Please wait...
apple maps seems to have caught up to google maps, and while no doubt both have the occasional problem like Ragnar mentions, either are lightyears ahead of standalone solutions like Garmin or your car-supplied nav
I purchased a standalone navigation app, CoPilot, for my phone, in order to minimize the data utilization of my phone while navigating.
The nice thing about it is that the app is frequently updated and applied (unlike Apple maps which can only be updated, functionally, via a firmware update) as are the maps.
$10 gets me forever updates.
2018-08-17 08:36 from wizard of aahz
Actually, my car one has been pretty darned good.
Mine is good in general, but its real-time traffic functionality is its achilles heel; horribly weak, Apple does way better.
"It uses technology from traffic information titan Inrix, which supplies BMW and most other automakers as well as aftermarket navigation device suppliers and smartphone nav apps with data. The company aggregates data from DOTs and other governmental agencies and millions of b probeb vehicles and matches it with historical traffic patterns as well as live events such as concerts that can cause tie-ups."
-- https://www.wired.com/2012/06/inrix-real-time/
If the system in my car is representative of the real-time traffic on most other carmakers, it's supplied by Inrix and it's horrible.
The data is bad (e.g. on a recent trip upstate, I drove straight though a "red" section of I-87 north of Albany and didn't even encounter a single other vehicle, work zone, or accident.
The coverage is spotty (turn on the Traffic Flow highlighting, and you'll see that NYC side streets and other minor roads don't have any information available, and never will because they're not "enabled." Nonetheless, the system wants to detour you onto such roads. It thinks they're better - because it assumes the default - but in reality it has no way of knowing.
The search algorithms, running on the local CPU in the vehicle, are weak; may fail to find a good route even when the available data would have made it the right solution.
The obvious next step would be for someone to build a navigation system that aggregates multiple sources of mapping data and/or turns every driver into a "crawler" supplying data back into the system.
I suppose ten years from now, having a car without a big upright screen will be as rare as having a car without power windows is now.
It'll be cool. We can even frame the screen with chrome for that retro look.
A few weeks ago I took a road trip, I was surprised at the great gas mileage the car's computer said I was getting. A few months ago I took a much longer road trip with all highway travel and was not getting as good gas mileage as I was for this trip. A few days after the trip my check engine light comes on. My mechanic runs the test on it and says it is the catalytic converter, he resets it and says if it happens again I would need it replaced. Of course the check engine light comes on and the mechanic tells me to take it to the dealer because it should be covered under warranty. The dealer says "too bad so sad the warranty expired in August." They said to run the same test my mechanic did for free would cost me $99, which involves hooking the OBD reader up to the cars port. You can buy a reader for $50. The dealership owns every car dealer in the area and like to screw people over.
I found out that California and New York require SUPER-special catalytic converters and do not allow after market converters to be installed. This cost me about $1800.
Fuck.
A lot of newer, sportier cars have a dual-mode exhaust with a flap that bypasses the muffler to some degree when you're closer to full throttle. But the pencil-neck geeks at the EPA will never let them do that with the cat ;)
With the 2018 Mustang it has the ability to change the exhaust note, so you can be really quiet when leaving the house in the early morning, then change it to more or less bypass the muffler completely. I also found a company that offers the same thing for pretty much any car. Though I am not sure why you would want to do that a Prius, but it could be really funny.
JEGS and Summit Racing both offer Electronic Exhaust cutouts.
(Actually that's not true. I've already decided that my next ride is going to be a pickup truck, and they don't make those in electric. There are a few off-brand ones but they cost twice as much as one with an engine and they look like pussy trucks.)