Tested Garmin Catalyst

Baby co-driver

To help you harness your inner speed demon, Garmin has created a driving performance analyser to stick in your car on track days

R19 000 / garmin.com

■ Motorsport is expensive, but track days where you turn up in something mechanically sound for a few laps are increasingly affordable. So this is a circuit GPS that draws on Garmin’s sensor, accelerometer and camera tech to create a virtual racing coach.

■ The 6.95in touchscreen tablet mounts to your windscreen and all interaction is via the large, bright and easy-to-read display – which it needs to be for cursory glances at over 160km/h. A separate camera captures 1080p video and offers overlays of performance data.

■ Garmin’s 10Hz Multi-GNSS positioning techallows the Catalyst to build an incredibly accurate picture of your line around a circuit. This, coupled with racing-line info from circuits around the world, helps determine the most efficient (read fastest) way to get around.

■ Plopped inside a Porsche Cayman at a local circuit, we lapped until the stomach complaints started, then popped into the pits to throw up a bit as the Garmin analysed our session, mapping an ‘optimal lap’ made up of our slickest sections.

■ Tips are presented to improve lap times by refining apex points and braking. Audible coaching is then added to the next session, and the day ends with tonnes of performance data to pore over, complete with annotated video.

Tech specs

Display 6.95in 1024x600 IPS touchscreen Battery life Up to 2hrs (12v lighter socket) Storage 16GB + microSD Connectivity Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm audio Camera 1080p @ 30fps Dimensions 199x122x24mm, 437g ■ Glow, glow, glow!

The Catalyst displays a ‘delta time’ based on your best selected laps; a menacing red glow means you’re losing time, while green means you’re improving. Sadly there’s no virtual racing line to follow like in Gran Turismo.

Map of honour Multi-GNSS uses multiple satellite systems co create a precise picture of how rubbish your last lap was.

■ Turn, turn, turn!

Having a car with a Bluetooth sound system is essential, unless you have a fancy racing helmet with a headphone jack, as voice instruction from the unit’s own little speaker gets lost amid the roaring engine and squealing tyres.

STUFF SAYS Great for finessing your skills but not as good as a human instructor ★★★✩✩

An easy way to analyse why you’re not Lewis Hamilton (yet)

Does the Catalyst make you a faster driver? Yes and no. It’s great for teaching consistency and gradually eking out better lap times, but there are limitations. It doesn’t know what car you’re driving so won’t adjust its recommendations based on vehicle characteristics… and besides,R20k would buy you decent tuition from a private instructor. But thesimple visuals offer some really valuable insight.