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Analysing Alfano 6 and Alfano 7 kart data

An Alfano logs far more than lap times. Here is how to get the data out of the unit, understand what is inside, and turn it into driving and setup decisions.

1. What an Alfano actually records

With its sensors fitted, an Alfano 6 or 7 samples several channels in parallel. The most useful ones:

The Alfano 7 reaches 25 Hz on some channels, which is enough to see exactly where you release the brake — something 5 or 10 Hz cannot show.

2. Getting the data out

1. Connect the Alfano to the PC (USB cable or card reader depending on the model).
2. Open Alfano Data Center and pull the sessions off the unit.
3. Export as CSV — the universal format, readable by any analysis tool.

Watch the decimal separator: depending on your PC language the export uses a comma or a dot. A good importer accepts both, otherwise speeds come out wrong by a factor of 10 or 100.

3. A four-step analysis method

Step 1 — Pick a clean reference lap

Never compare your best lap to an out-lap or in-lap. Drop incomplete laps, warm-up laps and laps spoiled by traffic. Your reference is the fastest complete lap of the session.

Step 2 — Split the lap into sectors

Thinking in sectors rather than metres makes the analysis immediately actionable. Eight sectors per kart lap is a good compromise: each sector holds one or two braking zones. Then classify them:

• Fast sector: high minimum speed, the kart stays loaded — time is found in the line and in entry speed.
• Slow / technical sector: low minimum speed — time is found at the throttle re-application point and in traction.

Step 3 — Overlay speed and line

In a sector you are losing, look in this order: braking point (where speed starts to drop), minimum speed, then throttle re-application point. Nine times out of ten the loss is in the third one, not the first.

Step 4 — Look at session evolution

Compare the first laps to the last ones. If lap time degrades steadily, tyre pressure rising with temperature is suspect number one. A 0.02–0.03 bar change on cold pressure often fixes late-session behaviour.

4. Common mistakes

• Comparing sessions run in different conditions — wet/dry, morning/afternoon: the reference is meaningless.
• Trusting raw top speed — an isolated GPS spike is not a real speed. Use a smoothed value or a percentile.
• Trying to fix one very slow lap — a lap far off the pace is not a driving issue, it is an incident. Exclude it.
• Ignoring EGT — a lean mixture costs more than a line mistake, and far more in engine damage.

5. Going faster: automate it

Doing this by hand after every session takes 30 to 45 minutes. KartAnalytics imports the Alfano 6 / Alfano 7 CSV directly, rebuilds laps, splits sectors, overlays GPS lines on the track map and produces the session evolution report automatically.

Frequently asked questions