[Fot] Garmin Catalyst- anyone tried it?

[David Gott]

For a poor man’s data acquisition system, we are using the Track Addict app, available with any smartphone.  I have mine rigged up on a Kindle tablet of all things, and am using a 10hz external GPS receiver.  (Phones usually have 1 hz which works, but not ideal.).  I find this gives great information for short money, and the bonus is that if you have a chance to glance down, it gives you split times and green/red if you are faster or slower that split.  Not to worry; I am not reading “The Last Open Road” down the straights; although might give me something to do at RA.  
 Comparing data afterwards helps us greatly.  (I have my Kindle mounted in the Speedometer position).   You can also set the app to turn on/off your GoPro, and it will sync up data to the video if you later combine with Race Render on a PC/Mac.
Fast forward to stuff from the autocross world, there is an app called Solostorm which downloads video and overlays the data gathered real time, comparing drivers on the spot, between runs even.   Awesome.  They just released a track version; check out Petral Data systems.  Haven’t tried the track version yet, but after years of not spending the money on the software, I’m now kicking myself for not getting it sooner, with its instant feedback.  TrackAddict can do almost the same, but requires more fiddling…. And can compare afterwards to see what was happening when, g force, top speeds, segment times, braking points and strengths, etc.  
It was super interesting to see the data comparison between the #80 and 114 TR4’s with the same driver; one had an 11 mph advantage at exit of the last turn at Thompson, but gave up in gearing later on, and also in speed around the hairpin.  (Quaife vs welded diff).  Super interesting!
Having the split times displayed real time with TrackAddict helped me at the Glen realize I could hold turn 1 in 4th gear, and only lose a tenth or two; also helped not having a shift later; top speed was the same into the bus stop and at the top of the esses.     I was likely overslowing downshifting to third, but since I couldn’t shift,  I found out how to carry speed to hold 4th…. LOL.   (Was the nascar configuration).  I used to shun data, as “too much info” but now I see the wisdom, and it helped me real time with the proper tools.
Hope that helps!Dave Gott


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone


On Friday, April 7, 2023, 7:33 AM, yellow04 via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:


Last year at the Jefferson 500 I had three great sessions with a guy running a Porch 914 who had one of these. We had a fun debrief after each session, and after the feature race he pulls his Garmin Catalyst out of his car and showed me what it captured (other than lots of video of my bootlid!) and a lot of the things they covered in the Hagerty article. It looked extremely helpful, but the one thing I don't remember him mentioning was the live coaching feature. I can only wonder why... 

I really liked what I saw, but the research revealed two showstoppers, the unit can not get wet and the camera has a very specific spot it needs to be mounted. Naturally, that spot is where the rear view mirror on the windscreen goes, so strike two. In my case, game over. 

So my data acquisition program remains a knock-off Go-Pro camera that I neglect to turn on at least half the time!

Henry 

On 2023-04-06 09:23, Scott Janzen via Fot wrote:

interesting, though I wonder how I would hear the coaching - ear buds under my helmet, over the noise of an unmuffled exhaust?Be cool to try it out as I'm sure I could use coaching! 

On Apr 5, 2023, at 7:43 AM, David Cutter wrote:
I borrowed one for a test and tune a while back.  While it does all the expected data collection, the really interesting function is the AI-based driver coaching that kicks in after 2-3 laps.  It seemed to work as my sector times improved.  Is it worth $799?...well here is what Sam Smith has to say: https://www.hagerty.com/media/motorsports/review-garmin-catalyst/ 
On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 7:54 PM Mike Harmuth via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:
Hi folks. A friend who races an MG, just asked me what I know about the Garmin Catalyst track recorder. I use a cell phone app (Track Addict) to collect data and find it helpful but have no real world experience with anything else. The Garmin seems expensive, more like something you'd find in a dentist's track day Porsche but his wife wants to know if he'd like it for his birthday. Anyone use this or a similar all-in-one device that I could recommend to him ? 

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