[NigelR]

I'm really enjoying most things about my new XE 20T Prestige but the Satnav is beginning to annoy.

There is a wonderful feature which zooms in and out as you approach junctions but the scale on a motorway needs to be in the 1/2 mile to 5 mile range so that you can see what problems lie ahead but the only way of getting this appears to be to turn off the auto zoom. Everything else is far too detailed for a motorway run.

Has anyone else experienced this and better still, found a solution?

 

[tobes]

It must be a setting. My avensis hire car does the auto zoom at junctions from any scale.
Although sometimes a bit to late as already at the junction.

Sorry still waiting on my XE so can't actually give any accurate help.

 

[v0lterra]

On my XE, when you approach a motorway junction it, it displays a picture with all the lanes and signs. It tells you the junction's coming two miles in advance. When you have two junctions one after the other e.g. east v. west, I think the zoom is very important.

 

[NigelR]

Yes I get that and think ist brilliant. My complaint is that i cant run long distances on alarge scale. It want to show me every side road which I dont need to see.

 

[NigelR]

I popped in to my dealer and explained the problem. they are going to report it to Jaguar and let me know if and when there is a software update.

 

[ianbruce]

Sounds interesting - I'm still waiting for the car so can't comment on how it works, but the four cars I've driven with satnav - an X Type, a BMW and two Toyota were all different. The BMW puts up a split screen picture approaching junctions which is pretty good, the Toyota does the same but when on a motorway has a split screen with a linear map of the motorway up to three junctions ahead, with distances and a junction map if you're supposed to be leaving the Motorway. To be honest, I can't remember many details of how the Jag system worked other than it put up a split screen display approaching any significant junction.

The Jag system was very quick to recalculate a route, the Toyota almost as quick, but the BMW takes ages to think about if you go of the recommended route, giving plenty of time to get properly lost. The latest BMW systems are a great deal better. The Traffic info on the BMW is superb, absolute crap on the Toyota and wasn't there on the X Type or the first Toyota. The beauty of all of the BMW screen based systems is the "I-Drive" mouse thingy which you can operate easily without having to poke around touching the screen (which I find distracting). I think that I may be underselling the Toyota because my wife's current Toyota satnav has some sort of intermittent fault which can leap to a location 4 or 5 miles away, takes the most devious route it can find (I think that this may be a mismatch between the routing algorithm and the mapping data) and is inconsistent (and sometimes asks us to drive across the central reservation of a dual carriageway). Problem is, I can't get it to malfunction for the dealer so they dismiss it as being simply that I don't understand road preferences etc. This annoys me ! That is an understatement in case you wonder...

 

[NigelR]

The Satnav on the XE is completely new. I've had two XFs and its very different. In many ways its better its just that I cant hold a large scale on the map when travelling on a motorway.
There are four setting , Three levels of autozoom which all seem to be much the same and off which isn't off. Even when you select off and set the scale to 5 miles, when you get to a motorway junction it pulls up a picture of the lanes - very useful - but returns to 175 yds.

 

[ianbruce]

Nigel,
From your description, that sounds a very irritating arrangement. I've just had a look in the manual which, without a car to fiddle with, isn't a lot of use. On a separate aspect, are you aware of any arrangement for getting map upgrades - ie is there way of updating the SD card ?

The problem with these ultra technical systems is always the same - you need to have the mind of a modern five year old to make them work properly. Bah ! Humbug, etc.

Ian

 

[NigelR]

The system is controlled by a removable SD card in the box under the armrest - so I don't despair of it being fixed

 

[ianbruce]

Nigel,

Unless there has been a major change in the architecture of navigation systems, I imagine that the SD card holds the map data. The routing algorithms will be some sort of firmware in the satnav device itself. Hence, the mapping data can be updated but changing the underlying system would be a bit more difficult. Previously, the mapping data was held on a CD or DVD and updating was easy but pricey - best price I ever saw was a "special offer" from BMW at £120 . You can get new mapping CD's/DVD's online though. The reason I asked about any info on updating the SD card was that some of the add-on firms - eg TomTom - provide free updates for life, presumably by downloading the data online. I have a speed camera warning which offers the same facility.

Incidentally, I know that you can report mapping errors on line - certainly to one of the mapping companies - online.

Ian

 

[NigelR]

SOLVED

It appears that if you set the zoom to "off" once you have joined the motorway the system will remain in the zoom level set even after showing details of exits.

I think that I had left it on "far" zoom which should have worked but clearly is nowhere near far enough.

The three zoom levels are far too close and don't really give the sort of choice needed

 

[jpkrmarshall]

The zoom on the sat nav has been driving me mad too. For a long time i was pressing the +/- button a lot as it didn't seem to auto zoom regardless of what setting i had it on. I then realised that there is a long delay (perhaps only 10 second but it feels long when you're driving) from when you use the manual +/- buttons before it reverts back to the auto zoom.