fasterlap is built by track driving enthusiasts for track driving enthusiasts. We provide premium content, a place for track junkies to discuss and share their thoughts on track driving, and a whole host of other services. All the content and services are delivered via applications (browser based, desktop, and mobile). All premium content will be created with multiple perspectives in mind, so that different kinds of users will benefit from the content.

Content

fasterlap provides premium content - we review race tracks all across the United States (VIR, Summit Point, Watkins Glen, etc). We plan to expand our coverage of tracks over time. Each track review is done from multiple perspectives: from the point of view of a novice track day driver, an intermediate track day driver, and a racing driver. Also, we will take into account different kinds of cars (Front Wheel Drive, Rear Wheel Drive, All Wheel Drive, etc). You will know what line to take, depending on what your experience level is, in different cars, and in different weather conditions!

We review all kinds of cars, and write driving reports on them. As with track reviews, each driving review is done from multiple perspectives: a track junkie, someone interested in mileage, safety, and fuel economy, someone interested in performing lots of mods, and someone interested in "bling factor". We plan on continually expanding our coverage of cars tested over time.

Services

In addition to premium content, we have discussion services, which allows users to have public discussions on whatever track passions they want to share. The difference between this and web forums available today is that you will be able to organize large amounts of information very easily, and tag them socially. For example, if you are reading a car review, and then you want to start a discussion about it, you can do so with a single mouse click. Or if you are reading an existing discussion about VIR, and from your perspective, it seems that the discussion is really about Lotus Elises, then you can just add a "tag" that marks that discussion as related to "Lotus Elise". People can search for discussions the old fashioned way, by looking at all the threads of discussion, or they can browse by social tags. Additionally, you will be able to save any messages, discussion topics, or tags to your favorites, and be able to access them at any time. You will also be able to search for discussions taking place in a geographic location.

Users can also track resource consumption (tires, brakes, oil changes, etc) that are related to their track days. You can keep track of how many track days you’ve done and how much it’s costing you, what resources are being consumed, etc. This will help you plan what track inspections are upcoming, what repairs, or parts replacements are necessary. If you choose, this information can also be shared on a web page created just for you, or posted to your favorite blog, or even your iGoogle homepage, or facebook or myspace page. You can choose to share whatever information you want - this represents a public profile that includes your track passions, instead of just the old fashioned profile (icon/avatar, name, and blurb).

User experience

All the content and services that we provide are delivered to you via a desktop application (app) and a browser-based app. You can install the desktop app and get the benefits of a very rich user experience - lots of nice graphics, animation effects to make your experience more engaging and interactive, as well as powerful searching, indexing, and categorization that’s available using the resources of your laptop or desktop computer. Another advantage of the desktop is that you can disconnect from Internet at anytime (like when you’re on an airplane) and still have access to all your information!

The browser based app provides only a subset of the features of the desktop app (due to limitations in web browser technology today). However, with the browser based app, you have access to the same exact information as the desktop app, and you are kept up to date in real time, with any changes to discussions or content that are posted. No plugins are required. You can use the browser based app from a kiosk or someone else’s computer when you don’t have access to your own computer.

If you are wondering why we made the desktop app and browser-based app, and not just a browser-based app like everyone else, think of this - an app as powerful as Photoshop, Word, or a game as engaging as Half Life or Halo is available only as a desktop application, not a browser based app. There are limitations with what can be done with AJAX and a browser. Modern computers have more than 1 CPU (processor), lots of RAM, and powerful video cards! We leverage all this horsepower at your disposal to give you the most compelling, engaging, and intuitive user experience on the desktop app.

What’s Next?

We are hard at work right now building the content and applications, and are planning on releasing a public beta by January 2008. We are planning on making the final release of fasterlap by March 2008. Once we launch, we are planning on adding more services, apps, and content. We are planning on providing fasterlap as a paid subscription service - much like a magazine subscription, but without all the ads! . Stay tuned to the News section, as we will provide more updates as we have them! If you’d like to send us comments and feedback, click here.