I've noticed the jumping from highway to offramp behavior in my car a couple times and also had a pain in the ass time this weekend when I was in Berkeley where the streets are fairly close together and the navi accuracy was poor (probably due to heavy rain/cloud cover or multiple signal reflections from buildings/hillsides).

I've done some hardware development work with GPS systems a few years back so maybe I can make an educated guess about these kinds of behavior.

If you're cruising along a freeway and take a gradual off-ramp, your car still appears on the highway to the navi because of a combination of two things. One, the error of GPS is big enough that to the computer, you could either be on the highway or the off-ramp. The computer doesn't really know so it makes a best guess based on your past route etc. Two, the turn-off wasn't significant enough to register on the yaw sensors in the car to let the computer clue in to the fact that you were in fact getting off the freeway. Once you get far enough away from the freeway the navi realizes it made a mistake, and your car jumps from the freeway to the offramp. So, the navi isn't lagging reality, as some people have said, but it's just making some best quesses in software that aren't always correct due to the inaccuracy of GPS and turns that don't regsiter significantly on the yaw sensors.

 

Just as I expected: absolutely nothing. They also rebooted my car, and that's it. They claimed they would call Acura tech support and get back to me, but they never got back to me. I'll be filling out my customer service survey soon...

 

Not sure if it means anything, but after reading this post I thought I'd check out my Navi system as well.

To me it seems like I'm having the same issue. It seems as if the front of the circle is the front of my car because each time I come to an intersection, the front of the circle reaches it before the actual "A" logo does. And I also have the "jerking" issue when exiting a freeway. The Navi still thinks I'm on the freeway and then it eventually notices that I'm on an off-ramp and moves the icon over. A little annoying, but nothing that I really mind. Just wanted to throw my in.

Did the re-boot do anything btw?

 

I've heard that the navi can be "off-position" by up to 100 ft or so. Think I saw this in the manual.

Mine definitely does the same thing. Sometimes it's on the money, other times it's just close.

 

All this activity we see on the screen is normal! Ours is the same way.

Don't forget, these GPS's are constantaly locking onto Satellites. The're pretty darn accurate for what we have.

Almost every weekend I'm in the National Forrest, deep in the National Forrest, sometimes 50 miles in on dirt roads with ATV's. Many a times, I wouldn't get home till the next day hadn't it been for GPS. To easy to get twisted and turned around and lost. When it's time to head back to the truck and trailers, we turn the system to track mode. It's gets us home with serious accuracy, EVERY time. Don't forget, this is in heavy forrested, tree covered mountains.

Also, don't let the screen fool you, as others have said, you will watch the Red Acura Logo jump to the correct street. This is Normal! The screen is only as accurate as the person who ploted the program. Some of these maps are old that are stored in the hard drive. If you live in an area that is growing, such as we do, your map will be blank and or you will see streets that are cut off/short and even have no names.

It would be interesting to hear from people with Navi who live in Las Vegas! One of the fastest growing cities in the US.

I haven't bothered to check yet, but am wondering if you can update the map in these systems. Can you downlod them somewhere, buy them or what??

Believe in your system, within a very short time, it wiil lead you correctly.

What would fighter pilots do if they didn't trust their instruments??

 

BTW

When you make a sharp turn,180 deg. or 360 deg. the satellite is tracking on and locking back onto YOU. the type's of movement you see is normal

What would a fighter pilot do if he didn't trust his instruments??

 

Thanks for the info. I do not, however, want to confuse the two issues. When I mention "lagging behind reality," this is not about the off-ramp/jumping thing. The lagging is when I'm driving at a good clip, if I'm passing over/under a highway, river, intersection, the NAVI shows me crossing well after I've actually crossed it.

This was the issue that bothered me the most, and what prompted me to bring it into Acura service, where they promptly did absolutely nothing about it.

 

My 3.40C NAV DVD arrived today. There was a firmware upgrade that didn't take too long. I don't see any visual difference as compared to last years which had a number of changes. The database date on 3.40C is 20041119 (Nov 19, 2004) and the soffware version is 1.2. The booklet that came with this version is virtually identical to last years (3.30). I am guessing that there were only minor system changes and that the biggest update is the database itself (update roads, POI info etc...).

 

Did the firmware update come with the new navi dvd? or can we update the firmware on our own?

 

The firmware is on the DVD. When you put a new NAV DVD in the drive, it does a check to see if there is new firmware on the disc. If there is, then it does the firmware upgrade right there and then (and tells you not to shut off the engine until it is finished). Then it reboots and starts up as usual.

 

I have the 3.40a, I wonder if the new dvd is worth it?

 

I've got the 3.40a also. I asked the dealer, and they said the only difference between minor revs (such as 3.40a and 3.40c) is for compatibility issues. There's not gonna be any difference in the database or coverage. Wait till next year and save your money.

 

I agree with bigwillie. If you already have 3.40a I certainly would not shell out $185 for 3.40c. I doubt there is much of a difference at all. You got the major firmware updates and latest database in 3.40a. Heck, I am wondering if I should have just skipped a year and bought next years. I am probably going to sell my 3.30F on eBay if anyone is interested. However, it would only be of interest to anyone who bought a TSX with NAV before Fall of 2003.

 

John,

I understand what you are saying when you mention the "lagging" issue. Mine does it too, once in a great while. Normal I believe it to be with satellite track and lock. I wouldn't worry about it guys, as I've said, it's normal. Nothing the stealer can and will do about it. Start getting used to it I never thought I would like one in a car, but my wife uses it all the time, especially when she want's to find that new store she's been wanting to go to