Sample rate

A sensor that records once per second runs at 1 Hz; ten times per second is 10 Hz. Higher rates capture more detail. At 100 mph, a car covers about 45 meters per second, so a 1 Hz GPS trace has huge gaps, while 25 Hz gives a point roughly every 2 meters.

Different signals need different rates. Lap timing benefits from high-rate GPS because the crossing time is interpolated between points. Brake and steering inputs change quickly, so they benefit from high rates too. Temperatures change slowly and do not.

Higher is not always better: noise and battery use rise too, and the stated rate of a device is not always what it delivers in practice. Good software measures the real rate and accounts for it rather than assuming.