Satnav setting

[Rapido925M]

choose the eco route and enjoy the fact you will use less fuel

You must have a different satnav to me!

Mine is a TomTom Go6200Professional (so it accepts dimensions etc).

Try "driving" from Soria (Spain) to Almazan (as I did after a long day, getting off the ferry at 8am).
There is a perfectly adequate, smooth two-lane dual carriageway BUT Tomasina directed us off it a J56 onto a forest track with boulders and fallen trees to rejoin it at J44.

That despite it being set to "avoid unpaved roads".

Give it a try and see where you get taken!

Gordon

It doesn't do this on truck or bus mode, just car & van.

Fortunately I know what "camino" means in Spanish so I never actually took that route, but could see it from the main road, which she was happy for me to follow once I rejoined it. [Hence my comment about boulders and trees.]

It also took us through small villages with traffic lights, roundabouts and cobbles despite there being by-passes (which were visible on the screen).

 

[DJA]

It's hard to win this battle. Yes, shortest is sure to take you through farmyards but fastest, when it's doing it's complex calculations can take you miles up a motorway at 70 mph when a 30 mph road would get you there a few minutes later but at half the distance and a third of the fuel.

Whenever possible cross check a satnav with a map.

Totally agree. Today sorted out a Fastest Route and the recommended one was 31 Miles and 37 minutes via "A" roads and the M25. The quickest "Alternative Route" was 20 Miles and 40 Minutes. The vast majority of the Alternative route was "A" roads and 3 miles of a good "B road.

Doug

 

[hilldweller]

BUT Tomasina directed us off it a J56 onto a forest track with boulders and fallen trees to rejoin it at J44..

I think the problem is that boulders and fallen trees do not show up on a map.

So two things seriously wrong with satnav: 1 - it does not have the detailed data to work on, 2 - because of simple data only simple programs analyse it, no reason to delve into AI to try and replicate what a sensible human might do.

Just like you said - use your head an never blindly follow a satnav when you brain is saying "NO".

 

[DJA]

Try "driving" from Soria (Spain) to Almazan (as I did after a long day, getting off the ferry at 8am).
There is a perfectly adequate, smooth two-lane dual carriageway BUT Tomasina directed us off it a J56 onto a forest track with boulders and fallen trees to rejoin it at J44

I have the TT GO Camper which is a GO6200 Wifi with Camping Poi's. That set to Car or Light Camper (3500KG restricted to 60MPH) directs you straight to the A15 and follows that all the way until turning off into Almazan. 21 Miles 30 Minutes.

 

[Nirvanauk]

I know this is a daft question but can someone tell me once and for all ... do I set my satnav at FASTEST ROUTE

Or SHORTEST ROUTE ?

Whichever I do, it takes me up silly narrow lanes, scratching my mh and then bringing me out a couple of hundred yards further up the wide main road I was on until I was told to turn off.

(I tried changing from female voice to male voice, but he was just as stupid.)

Help please.

You must have the same satnav as me Joy as mine does exactly the same.

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[Dorwyn]

I made a lovely spaghetti bolognaise last night, garlic bread the lot. Everyone loved it. Sorry what was the question...

Wow, that's some sat nav!

 

[DJA]

You must have the same satnav as me Joy as mine does exactly the same.

I see from comments you have made before that you have had a Garmin. If you still have it then I am not surprised. Recent use of a Garmin 660 camper unit was fine until I was nearly home. It suggested very unacceptable narrow single track roads and when I ignored it then suggested ignoring the best route, which my TT suggests, and adds 2 extra miles to what was a 3 mile journey. I have never gone via its originally suggested route to get home, even in a car, unless the appropriate route was at a standstill.

 

[mfw]

Hence worth always using the simulate/preview option and then you can be sure you will not get caught out. Like learning to read a map, one has to learn how to use a sat nav correctly and what all its functions do.

Yes but a long run day Ainsa towards guarda in portugal parked up just before border wife wont drive van and i was tired and far too much distance to preview my choice and it would not bother me doing it again but annoying getting to a point where roads too narrow to accomodate a vehicle

 

[Reallyretired]

I set shortest route and was taken off a minor road to take a rutted green lane through a wood just to bypass a bend in the road. Luckily this was in the Land rover not the mh.

 

[Rapido925M]

I have the TT GO Camper which is a GO6200 Wifi with Camping Poi's. That set to Car or Light Camper (3500KG restricted to 60MPH) directs you straight to the A15 and follows that all the way until turning off into Almazan. 21 Miles 30 Minutes.

Is that using "eco"? (as suggested by @TheBig1 and therefore the basis of my comment)

Mine sticks to the main road on "fastest".

Gordon

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[Rapido925M]

I think the problem is that boulders and fallen trees do not show up on a map.

So two things seriously wrong with satnav: 1 - it does not have the detailed data to work on, 2 - because of simple data only simple programs analyse it, no reason to delve into AI to try and replicate what a sensible human might do.

Just like you said - use your head an never blindly follow a satnav when you brain is saying "NO".

I think TomTom programmers must be equipped with very artificial intelligence if they were ever to imagine that a small unclassified road was likely to be more eco-friendly than a modern dual carriageway, especially when they run parallel to each other so distance variations are negligible. [In fact, to get onto and off the forest track required negotiating 3 roundabouts, which must add to the environmental cost.]

Similarly, what algorithm decides that navigating roundabouts and traffic lights (for which they have the data) is likely to save more fuel than travelling at a steady speed round a short bypass?

As my wife said, TT got it correct 98% of the time: it was just very annoying that we never knew which 2% it was going to get wrong, so every command was queried.

Gordon

 

[DJA]

Hi Gordon @Rapido925M

That is when set to "Fastest" which is how it is always set. Setting it any other way is always going to risk a some more challenging routes.

I have just checked it with the Eco setting and it suggests the same route as via Fastest.

If you refer to my slightly earlier comments re a Route I have set for SHMBO today you can see how different a Fastest Route can be from what would be an acceptable alternative more direct route which because of the Speed Limits takes a slightly longer 3 Minutes on 37 Minute journey whilst reducing mileage from 31 to 20 Miles.

 

[SpeedyDux]

My Garmin camper has been less troublesome since I LIED when I entered the dimensions and weight.

Instead of a PVC it thinks we are a humungous RV.

 

[Nirvanauk]

Yes but a long run day Ainsa towards guarda in portugal parked up just before border wife wont drive van and i was tired and far too much distance to preview my choice and it would not bother me doing it again but annoying getting to a point where roads too narrow to accomodate a vehicle

Can you not persuade your wife to drive in case of illness?

 

[mfw]

I run 2 tomtom sat navs as they can be problems - bit bullet and bought the garmin camper 770lmt good price to see what is better - but i dont know what is better all i know is running a single satnav which goes wrong updating wise is a problem 2nd satnav as backup works for me for gps positions of where i want to be - but we all do things differently

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[mfw]

Can you not persuade your wife to drive in case of illness?

No she wont drive it is too large for her

 

[Minxy]

For those with truck sat navs check you haven't got something like 'left' or 'right' turns preferred as that can make quite a difference to the journeys, some say 'arrive on a certain side of the road/facing a certain way, so again can affect your routing.

One major issue is that the mapping is produced by just 2 companies (can't remember their names) and this means that until/unless they update their mapping you are always gonna get daft routes ... we had 'unpaved roads' turned off our our sat nav and it tried to take us down some roads that had clearly not been used for a LONG time, years in fact, as they had weeds, grass etc growing through them, or the tarmac had just about disappeared completely. We found in Hungary especially that you have to be very careful as there especially quite a few of the roads basically don't exist anymore or are dead ends but the sat nav mapping hasn't been updated to show this.

 

[Sandancers]

I have a works Sat Nav (Garmin) and also the Sat Navs built into the car (or cars as I have had several in recent years). For fun I will program them both to get to a certain place, using fastest route option, usually they suggest different ways and vastly different arrival times.

I have found the Garmin to be consistently the most sensible, but even then going to the same place, from the same place, it might choose slightly different routes on different days with same traffic.

 

[Larby]

Joy, perhaps you should acquire one of these?
Also has built in entertainment value !

 

[Northernraider]

Try the eco route

I've found it not too bad

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[bigtwin]

Don’t forget also that modern sat navs take account of live traffic densities and will route accordingly.

This means that different routes will be offered at different times of the day. This could explain why a parallel route would be preferred over the more obvious dual carriageway route if traffic was queuing at the end of the dual carriageway.

Ian

 

[Reallyretired]

I used to use the Easy route option on the Chinese cheap. It reduces the number of road changes and seems to work well. Unfortunately my other satnav don't offer this so fastest avoiding tolls seems to work best.

 

[Dorwyn]

Try the eco route

I've found it not too bad

I've never understood what ECO route means.

 

[Northernraider]

I've never understood what ECO route means.

I believe it combines shortest and fastest to use the less fuel

 

[SpeedyDux]

Don’t forget also that modern sat navs take account of live traffic densities and will route accordingly.

This means that different routes will be offered at different times of the day. This could explain why a parallel route would be preferred over the more obvious dual carriageway route if traffic was queuing at the end of the dual carriageway.

Ian

Yes, we had an example on 30 December. The Garmin fastest route was totally different from the one displayed a day earlier via Bracknell when I entered the destination. I was puzzled. I had also looked at the Traffic England map before setting off, and there was no indication of any problems on the original fastest route.

Unknown to us, the Garmin was acting on live traffic information that there had been a crash on the M4 the other side of Reading. As we got closer to our Garmin's
diversion the traffic reports on the radio started warning of closure of 2 lanes and one and a half hours delay on the Eastbound M4. Garmin was absolutely right to select a completely different route down the A34 towards Winchester and then heading East on A roads to Surrey. Top marks.

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[movan]

Joy, perhaps you should acquire one of these?
Also has built in entertainment value !

View attachment 277351

Where do I get one please? Can't find one on E-bay.

 

[bigtwin]

I think TomTom programmers must be equipped with very artificial intelligence if they were ever to imagine that a small unclassified road was likely to be more eco-friendly than a modern dual carriageway, especially when they run parallel to each other so distance variations are negligible. [In fact, to get onto and off the forest track required negotiating 3 roundabouts, which must add to the environmental cost.

Gordon

If it’s taking account of current traffic densities it may well decide that it’s more economical to be on a parallel minor road than sitting in a queue of traffic on a duel carriageway.

Ian

 

[Rapido925M]

If it’s taking account of current traffic densities it may well decide that it’s more economical to be on a parallel minor road than sitting in a queue of traffic on a duel carriageway.

Ian

Quite possibly.

However, the A15 south of Soria is very unlikely to be busy and it certainly wasn't when we went down it.
Also, it gives that forest track ("eco-friendly, avoid unmade roads") EVERY time I try it.

Leaving the stellplatz at Winterstein it took us along Lerchenbergstrasse en route to Eisenach, a logging track with quite deep ruts and rivulets before directing us into a farmyard, which I managed to avoid by taking a very narrow concrete track. Autoroute2010 (so out-of-date mapping), which I use as a record of my travels, wouldn't choose that route until I populated it with waymarks 20m apart!

Not surprisingly, I now use it almost entirely on "fastest" although I sometimes add "avoid tolls". It got quite upset when I tried to go from Norfolk to Dover, as it didn't like QE2 bridge [my mistake!].

It is also quite happy directing me through the middle of Umvelt zones, something which I hope TomTom will start marking soon. [I wouldn't trust their algorithms keeping me safe from a €80 fine!]. I now have a big green spot marked at these cities so that I'm aware of a need to choose an avoidance route.

However, as I implied earlier, much better relying on a satnav than a satnag, who doesn't always know which page we're on and is unsure of "left" or "right", especially when travelling south.

Gordon

 

[Offagain]

as for the satnav trying to pronounce road names, go into the menu to turn this feature on or off

I’ve looked all through the settings and can’t find how to turn it off, apart from muting it

Where do I get one please? Can't find one on E-bay.

I’d like one too if you find a spare one! Not bothered about the thing it’s holding though...

 

[TheBig1]

Where do I get one please? Can't find one on E-bay.

I've got one of those somewhere, but not seen it for years. last thing I remember seeing it in the mirror. then time has flown by and next thing I know I am looking at something resembling santa

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