# Open Road Race Timer — for race speeds 60 to 170 mph

> High-speed race timer for closed-course automobile racing. (iPhone/iPad app by MSYapps.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/open-road-race-timer/id1102615195 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [MSYapps](https://appshunter.io/developer/458482419)
- Category: Sports, Navigation
- Price: $14.99
- Rating: 2.70/5 from 13 App Store ratings · 9 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.6 · 2 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2016-04-30
- Data updated: 2026-08-17
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/open-road-race-timer/id1102615195/reviews.md

## What is Open Road Race Timer?

The Open Road Race Timer is designed for high speed automobile racing on closed highways. The race objective is to travel a course of known length at a set rate of speed. That combination of speed and distance translates into a target time to reach the finish line. 

Your starting time will also be assigned as some minute or half minute after the hour in which the race begins. Set the conditions of speed, distance and compute the time in the app Setup and let the app count down to the start of your race.

If the computed time is not identical to the official time down to the ten thousandths of a second, touch the "Distance" button to activate the plus and minus below the time to make fine adjustments. Time is the most critical variable for displays and computations.

The clock will countdown to an automatic start. If possible, synchronize your app's clock to the offical race clock before you start.

Alternatively, you may show a Start Now button on the main screen by chosing the option on a switch in Settings and use this button to initiate the start. Caution, however, the automatic countdown timed start is much more precise and reliable than any human could possibly be.

Speeds can be set at 5 mph increments from 60 to 170 miles per hour. Shorter distances and slower speeds can be used for practice.

Settings allow you to change the precison of various displays. Also, there is a setting that determines whether the app stops computing at the Finish Line based upon either the official time or the official distance. By default, the choice is to stop app computations when the distance to the official finish line reaches zero. 

Optionally, you may input the Finish Line GPS coordinates. For your convenience, four preset Finish Line coordinates are included for both the Northbound and Southbound segments of Big Bend and Silver State Classic courses, but verify these coordinates with the race organizer.

If you chose the Finish Line coordinates option in the Setup, then the Time Error to the Finish Line is computed when you are within one-half mile of the Finish Line.

For races with out and back stages where the total error is the average between two runs, you can use this time to judge the best time target +/– on the return stage.

GPS inputs trace the path along the rally route. Measurements of actual versus ideal time and distance will be shown in seconds ahead or behind schedule. Also, you may record time and distance covered and the error against the ideal course time and distance by touching the Add Split button. Also, you may set automatic split computations at increments of 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes and 5 minutes.

You may fine-tune the app's distance between GPS receiver and front wheels (if necessary) and clock time figures to the rally's official measures with the options in the Adjustments popup. Unlock to make adjustments and lock to save the changes you make and to prevent inadvertent changes.

If the app's Time of Day (T.O.D.) clock shown at the bottom of the map view (or in the center of the display in the iPad version) does not match the rally's official clock, you may synchronize the two clocks by making small adjustments as required. 

App Settings allow you to change the display of Time, Speed, and Distance as well as permitting the display of Time error to be in whole numbers or decimals.

For better GPS reception and improved accuracy, third-party wireless GPS receivers are recommended. This app has been tested with Bluetooth connectivity to a Dual XGPS150A GPS Receiver. This app works with both iPhones and iPads, even those without Cellular connectivity. However, there can only be one Apple device with Bluetooth activated within range of the Dual Receiver. Place devices not running this app in Airplane mode and be sure that the Dual Receiver is connected with the device and app you are using.

Disclaimer: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

## Key features

- Speed and distance input for target time calculation
- Precise time adjustments to ten-thousandths of a second
- Automatic countdown timer for race starts
- Optional 'Start Now' button
- GPS coordinates for finish lines
- Out and back stage error averaging
- Automatic split computations

## Recent user reviews (9 of 9)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/open-road-race-timer/id1102615195/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Good as a stop watch only

*2024-10-17*

I’ve attempted to use this app in over 6 races.   And encounters the following errors
#1 don’t relty on the apps finish coordinates use a gps coordinates app and type it in
#2 when you get within a quarter mile the app starts gumping around like crazy.   The reason I’m told is that once the app is at it doesn’t verify with gps u til close to the end point.   I’m not sure this is true but expect it to act wierd towards the end
#3 just use it as a tool with your other gps devices and stop watch.      Don’t rely on it
#4 get a garmin gps unit and connect it to your phone e for better gps accuracy

Doing all that for $15 you be the judge a good stop watch will cost you 10

The positives
It looks like the distance count down works ok and the timer works it’s just the up and down speed that will go nuts at the end

### 1/5 — 1 star

*2024-08-09*

1 star

### 5/5 — Worked for me

*2023-08-28*

My first race I figured it out and placed 5th out of 20 competitors. My second race I placed 3rd with a margin of .008 over 120 miles. I don’t understand the bad reviews

### 5/5 — Use this as an assistant to your human brain

*2023-08-15*

I’ve used this since 2021. Competing in 14 open road race competitions. In all three racing organizations that are still running. The rumors of why people lose are WILD. My personal experience is, get your own data like start and finish lines. Love being able to count several cars ahead and have the timer start dead on. People asking for the timer to start other than 30 seconds or top of the minute don’t understand how to use the app or understand how open road racing competitions functions. A+ and I love the haters.  My favorite is their jaw drops when I tell them the app name and they already have it, adamant it doesn’t work. Racers are some of the biggest whiners out there accept your errors and put more seat time in. Sorry not sorry.

### 1/5 — To many bugs to be useful

*2023-05-02*

As much as I want the app to work it has to many bugs and is not useful. Have tried for 3 or 4 years and has only work as advertised 1 time. If you use it be ready with a back up!🤬

### 1/5 — Garbage execution

*2023-04-24*

It has a lot of potential for race timing but it’s execution is garbage and it’s a waste of money.   Just did the big bend open road race.   Never got it to work successfully on 6 practice sessions and 2 race lengths.  The auto start is just dumb.  Setting to 30 second intervals after the hour.  Just let it be like 2 minutes, or better yet use the gps coordinates of the start line to begin the timer.  Then it randomly crashes with 1:47 remaining.  We used an external gps.  Then at the start from dead 0 would say we’re going to fast slow down with a delta of 200 seconds.  Then randomly flip about halfway to speed up your 1000 seconds behind.   The delta time would never go up or down when we adjusted speed.   Utterly useless except as a countdown timer.  Fortunately I had a navigator and we finished our 105mph class with .821 seconds of deviation.   If we had followed the app instead of a stop watch we would have been off by minutes.   Don’t waste your money on this.

### 1/5 — Glitches on every leg. Race-ruining bugs.

*2021-04-25*

Competed in the Bug Bend Open Road Race intending to use this as our primary timing device with stopwatch backup. Glitches on both practice runs that stop displaying timing information almost two miles from the finish line (at approximately 57 miles down the course, the timing went haywire and started showing huge and rapidly varying numbers). After assuming it was related to not starting the app directly on the official start line during practice, we ran it in the first leg of the race. Same problem, lost all timing info miles out from the finish line. Changed settings to use total time instead of total distance for the return leg, and the time started gaining entire seconds about 1/3 of the way into the race. Had to revert to stopwatches for the remainder. Everyone else we talked to that used it had the same issues. Worthless app with the current bugs.

### 1/5 — Horrible is an Understatement

*2021-04-24*

Not even close to be accurate or actually functional for trying to use in a real open road race. Tested a minimum of 7 trips with 3 phones in the vehicle, same start and ends points each trip - from totally nonfunctional to not even in ball park on being accurate.
50% of the time on one or more phones, the app never found the finish and continued to run!
We used numerous methods to try and make this.
P.O.S - do not use. The only valuable function is the start method, other than that it’s worthless.

### 5/5 — Awesome road race app

*2018-05-09*

I love this app.  I just wish I had the millisecond update 2 weeks ago :)

## Frequently asked questions about Open Road Race Timer

### What is the Open Road Race Timer used for?

The Open Road Race Timer is designed for high-speed automobile racing on closed highways. It helps calculate target race times based on speed and distance, and provides tools for precise timing and tracking during a race.

### How accurate is the Open Road Race Timer?

The app allows for fine adjustments to the time down to the ten-thousandths of a second. It also offers an automatic countdown timed start, which is noted as being more precise and reliable than manual starts.

### What speeds can be set in the Open Road Race Timer?

Speeds can be set in 5 mph increments ranging from 60 to 170 miles per hour. Shorter distances and slower speeds can also be used for practice sessions.

### Does the Open Road Race Timer support GPS?

Yes, you may optionally input Finish Line GPS coordinates, with four preset coordinates included for Big Bend and Silver State Classic courses. GPS inputs can also trace the path along the rally route.

### How does the Open Road Race Timer handle out and back stages?

For races with out and back stages, the app can use the time to judge the best time target +/- on the return stage, especially when the total error is the average between two runs.

### What is the price of the Open Road Race Timer?

The Open Road Race Timer is a paid application priced at $14.99.

### On what devices can I use the Open Road Race Timer?

The Open Road Race Timer is supported on iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices.

### How often is the Open Road Race Timer updated?

The latest version of the Open Road Race Timer is 7.5, and it was last updated on September 30, 2022.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 7.5 — 2022-09-30

- Fixed bug that sometimes causes average mph display to produce odd results.

### 7.4 — 2022-07-28

- Major update to the Dual SDK version 2.2 that permits more effective data validation and Bluetooth connectivity. Thus, this app can now be used with iPads that do not have Cellular capability. Remember to put other iOS devices in Airplane mode, while using this app on iPad.
- Fixed bug involving display of user-defined finish line coordinates.
- When using preset or user-defined finish line coordinates, the app will compute distance to the finish line that, in turn, is used to compute time error to the finish, plus or minus, within 0.5 miles of the finish line rather that 1.0 miles in previous versions.
- Notable improvements in processing valid GPS data derived from Apple and Dual.
- Minor GUI changes.

### 7.3.1 — 2021-07-14

- Minor changes to accommodate iOS 13 and 14.

### 7.3 — 2020-01-22

- The major code improvements and additions are designed to adjust the GPS coordinates of a moving vehicle owing to the time between reception of new GPS signals and to the time lag between the time the signal was generated from satellites and the time when processing actually occurs in the app.
- Users may now adjust the location coordinate by the distance between the GPS receiver in the car (either the iPhone or iPad or some third-party GPS receiver) and the position on the car where a rally may measure time or location at timed controls (sometimes this is the front of the car or the center of the front wheels).
- All three of these potential errors in coordinate measurement are discussed at length in a 6-part thread in the Facebook "Road Rally Tech Talk" forum.
- If available to the app, compass coordinates are available to verify location when the car is stopped.
- Various improvements to the processing of information from the Dual 150 and 160 GPS Receivers.
- Changes to processing of Apple internal GPS signals to account for spurious readings when horizontal accuracy is poor or when the vehicle is stopped or moving very slowly.
- Various changes and improvements in the GUI to improve display and readability.

### 7.02 — 2019-10-14

- GUI changes necessitated by iOS 13.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-17.*