GPS navigation demonstration online?
 

Hi everyone.

I am trying to see if there is a flash or whatever demo of the navigation system.

I saw this one in a thread - http://www.panasonic-europe.com/car/

Is this demo representative of the system in the RX-8?

Thanks for your help.

The demo is very close to the Mazda system. But the traffic congestion reports are not available in every locale. In most U.S. locations they're not available, for example. But the system works very well. In fact there are more options to the system than the demo shows. Learning the system takes a little bit of time but once you play around with it for a while, it's quite convenient, not to mention lots of fun.

Yes

Including the 3d view thing?

No 3D view for us. Sorry.

We have a 3-D-Like view. It is similar to what is shown in the demo and is called "Guide Mode Map." You have to set it.

BTW, the RX-8's English voice is far better than what is shown on the demo...

I still have to say that hands-down Lexus has the best navigation system out there. It's touch screen, voice activated, and has the best visual maps of all of them. Don't get me wrong, I love my RX-8... but I opted for no NAV because I'm spoiled by my Lexus system.

I'm making the decision right now to get the nav or not in my "replacement" 8 The nav car the dealer has has the spare kit- so even though I'm gettting either at invoice- the nav kit will still cost me over $2000.

SO the questtion is, what is the reality of two years down the road their being a stand alone navigation system/ mobile DVD entertainment system you bring with you on long trips that simply spanks the 8's current technology- and for less money.


Actually their definitley will be..... but how much better is it to actually be built into the dash?

You're right; you can be assured in two years technology will be much better. Better not buy anything now cuz in two years it will be better, faster, cheaper.

The advantage is that built-in is so much more elegant. You don't clutter up your beautiful car with wires and strap-on antenna. and have to download maps to a handheld anytime you feel like taking a trip. Potentially, Panasonic can upgrade software on our '8s to give us technology refresh. Whether or not they will really do that is an open question.

wow looks like i wont be able to live without the NAV ;) nice demo

while in dash GPS is cool...If I may offer my .02 I have a Garmin Streetpilot which I can take in any vehicle I travel in and it retails for about 800 street price. It is very good for the money I feel.

So - in the RX-8 is there somewhere for a streetpilot to "sit"?

How about functionality of the streetpilot vs the RX-8 panasonic system?

Thanks for all the answers so far - very interesting and informative.

I don't have a StreetPilot but I do have a Garmin e-Trex Legend that I use in my other car and when I fly out of town.

Other than having something the size of a small cell phone mounted vertically on my dash that I'm constantly sticking in my bag or glove box when I park, it works fine. It does require that I download maps into it based on where I'll be travelling. It has a limited 8MB of RAM but in most cases that's enough for me to do a small metro area or a drive of two or three hours depending on map density. When I travel I usually have to take along a laptop PC to do all the map downloading and such.

The StreetPilot has most of the features that the in-car system has. The only limiting factors it would have versus an in car system is that you'd have to download data to it or a memory card to put inside it based on the area you're travelling in. I don't know how much memory it has compared to my e-Trex Legend but I'm sure it's much more than my 8MB. It's also considerably larger than my e-Trex and would take up more space on the dash and possibly block part of your line of sight.

I'm not knocking Garmin products at all. I love mine. But the aesthetics of the on-board navigation combined with the fact that I don't have to download data to it is a big plus in my book.

Also any hand held GPS unit is also going to be prone to distance errors due to tree cover, surrounding buildings, or antenna placement. With the on-board navigation system you have a gyro based backup that's coupled to the drivetrain. This means that even if the GPS receiver in the car isn't getting a great signal the car still knows where you are based on the distance and direction driven.

For me, I'm going to shell out the extra bucks for the on-board navigation system. It's just too bad it's not quite as nice as the one in the Acura's.

http://www.garmin.com/products/sp2610_2650/

Garmin can be attached in various ways here is their website which gives you a good idea of features.