How much do or should you trust your GPS ???

**ebxr8240** · 03-11-2009, 01:58 PM

I'm in the U.S at present.. Went for a few days drive L.A to Otay valley, no issues..Stayed the night there..
Then loaded GPS to Phoenix Arizona , no issues..
Then Mountain top Arizona .. No issues..
Then loaded Kayenta 160 h/way Arizona..
About 2 hours along the GPS said turn right..
It was a gravel road .. But GPS said 7 miles.. [See where this is going?]
I have hired a Pontiac G6 http://www.pontiac.com/g6-sedan-2009/?seo=goo_|_2008_Pontiac_Retention_|_IMG_Pontiac_G6 _|_G6_Pontiac_-_Pontiac_G6_|_pontiac_g6
After 7 miles the GPS says turn left then another 12 miles... Hmmm ???
Drove through some of the most colourfull clay, rock but the worry was could Iget out of here??
Then the GPS says turn right for another 44 miles !!!
I'v seen movies where people get lost in circumstances similar ...
The road had bad ripples on it so any speed over 30 mph was near impossable !!
We made it our destnation!! But I tell you I was having my concerns as we only had one 1/2 bottle of diet coke and 1 banana...
Funny now but NOT at the time...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayenta,_Arizona
Oh btw they have Mustangs as highway patrol cars in Nevada.. Lol...

FTE72 · 03-11-2009, 02:13 PM

I think there is an option on the units to "take fastest(most direct)route" and if the unsealed roads or even forest tracks are shown on map database they can become part of the route plan.
Could get a bit hairy in rural areas.

Ohio XB · 03-11-2009, 02:33 PM

I have concluded that one will be branded as "old" when they reject new technology. I now fit that catagory.

I have a hand held GPS that I use for fishing and marking hot fishing spots, as well as navigation on Lake Erie (small boat, I don't lose sight of shore). No confusion with roads here.

But I will never use a GPS in place of KNOWING WHERE I AM GOING. Anytime, and all my life, when I needed to know how to get somewhere I would find it on a map, and then plot my course how to get there. This way I KNOW where it is instead of relying on something to tell me at the appropriate turn when to turn, when I don't know when or where that turn is.

All my life I have never been lost and have got everywhere I have ever wanted to go......with a map. I will not spend a couple hundred dollars to get lost. Yeah, that's old fart thinking.

:

I've heard too many stories of people's GPS' failing them. I can eliminate that 100% by doing what I have always done, and it's as easy as rolling over.

Steve

GREGXR8 · 03-11-2009, 02:33 PM

Mine did it to me coming out of Adelaide in a semi. Took me up some steep, narrow, twistie back road that bought me out at the top of the Adelaide hill. Then it took me into Ballarat down a couple of narrow dirt roads. It also shows me i'm driving in paddocks when i'm on Eastlink.

Ohio XB · 03-11-2009, 02:43 PM

I don't leave anything out of my control if I don't have to, whether technology or a person.

Steve

S3SR · 03-11-2009, 02:53 PM

what GPS are you using?

i guess it really comes down to how well do you trust technolgy, because the only thing that lets it down is the user or the developer.

eg it can either be that the road you are on at the moment may be used by 10 people a year, therefore = no use for them to update (costs too much or they dont see the point as it isnt used, it wont be maintained, etc), or the fact that your GPS has been told to avoid either toll roads, highways, roads you cant make u-turns on, whatever else

otherwise YES i trust my GPS, the 17oookms i did off road with my GPS in places where radio and mobile phone coverage didnt exist i knew the only thing reliable was my BT50 and my Garmin GPS

BIGJB · 03-11-2009, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FTE72

I think there is an option on the units to "take fastest(most direct)route" and if the unsealed roads or even forest tracks are shown on map database they can become part of the route plan.
Could get a bit hairy in rural areas.

You got that right. When we first got to NZ I had forgotten to turn this
feature off. Made for some interesting trips to say the least. lol
It was trying to send me down farm tracks and all.

**ebxr8240** · 03-11-2009, 04:49 PM

The GPS dind't fail me and the road on GPS was marked as a road..
I knew what area I was in as I had a map as well.. But this area is fairly outback..In Aus it would equivalent northern teritory...
Keep in mind 90% of vehicles in this area are SUv's..And native American area...
The GPS is Garven which I'm not 100% familiar with...
It did show goat tracks.. Thats the funny part....
This route I guess is used by 4wd scienic tour...
Was expecting Broken bow, Sitting bear to ride by... Lol...

mickyyyy · 03-11-2009, 05:16 PM

Check the route setting and most brand u will notice this;

Fastest route = takes u more on highways/freeways and so on as there are more lanes hence getting there faster.

Shortest route = takes the shortest and most direct route to ur desierd destination and depending ususes more back streets on short trips.

I have noticed that if ur going on a long trip that sometimes its way better to use shirtest route as it gives a more direct route and not go from 1 highway out then onto another a=coming back in.

Also check to sealed roads and so on

rodderz · 03-11-2009, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickyyyy

Check the route setting and most brand u will notice this;

Fastest route = takes u more on highways/freeways and so on as there are more lanes hence getting there faster.

Shortest route = takes the shortest and most direct route to ur desierd destination and depending ususes more back streets on short trips.

I have noticed that if ur going on a long trip that sometimes its way better to use shirtest route as it gives a more direct route and not go from 1 highway out then onto another a=coming back in.

Also check to sealed roads and so on

Was going to mention this. The shortest route is sometimes a lot different to the fastest route where it will take you along back roads if they are shorter rather than the highways.

prydey · 03-11-2009, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Was expecting Broken bow, Sitting bear to ride by... Lol...

how, me big chief long horn, you come with me...

Green X · 04-11-2009, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FTE72

I think there is an option on the units to "take fastest(most direct)route" and if the unsealed roads or even forest tracks are shown on map database they can become part of the route plan.
Could get a bit hairy in rural areas.

Push the Short trip button and ya GPS sends ya down the Gun barrel Highway or across the French Line LOL

deesun · 04-11-2009, 07:23 AM

A mate recently followed his GPS and finished up writing his car off in a tree

: when the dirt road made a right angled right hand turn and the GPS was still saying straight ahead even when the car was in the tree.

: Give me a UBD/Gregorys/Refidex anytime.

DBourne · 04-11-2009, 07:50 AM

how did he not see a tree in the middle of the "road" ?

I trust my GPS a bit too much, made for some fun drives with the EX when the GPS would say "turn right" and I hear in the passengers seat "wrong"

Walt Kowalski · 04-11-2009, 07:59 AM

The problem was you hired a Pontiac.

Everybody knows they are the favoured vehicle for Rednecks with mullet haircuts - along with Camaros.

And Rednecks with F Bodies live up deserted roads.

So the GPS company obviously has a deal with the rednecks to take unsuspecting international victims into the woods for ambush.

"Squeal piggy"

Lucky you weren't killed.

Man what am I thinking?

Must be the heat.

XR6_661 · 04-11-2009, 01:36 PM

Last time I used one of the bloody things, lead me miles out of where I wanted to go, told me to do a u-turn...Did that, got 50m up the road, 'Please do a u-turn'

ON A STRAIGHT STRETCH OF ROAD.

mickyyyy · 04-11-2009, 02:37 PM

When units go wired like that a simple reset of the units usually works

Hardtopxb · 04-11-2009, 03:01 PM

I have to travel all over the USA and I now always use Fastest route.I have been lost, or it's taken longer using Shortest route..

Pinch · 05-11-2009, 07:30 PM

I trust the GPS more than I trusted the operator (yours truly!).

It was a god send over in Europe. Dealing with driving on the right in most places, other languages, different road rules, and especially French and Italians I decided to take one issue out of the equation - getting lost.

I find the portable units, particularly TomTom better than most OEM stuff (not that there was any OEM in a Fiat Punto! Ebay U > got one with all the Western Europe, North America and Australia maps pretty cheap.

So all good, EXCEPT I can advise do NOT leave on plan walking routes when you get back in the car.

Changing hemispheres I lost a bit of intellectual capacity it seems, and my sense of direction.

Went to the beach in Sorrento (sthn Italy) and parked years away so just grabbed the GPS to get bearings to the beach. Set it to walking and all sweet. Got back in the car, set it to Positano and set off.

With the unit still thinking we were walking it sent us up all these tiny lanes. This was a bit of a trip so I must not have seen the 5 or so hours as the arrival time, but anyway. Kept going up a tiny, high walled lane that kept ketting narrower, and narrower, and narrower until CLUNK - both mirrors squashed themself in. I had actually realised half way up what had happened, and changed the settings - but didn't cancel the old calculated route. I didn't realise it just kept following the already saved (walking) one, even if you change the settings halfway through.

The track was steep and winding uphill. I was going to just throw it in, rip the bars off and cop the $50 excess that I had on my travel insurance that would then pay the 1500 Euro hire car excess, but I just couldn't do it - even to a rental car. Managed to carefully inch it up and down and got it out after about 15 mins. I had been blocking the path totally for the whole time - annoying the hell out of about 10 scooter riders.

Eventually I got it to a lay by and let them past, clutch smoking, left leg shaking, but nothing on the car apart from two small scratches on both mirrors that were considered wear and tear at handback.

Mi molto dispiace!!! (I am very sorry) I yelled over and over. The scooter riders had just sat there on their scooters, smoking, laughing at us dumb tourists, and looking cool. Had I have held up 10 people in Sydney for 15 mins I doubt I would be telling the story.

Oh, and my wife got it all on video. YouTube maybe???

Pinch · 05-11-2009, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hardtopxb

I have to travel all over the USA and I now always use Fastest route.I have been lost, or it's taken longer using Shortest route..

Reminds me of that episode in the Simpsons where they go to Itchy and Scratchy land.. "Now let us never speak of the shortcut again".

TomTom will come up with a pop up though when set to either shortest or fastest if there is an unsealed road asking if you want to continue or re-route.

luke · 05-11-2009, 09:56 PM

One thing everyone seems to overlook is the fact that ALL in-car GPS units are a driving "AID" only, and that they should always be taken with a grain of salt. All these units in OZ either use maps from WhereIs or NAVTEQ. Driving directions can only be as good as the maps are.

The other option is to use a GPS which can show a compass pointing to your destination. Just keep heading in that general direction until you get there. Works when you're in the middle of nowhere and the tracks you're driving on aren't covered by the map.

frd906 · 08-11-2009, 12:06 AM

get this, i left from brownsplains, to go to burpengary, and set the sat nav to avoid toll roads, so i got there no problems,

so i set it to go back the same way with the same settings , but for some unkwon reason it tokk me through the toll roads when i had it set not to go through them,

wasnt very happy

prydey · 08-11-2009, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frd906

get this, i left from brownsplains, to go to burpengary, and set the sat nav to avoid toll roads, so i got there no problems,

so i set it to go back the same way with the same settings , but for some unkwon reason it tokk me through the toll roads when i had it set not to go through them,

wasnt very happy

i would much rather use the logan/gateway motorways and pay the few dollars than wind my way through town. although i believe there is a fair bit of roadworks around on the gateway so depending on when you are travelling it may actually be quicker.

vik351 · 08-11-2009, 12:47 PM

I remember a Choice Mag test on them a few years back now...

And in South Australia we have Kangaroo Island which you need a ferry to drive onto and float across the water to get there...

Well not according to one brand,it interpreted the ferry route as a road I presume and said just keep on going...

vik...