When you think of the name Garmin you generally begin to associate the company with mapping out directions to future destinations. However, as the company has expanded its focus, they have crossed over to developing specialized products and some that fall into the motorsports spectrum. I first got wind of this when attending a Texas Cobra Club track day and saw several owners donning the suction cup-mounted Garmin Catalyst in the cockpit of their Cobra. My first thought was it was just another casual lap timer with video integration, but I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Between sessions, the drivers were inspecting their track time, learning better lines through video, and seeing where time could be made up all without having to hook up to a computer.

It wasn’t long after my initial introduction to the Garmin Catalyst that I also wanted to play with the extremely capable device. We had just finished up our first stage of Project Apex and were heading to Barber Motorsports Park. While our driver Ivan Korda had been on this track a few years ago, there was still going to be a driver’s learning curve of the track well before we could learn the chassis. We started with a baseline lap time of 1:59.18. Session after session we were able to review our data and learned where we could shave time by identifying optimized lines on the track. Eventually, we were able to trim this down to 1:47. A few sessions later and we were holding a 1.48 pace every lap.

Garmin Catalyst Coaches Drivers To Maximize Performance

While the Garmin Catalyst proved to be a great asset for us, it’s capable of more than just showing off lines. It can provide real-time coaching on track with audio instructions to keep your eyes on the track. It also isn’t geared towards comparing you to a professional driver, instead, the Garmin Catalyst uses your measured optimal lap to guide you to your personal maximum performance. Through the use of accelerometers, GPS, video, and algorithms, it can even suggest when to brake, when to apex, and when to keep pushing.

Once off the track, you can review the data through the 6.95-inch super wide view LCD IPS screen with vivid TFT colors. The LCD is a touch screen and alleviates you from having to locate remotes, apps, or even the laptop. The camera records up to 30 fps in 1080p HE in a 140-degree field-of-view. The data can also be transferred to your phone to review at a later date.

Since motorsports racing is driven by competitiveness, either against oneself or others, the company has now released a new update that includes a leaderboard! Now you can compare your lap times against friends and competitors at tracks around the world. So, if maximizing your on track performance is something you desire, then consider a Garmin Catalyst Driving Performance Optimizer before the professional track instructor.