Sat Nav In Chimaera & iPhone Tom Tom application
Discussion
Hi guys,
I know that there is a sat nav section in the forum, but I am trying to contact you guys, as you are using the same car as I do…
Basically, the current sat nav that I have is not that good (it often does not find the placed I have the post code for, it often is “recalculating”, the wait it is displaying the route is not the best, far from it… I guess it is a fairly old model it’s I think the model is “Garmin Nuvi 360”.
Except the above, the ,main thing that annoys me is that I cannot hear the bloody thing: I have a TVR Chimaera 500 with the cat in, but I believe some work has been done on the exhaust… so it is not the nosiest Chimaera out there, but I guess a little more noisy that the standard 500. I honestly and only hear the sat nav if I really, really concentrate… So what I am doing, is running a cable (3.5 mm jack extension cable) that plugs into the Sat Nav and have a little speaker (phone speaker) connected to it, laying in the little “tray” built at the rear of the centre console (it works but is a little annoying as it is more stuff to plug in, hide when you park, need to make sure I have batteries for the speaker, etc….).
So I am looking to upgrade my Sat Nav and maybe you can help:
1) Do you have a sat nav that you are happy with: performances and more importantly that you can hear easily in a Chimaera that is slightly noisier that the standard with roof on and roof off.
2) If yes, can you please tell me what sat nav you are using?
3) Iphone question: instead of buying a new sat nav, I could just buy the Tom Tom application for the iphone. Questions:
3.1) is the Tom Tom application any good.
3.2) does it work when abroad and turning the data roaming off? Basically, when on holidays I want to be able to use the Sat Nav, but off course do not want to pay a fortune on data roaming.
Any valid input would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Frenchie.
I know that there is a sat nav section in the forum, but I am trying to contact you guys, as you are using the same car as I do…
Basically, the current sat nav that I have is not that good (it often does not find the placed I have the post code for, it often is “recalculating”, the wait it is displaying the route is not the best, far from it… I guess it is a fairly old model it’s I think the model is “Garmin Nuvi 360”.
Except the above, the ,main thing that annoys me is that I cannot hear the bloody thing: I have a TVR Chimaera 500 with the cat in, but I believe some work has been done on the exhaust… so it is not the nosiest Chimaera out there, but I guess a little more noisy that the standard 500. I honestly and only hear the sat nav if I really, really concentrate… So what I am doing, is running a cable (3.5 mm jack extension cable) that plugs into the Sat Nav and have a little speaker (phone speaker) connected to it, laying in the little “tray” built at the rear of the centre console (it works but is a little annoying as it is more stuff to plug in, hide when you park, need to make sure I have batteries for the speaker, etc….).
So I am looking to upgrade my Sat Nav and maybe you can help:
1) Do you have a sat nav that you are happy with: performances and more importantly that you can hear easily in a Chimaera that is slightly noisier that the standard with roof on and roof off.
2) If yes, can you please tell me what sat nav you are using?
3) Iphone question: instead of buying a new sat nav, I could just buy the Tom Tom application for the iphone. Questions:
3.1) is the Tom Tom application any good.
3.2) does it work when abroad and turning the data roaming off? Basically, when on holidays I want to be able to use the Sat Nav, but off course do not want to pay a fortune on data roaming.
Any valid input would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Frenchie.
dOMv8, do youhave more info on what you are suggesting?
Ribol, I do not really like your set up, personal choice I guess, but I think it look s a little big / tacky, also I rather have the screen where I am looking, m,ounted on the windscreen rather where it is fitted.... Also not really "transportable": i need a system that I can take with me into another car ...
Ribol, what is the aluminium bar under teh leather section of your dash board on the passenger side, I have newer seen any other car fitted with this, intriging?
Guys, does anyone out there have any other coments, I am sure most of you out there use sta navs in your Chimaeras.
Ribol, I do not really like your set up, personal choice I guess, but I think it look s a little big / tacky, also I rather have the screen where I am looking, m,ounted on the windscreen rather where it is fitted.... Also not really "transportable": i need a system that I can take with me into another car ...
Ribol, what is the aluminium bar under teh leather section of your dash board on the passenger side, I have newer seen any other car fitted with this, intriging?
Guys, does anyone out there have any other coments, I am sure most of you out there use sta navs in your Chimaeras.
frenchie TVR said:
Ribol, I do not really like your set up, personal choice I guess, but I think it look s a little big / tacky.............
I prefer a larger screen, not having to look at wires trailing and not having to hide a Tom Tom every time I stop somewhere. It also controls the ipod in the boot and has seperate volume control for audio and navigation directions - but as you say all down to personal choice 
I just have a tom tom GO live planted in the middle of the screen , I generally dont listen to the voice prompts as the tom tom lady lies... just an occasional glance at the screen tells me all I need to know.
Not much help am I....
No matter what you use its always going to be a problem. You could use an iphone with an FM transmitter dock to play the voice through the stereo. But then you cant have any music on at the same time. I've just bought an in car intercom system for use on long journeys as its impossible to have a conversation with the roof down and a sleeved exhaust. It has a 3.5mm jack input that I can connect to my phone so it works through the headsets but I guess you could hook the satnav up to that as well.
Not much help am I....
No matter what you use its always going to be a problem. You could use an iphone with an FM transmitter dock to play the voice through the stereo. But then you cant have any music on at the same time. I've just bought an in car intercom system for use on long journeys as its impossible to have a conversation with the roof down and a sleeved exhaust. It has a 3.5mm jack input that I can connect to my phone so it works through the headsets but I guess you could hook the satnav up to that as well.
Frenchie, haven't you had a close look at my set up yet?
TomTom are the best sat navs in my experience, the software is intuitive the maps are accurate.
I have an old TomTom 910 that I swap from the company car to the TVR in seconds, works a treat
I just fitted a second TomTom window mount/cradle & a 12v supply kit in the TVR.
I then bought a cable with the Pioneer aux connector at one end & a 3.5 jack at the other to connect the TomTom mount (3.5 jack) directly to the back of the original TVR supplied Pioneer head unit.
The suction mount fits low on the screen with the unit resting on top of the dash just left of centre, when I fitted it I lifted the dash top so the two wires (power & audio) could neatly disappear behind the dash.
With the sat nav just left of centre, low & angled towards the driver its easy to see without obscuring driver visibility.
When swapping the unit between cars the only connection I need to make is clipping the sat nav into the suction mount cradle, doing so connects it to the stereo and charges it automatically.
Put the stereo into "Aux Mode" and you get all your sat nav instructions as loud as you like through the speakers, in fact I can confirm you can hear it perfectly with the roof down at speeds well in excess of 100 leptons
Best of all the TomTom 910 comes with a 20GB hard drive and an MP3 player inside the unit so you can play all your favourite MP3 stored albums through the stereo.
When the sat nav gives you directions it pauses the music, then reinstates it at the same point it paused it when it's finished telling you where to turn.
Or (like me) you can turn the voice instructions off and follow the screen instructions while listening to your tunes (or better still the exhaust).
The 910 is also BlueTooth enabled, it does have a hands free function for your mobile but sadly it doesn't put the callers voice through the stereo like it does with the sat nav & music functions.
You do however get a BlueTooth remote that's useful for indexing music tracks on the move.
Sadly the TomTom 910 is now obsolete (I had mine before I bought the TVR) but you can buy a refurbished TomTom 910 off EBay and all the kit you need to install it in two cars for less than £100.00.
It's proved to be a really nice cheap feature rich sat nav & music player combination that works equally well in both my cars.
Swapping between the cars literally takes seconds and all your favourite locations, maps & music ect follow you into either car.
I'll show you next time we meet up.
TomTom are the best sat navs in my experience, the software is intuitive the maps are accurate.
I have an old TomTom 910 that I swap from the company car to the TVR in seconds, works a treat
I just fitted a second TomTom window mount/cradle & a 12v supply kit in the TVR.I then bought a cable with the Pioneer aux connector at one end & a 3.5 jack at the other to connect the TomTom mount (3.5 jack) directly to the back of the original TVR supplied Pioneer head unit.
The suction mount fits low on the screen with the unit resting on top of the dash just left of centre, when I fitted it I lifted the dash top so the two wires (power & audio) could neatly disappear behind the dash.
With the sat nav just left of centre, low & angled towards the driver its easy to see without obscuring driver visibility.
When swapping the unit between cars the only connection I need to make is clipping the sat nav into the suction mount cradle, doing so connects it to the stereo and charges it automatically.
Put the stereo into "Aux Mode" and you get all your sat nav instructions as loud as you like through the speakers, in fact I can confirm you can hear it perfectly with the roof down at speeds well in excess of 100 leptons
Best of all the TomTom 910 comes with a 20GB hard drive and an MP3 player inside the unit so you can play all your favourite MP3 stored albums through the stereo.
When the sat nav gives you directions it pauses the music, then reinstates it at the same point it paused it when it's finished telling you where to turn.
Or (like me) you can turn the voice instructions off and follow the screen instructions while listening to your tunes (or better still the exhaust).
The 910 is also BlueTooth enabled, it does have a hands free function for your mobile but sadly it doesn't put the callers voice through the stereo like it does with the sat nav & music functions.
You do however get a BlueTooth remote that's useful for indexing music tracks on the move.
Sadly the TomTom 910 is now obsolete (I had mine before I bought the TVR) but you can buy a refurbished TomTom 910 off EBay and all the kit you need to install it in two cars for less than £100.00.
It's proved to be a really nice cheap feature rich sat nav & music player combination that works equally well in both my cars.
Swapping between the cars literally takes seconds and all your favourite locations, maps & music ect follow you into either car.
I'll show you next time we meet up.
Ribol said:
At least they won't be breaking in to nick your map, not much call for those down the pub 
True.Map reading is becoming lost art amongst the youf.
Unplug their sat navs and watch them wander in confused circles
Thinking about it
I've never known the batteries go flat on a map either
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