what the system actually does for you once it's in the car.)

The thing we like most about the VBOX HD2 is that it gives you something that is incredibly difficult to get from video alone: it lets you understand why you were faster. And if you're spending thousands of dollars on tires, track time, coaching and getting your car set up correctly, that can be a pretty valuable piece of information.

Video Is Only Half the Story

There are plenty of products on the market that can record video while you're driving, and plenty that can record GPS position, speed, G-forces, lap times and other vehicle data. The problem is that those two things aren't nearly as useful when they're separated. You can watch your GoPro footage and think, "I think I turned in too early." You can look at your lap data and see that you lost two tenths of a second in Turn 7. But when the video and data are synchronized, you can actually see what happened at that exact point on the track. That's where the VBOX becomes a driver-development tool rather than just another piece of electronics in the car.

You Have a VBOX HD2. You Raced. Now What?

This is probably the most important part of the entire system. You finish your session, come back into the pits, and you've got a memory card full of video. Now what? The answer is Circuit Tools, Racelogic's free analysis software.

Pull the data off the SD card, load two laps into Circuit Tools, and pick a comparison, typically your best lap against a faster reference lap. The software plots a Delta-T trace beneath the speed traces: when it climbs, you're losing time; when it drops, you're gaining it. Zoom into wherever the biggest swing happens, and the two synced videos alongside the speed and brake traces tell you exactly what the faster lap did differently. Because the video and data are synchronized, you aren't just looking at a graph and trying to remember what you were doing. You can see it: maybe you braked at the same point on two laps but carried 4 mph more speed into the corner on one of them, maybe you got back to throttle earlier on your fastest lap, or maybe your minimum corner speed was actually slower on the lap that felt better, but you gained the time on corner exit. Those are the things that are incredibly difficult to identify from memory alone.

Your Fastest Lap Isn't Always Your Best Lap

This is something that becomes very obvious once you start comparing laps. You might have one lap that is your absolute fastest, but when you break it down, you might find that another lap was better through three or four corners. Maybe traffic cost you a tenth in one section, maybe you missed an apex, or maybe you got a little too aggressive on the brakes. With the VBOX, you can compare those laps and see exactly where the differences occurred. That's a completely different way of looking at your driving. Instead of asking "How did that lap feel?" you can ask "Where did I actually gain the time?", and that's a much more useful question.

This Is Where Driver Coaching Gets Really Interesting

A good driver coach can tell you that you're braking too early, turning in too late, or getting back to throttle too slowly. But having the data and video to support that conversation makes the coaching much more effective. You can sit down with your coach and look at two laps together: where the car is on the track, speed, braking point, corner entry, minimum speed, throttle application, then watch the video. Suddenly, "you need to carry more speed through Turn 5" becomes something you can actually see and understand.

And you don't necessarily need a coach sitting next to you every time you go to the track. The HD2 also supports cloud-based session sharing, so you can send that same side-by-side comparison to a coach who isn't even at the event and get real feedback before your next session. Once you understand what you're looking for, you can start doing a lot of that analysis yourself.

You Can Coach Yourself

This is one of the reasons we've become such fans of the VBOX HD2 for private drivers. You don't have to be a professional race engineer to get useful information from it. You don't even need a CAN connection to start: the GPS-based speed, position, and lap timing data is useful right out of the box, no wiring into the car required. CAN data adds more channels later if you want it, but plenty of drivers get everything they need from GPS and video alone.

Let's say you're consistently two seconds off your personal best. Instead of simply trying to "drive harder" next session, pull up your best lap and compare it with one of your slower laps. Where did the time go? Did you brake earlier, or release the brake differently? Did you turn in at the same point and carry the same speed? Did you get back to the throttle at the same point, or compromise the exit because you entered the corner incorrectly? You can work through those questions one corner at a time, and that's a much better way to spend your next track session than simply going out and hoping you find two seconds.

The OLED Display Is Worth Talking About

For most of the privateer and gentleman-driver customers we work with, an HD2 paired with an OLED display is a very popular combination. The reason is simple: live lap delta. You don't have to wait until you get back to the paddock to find out whether you actually improved. The display shows you whether you're gaining or losing time as you drive, which is incredibly useful when you're trying something different, braking later, changing your turn-in point, carrying more speed, or getting back to throttle sooner. If the delta moves in the right direction, you know the change worked. If it gets worse, you know you need to try something else.

If you're trying to decide between the OLED display and a standalone Lap Timer, we've put together a full VBOX timer and display comparison guide that breaks down exactly how Delta-T and Delta-V work and which one actually belongs in your car. Short version: if you already run an HD2, the OLED display puts that same data live in front of you. If you don't, or if finding lap time is the main goal, the Lap Timer works entirely on its own and is the one most of our track day and HPDE customers end up adding.

Your VBOX Doesn't Have to Look Like Everyone Else's

Another thing we like about the HD2 is how configurable it is. Racelogic calls the graphical layouts Scenes, and there are a lot of possibilities. You can choose what information appears on the video, where it appears, and what's most important to you. You might want a large speed display and lap delta; someone else might care more about G-force, RPM, throttle position and brake pressure; a professional race team may want an entirely different collection of information. You can even incorporate a second camera and vehicle-specific CAN data when the appropriate hardware is connected.

There isn't really one "correct" VBOX layout. The best layout is the one that gives you the information you actually want to look at, and if you're a visual learner, having that information directly on the video makes reviewing a session much easier. Racelogic's online Scene Wizard and Circuit Tools documentation walk through building a custom layout in detail, so we won't turn this into a step-by-step tutorial here, but both are free and worth exploring once you're comfortable with the basics.

Camera Placement Matters More Than You Think

This is something we talk about with customers fairly often. Where you put the camera changes what you can learn from the footage. Do you want a third-person style view where you can see the driver, steering wheel and track position, or would you rather see the pedal box so you can analyze braking and throttle technique? Neither is necessarily better, it depends on what you're trying to learn. The HD2 gives you the flexibility to position the cameras where they make the most sense for your car and your goals, and depending on the installation, a camera mount extension may also be useful to get the camera exactly where you want it, particularly on cars with a deep dash that would otherwise letterbox the view.

For a driver working on line and steering inputs, one camera position may be ideal. For someone working on heel-and-toe technique, brake release or throttle application, seeing the driver's feet can be much more valuable. In practice, the two-camera kit is what most of our customers end up ordering: one camera stays forward-facing for the track/hood view, and the second gets pointed at whichever thing they're actually trying to improve, either a third-person driver view for line and steering work, or the pedal box for braking and throttle technique.

One Cheap Upgrade We Recommend

We also recommend putting a small fan on the HD2. It's inexpensive insurance. We're based in Florida, so we're pretty familiar with what happens when you combine a hot race car, direct sunlight and electronics. The HD2 is designed for motorsport use, but keeping electronics cool is never a bad idea, and a simple fan helps move air around the unit, particularly during hot summer track days. It's a very small expense compared with everything else you've already invested in the car.

Why VBOX Instead of Just Using a Video Logger?

There are a lot of good products available today. Some are incredibly easy to use, some have excellent displays, some are designed around automatic driver coaching, and some are primarily focused on detailed vehicle data. We're not saying those systems don't have their place. What keeps us coming back to VBOX is the combination of accurate GPS data, synchronized video, live lap timing, configurable overlays and powerful post-session analysis. Most importantly, the system doesn't just tell you that something happened. It gives you the tools to go back and understand where it happened and what you were doing when it happened. That's a big distinction.

It's About Making Your Track Time More Valuable

Track time isn't cheap. Neither are tires, fuel, brake pads, entry fees, coaching or transportation. If you're going to spend all that money to get your car on track, it makes sense to get as much information as possible out of every session. You might only get 20 or 30 minutes of actual driving time in a session, but the VBOX gives you the ability to keep working on that session long after the checkered flag: find your fastest lap, compare it against another lap, find where the time came from and where it disappeared, then go back out and work on that specific section. That's how you turn a track day into actual driver development.

The Bottom Line

We don't think the VBOX HD2 is special because it records really nice video. We think it's special because it connects the video to the data in a way that makes the information useful. You can see the car, the track, your speed, and your lap time, and when you start digging into Circuit Tools, you can start figuring out exactly what happened between one lap and the next. For a professional race team, that's incredibly valuable. For a privateer, HPDE driver or gentleman driver who wants to get faster without simply throwing more horsepower or money at the problem, we think it's just as valuable.

We're an authorized Racelogic VBOX dealer, and we work with everyone from professional race teams to private drivers doing their first few HPDE seasons. If you're trying to decide which HD2 configuration is right for your car, get in touch and we'll help you sort it out.

Your fastest lap is only a number. The real value is understanding how you got there. That's why we like the VBOX HD2.

Frequently Asked Questions