Sat Nav and TMC
 

I thought I'd put this thread in the European forum rather than Audio and Electronics as it seems to only be a European issue (US don't seem to have TMC).

When I ordered my 8 a few weeks ago I was trying to work out whether the sat nav system was worth the extra dosh or not. Because I rarely end up going to new locations but tend to use the Midlands' motorway network a lot I am more concerned with traffic avoidance. So Traffic Message Channel compatibility (TMC) is key for me.

However, although the sat nav unit is a Panasonic 2300 (which is TMC compatible) and NavTech supply the DVD (they do a TMC and a non TMC version I think) and the manual (that I read at the dealership) showed a sat nav start-up screen with the TMC logo, the actual DVD case in the demo car's glove-box was missing the vital TMC logo. Also the manual did not mention any traffic avoidance functionality. So, although all the sat nav components seem to be TMC compatible the cars shipping at the moment seem to be missing it.

In the end I ordered the sat nav unit as I assumed that I could always upgrade the DVD to the TMC version and get an aerial splitter to feed the all-importance Classic FM frequency into the Panasonic 2300.

Did I make the right decision? Has anyone got any more informatin on the subject?

Certainly sounds interesting. Keep the group informed if you find anything out. I will dig a little further in to it once I've had my car a couple of weeks.

I pick mine up tomorrow so will ask the dealer if he knows anything and have a good look through the manual.

No doubt it will not be upgradable!

I would appreciate any more information. It is strange how little information there is on the Mazda website and at the dealers about the functionality of sat nav. I assume this is because the specs change from one country to another.

I hope you're right about it being upgradeable!

Did anyone get anymore info on the TMC, can we get it to work?

A

As far as I'm aware, you need to get the Panasonic TMC unit and plug that into the SatNav system, you also need to buy a new Panasonic disk as the generic Mazda one does not have the TMC data on it.

There is a thread discussing this over at the UK Ownersclub (why not join!) http://rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3537

I noticed the "frequency" options when playing with the NAV units "back door." No doubt this has to do with the missing TMC function. Wish we had it in the U.S.

See my photos posted in this thread.