[sr71bb]

Havent seen this discussed recently, but in doing some research, it seems the GARMIN Catalyst is perhaps the best VIDEO recorder type tracking tool??

Anybody have DIRECT feedback on this or maybe what might work BETTER???

I know that the CATALYST does NOT interface with OBDII. The VERBAL coaching aspect of the catalyst seems particularly useful though. I also have use the APEX PRO PLUS but it doesnt have the verbal feedback on coaching.

Both show OPTIMAL driving lines visually and compares the theoretical BEST lap time to your time.

THANKS

[BMoneyMan]

I have a Garmin Catalyst and run it with a bluetooth earpiece inside my helmet for the video coaching. I love it. The information is great and the UI is designed for quick downloads of information after a session.

[RamAir02]

Everyone I've spoken to about the Garmin Catalyst raves about it. I don't have one, but have only heard good things second hand.

[cdrptrks]

Originally Posted by BMoneyMan

I have a Garmin Catalyst and run it with a bluetooth earpiece inside my helmet for the video coaching. I love it.

Did you buy a specific earpiece for use with a helmet on or was it a product you already had?

I have also heard good things about the Garmin Catalyst. I think it is the only device that will do video overlays of speed and G forces without requiring manual effort to sync up video and overlay data and render the combined video which can take a lot of time.

Personally I have a hard time justifying the cost of the Garmin when there is so much good data available from the PDR option on my car but it takes a computer and time to review/analyze the data in detail which can be difficult to do well in between sessions while at the track.

[Christian1LE]

With my limited experience with the garmin catalyst: I don't like it and here is why.

First I had a ton of issues with the video going out which may have been power related, I plugged in the unit a different way and those issues went away. But then I had issues with the garmin not registering my lap, I had to reset the whole unit and it started working again. So I had a lot of technical issues and basically made the whole thing useless for a few sessions.

When it finally started working I honestly don't think it gives any useful information. The GPS information doesn't seem accurate enough and the delta time you get out of it seems to be somewhat accurate but more of an average. For example, going into turn 1 it may read +.5 at the entrance of a corner, and then as you exit it will read -.5. And this is not because I wen't in slower into the corner and faster out of it. It's simply just trying to read GPS data that may be off by a few meters and it screws up the calculation.

On top of that the information you get at the end of the session is very visual, and not quantitative. You just have these little visual charts of the line you took and where you supposedly braked. There is no way to go through and scrub manually, it just plays in a loop. It basically gives you a very basic overview of what is happening. I want more charts and more hard data. An OBDII connection would help this for vehicle speed/braking and throttle input.

Garmin tries to do too much with too little. I am going to try it for 1 more trackday but I'm not convinced it's something that will work for me. I think the Aim2 Solo may be more what I am looking for. I want to open up a program and look at exact braking points/turn in, minimum speeds/maximum speeds from the car, the GPS info is not good enough for speed, I know this because I've compared GPS speed with the OBDII information. The speeds themselves are not off, but the specific speeds at certain parts of the track can be incorrect by 5mph or so.

[5.M0NSTER]

I've has a Catalyst for 2 full seasons now. Both in Europe and here in the States. I like it as a lap timer, and video recorder. It's been flawless for me. Always connects, good GPS quality, decently good video and overlay, easy to export.

The coaching instructions I don't find useful, and I also lack the quantitative data on cornering g's and such. I also find that top speeds as indicated by GPS vs CAN data are few mph lower.

But running hot lap after hot lap, I find the live delta to my previous lap helpful. I can take a slightly different line and see the gains/losses in real time.

[Baddawg53]

The catalyst is amazing for what it is. However, if you're very data driven and want to download and analyze loads of data, this is not the device you want. I find it helpful for me being fairly new to tracking but I could definitely see a point in the future where having more useful data would be better. The videos are great with the overlays, and you do get some useful data, but I also haven't found a way to pull that data from the device and put it on my laptop.

[NinthWave]

For more in depth analysis the options currently seem to be AIM and Racelogic VBox. I've been using AIM in my track/race car for a few years but it's not easy working in Racestudio at least for me. I can pull the video card which has data overlayed pretty quickly for review. I have heard a lot of good things about VBox. These systems are somewhat costly. Depends how deep you want to go.

[SoCal Smith]

Originally Posted by sr71bb

Havent seen this discussed recently, but in doing some research, it seems the GARMIN Catalyst is perhaps the best VIDEO recorder type tracking tool??

Anybody have DIRECT feedback on this or maybe what might work BETTER???

I know that the CATALYST does NOT interface with OBDII. The VERBAL coaching aspect of the catalyst seems particularly useful though. I also have use the APEX PRO PLUS but it doesnt have the verbal feedback on coaching.

Both show OPTIMAL driving lines visually and compares the theoretical BEST lap time to your time.

THANKS

I love my Garmin. Feedback is great!

https://youtu.be/wl_sPWvchxU

[sr71bb]

THX for the feedback guys.

[Dabjbr]

Yeah it’s hard to define ‘best’. I intentionally bought a car with PDR. In many ways it’s great but I found it lacking after a couple years. I then bought a remote gps unit, GoPro and various iPhone apps. That still left me wanting more. I then bought a catalyst a few months back and have used it once, maybe twice? It’s really cool and the immediacy of reviewing your session is fantastic.

I can’t say I’ve owned it long enough to give a thorough review. However, I think it still lacks some key functions (and view) that I enjoy.

For now, as crazy as it sounds, I’m going to keep using the 1) PDR AND 2) Catalyst, and 3) GoPro between seats for the best video PLUS external mic taped to the back bumper.

I’ll use the catalyst at the track for driver improvement. The others will be for YT videos I create (primarily for my viewing pleasure).

[VaporPressure]

If you can get beyond the poor video and sound quality, PDR is really capable for data analysis. Use Pi Toolbox and some youtube tutorials on how to get the most out of it...you will have more data than you know what to do with.

If you're looking for lap by lap live feedback, Apex Pro or Garmin seem like the popular choices. But they both lack a lot compared to PDR in terms of data that you can analyze between sessions/events.

[BMoneyMan]

Originally Posted by cdrptrks

Did you buy a specific earpiece for use with a helmet on or was it a product you already had?

Any bluetooth earpiece would work, but I bought a pair off Amazon specific for this so I can leave them in my track bag.

[ZRacerLE]

Love the Garmin