ProCoach

Will just add that since you have what you need, put it in and start with tips from my two AiM videos on how to do simple performance reviews with just your camera’s “intelligent” (information rendered ON the) video.

You could chew on that for a long time, and it’s much more fun.

If you want to dig down, open the data and look at spots you’ve identified for more details…

Matt Romanowski

I'm not shackled to anything. And the Petit winner you used to name said he never looked at the Catalyst. You put it in the car and took it out, then claimed they used it.


I am familiar with it and even know a lot about it. Assumptions are not always safe....

Of course the more information you take in the better. Speed and G Force is the end result of hundreds of thousands of inputs on the steering wheel, brake pedal, and throttle inputs. Those are what decides what the car does and how it does it. While I pointed out the budget decisions above, they affect how deep you can dig into the data and what makes it look the way it does. WHY do things look how they do? And that is the core idea of peeling the layers off. Why does the speed trace drop like it does? The driver hit the brake pedal. Why did they release some brake pressure? Was it a throttle blip? Was there tire lock? Did the shocks bottom? Splitter it the track? Tires overheat? You can keep going deeper and deeper. It all depends what the user wants.

There is no questions with speed, accelerometers, brake pressure, throttle position, and steering, you can really dig into the data. Everything after that supports those and lets you dig deeper and deeper.

I agree completely in the best data system is the one you will use.

Video is not mandatory, but a great add on. Millions of drivers have been helped with just data through the first systems to today. You should see the great DE programs out there that I've helped coaching folks with just a Solo and now a Solo 2!



I would say if you have AiM systems, you should use the data and not just the video. So much of what you do subjectively in the video ("count coasting time") is better done in the data and becomes quantitative vs. subjective. Like I pointed out early, with a little effort and study, Chris Brown's book "Making Sense of Squiggly Lines", lots of great YT videos, and more will give you a background on what to do. I've helped train thousands on the basics to improve their driving. It's really up to the users on how much effort they want to put in, what they want out of their driving, and what tools to use.

I've always said - folks have to decide what their version of fun on track is. If it's using data great! If it's being social, great! If it's just the experience, great! If it's competition and racing, great!

d--

As a new Catalyst owner, I think the focus that’s missing here is that you’ll get a strong reinforcement towards consistency. Per Ross and many others, that’s such a critical thing to improve you driving.

My plan is once I am consistent I can start to experiment and work to find a faster line through the track. And, there is value in having a professional coach ride right seat to find opportunities, or to study the laps from drivers in a similar car who can run faster. Thanks to YouTube, this is pretty easy.

A telemetry device like an AIM would be useful, for sure. And I wish that the Garmin had the ability to read CAN bus data and incorporate that into its analysis and data fields. Perhaps a future version will close the gap. Or, perhaps AIM will add some AI \ Driver Coaching features to compliment it’s better telemetry. Coming off the CAN bus and OBD II would be ideal. Anyway, we’ll see what happens down the road. For now, Catalyst has my money but I am looking for upgrades down the line as better tech is available.

Matt Romanowski

Consistency is a critical skill, but doing the right thing consistently is important too. I would argue to learn the right/fast line from the start. No sense learning something that is not correct. That is the biggest disservice DE programs do IMHO, but a topic for it's own thread!

It's great the Catalyst is giving you what you need. As so many others, if/when you want more, reach out to me or someone else and see what fits the next steps in your driving. As for Garmin developments, they have had some turn over and I'm not sure were it will go, but I only know from the outside.

d--

And that gets to a key question for me, what is the “right thing?” I can tell you that my coaches are happy with lines, I turn good lap times and haven’t had issues on track with safety or damaging the car. Those are all good things to do, and part of being right, I think.

is it taking a racing line? Genuinely curious about this.

Matt Romanowski

I think one of the best ways to get a good read on this is Blayze. Dion and the coaches there are all really great, experienced (great racers!), and really good coaches. People like Mike Skeen, RIcky Taylor, Dion, Nelson, and Ken really do a great job giving you the right mix of racing, driving, and track knowledge. And it's a great value for your coaching dollar!

ProCoach

Exactly the focus I was pointing out. In order to do better, you need to be consistently within a range. Few are.

You seem compelled to speak about things you know nothing about. Keep digging… You are “an AIM expert,” that’s it.

The Petit winner spoke to me after the fact.

I never saw or knew about his use of the device until he spoke to me afterwards and was curious how it worked, because it helped him.

The car arrived from Texas already equipped with a pre-production model supplied to the WRL team running him for evaluation and he told me that he used it to find another 0.4 seconds, AFTER he was ALREADY on the pole in front of fifty-five other cars. He told me, not vice versa.

Video IS mandatory, as you can’t see ALL the factors influencing why the DATA looks the way it does (car position/attitude/traffic/a mistake) WITHOUT it. Sheesh..

Matt Romanowski

Just going off the names you have dropped Thanks for finally calling me an expert! There are other things I'm good at, but I'm not sure you'll agree and Mom jokes don't seem to go over well here.

Video is great and I always suggest it, but it's not a requirement. Think of all the people that were helped with data prior to data laden and smart video systems came out. Too bad they weren't helped!

ProCoach

The reason why the most successful private, professional coaches are that way is because they get to see, up close and personal, WHAT the “right thing” is. Over and over again.

Reading Ross Bentley’s Substack post this morning, he again, for the umpteenth time, reinforces that to improve, to increase your level of performance, that you are DRIVING the car in such a way that the line is not solely your or any coach’s idea of where you turn-in, apex and track-out, but more importantly that you are pushing enough so the car GIVES YOU DIRECTION on where IT wants to go, the trajectory it wants to follow, “pushes back” a little, so to speak.

This means that all competent and consistent (in car position, speed and use of the driver control inputs to influence the car’s attitude) drivers focus less on line and more about optimizing acceleration and braking than following cones set out by the side of the track.

The “racing line” is one that the driver in concert with the car plots in advance the path and trajectory of the path near the measured and observed use of demonstrated tractive effort.

That’s the purpose of data, not only to do better but to capture what you do when your breath is taken away and you go “WOW,” that felt great!

ProCoach

First data laden video I and thousands of drivers used successfully was the 2004-5 CDS and Traqmate/ChaseCam systems, which were great. Still effective. Race Technology Video-4 in 2007, Race-Keeper in 2009, VBOX in 2010.

AiM was next to last to that party with a smart standalone camera (hence, the SmartyCam), but they do it in analysis now with RS3A.

This tech has been around a little longer than you have.

Matt Romanowski

DAVID was 2005, a few years after I started with data systems when I was in college. You really love to hate on AiM anymore. Sorry to the OP that Peter's hate ruins the thread again.

ProCoach

I don’t know where you get this stuff. You’re really out there, friend.

I love AiM and all the great tools out there.

Most importantly, I love helping drivers and seeing drivers help themselves improve.

Heck, you jab me for buying an AiM SmartyCam Corsa on Friday and now you say I “hate”?

m3bs

If I may interrupt this playful banter with a question here since you two are paying attention. What speed rating micro SD card is required for a SC3 Sport with CAN link to Solo2 DL? All the manual says is “up to 2 TB”. There seem to be multiple rating systems that I don’t understand. V30, U3, A2, etc…. Also, how much data is produced by a typical 30 minute session? 2-3 GB?

ProCoach

Like Matt, I like name brand, retail packaged Class 10 cards, specifically Sandisk.

90-100 Mbps write speed or better.

I recommend smaller rather than larger cards and changed frequently. 32 GB cards are what showed up at my house yesterday. Good for a couple days in the SC3 at a typical event or at least one or two open track days, usually.

Matt Romanowski

I disagree with Peter. I think really crappy, generic ones are the best.

My biggest suggestion is buy a few cards, so anytime you take one out, put another in. I buy whatever size seems to be the sweet spot for price. Right now it looks like Sandisk Ultra 64 GB 2 pack is a good deal No need to be too cheap on a small card and always have to remember swapping it so it's not full.