RTI Sat Nav - in a world of its' own

[perussell]

Just took del'y a month ago of new XC90 Executive and very nice it is too! Very pleased with all aspects bar one - the Sat Nav. Leaving aside the fact that the traffic info doesn't work I have sometimes been less than impressed by the routes offered to me and then the system's intransigence to plot a new route when I have (purposely) strayed off path e.g. Loughborough - Chippenham this week - sat nav suggested I go via M1 past SIlverstone and M40 to Oxford thence Newbury and along the M4. (system setting - fastest route). I opted to go M69 past Coventry / Warwick and then down the A429 Fosseway to Cirencester and on - approx 50-60 miles shorter and just as fast. On crossing the M40 I was prompted to go down the Motorway - OK not unreasonable but not where I wanted to go. But for the next 20 miles the system consistently tried turning me round 180 degrees to go back to the chosen route, a journey of up to 115 miles! However when I changed the setting to shortest route it finally agreed with me and 115 miles became 58! - so 115 was hardly the fastest route. It seems as if the choice is either between favouring Motorway or cross country but not a mixture of both. Why doesn't the system recalculate sooner, how can it think 115 miles is going to be faster than 58? Is there another way to set this up - if I set up Shortest route it does exactly that and ignores for example a nearby m-way which might add only 10 miles to the journey but which will obviously be faster. This issue therefore seems to be the intransigence to recalculate away from the original route.(ps none of the internet route planners e.g. RAC/AA etc thought Oxford would be the quickest route either!)

[George Holmer]

There seems to be two schools on the programming of sat navs. One say that if the driver strays from the programmed route, the software should recalculate on the basis of the way the driver is actually going, i.e. if you say Maidstone to Birmingham and it says M40, if you then go down the M4, it should recalculate and ask you to come off at the A34 for the M40. This is of course the most inteligent way of doing it. However, the other school tends to think that if the driver strays, he should be asked to return to the original route and to do this not via the fastest way from where he is to the best point of the original route but from where he is to whence he started straying regardless of time and distance.

If you ask a sat nav to calculate the shortest distance route, then it will ignore the motorway as you say. I have no explaination why the sat nav wanted you to go this rather strange way, however, for the fastest route.

George

[link:www.ttsservices.co.uk/my%20volvos.htm|http://www.ttsservices.co.uk/Signature.JPG]

'95 Volvo 945 Polar LPT
'87 Volvo 745 GLE Turbo Diesel Intercooler
'86 Jaguar Sovereign 4.2

[perussell]

This gets even better.......... travelling from S West to Sunderland for Xmas. North of Leeds the A1 was blocked so decided to take the A64 to York and then round the ring road and straight up the A19 through Thirsk and Middlesborough to my final destination. 5 miles out of York, and in order to help navigate the ring road, I entered the details into the Satnav and told it to avoid the A1 up to Scotch Corner foolishly expecting it to pick up the A19 - hardly a minor road.
What do I get? - a suggestion to turn around, drive back across the Pennines to the M6, then up north to the Lake District and back across the A66 at Penrith turning a journey of approx 97 miles into a 'fastest' route of 192 miles!!!!
Thank heavens this was standard equipment in my vehicle and that I didn't fork out £2500 as an extra, I would be spitting nails.

The system is worse than useless......
I cannot believe Volvo can be behind such rubbish!

[tj101c70]

HI Guys

Have heard about this before,,and afraid I can not offer any explanation,, only that I have ran Volvo,s sat-nav since they were first fitted(1999 year) and have never had any problems at all,
I do know that the XC90 & V70 systems are not the same, as my "R" operates in a different way to the XC.s


Regards


TJ101 04 V70R AWD (Flash-Man)
05 XC90 D5SE(Ruby-Geartronic)

[Simon Linton]

Since I live in Loughborough and my mum lives near Chippenham, I've tried every variation of the route between the two.

The shortest and prettiest is the M1/M69/A5/Fosseway/Moreton-in-Marsh/Lechlade/Swindon variation, the fastest (with my driving) is the all motorway M1/M69/A46/M40/M5/M4 to the Chippenham turnoff and all other variations are either slower, uglier, more frustrating or longer.

Try programming the former into a sat-nav: it's hard enough on a computer route map!

[perussell]

Spoke to Volvo about this last week both at dealer and corporate level.

Systems in V70 and XC90 are different i.e. V70= CD and XC90= DVD and supposedly they are not interchangeable in any way.

Volvo eventually suggested I try another DVD, apparently they are renewed every December. Dealer however didn't have a copy of Dec 04 disc but did have a more recent disc than the one in my Sep 04 vehicle ???? - which makes me wonder if there has been a batch of faulty discs since in principle the original disc in my vehicle should have been a Dec 03 version.

Anyway, early days , but out of interest asked the system to route me from Chippenham to Loughborough. Fastest route via M4/M5 etc and shortest route via A429 etc with no mention of Oxford or Northampton so initial outlook is more promising. However I haven't tested the system in anger yet so we shall wait and see...........

[tj101c70]

>Systems in V70 and XC90 are different i.e. V70= CD and XC90=
>DVD and supposedly they are not interchangeable in any way.

Both V70 (02 model year) and XC90 are DVD systems,, however the programs are different,, ie, you can find address via post codes on the XC,, but can not on V70 !!!,, i have tried to swop discs, but no joy

Regards TJ



TJ101 04 V70R AWD (Flash-Man)
05 XC90 D5SE(Ruby-Geartronic)

[Al115]

You really would have thought it economical for Volvo to produce ONE sat-nav system across the range - unless the differences are in hardware as well as software?


Alastair
----------------------------
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/photopost/data/500/357v70-sig.jpg

[perussell]

Well, the new disc isn't a lot better than the old one. Last week travelling east along M4 en route to Hemel Hempstead (M4/25/1), the M4 was blocked between Reading(J10) and Maidenhead (J8/9). Told the system to avoid the next 12 miles expecting to be taken up to the A4 East, then North along the A404 dual carriageway to High Wycombe and onto the M40, thence back to the M25. Seems logical doesn't it? But no, the system suggested I divert South through Bracknell and onto the M3 and then to the M25 (and through the major Roadworks) in other words instead of diverting me North towards my destination it wanted me to go in the opposite direction i.e.South and add a further 20+ miles to the journey. Suffice to say I ignored the advice.....

Interestingly Volvo have suggested I use the 'Avoid M'way's' option in future. I think I shall use the 'Avoid SatNav' option and revert to using a good old fashioned Road Atlas.

Also have subsequently learned that a replacement / updated DVD map costs £240!!!

[edzmicro]

I too have the XC90 RTI sat nav system - and am terribly disappointed with this junk masquerading as a useful item - unlike previous owners I did pay for mine as a new car option - unfortunately.
I have used PDA style systems previously and they are just SUPERB !
Using TOM TOM 5 they do exactly what you would expect - offer an alternative route IMMEDIATELY if requested with just one button press.
I picked up the XC90 from Huddersfield 95 miles - using TOM TOM -
I set the Volvo RTI for the route back - it sent me in the opposite direction took 1 hour longer and was 135 miles.
If such superb software is out there why for pities sake doesn't Volvo licence the TOM TOM system. It also allows you to input all the Gatso and traffic light cameras in the UK - with warnings!!!
Dont buy a new dvd @ £200 + go out and buy a PDA with TOM TOM 5 installed - until such time as Volvo get their a--e into gear and do the job properly !! It will be better AND cheaper.

[perussell]

In recent weeks I have upgraded my system to incorporate the new TMC traffic information data (at a substantially lower price than advertised!). These discs do seem to be a bit better than before but not much. In theory the system plots the route and then if it recognises traffic problems ahead it offers you a new route and allows you to choose whether to accept it or not - all very good in theory.
However some weeks back was travelling to Gatwick - M4/M25/M23 - when the system warned me 30 miles in advance i.e. around Reading, of hold ups in the road works on the M25 around Heathrow. I asked the system for an alternative route to which it replied that there wasn't one! Having some local knowledge I was able to divert down the obvious alternative i.e. the A329/322 thru' Bracknell and onto the M3 before rejoining the M25 south of all the problems thereby avoiding the trouble altogether.
Consequently I tend to use the system more as a mapping function now rather than navigation. The navigation has proved itself very useful in cities but for longer journies it certainly still leaves a lot to be desired. Typically I enter my destination into the system and then switch it back off until I am near to journey's end.
The surveillance option does have it's uses as well - allowing you to check traffic flows at predetermined points - but all in all it's still quite disappointing!

[Muscas]

I understand Volvo has recently activated the RTI function however to my surprise only on the newer DVD based systems.

I have the older CD system, cannot say I have a complaint regarding routing as I have always found this function to be satisfactory.

BUT I hate trying to set a destination as its hopeless! Noes nothing and this perticular part is far to complicated.
I don't have a post code search so this is a big draw back but in general it is worth it. On many occasions it has been worth its weight in gold. Replacement CD's are expensive from Volvo at about £150 however I recently got hold of a Volvo edition from Germany at a cost of £11.50 including postage from E bay!!

Regards

Patrick

Also
Toyota Celica Carlos Seinz Limited Edition in RED UK car
2002 Renault Laguna 1.9Dci Sport Tourer
1991 Mitsubishi GTO 3.0 V6 4WD.4WS "JUST SOLD"

[imac]

I have use of a 2005 Peugeot 407 with Sat Nav, and it tried to tell me to 'turn left now' whilst I was halfway accross crossing a very long viaduct.

Apart from showing suicidal tendancies, it also provides me with some of the most ridiculous routes to get from A to B, which often adds plenty of time to the ETA on the system.

It's not just Volvo...