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Can you add multiple drivers to it? Will it last the test of time in a 14 hour crap can race? Can you make it display any other data?
DirtyBird222 said:Can you add multiple drivers to it? Will it last the test of time in a 14 hour crap can race? Can you make it display any other data?
1. Yes. You can set up multiple driver and car combinations and profiles, and switching between them is pretty easy.
2. ???? It seems as durable at least as ay iPad or Android tablet. Unless it's getting crazy heat or vibrations, it should hold up as well as any other electronics.
3. The way it actually displays data is kind of limited to someone who is familiar to "traditional" data traces. It doesn't give you really high resolution traces to analyze, instead it does the analysis for you and shows you a less-resolved trace as reference. For someone who has never used data acq before, it puts them immensely ahead of the curve. For a more experienced data user, though, it could seem limiting at first. It's strength is not in the granular trce analysis, but in the highly efficient communication of that analysis in real time.
JG Pasterjak said:DirtyBird222 said:Can you add multiple drivers to it? Will it last the test of time in a 14 hour crap can race? Can you make it display any other data?
1. Yes. You can set up multiple driver and car combinations and profiles, and switching between them is pretty easy.
2. ???? It seems as durable at least as ay iPad or Android tablet. Unless it's getting crazy heat or vibrations, it should hold up as well as any other electronics.
3. The way it actually displays data is kind of limited to someone who is familiar to "traditional" data traces. It doesn't give you really high resolution traces to analyze, instead it does the analysis for you and shows you a less-resolved trace as reference. For someone who has never used data acq before, it puts them immensely ahead of the curve. For a more experienced data user, though, it could seem limiting at first. It's strength is not in the granular trce analysis, but in the highly efficient communication of that analysis in real time.
Thanks JG. I'd bite the bullet on this in a heartbeat if I could somehow integrate data from the ECU to make it an all encompassing display. I.e. streaming bluetooth data from a Hondata ecu.
Can it be used for autocrossing?
John Prieve said:Can it be used for autocrossing?
At the moment, no. Garmin is prioritizing the "driver improvement" features of the unit seemingly above all-else, and that functionality requires data input, and the whole point of autocross is highly limited data input. It doesn't really even start making suggestions until after a couple laps, and the more you drive the more granulat the suggestions get. So it's a difficult task to bring that functionality to an autocross situation.
That said, we definitely inquired about point-to-point functionality and autocross functionality, and the Garmin devs definitely know it's a thing people want. For example, it can do Bridge-to-Gantry on the Nurburgring, meaning it's comfortable with different start and finish lines. Whether that eventually translates into usability for hillclimbs and autocross remains to be seen, but they know we're out here asking for it.
If it can do point to point, hillclimb should be accessible once the existing courses are mapped out. Autox is going to be really difficult for it to learn.
This is seriously cool tech, and I suspect I'd benefit from it. I've had access to data acquisition for years but I've never been able to make any real use of it to improve my driving.
Keith Tanner said:If it can do point to point, hillclimb should be accessible once the existing courses are mapped out. Autox is going to be really difficult for it to learn.
This is seriously cool tech, and I suspect I'd benefit from it. I've had access to data acquisition for years but I've never been able to make any real use of it to improve my driving.
It is cool tech. Not sure it will help you become a better driver....
Auto Sport Labs/Race Connect have some really rad products as well; however, they involve a bit more hands on work to get everything up and running. This Garmin seems like a great plug and play for basic data logging. With the size of the screen, the ability to integrate more data would make it a great one stop shop for a racecar. This seems to be better suited for HPDEs or arrive and drive peeps.
I'm not seeing this as a datalogger at all. It's a coach.
Race Capture (etc) are great for analyzing the car. You can see how the platform is behaving by sifting through a bunch of data. And with some practice and the right kind of mind, you can use it to develop the driver.
But that has a major weakness - the feedback loop is too delayed. Other than a predictive lap timer, you can't use that logged data until you get out of the car. That's where this is different. It gives a suggestion, you act on the suggestion, you get immediate feedback both verbally and with a predictive lap time. It also helps you assemble your best sectors in real time. This isn't a race engineer, it's an instructor. You don't need to know throttle position vs cornering load or oil temperature, you need to know "am I turning in too early?".
If by "good for HPDE", you mean people who are not pro-level...well, there are a lot of people in that group. If you could benefit from a ride-along instructor and this is well implemented, it could probably benefit you.
I've been driving the same track here for about 15 years. I suspect (okay, I know) that there's more speed in there for me, but I've been stuck in the same motions forever. This could help bump me out of that.
I plan to pick one of these up in the Spring
I had high hopes for this unit, but after all I read about it adn the testing it just istn worth the big lump of money yet (for me). I hope they continue improving it and bring in some needed basic functionality, the concept has great potential.
I've done a couple of days with mine now. Actually I did a weekend in Houston with it right after it was released, but I failed to get the audio sorted for the in-car coaching. Even with that, it gave me useful feedback after each session especially considering that I was on a track I'd only driven once before.
I have to say that I like it. Like many intermediate drivers I have data capture (that I tend to ignore, or spend hours getting bogged down in). This really does cut to the chase. Think of it like having a Peter Krause looking over your traces and just picking out the ones with the biggest room for improvement.
Sidebar: wouldn't it be cool to have the same thing for OBD data? Don't make me wade through trace after trace, but send me an alert that says, "Hey, you're beginning to experience oil starvation on high speed left hand sweepers. Maybe consider baffling or an Accusump?" That's an actual example from one of his AiM seminars I was in btw of something that data can tell you but only if you know to look for it, and how to look for it.
Back to the Catalyst. Once I got the audio properly sorted, I have to say that I'm enjoying it. I ran it for two casual track days where I was working out of Harris Hill and jumping in to do a few sessions here and there. I know that track but its just been repaved and reconfigured, so it feels very different and most of my reference points have disappeared.
Its interesting. First, as a visual lap timer, the delta display is about as clear as you can get. Big, easy to read red and green background deltas meant that I always knew how I was doing (unlike the Solo that I've had mounted for far longer that somehow I always had to remember to check). The audio coaching was good too. 3-4 laps in it started suggesting "apex earlier/later." or "brake earlier." I had what felt like a few drop outs, where I'd just hear "later" without the noun, but by and large it was useful without being intrusive.
Did it help? Too early to say, honestly, since I don't have a good baseline on this track. My times did drop 1-2 seconds per session but I'd intentionally started out easy and kept dialing it in throughout the day, so I can't say that I wouldn't have done as well without it. I did feel that it gave me some interesting advice though, and following it generally seemed to work well.
Will it make me a better driver? I'll probably know that in another few weeks. I will say that its likely getting me back to my "current" skill level at that track faster than I would have progressed without it, but the real test will be how much it keeps helping me after the repave-newness wears off.
Still, I'm a Miata-driving cheapskate, and I don't begrudge the $1K. I'll likely be selling the Solo 2 as well. Not that it doesn't complement the Catalyst, but since I was rarely using it fully before now I don't see that I'll get more interested in digging out my own datapoints any time soon.
Lap times were consistently within 0.01 seconds between the two devices, btw.
I wonder if the drop-outs you report are congitive. I've found that when I'm listening to audiobooks while driving cross-country, I will lose chunks of the book if I have to deal with something like navigate. The narration continues, my brain just doesn't bother to process it because it's not high enough on the priority list. With a live instructor, you've got some person waving around and making non-verbal cues. With this thing, you've got nothing but a robot voice and that's easy to shunt to the background if you're fully engaged in something else.
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