Get Started with TrackTune

TrackTune adds lap timing, track dashboards and USB recording to Mazda Connect. It is a ScreenTune feature, like Meters and AA Touch, and comes with every ScreenTune license at no extra charge. Order ScreenTune if the car doesn’t have it yet.

Install ScreenTune 1.2.0 or later

1. Open My ScreenTune and get the USB package offered for your car.
2. Install it by following update ScreenTune.
3. Install that package, with Meters or 10 Hz GPS selected, before trying a recording stick. A car with neither, or on an older ScreenTune package without TrackTune, ignores the recording file and shows no recording error.

TrackTune’s dashboards and lap timing need Meters on ScreenTune 1.2.0 or later, which carries FastData 1.1.5. Recording needs FastData, which the car gets with Meters or with the 10 Hz GPS setting. ScreenTune 1.2.0 also brings Meters and TrackTune to cars identified by a Japanese chassis number rather than a 17-character VIN. Follow what changed in each ScreenTune release for updates. The TrackTune changelog keeps the history of TrackTune releases before 1.2.0.

TrackTune works on every supported car with Meters. Vehicle channel scaling is confirmed on the ND MX-5; other models need more checking and some readings may be scaled incorrectly.

Put a TrackTune dashboard on the car

1. Open My themes on the Meters card in My ScreenTune, on a phone, tablet or computer.
2. Create or edit a custom dashboard. Start with a TrackTune template, or add TrackTune widgets to your own layout.
3. Select Save and close, which puts the design first on the car’s list.
4. Request and install a package with those themes.
5. Open Applications → Meters on the car and select the dashboard from its theme list.

Saving a design alone changes nothing in the car. TrackTune widgets show only on a car running ScreenTune 1.2.0 or later; the dashboard and widget reference explains what an older package shows instead.

Check GPS before timing laps

Wait for a usable GPS fix. Missing or stale readings show ---. By default the car’s GPS updates at the factory 1 Hz. For a denser trace, turn on 10 Hz GPS, an optional setting in ScreenTune 1.2.0 or later. It works with or without Meters: select it in Change features in My ScreenTune or in the ScreenTune configurator, then install the updated package.

With 10 Hz GPS on, the receiver already in the car reports about 10 positions a second on u-blox units and 2 on STA8088 units while Mazda Navigation is not using the receiver. With Navigation running it stays at 1 Hz. The receiver split is roughly 2021 onward versus 2016–2020 on MX-5s, but follows the head unit rather than a guaranteed model year.

The lap timer finds a start/finish line after you return past a straight you drove earlier. It then compares laps and sectors with your best. A course picture is a fixed map background; choosing one does not set that timing line. You can place a line in the course editor, or add start/finish lines to a recording stick with the recorder included in ScreenTune 1.1.2 or later. GPS cadence and position quality limit timing; displayed decimal places are not an accuracy guarantee.

Peaks, corners, laps, launch times and the track survive switching to CarPlay or Android Auto and back. Switching the car off for at least 5 seconds starts a new session. See the TrackTune widget reference for each display.

For closed-course speed and distance runs, set up launch timing.

Record the drive on a separate USB stick

Make a recording stick with a miatafy.json file at its top level. Recording works without Meters open. Add the Drive recorder widget if you want to see its status and use Stop & Save before removing the stick.

Exports include CSV, GPX, VBO and RaceChrono-format files. Direct imports into the named analysis apps still need verification; the recording guide explains the files, limits and problem reports. Recordings stay on your stick unless you choose to share them.