I penned this a while pack. As most Garmin users will agree, noting there will always be naysayers, the Garmin Catalyst device is invaluable when one is on their mission to learn to drive the optimal line on the track. I was one of the early adopters of the Garmin Catalyst. All the people I turned on to this device, approximately 10, loved it. What an incredible tool! Don't go on the track without a Garmin Catalyst.

Note: I received no compensation or consideration for this article.

 

Great write up! I'm a Catalyst fan as well. I have been using it for over a year at least and still find it very valuable. The video review is great and I like to upload my fast laps to my YouTube page for prosperity sake. Highly recommended!!!

 

..the kind words. Writing that piece took lots of time, a work of passion as I love my Garmin Catalyst, especially the audio "coaching" feedback, invaluable if one is to progress on their driving skills.

 

I have a Solo 2 DL w smarty cam. Although it’s a little more in depth to set up and use I find it suits my needs more in showing RPM, gear, throttle, and braking.

They also have great customer support. I bought mine used and the smarty cam died after a year of use. I contacted Aim and they repaired it for free.

I do acknowledge Garmin is a great unit as well.

 

If you were going to go with just 1 unit what would it be?
They both seem to have advantages to each type of unit.

Aside from the obvious just getting more seat time and lessons, both seem to offer quite a bit to a driver.

Has anybody used both units to offer some more insight?

 

I have used both. I had the AiM SOLO 2 DL and SmartyCam set up back in the day. Garmin Catalyst wasn't out yet. I have another article across the spectrum Data Loggers...need to find it. AiM SOLO 2 DL and SmartyCam is for one who likes to REALLY dig in to the data for subtle details. It is for the serious Data Logger, driver and coach. You don't need a Coach with the Garmin Catalyst, it IS your coach in "real time'".

Ultimately, not wanting to mine data, I moved to the Garmin Catalyst as it is super easy to operate, and we came up to speed in a few seasons. Its focus is on the drivers "real time" performance with "real time" coaching....you can get speed at any section of the track post-session, but you won't have access to the depth of data the AiM SOLO 2 provides. Unless you are a very serous racers and need lots of technical data, the Garmin Catalyst's is good enough, in fact it's very user friendly, designed for the driver to get up to speed rapidly. You probably never encounter a Garmin Catalyst user that doesn't know how to use his system. The is NOT the case with the SOLO 2 DL. The AiM software can be pretty kludgy, in my experience. For me make the most of the AiM SOLO 2 Data, post run session, I hired a data coach, $500 a day. I have never spent one penny on a data coach after started running the Garmin Catalyst.

Also, as we see in the comment above from spyderbret, it s easy to load one's fast lap videos on to YouTube. The slow laps are doomed to infamy!!!

The article on AiM is from February 2012....where I got the time to research and write this stuff....maybe It's because I am retired.

 

I have owned a Catalyst for a couple of years. I think it's a great product - with some limitations. The good - easy to use, easy to access improvement recommendations and I really like that it uses YOUR previous driving on segments of the track to coach you. In essence, it coaches you to replicate your fastest previous segments on all future segments. Then as you get faster, it uses those faster segments as a basis for coaching, not some theoretical fast way around the track. The hardware is easy to install in the car and works very well. The camera works great as anyone who has watched a Catalyst video has seen.
The not so good - you need to mount the unit with a clear view to the sky inside your car to get the proper GPS reception. In my cars, this is on the windshield, far enough to the right to not obscure my view for right hand turns. Makes it difficult for me to see the screen when track driving. Also, I have had the video blank out for many seconds on the track only to come back on. Some of the driving lines contained in the review data is sketchy - squiggly lines when I know I didn't do that. Also, you have to be careful (and you are warned about it) when using (advanced) coaching. Just because you drove a segment once in a certain time doesn't mean you can necessarily do it later - track/tire conditions changed, you're tired, etc. Finally, because of the mounting requirements for the camera, you need to mount it up high on the windshield. This prevents having a camera angle where you can see your hands and I've yet to see a way to overlay a second video mounted back with my hand movements on top of the Catalyst video.

If you're considering buying one or buy one, I strongly recommend watching this detailed video.

Based on my experiences, Im still very happy with the purchase, but as with most things, it does have its limitations.
Hope thus helps for those considering one.

 

Love my Catalyst in my track car. It provides great info, and is especially fun to review the footage when there are "incidents " on the track!

 

Hmmmm, BF deals are on for these units.🤔 Where do you guys mount it?

 

I used this mount: https://t-design9.com/tablet_mount_o...m_porsche.html







I put felt on the back side to protect the PCM screen. It has been working great for over a year.

 

Garmin highly recommends mounting the unit with a clear view of the sky above to get the most out of the GPS in the unit. I mount mine to the inside of the windshield, far passenger side to not block my view on right hand turns. You can't see the display as well, but I'm more focused on the track and I do feel it helps the accuracy of the data recorded.

 

Just a FYI, your post convinced me to get a Catalyst on BF! 😅

 

Has anyone tried this holder before? https://forsvaraengineering.com/shop...sche-cupholder

 

Thank you for this information I'm moving to the Catalyst.

 

Just got to use one recently at it is very impressive.
Can it compete with proper data analysis, no. But the user interface is really good. Great breakdown of what to focus on in a clear and concise way.