Seat time, and instruction.
These two recommendations are all but commandments set in stone when it comes to tracking a car.Seat time is an easy recommendation to make, but if we all just had more time and money right?
With money and time generally being limited for us mortals, you’ve got to optimize the time and money you’ve got.
Coaching is always a staple recommendation as well — and frequently a bit more challenging to make happen than most folks care to admit. Maybe your track org doesn’t allow instructors (SCCA Track Night in America, I’m looking at you!) or charges $800 for a novice day with instruction… and then the truth nobody likes to acknowledge — not every instructor is qualified. I started coaching simply because an organizer said, “You’re the most experienced guy available — teach that one and your day’s free.” I've since progressed past that, but many folks aren't there because they have a coaching background, they are there because it's free track time.
So with the reality of the matter being that those two recommendations are easier to suggest than they are to fulfill.. what's a person to do?
Enter: Fire Laps.
Fire Laps is an AI Powered GPS data logging device that captures your lap, analyzes it against all the data it's collected on fast laps... and then provides feedback on where you can adjust your lines and improve your driving. It weighs about 1% of even the lightest instructor, doesn’t take up that much space and it definitely doesn’t need that passenger seat you may not even have anymore.
I got my hands on a Fire Laps setup for the 2025 season, and took it out to various tracks on the West Coast. I used it both for my own personal driving progression and for competition, and I took it from the shop, to the track, to the podium and then home again to share with you all just what it’s about.
If you want just the short version: it's a game changer, but it’s not flawless, and it isn’t cheap either. Still, it very much has a place in your quiver, so read on if you want the specifics.
A Quick Mention About The Author
Just like it’s worth verifying an instructor is qualified to actually meaningfully help you improve, it’s probably worth establishing I’m capable of providing a meaningful review on this product. My name is Jesse and I write under the moniker "Shred Jesse". I wrapped this season up bringing me to a total of 55 events strong and I write articles here along with over at my very bare bones blog ShredJesse.com. I fancy myself a decent enough driver, and I suppose the smattering of podium finishes, two SCCA class records, and one track record confirm it... I'm probably not just qualified to review this, but I'm likely the target market.
Is there somebody out there faster than me? Undoubtedly there are many.
Am I going to pick this up and use it just like most of you would? Absolutely.
So here's my candid take on Fire Laps and just how AI works when applied to the world of track analysis.
Setup & Hardware
Fire Laps hardware is a bit on the large side compared to other smaller products like the Racebox Mini, and it doesn’t feature a screen… but it’s simple enough to mount and tuck up out of the way.
Be certain to mount your FIre Laps unit where you can visually check the three lights on it for any status issues. I was a dummy and mounted mine in a location that seemed fine, but then I remembered I had to put a dash back in my car for certain classes I compete in and now the unit is a bit harder to see... So be sure to be smarter than me and mount the unit somewhere nice and visually accessible!
It’s recommended you put your unit on a switched 12V power source. It’s not exactly challenging to install, but it isn’t as simple as just getting USB power to it either. There is no screen, but it doesn't really have anything to show you while you’re driving, which is a bit of a let down, but also it means you can just go focus on driving and review things after your session.
There is an external antenna that you'll need to route somewhere. You’ll of course want to mount the antenna setup somewhere with a clear view of the sky. With C5 Corvettes being made mostly of fiberglass though, it's pretty darn easy to mount them in the rear of the car and get quality signal.
Another thing to note is Fire Laps does require a 4g connection in order to upload your data. No, it doesn't need your phone, it connects over cell phone channels on it's own That said, if you are at a remote enough race track... you may not be able to get your data right away. That said, I’ve yet to visit a track that didn’t have 4G+ data at it… so keep that in mind if you’re considering getting this product. Even if you lack a data connection though, the device will later upload data when it gets 4G connectivity again, so you can still review the data after the fact.
Everyday Use & The Fire Laps UI
So right off the bat, there is no UI for in motion recording your sessions. Just give the box 12v and the antenna a clear view of the sky and you’re in business. The majority of how you’ll be interacting with the unit is after your lap, and I highly recommend you watch their YouTube video on the topic.
So assuming you watched the video and have your car saved in Fire Laps and start capturing your sessions... you can then go in and review them once AI review has completed. Different sections will display some general information and pointers, which when clicked provide some input.
So above is an example where I've navigated to a specific section. Specifically this turn 3-4 at Ridge Motorsports Park. The descriptions weren't always the most helpful to me, but what makes it really stand out is the visualized line. The orange line is the line my car is taking, while the white line is the imaginary line they are suggesting. The words by themselves weren't always helpful to me, but when visualized with the suggest line the suggestion really starts to click.
The picture above is the tail end of the "straightaway" between turn 5 and 6 at the ridge. It's obviously not perfectly straight, but by race track standards not worthy of numbering. Can you see the slight difference between the yellow and orange line? It's quite subtle, but the difference it showed me was "Chill out steering input through here, you'll wind up in the exact same place anyways". Sure enough, making this minor adjustment increased my top speeds a few mph and translated to a .12s improvement. Not exactly a jaw dropping improvement by itself... but make 5 of those improvements and you've gained over half a second. Changes like this took me being on the podium to the top of the podium.
Fire Laps of course has all the good data logging you'd expect from a solid data logging setup and it can really help you delve into just what made a lap work or not work, and you can even overlay two laps and look at the annotations to really see what is going on.
Here's a favorite feature of mine though: YOU CAN ADD NOTES! I mean what are the odds you're going to remember that on this one particular track day you decided to take a turn in 3rd gear instead of grabbing second... and it actually yielded improved times down the front straight? If you're like me, slim the odds are slim to none.
(Note: I did not actually miss the apex as the GPS unit is on the far right side of my car, but it did seem like a funny example).
Here's also of course the standard graph view. You can infer a lot about if you're maximize your driving based on a graph of your laps around the track and a good instructor will be able to spot areas of potential improvement. Folks familiar with such graphs can even recognize what track a person was at just by looking at the graph, as I am sure some folks have spotted Thunderhill East with cyclone above.
Other Features that Make Fire Laps Excellent
So Fire Laps isn't just data logging and analysis. They've got the awesome ability to create groups and track everyone in them. They can also do live event lap information as well!
Speaking of... hopefully this community link works and we can start to get more C5 Corvette folks together sharing their data in the Fire Laps C5 Corvette Community I created!
Another great win for Fire Laps is it's event feature. You can see lap times and data live and see just what everyone is up to... and not just their lap times and standings like with many offerings that rely on transponders, this is actual full on GPS data logged sessions of the competition!
How Did Fire Laps Work For Me
So I received The Fire Laps unit at the start of my 2025 season. No, they didn't reach out to me, I actually saw their product around some advertising and decided to see if they'd let me try it out. I installed it on my C5 Corvette and added it as a tool to try and dial in my Corvette for my Time Attack efforts in the 2025 season.
I'll admit, it took me a bit to get to know the full interface with Fire Laps. Once I dialed it in though and learned how to interpret it's suggestions combined with the visuaal display of where to go... it helped me try making some changes to chase down small segments of time.
Now I won't lie to you and say Fire Laps went out and found 5 seconds for me... but slowly but surely it found a tenth here, a few fractions of a second there... it helped chisel away at my best lap and encouraged me to consider altering what I was doing.
Were Fire Laps suggestions always right? No, they weren't... and to be fair an instructor isn't always right either. Whether it's a lack of familiarity of the platform or the students capabilities, I know I've made suggestions I had to roll back in favor of pursuing different directions. I've even had instructors give advice to me like "Stay in 4th here, it'll disrupt the car less" turn into absolute disasters when I wasn't already in 3rd for that next turn that required far better brake control.
For me though the ultimate result of combining Fire Laps data analysis tools with some trial and error alongside even more seat time... I was able to take home some serious results this season. I went into the OnGrid GT class with my personal best lap time trailing the GT class winner by a full second... and I came out the other side .75 seconds ahead of them to find myself winning the class!
With SCCA I found even better results, taking home 1st place both days at Thunderhill West and West Bypass... but I also set the SCCA Max 2 class records both days, and even set the TRACK RECORD on Sunday!
So it works, but how does it stack up to the Competition?
So we've covered that Fire Laps is a feature rich offering for the C5 Corvette... but how does it stack up to the competition?
I'm a big fan of cheap, DIY solutions... and so right off the bat we'd have to compare Fire Laps to the lowly "old phone from your junk drawer" running Track Addicts or Harry's lap timer. The cost is free... but is the data any good? Well... not really. With the data sampling being 1hz GPS, you can't really infer all that much. They also don't save your laps online for you to reference off your phone later...
Next up... the budget brawler setup I utilize as well... the old phone combined with the RaceBox mini. This unit has 25hz GPS and so the data it acquires is excellent, but... the interface of your recorded sessions just doesn't have the same level of depth.
Now we'd of course be remisce to not mention the Aim Solo 2. They're the 500lb gorilla in the industry and... they are priced like it. While they have some great features, there's some aspects of it lacking as well. We won't lie, it's the industry top dog and competes favorably to everything mentioned thus far... but it doesn't have the AI lap suggestions that Firelaps does, and we think in that regard Firelaps separates itself with an offering the current premier motorsports choice does not have.
Lastly, you can't talk AI without mentioning ChatGPT. While there is no "ChatGPT" device you can plug into your car, you CAN take your data from the aforementioned GPS logging apps and upload it to ChatGPT for analysis. So how does that compare?
Well, I'll tell you now I've used ChatGPT with GPS data to analyze lap data, such as the data used for the 9 Lives Racing vs Wing Logic wing article. It works and can do some pretty cool stuff... but it took HOURS of clarifying conversation, including resorting to taking screen shots and circling the exact segments that make up turn 2... and to have to have the exact same conversation with ChatGPT a few times later when trying to do further analysis for another article.
Needless to say, ChatGPT is pretty smart, but Fire Laps is built to purpose and puts ChatGPT to shame in half the time with a further fraction of the effort.
Is Fire Laps Worth it? A Real Conversation on Cost to Value.
So now that I've had Fire Laps for a full season and been able to really test it out along with share it with other folks at the track... can I recommend Fire Laps. Yes, but with some caveats.
First off, Fire Laps is a pretty specific tool. It's not built for in car feedback, which for Time Attack I find critical. I need to know if going through a segment just how much a slight misstep set me back... and if a problem early in the lap means halfway through that lap I'm still trending behind my best time, I need to throw away the lap, avoid putting excess heat into my tires, and full send the following lap instead. Fire Laps doesn't have that. So if you need that, Fire Laps doesn't have it.
Now I know some folks prefer not to know their times. They just want to go out there, do their thing and have fun. Heck one of the best car instructors I worked with told me to be a goldfish and not sweat how bad that last turn went, focus on settings yourself up for success going forward. All that to say, if you're the kind of person who wants to just be in the moment, Fire Laps is a good singular tool for you.
All of that said, this problem has an ungodly simple solution: Just run an in car lap timer like Track Addicts or Racebox! I run a Racebox mini, and before that I ran a 10hz bluetooth GPS unit with Track Addicts and it got me in vehicle lap timing for not that much of a cost.
Second, Fire Laps does have some limitations. Utilizing LTE cell signal to transfer it's data makes it a nice stand alone unit that's great to work with... but at really crowded weekends where cell tower priority starts to become a thing, you very likely won't see your data upload from your Fire Laps unit, and heck in my case at a very busy weekend I couldn't even access the data on my phone even if it was uploaded. With a standalone unit, you don't have that problem as the feedback is right there.
Last, we gotta talk price. Fire Laps is good, but not cheap. The buy in is $499, and then there's a subscription after that for the AI analysis that costs $229 a year or $15 a month. That's not exactly cheap, especially for the majority of folks who are wowed and amazed when when they discover that Track Addicts on their phone is free.
So all of that said, do we here at C5 Corvettes recommend Fire Laps?
Absolutely.
While we expect novice adaptation to be fairly limited, those folks generally quickly transition upwards to intermediate and up drivers, for whom it's undeniably useful. The odds that you as an intermediate instructor going to go to a busy event and track down an instructor who isn't already bogged down with novices AND that they're going to know enough to improve your driving... well I know those odds aren't as great as most event organizers fancy they are.
Then, for privateers like myself going out to compete in time attack, $229 a year isn't even the half the cost of a single tire... and I can still demonstrate where Fire Laps yielded almost a full second of improvements over the season by suggesting I try things I hadn't even thought to do. There's a clear win there, in my case quite literally.
