Anybody got the optional Nav System on their RX8?

your thoughts?

the nav is awesome
I didn't think I would use it as much as I have
its very easy to use and understand

i wish the nav could also display longitude and currrent position of your car, but over all i am satisfied with it
P.S. the start up warning notice is really annoying!!

Nav is a really cool option even if, like myself, you've lived in the same city for many years. It's invaluable when travelling to other places.

It might be the best Nav system going right now. I do have one complaint. When travelling back from Houston to Austin I noticed that the ETA was going to be WAY off. I was averaging 82 mph, was about 100 miles from home, and the ETA said something like 2 hrs and 15 minutes. I don't think this system knows how fast the car is travelling.

The Nav system is one of the best things I love about my car. I have always had an excellent sence of direction, but I have found I am far more adventurous now because I now have 0% of getting lost or taking the long route, unless I want too.

I have also played restaurant roulette and found two good restaurants just by picking a type of food and then asking for the nearest.

The nav system is a great gadget - there is just one problem with it: it's too expensive ($2000 MSRP is too rich for my blood :))

Was it significantly cheaper, I'd have ordered it - but since I already have a Garmin StreetPilot III, I'll use that instead. Granted, it's not as nice as the built-in nav system in the RX-8, but it is a very good aftermarket unit, and it does an excellent job. And it only did cost me $700 three years ago, so I suppose it only got cheaper since then.

But if you have the money, the RX-8 nav system is very nice.

My RX8 is ony the 3rd car I've been in with NAV. First one was an Acura TL and the 2nd one was an Infiniti M45. Both of those were woeful compared to the NAV in the RX8.

My wife opted for it. I was skeptical as to it's use until I got my hands on it. We started for a trip into the country with her folks and she actually reached for a map in the back seat pocket. I nearly choked her for even starting to read a paper map after spending money on that damn nav system. After a brief arguement she and I figured out how to use it and it's awesome. I will definitely purchase other cars equipped with them. Very user friendly and worthwhile if you leave your comfort zone often. Needless to say the paper map is the the bug now.

Originally posted by sandiegorx8
My wife opted for it. I was skeptical as to it's use until I got my hands on it. We started for a trip into the country with her folks and she actually reached for a map in the back seat pocket. I nearly choked her for even starting to read a paper map after spending money on that damn nav system. After a brief arguement she and I figured out how to use it and it's awesome. I will definitely purchase other cars equipped with them. Very user friendly and worthwhile if you leave your comfort zone often. Needless to say the paper map is the the bug now.

lol :D

$2000 will get you a lot of maps on paper :)

Originally posted by TomsterRX8
I do have one complaint. When travelling back from Houston to Austin I noticed that the ETA was going to be WAY off. I was averaging 82 mph, was about 100 miles from home, and the ETA said something like 2 hrs and 15 minutes. I don't think this system knows how fast the car is travelling.

Maybe the Nav did know you were averaging 82 mph and assumed you were going to get pulled over and ticketed, thus the added time. :D

I've had 4 BMW's all with CD based navigation and they were average, but still far better than a paper map. We had an Infinity that had DVD based navigation. It was much superior to the BMW system but would not let you make changes while the car was moving. :mad: The RX-8 navigation is more user friendly than either the BMW or Infinity but doesn't have all the functionality of the Infinity Nav. I beleive they all used similar map data from NavTech.

Once you go nav you'll never go back.:D

I only bought it for the cool factor but after having it, I am super glad I did. It has saved me alot of headache so many times, and saved my ass a few times too.

I wouldn't buy a car without it, now that I realize how useful it is.. Kind of like my cellphone.. or Xenons.. Once you've owned one, there's really no choice.. It's just something you expect to have.

got it, love it. so many times i would be lost. The best part is, if you go some where and there is trafic, just "re-route" and you are on your way skipping it. Its great. I live by the metro D.C. area and for those who know the area , there is no way to go at normal speeds btw. 4 pm and 7 pm. i came out of there at 5:45, right in the smack of the killer itme. Re-routed 3 times and i was out of there and out of the belt way in 30 minutes!

anyways the only bad thing of it thought is when you start to a new destination, it doesn't tell you where to turn right from where you are, you have to look at the "bird view" and guesstimate until you get to the road and changes to guidance mode.

now paper maps don't give you instant re-route. besides its cool to have some one to "talk to you" when you are driving by yourself..

I really love how you have the option to turn it off and on when you feel like. It's pretty nifty how it "disappears" into the console :)

2 things I would take different would be:

a) Remove the startup warning

b) Make it voice activated

I suppose voice activation would drive up the price but it would have to be much faster than inputting using the little joystick...

I've never had NAV before so I have nothing to really compare it to but the thing rocks, definitely a great option :D

The NAV came in very handy on my 3200+ mile road trip last month. Not that it was hard to find anything (I knew where I was going already), but it came in handy for finding mileages to certain destinations - "how many miles until we reach XYZ?". It's also nice to keep an eye on when driving 600-1000 miles a day (something to keep you occupied, watching the arrow move on the map). Occasionally it got befuddled, and got stuck in a "calculating reroute" loop, but turning it off for a few minutes fixed that. Mostly, it was error-free.

My passenger and I were trying to figure out how the ETA is calculated. It doesn't seem to be a blanket "65 mph" assumption, but I do think it takes the speed limit into account (or it guesses speed limits based on the types of roads you are going on). If you change the vehicle speed, it doesn't change the ETA (ie, going 120 won't reduce the ETA compared to going 75). I always base ETA off miles remaining myself, which the NAV is great at calculating. The NAV's ETA would be correct if I was driving like a granny :)

The Nav System is well worth the money.

A paper map or PDA solution may be "good enough" in the same way that a Ford Focus or Honda Accord are "good enough".

SGC

I got the NAV mainly for the coolness and the hopes of modifying it to play movies. But - it's really cool and useful! My wife even likes it, and she's something of a technophobe. She now wants one on her next car. I'm still learning the options/features, but it's pretty easy to use in general. My kids love it too.

Had to have it. (Real men don't ask for directions):D

Originally posted by nash
My passenger and I were trying to figure out how the ETA is calculated. It doesn't seem to be a blanket "65 mph" assumption, but I do think it takes the speed limit into account (or it guesses speed limits based on the types of roads you are going on). If you change the vehicle speed, it doesn't change the ETA (ie, going 120 won't reduce the ETA compared to going 75). I always base ETA off miles remaining myself, which the NAV is great at calculating. The NAV's ETA would be correct if I was driving like a granny :)

It may not adjust for speed (I haven't checked myself, but others have made the same comment) but it does adjust for position. If it adjusted for speed your ETA could swing wildly up and down according to traffic conditions, brief stops, etc. By considering where you are now and your likely speed for the rest of the trip, little by little it will keep adjusting. It may always be high if you speed continuously, but it won't stay high by too much as it keeps recomputing where you are, and remaining time/distance.

It's a great device and I've used it in many innovative ways. the more you use it the more efficient you get at data entry with minimal clicking. The POI database is awesome and very useful.

The Mazda NAV system looks dramatically overpriced to me, but decidedly cool. I've "built" one from component parts that likely works just as well:

Garmin ETREX: ~$100
Compaq Ipaq (Pocket PC 2002) : ~$350
256 Meg SD Memory card: ~$120
Pocket Destinator LOC Software: ~$300
Special cable to hook all three up: ~$20 (eBay)

TOTAL: ~$890

One could do it cheaper with a cheaper Ipaq, a smaller SD card and a GPS antenna instead of the ETREX. When it all comes together I can drive anywhere fearlessly, although I can't say that the system always leads me the right way every time. Highway exits in urban areas are often diffult to distinguish at speed; the maps are not perfect and I have been turned the wrong way at the same intersections a few times. When I do make a mistake, however, I know it immediately ("Recalculating route..."; "U-Turn..."). That's a time saver for sure. I can find where I want to go many different ways, for example, by address, zip code, city/state or from a pre-programmed menu of restaurants, tourist attracitons, gas stations, or pre-loaded places.

The benefits of my system are that the ETREX and IPAQ have a great deal of independent functionality. I use the ETREX to geocache (http://www.geocaching.com), and the IPAQ as an MP3 player (4 hrs. of music without maps) and datebook, for example. I suspect that the software is essentially the same as with the Mazda NAV system... they certainly look very similar. My system also talks ("Right turn, 2 miles..."; "Right turn, 200 yards... "). I can also use my system in any car I happen to be in.

The downside is that my screen looks to be about half the size, although probably as bright or brighter than the in-car system; cables in the car don't look very nice, including the cable to the cigarette power, and the ETREX and IPAQ are mounted with velcro; maps on the IPAQ must be loaded from my PC by "region" (typically half, one or two states in size, sectioned arbitrarily), and when I drive across a regional boundary I need to restart the program (dangerous when moving). The ETREX also requires 2AA batteries, which run down in 12-15 hours.

If I hadn't built this system, I would certainly desperately want the NAV system in the RX-8. Now that I have a navigation system, the $1700 my dealer wants for the built-in system seems steep. I am also concerned that the costs of updating the software will be set very high by Mazda and that the Mazda system will become outdated very quickly. Will people really want this system in their RX-8 in 2010?

Particularly if you own a Pocket PC device such as the IPAQ, my NAV system is certainly a workable solution -- and certainly better in some ways... not particularly "cool" though.

Zoom! Zoom! ;)

Oct. 23, 2003: I broke down and ordered the NAV system. So now I can really do a side-by-side review!