Garmin Catalyst Driving Performance Optimizer

[MagnusT]

Originally Posted by marvinp

Pretty cool, thanks for sharing! What does it mean when it says "keep pushing." It said it during the final turn. Does it mean "get on the gas"?

I think it's regular pep talk only

[MagnusT]

Originally Posted by MagnusT

Information directly from Adam Spence the project lead at Garmin for the Catalyst

https://speedsecrets.com/160-adam-sp...faster-driver/

I've listened to the whole podcast now. It's really a must-listen, the whole thing!

[fanatic1]

Originally Posted by MagnusT

I've listened to the whole podcast now. It's really a must-listen, the whole thing!

I know Ross is part of the Dev team, but still pretty impressive hearing him say he saved almost 1 second with Catalyst!

[marvinp]

Originally Posted by MagnusT

I've listened to the whole podcast now. It's really a must-listen, the whole thing!

It was really interesting to listen to. What surprised me the most is that it doesn't use any detailed track data/info. All they define for a track is the start/stop line. That makes me really interested in knowing more of the technical details.

[MagnusT]

Originally Posted by marvinp

It was really interesting to listen to. What surprised me the most is that it doesn't use any detailed track data/info. All they define for a track is the start/stop line. That makes me really interested in knowing more of the technical details.

They use the camera to find the exact track edges. That gives them waaaaaaaay better precision than GPS

But I have seen some oddities in some places on the maps that it creates. So it might be they are still ironing out quirks.

[dvq]

Originally Posted by MagnusT

Information directly from Adam Spence the project lead at Garmin for the Catalyst

https://speedsecrets.com/160-adam-sp...faster-driver/

Thanks for the link, listened to it on my way to Sonoma raceway this morning.

[ATX_M3]

I've now done 3 track days with my Catalyst and I'm really impressed with it. Yes, I would like to have OBD integration for braking data like M Laptimer but the biggest pro is the real-time feedback. At COTA, it breaks the lap into 20 segments (one per corner) and gives you real-time timing feedback on each corner, +\- on lap times compared to fastest in that session, and overall lap times that are easy to glance at after each lap.

The "opportunities" feedback is specific and actionable - e.g., turn X, brake X feet later, X% harder, and carry X MPH more to save 0.X seconds. It's really solid...

Video output is steady but doesn't have data overlays. Here is a super awesome sample video from my buddy's Cayman S getting passed by a F2 car at the last Chin happy hour at COTA (make sure your audio is up): https://www.dropbox.com/s/0o0o685i1q...20car.mp4?dl=0

I can go on and on - it's a pretty solid track day accessory and it's not a pain in the ass to get setup like Harry's + external GPS, GoPro, etc.

And no, I don't work for Garmin.

[Suds]

Were you number 80 in garage 18 last weekend?

Originally Posted by ATX_M3

I've now done 3 track days with my Catalyst and I'm really impressed with it. Yes, I would like to have OBD integration for braking data like M Laptimer but the biggest pro is the real-time feedback. At COTA, it breaks the lap into 20 segments (one per corner) and gives you real-time timing feedback on each corner, +\- on lap times compared to fastest in that session, and overall lap times that are easy to glance at after each lap.

The "opportunities" feedback is specific and actionable - e.g., turn X, brake X feet later, X% harder, and carry X MPH more to save 0.X seconds. It's really solid...

Video output is steady but doesn't have data overlays. Here is a super awesome sample video from my buddy's Cayman S getting passed by a F2 car at the last Chin happy hour at COTA (make sure your audio is up): https://www.dropbox.com/s/0o0o685i1q...20car.mp4?dl=0

I can go on and on - it's a pretty solid track day accessory and it's a pain in the ass to get setup like Harry's + external GPS, GoPro, etc.

And no, I don't work for Garmin.

[ATX_M3]

Originally Posted by Suds

Were you number 80 in garage 18 last weekend?

Yup - that was me...

[Suds]

Damn, I saw a guy looking at a Garmin, I should have walked over.
I was in garage 15 between the Radicals and Porsches.

Originally Posted by ATX_M3

Yup - that was me...

[ATX_M3]

Originally Posted by Suds

Damn, I saw a guy looking at a Garmin, I should have walked over.
I was in garage 15 between the Radicals and Porsches.

Ah, yes one of the many white F8x at COTA last weekend - good times!

[Suds]

I followed the green Porsche gt3rs out on track Saturday morning that was in garage 14, I could never hear my M Performance exhaust. That Porsche was fucking loud, after the session he laughed and said I’m sorry with a thumbs up.

Originally Posted by ATX_M3

Ah, yes one of the many white F8x at COTA last weekend - good times!

[jfritz27]

For those gaining more experience with the garmin, I'm curious if you've encountered a situation where you feel like you followed its instructions fairly precisely, but ended up getting bitten (major oversteer moment/slide/off, etc....)

[Suds]

I have not used the on track feedback other than timing.
I have mostly used it for post session analysis.

Originally Posted by jfritz27

For those gaining more experience with the garmin, I'm curious if you've encountered a situation where you feel like you followed its instructions fairly precisely, but ended up getting bitten (major oversteer moment/slide/off, etc....)

[F80Speed77]

Got to see the Catalyst in action this weekend and I was completely blown away by the post session analysis. The accuracy of the data in the Opportunities for Improvement analysis was like nothing else I've seen before. Definitely going to be on my list of "upgrades" for next season.

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

I had to write up my own Garmin Catalyst impressions after 2 full days of playing around with it at Eagles Canyon Raceway outside Dallas where I'm a member. Thanks to Andy Pettit from Clown Shoe Motorsports for letting me rent the unit for the weekend and also providing his coaching along the way. Drop him a note if you're also interested to try before you buy if you find yourself in Dallas.

Here's my quick recap... 2 days, 2 seconds. I shaved my PB time at ECR from a 2:12's to a 2:10's in about 5 sessions over the 2 days in my E46 M3 that's stripped, half caged, on rcomps, and no aero. I also have an AIM Solo DL that I've been using for years, but haven't really graduated beyond being a newb with squiggly lines.

The following notes is what Andy and I observed around the Garmin. Some videos will be shared further below too:

• The device might take one session to really set a baseline of your lines and find 'opportunities' for improvement. We did a blind test for the first session with the Garmin in the car, but not pumping coaching instructions to my helmet for a good clean baseline. You may not need a whole session for this baseline, but we wanted to test a few scenarios out, so we took our time.
• After each session, you receive 3 opportunities for improvement with details around braking points, apex, and speed, which to me were great bite-sized suggestions to think about when you get into the car for the next session. These were made available immediately after you click the end session button. In the distance of walking from the car to the ECR clubhouse, I had suggestions I could look through without having to pull out a laptop to pull the data.
• The audio coaching is really well timed for upcoming turns and just enough instruction to push you more. There also appears to be some form of gamification that happens where the Garmin is looking for you to consistently hit the corners it's giving you coaching on, before it finds some other corner to work on with you. I felt encouraged when I heard the Garmin moving it's coaching around the track to new corners.
• Contrary to some posted YouTube videos, you get a lot of audio coaching. I came in with low expectations based on what I've seen on YouTube, but in each 30 min session at ECR, I would get coaching on nearly every corner at least once. This part really exceeded my expectations.
• Now, to get the most of the coaching, you really need to push the car, probably beyond what you're typically comfortable with. I found my braking points being later, my braking pressure much harder, my long/lat g's being higher, and I tried a whole bunch of new lines to see what the Garmin might suggest. You should approach the sessions with the Garmin as a testing day to try new things you haven't
• We did do some data comparison between the AIM and Garmin and they both were in the same range around what the best laps were and what my hypotheticals could be. This was just a good validation check to make sure the Garmin wasn't too far off from an industry standard.
• One thing that we did test was to put Andy in my car but under my profile set in the Garmin to see if we could trick it to having a totally different driver in the car with an entirely different style of driving. When I returned back into the car, I noticed that it took longer for the audio coaching to come back on, almost as if the Garmin was confused by the driver switch. But after a few laps it did come back on, it just took longer than usual.

Overall, I was just super impressed with the Garmin and will very likely buy one to complement the AIM Solo DL that I already have. The hype is real... now the real test is whether I can replicate those times when I don't have the coaching turned on!

First video: Garmin Audio Coaching through the lap.

Second video: Comparing 4 different optimal laps from 4 different sessions. After each session, the Garmin will produce a stitched video of your best segments to give you a visual of a best lap *could* look like if you get each segment right. I put together the 2x2 video on my own, just for an interesting comparison of optimal laps over the course of the day.

I also forgot to say, one pleasant surprise was looking at the video folder structure. You get a nicely organized folder structure with folders for each session, one big file for the recorded video, then one video for your optimal video stitched together. Sadly the optimal video doesn't have any audio (yet?), but for all the whiners saying that the video quality isn't good enough, it's plenty good enough for your YouTube creds.

[Kelse92]

Great review Chris!
Now you have me more tempted to rent the dang thing from Andy LOL and I wasn't going to

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

Great review Chris!
Now you have me more tempted to rent the dang thing from Andy LOL and I wasn't going to

i'm gonna buy one myself... rent it from me instead! just don't tell andy

[Suds]

Has anyone else had an issue after updating software? Then having to reformat video cards?

I bought my unit early September and have used on 3 events.

[MagnusT]

Originally Posted by Suds

Has anyone else had an issue after updating software? Then having to reformat video cards?

I bought my unit early September and have used on 3 events.

I haven't had any problems with the card but it has renamed itself to very strange names (the name the drive has in windows when connected over USB). I have submitted the issue to Garmin, not that it really matters.

[dth656]

Originally Posted by jfritz27

Thanks.... it is interesting to consider then exactly how useful these things are. Not saying they're not, but by that logic you basically have to set a faster time for the thing to be able to know that you can set a faster time (!?). I understand the concept of putting together an ideal best lap from individual best sectors, so I guess that's where the value is. But at the end of the day, if you want to push your times on any one sector, it sounds like the fundamental limitations of the method can't really help you (which is understandable). Unless I'm missing something.

Just trying to get a sense of how useful this would be.

this would be my question as well. if your theoretical best laptime is the compare, then a beginner/intermediate driver may not benefit that much. i wonder if there is some absolute reference data for a given track despite differences in cars, that the system can generate after it sees a few laps?

[jmg]

FYI Detectorpower.com has a $99 off coupon today. Plus they don't charge tax, so I ordered the Garmin for $900 flat free shipping!

The second best deal I could find was winding road offering a $150 coupon for every $1000 purchase. After tax it came to $1087.49. With the $150 coupon it would be $937 which is $37 more expensive over all than detectorpower.

https://www.detectorpower.com/produc...ance-optimizer