Porsche 718 Cayman CAN BUS Track Day Data

Porsche 718 Clubsport
Porsche 718 Clubsport

Part two begins with a 76MB data log from a 10 minute drive around Circuit Of The Americas to lunch. There is an incredible amount of data zipping around your cars network every second. With the laptop connected to USB2CAN serial port and SavvyCAN on the laptop, constant logging was set. From this starting point I could begin to reverse engineer and test each of the PID’s I discovered. If you missed how I did that, checkout part one.

  • Over at the OpenDBC project, there is a Volkswagen dbc (vw_mqb_2010.dbc) that turned out to be quite helpful! The next steps were:
    • Decoding German to English – Example: “Laengsbeschleunigung” == Longitudinal acceleration
    • Getting very excited when I found “Lenkradwinkel” == Steering Wheel Angle
    • Looking closely at units and looking for data by searching for “KiloMeters” and “Unit_Bar”
    • Graphing the data out to make sure it was correct.
    • Not finding the data in the same location as the VW, but closely watching the data in Flow View for signs.
      • Example: PID 262 has all the wheel speeds for the VW. When looking at PID 259 on the Porsche; I found the 4 rows of 12 bit data.
    • Test, and repeat!

The “Flow View” in SavvyCAN is a good place to start to analyze the data packet. It gives you a basic idea of how the data is moving, and which bits are changing. An important note about the way SavvyCAN saves logs; It saves them with a negative time in microseconds (It’s UNIX time) but it’s “subtracted”. This was really causing SavvyCAN to struggle for me when I loaded logs. None of the graphs were working correctly, and the playback wasn’t graphing the data. I wrote a quick Python script to subtract the time (minus a minus equals a plus) so that it was in order of microseconds. I’m using “SavvyCAN-Windows_x64” compiled for windows version 213, so you might not have this issue.

import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv("YOUR_718_Drive.csv")

#Show data so that you know it's working
print(df.head(3)) #prints 3 heading rows
print(df['Time Stamp'].dtype)

#Grab the first timestamp from your file and add it here:
df['Time Stamp'] += 1723750632962509

df.to_csv("YOUR_718_Drive_timestamp.csv", index=False)


The to-do list was all of the data that the AiM SOLO and MoTeC kids get for their Porsche GT4 Clubsport cars: Accelerator Pedal, Air Temp, Boost Pressure, Brake Pressure, Clutch Position, Coolant Temp, Engine Speed, Vehicle Speed, Lateral Acceleration, Longitudinal Acceleration, Intake Air Temp, Odometer, Oil Pressure, Oil Temp, Steering Angle, Steering Speed, Wheel Speed (FL, FR, RL, RR), Yaw Rate.

Next up was getting that data to a track day logger. I was super excited to discover that a product I already owned had the ability to capture CAN BUS data to my phone. During my discovery for this, I came across a project for the Toyota GR86 / Subaru BRZ that tapped into the CAN BUS like I did, and uses a OBDLink LX connected to a feature of RaceChrono to log CAN BUS messages on your phone. I wired up an OBD2 splitter that I could inject the CAN data into my OBDLink in a similar fashion.

The last step was adding and converting the units + math for each of the PID’s. RaceChrono has a guide to handle all of the units here.

Checkout how BTR Justin and the BTR Garage got this all working on their Toyota GR86!

Another drive and I confirmed I had access to everything. From Oil Pressure to Individual Wheel Speeds. This is NOT data from my laptop, this is data from the OBDLink LX Bluetooth sending CAN messages to RaceChrono Pro on my phone, and then later exported as a CSV. Viewing the data with MegaLogViewer HD here – because it can just take whatever CSV you can throw at it!

Here’s about 40 hours of work reverse engineering the German CAN BUS of the 718. If you use this DBC – please tip your hat to planetkris.com! – Kris

BU_: 718
BO_ 134 Steering: 8 718
  SG_ LWI_Steering_angle : 16|13@1+ (0.1,0) [0|800] "Unit_DegreOfArc" 718
  SG_ LWI_Steering_Speed : 31|9@1+ (5,0) [0|2500] "Unit_DegreOfArcPerSecon" 718
BO_ 257 ESP_02: 8 718
  SG_ ESP_Yaw_Rate : 40|14@1+ (0.01,0) [0|163.82] "Unit_DegreOfArcPerSecon" 718
  SG_ ESP_Lateral_accel : 16|8@1+ (0.01,-1.27) [-1.27|1.27] "Unit_ForceOfGravi" 718
  SG_ ESP_Longitudinal_adj : 24|10@1+ (0.03125,-16) [-16|15.90625] "Unit_MeterPerSeconSquar" 718

BO_ 259 ABS: 8 718
  SG_ Wheel_Speed_FL : 16|12@1+ (0.103,0) [0|325.12] "Unit_KiloMeterPerHou" 718
  SG_ Wheel_Speed_FR : 28|12@1+ (0.103,0) [0|325.12] "Unit_KiloMeterPerHou" 718
  SG_ Wheel_Speed_RL : 40|12@1+ (0.103,0) [0|325.12] "Unit_KiloMeterPerHou" 718
  SG_ Wheel_Speed_RR : 52|12@1+ (0.103,0) [0|325.12] "Unit_KiloMeterPerHou" 718

BO_ 260 Transmission: 8 718
  SG_ EPB_Clutch_Pedal : 32|8@1+ (0.4,-10) [8|92] "Unit_PerCent" 718

BO_ 261 Throttle: 8 718
  SG_ Throttle_Position : 48|8@1+ (0.4,0) [0|1] "Unit_PerCent" 718
  SG_ Throttle_RPM : 16|16@1+ (0.25,0) [0|10000] "RPM" 718

BO_ 262 Brakes: 8 718
  SG_ Brake_PressureSig352 : 16|10@1+ (0.3,-30) [-30|276.6] "Unit_Bar" 718
  SG_ Brake_Light : 26|1@1+ (1,1) [0|1] "On Off" 718

BO_ 263 Motor: 8 718
  SG_ MO_Oil_Pressure : 16|8@1+ (0.04,0) [0|10] "Unit_Bar" 718
  SG_ MO_Motor_Speed : 24|12@1+ (3,0) [0|12282] "Unit_MinutInver" 718
  SG_ MO_Boost_Pressure : 39|9@1+ (0.01,0) [0|5.1] "Unit_Bar" 718

BO_ 779 Speed: 8 718
  SG_ KBI_displayed_speed : 48|10@1+ (0.32,0) [0|325.12] "Unit_KiloMeterPerHour" 718

BO_ 1600 Temps: 8 718
  SG_ Oil : 16|8@1+ (1,-60) [0|1] "Degrees C" 718
  SG_ Coolant : 24|8@1+ (1,-75) [0|1] "Degrees C" 718
  SG_ Intake_Temp : 8|8@1+ (0.75,-48) [-48|141.75] "Unit_DegreCelsi" 718

BO_ 1714 Diagnose_01: 8 718
  SG_ KBI_Odometer_K : 8|20@1+ (1,0) [0|1048573] "Unit_KiloMeter" 718
  SG_ UH_Year : 28|7@1+ (1,2000) [2000|2127] "Unit_Year" 718
  SG_ UH_Month : 35|4@1+ (1,0) [1|12] "Unit_Month" 718
  SG_ UH_Day : 39|5@1+ (1,0) [1|31] "Unit_Day" 718
  SG_ UH_Hour : 44|5@1+ (1,0) [0|23] "Unit_Hours" 718
  SG_ UH_Minute : 49|6@1+ (1,0) [0|59] "Unit_Minut" 718
  SG_ UH_Second : 55|6@1+ (1,0) [0|59] "Unit_Secon" 718

BO_ 1719 Fuel: 8 718
  SG_ KBI_Contents_Tank : 40|7@1+ (1,0) [0|125] "Unit_Liter" 718
  SG_ KBI_Outside_Temp : 56|8@1+ (0.5,-50) [-50|75] "Unit_DegreCelsi" 718

Fun Fact: The odometer is only stored as a 20 bit number. This maxes out at 1,048,574 kilometers or ~651,553.7 miles. I expect the data would roll over, just like a physical odometer hitting 999,999.9 on a mechanical tens counter. Your mileage may vary!

  • Updated Codes for RaceChrono Pro
    • Here are the PID’s I use and their equations
  • Brake Pressure (Reported in Bar needs kPa)
    • PID 262 (bitsToUintLe(raw,16,10)*0.3-30)*100
  • Clutch Position (0-100%)
    • PID 260 (bitsToUintLe(raw,32,8)*0.4)-10
  • Coolant Temp (Reported in °C)
    • PID 1600 bitsToUintLe(raw,24,8)-75
  • Engine RPM
    • PID 261 bitsToUintLe(raw,16,16)*0.25
  • Engine Oil Pressure (Reported in Bar needs kPa)
    • PID 263 (bitsToUintLe(raw,16,8)*0.04)*100
  • Engine Oil Temp (Reported in °C)
    • PID 1600 bitsToUintLe(raw,16,8)-60
  • Fuel Level (Reported in liters)
    • PID 1719 bitsToUintLe(raw,40,7)
  • Intake Temp (Reported in °C)
    • PID 1600 (bitsToUintLe(raw,8,8)*0.75)-48
  • Manifold Pressure (Reported in Bar needs kPa)
    • PID 263 (bitsToUintLe(raw,39,9)*0.01)*100
  • Speed (Reported in KpH needs m/s)
    • PID 779 (bitsToUintLe(raw,48,10)*0.32)/3.6
  • Steering Angle (Degrees)
    • PID 134 bitsToUintLe(raw,16,13)*0.1
  • Temperature (Reported in °C)
    • PID 1719 (bitsToUintLe(raw,56,8)*0.5)-50
  • Throttle Position (0-100%)
    • PID 261 bitsToUintLe(raw,48,8)*0.4
  • Wheel Speeds (Reported in KpH needs m/s)
    • PID 259
    • FL (bitsToUintLe(raw,16,12)*0.103)/3.6
    • FR (bitsToUintLe(raw,28,12)*0.103)/3.6
    • RL (bitsToUintLe(raw,40,12)*0.103)/3.6
    • RR (bitsToUintLe(raw,52,12)*0.103)/3.6
  • Manual Transmission Gear (0 stopped; 1-6 gear; 13 reverse; 14 not engaged) NEW!
    • PID 129 bitsToUintLe(raw,49,4)
  • PDK Transmission Gear (1-7 gear; 8 reverse) NEW!
    • PID = 258 bitsToUInt(raw,28,4)

2 thoughts on “Porsche 718 Cayman CAN BUS Track Day Data

  1. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

    I’ve been looking on and off for months for 982 CAN reverse engineering data. I bought a 2018 GTS in February and have 16 days on track since then.

    Have been steadily upgrading the car to a proper track rat, just went all in on the Recaro, 6pt and half cage. Running a RaceChrono pipeline w/Gopro with dedicated audio feed, RaceBox and OBDLink MX+. That part works great but there’s data I still miss.

    Finally got around to hacking the CAN bus this week, I ordered one of the CSS sniffers/loggers so I could verify I was actually getting CAN before mucking with RaceChrono. I have a daughter OBD pigtail all ready to go with a 2nd OBDLink MX+ which I will connect to RaceChrono in CAN mode. Since each OBDlink can only do one or the other. Once I get CAN data flowing – I can cross-check the devices of course with common data (e.g. speed, RPM). I managed to get CAN data going to the CSS MX1000 on the first try and am working to make sense of the logs with SavvyCAN. I’m a silicon valley tech engineer with some software in my background, though not recently, so this is friendly terrain.

    Which brings me to my question…. Going through your list which is notionally pretty complete, there are several items I’m after that are not listed. Wondering if you’ve since acquired these and are in a position to share?

    • Current transmission gear
    • TPMS values for each wheel
    • Accelerator pedal position (as opposed to the throttle position that you have listed)
    o The reason for this is there are like half a dozen “throttle” fields available via OBD and I have exported all of them and cross-checked graphically. None of them go fully from 0 to 100% and I’m skeptical they are actually accelerator pedal position.
    o The best one seems to be the one RaceChrono calls “Throttle Position” (as opposed to Throttle…B, Throttle…D, Throttle-E, etc.). But it ranges from a minimum of 11% to 87.1%.
    o So I was hoping the CAN bus had the actual Pedal position.

    Appreciate any help you can provide. I’ll be programming in your CAN settings to RC this week and doing some test runs, I have a track weekend at Thunder Hill on Sat/Sun.

    FYI…. From one data geek to another I’m currently installing the Team Plus tire temp monitors and TPMS to the Cayman. The Tire monitors are supported in RaceChrono and provide 8 temp zones across each tire. TPMS are not yet in RC, but you can get them through the standalone Team Plus app. It’s all Bluetooth.

    https://team-plus.com/product/brake-turtle-pro-tyre-temperature-system-set-of-4

    Thanks again.

  2. @PlanetKris – I have now got your system up and running on my 718 GTS. I have verified the formulas for most of the PIDs. THANK YOU again for doing this.

    I have also done a length preliminary writeup with attribution to you on the 718 Forum where I’m an active member. Here’s the link – don’t see anybody named “Kris” in the member list.

    If you happen to have figured out PIDs for Transmission Gear and the four tire TPMS that would be icing on the cake.

    https://www.718forum.com/threads/successfully-hacked-my-718-gts-can-bus-for-racechrono-data.31918

    Cheers, mate!

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