Last year I ran both a Garmin Catalyst and an AIM Solo 2 DL/SmartyCam for the full season in my car. I also worked with many drivers that had one system or the other, so I had a lot of time to compare systems and how drivers used them. Here are my key learnings about the Catalyst from that experience.
Note: The Catalyst is a great device but it is limited in its “coaching” abilities. A quick check-in with a human coach can identify major opportunities that it misses. When working with a private coach, one of the full-data systems I’ve reviewed in previous posts would be a much better choice.
Learnings
(+) Great system for quick video review – video with automatic overlays in handheld device without any transfers or other SW required
(+) AI “coach” is not bad for basic improvements – it does identify opportunities to improve and provides video support
(+) Useful real-time recommendations – with “advanced coaching” system will call out changes before needed
(+) Automatic creation of an “optimal” lap video – stitches together videos of the fastest segments from different laps to create an “optimal” lap video, so you can see that lap
(-) It misses major improvement opportunities – it often just misses big improvement opportunities – see following example
(-) Encourages over-driving – it doesn’t have a way to determine overdriving, so it tends to encourage it
(-) Doesn’t capture driver input data (Wheel, pedals, engine, …) – without inputs it can not provide info on throttle or steering inputs that would improve performance
(-) Confuses engine braking with true braking – it will not suggest a lift or other throttle or braking approaches that may improve performance. It also will often suggest an incorrect braking point
(-) Difficult to share limited data – data can not be exported and can only be shared via the Catalyst app
(-) No track knowledge, will not suggest a line if you never drove it – no line knowledge, no visual references, no racecraft
(-) Often says to drive faster with no other suggestions for that opportunity – it often doesn’t provide info on how to go faster, it just says go faster
In order to keep this brief, I will focus the detail on one missed opportunity. This example is not an outlier; I see these types of issues with almost every session when comparing Catalyst and AIM.
Example 1 – from the NASCAR layout at Watkins Glen.
The three opportunities the Catalyst identifies are the Esses, the Carousel and what is normally T10. Note it does not identify the bus stop as an opportunity.
When I open the data screen on my phone and compare the fastest lap to the optimal lap I see that the biggest time gap is the Bus Stop. There is a second to gain there.
The problem is that even with the data on the Catalyst app, I have no “coach” data on how to get that faster time through the Bus Stop.
Compare that with a screen shot from AIM Race Studio 3 for the same session. I clearly see the second difference in time through the bus stop. (comparison graph at the bottom).
From the video I can see that the faster time was a result of an earlier turn in and taking more of the first curb, allowing a higher entry speed.
The Catalyst is much easier to use, but it just totally missed the key opportunity, and instead focused on the wrong top 3 opportunities.
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