Poor routing, out of date data

[MChance000]

I had the Z1 installed over the Easter weekend and I plan to have it removed this week. I do not recommend this unit. In my opinion, Pioneer has spent the majority of its energy in protecting itself from liability rather than on useability and reliability. I have read that the green parking brake lead can be grounded to bypass the 'grey out' of multiple functions. The pioneer representative in the store I spoke with has bragged that they have built in speed sensors to prevent dvd and multiple nav functions use even with the ground bypassed. This appears to be true, but unfortunatly tying the Z1 into my electronics appears to have made my digital speedometer no long accurate. I own two Magellan 700's with with it agreed exactly prior to installation, but no longer. It does appear that now the Magellan and Z1 give the same GPS speed, and agree with each other now so the loss of accuracy is now in my Porsche. I can't prove it yet, but I feel it is due to the install. Guess I will know when I get it out. As for grounding the green wire to the parking brake, I didn't do this. None-the-less I get error messages frequently that have to be cleared by repeatedly touching ok. The messages indicate that there is an error in the parking brake wire installation. They occur both at start up, which by the way takes quite a while, and even on the road when not even using the nav. I took it back to my installer who verified correct installation, says he is going to talk with pioneer about this issue.

Routing is inferior in my opinion to the 700. I have been led multiple times by the Z1 off Interstate/Toll roads onto housing subdivisions and occasionally dead end streets when a more direct route was just to stay on the road and intersect another main route. It has even tried to get me to retrace my route when I was almost at my destination to go by some route it stubbornly stuck to...would have added over an hour to a 15 minute trip. A route from Daytona Beach to Jacksonville would have taken me on US 1, a 35-40 mph road a significant portion of the route whereas the 700 properly led me to I 95 and 70+ MPH travel. Changing the estimated road speeds or "fast" "main" etc setting doesn't seem to make a noticable difference. If you are stopped, with parking brake on and after clearing the error message you have the option to choose between several route options. It is hard to tell just looking which is the best choice as there is just a small outline routhe to look at. But, even when you choose the best of available it is a pain when you just click "fastest route" on the 700 and pretty much get the best route each time. The Z1 estimate of time en route is almost always off, but as you get closer and closer to where you are going it begins to agree with what 700 says from the outset. Seems the Z1 on this route took shortest distance regardless of speed. But this isn't consistent. Once I had to navigate in Jacksonville, the Z1 took me a roundabout trip through downtown that took 20 minutes, including 4 re-route attempts to avoid dead ends the system wasn't aware of due to bad nav data. Contrast this to the superior rounting smarts the more current 700 I had as back up showed a quicker turn for a 5 minute trip. The Z1 also, in city traffic, advised me of turns AFTER I had taken it. I also got lots of turn advise with multiple roads that just say "keep right" or right turn with no way to tell which road.

So many functions are greyed that the poor routing, out of date data can not be compensated for with routing on the road, even though I had a companion who could have handled this while I had full attentionto the road. The voice commands are spotty and freqently result in a "zoom in" instead of a "set as destination." If you are parked in a quiet car and it works much better. I also subscribed to XM and Nav traffic. I can't see any effect of having the nav traffic when I traveled to Orlando. In all conditions and for all routes in the time I have owned the Z1 the 700 was in my opinion superior, more reliable and had by far the best routing.

[HeavenSoldier]

Hmmm? Maybe you have it installed wrong, this has to be the only bad review of the avic z1 out of millions, check the cnet reviews! Really the first, don't try to mess with the wires to make the movie and greyed out things work while driving, it's taken out so you will not wreck, maybe doing all that is throwing the GPS off. But who knows whats wrong, God Bless

[MChance000]

The unit was professionally installed, by SoundAdvice (Tweeter) and the install was rechecked by the installer. I have not changed or modified anything. The CNET is a glowing regurg of the manufacturers specs, not a real test. My comments refer to real world navigation and I stand by them.

[JasonH]

I agree with the navigation. When I hit the go to school button, my D1 wants to go down a major street with stop lights every block instead of driving a extra few miles and getting on the interstate. it does however get the correct route if I hit the next button and go to route #2.
However, Car Navigation in general is a very new concept, we are the "early adopters" and have to adjust our criticism accordingly. New concepts are never perfect.

The speedometer error, I believe was caused by poor installation. They could have a bad connection on the wire, there could be noise or interference somehow leaking into the wire, but from my experience with places like Best Buy, they just cut the wire, wrap the 2, or 3 together, and tape it. This causes a bad connection and could very well lead to your inaccurate speedometer.

[MChance000]

My installer insists that isn't the case on the install. But, even so that doesn't explain the abysmal navigation. And if the problem were just "car nav" then all the companies units would be bad, but the 700 I used for comparison is cheaper and better. Car nav is something I have been using for years now. But never have I spent so much on anything that navigates so poorly...expect for perhaps one of my ex-girlfriends. But even they know 70 is faster than 35 and no stop lights is better than neighborhoods small roads.

[HeavenSoldier]

Hmmm, I'm still going to get it though, most people told me they're avic z1 navigation was dead-on accurate, check crutchfield user
reviews here [url=http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LU1FlQeQwQN/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?search=avic+z1&i=130AVICZ1]http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LU1FlQeQwQ ... =130AVICZ1[/url] , But I will find out for myself if something is wrong, but based on other reviews and forums, it's the best navigation so far. Like I said check with your installer because if you look over the web you'll be the only with a negative review despite the ones mad because of the bypass issue. But the z1 has a feature where if you go down a certain road instead of the route suggested it will use your route for future reference. But I'm getting the z1 especially with the lane features, 3D features etc. God Bless

[JasonH]

[quote name="MChance000"]My installer insists that isn't the case on the install. But, even so that doesn't explain the abysmal navigation. And if the problem were just "car nav" then all the companies units would be bad, but the 700 I used for comparison is cheaper and better. Car nav is something I have been using for years now. But never have I spent so much on anything that navigates so poorly...expect for perhaps one of my ex-girlfriends. But even they know 70 is faster than 35 and no stop lights is better than neighborhoods small roads.[/quote]

I know the nav isn't great, but it works most of the time. Do you have it set for "faster routes" and "multiple routes"? If you have multiple enabled, it will let you pick the best route to take. If fast and multiple are both enabled, it should sort a route list based on ETA's. Also, there is a menu to set speed limits on small and large roads as well as the interstate. If set correctly, it should be more accurate.

[MChance000]

Unfortunately, as I explained in my prior post it appears that all the things you mentioned don't seem to fix the problem. I have tried every permutation and there doesn't seem to be much of a difference. The installer says the road speeds only change the estimate. As I indicated, estimate skills are poor on the Z1. You can't adjust any of this on the Magellan 700 but it gives good estimates and the best route every time depending on your choice of fastest, shortest, most or least use of expressways. The Z1 doesn't seem to pay attention to any of it. In any event even if it does going to the multiple route option often doesn't yield the best option you would choose looking at a map yourself, from the 700, from mapquest or from Microsoft Streets and trips. And all the latter agree pretty much with each other but none agree with the Z1 in my experience.

[MChance000]

[quote name="HeavenSoldier"]Hmmm, I'm still going to get it though, most people told me they're avic z1 navigation was dead-on accurate, check crutchfield user
reviews here [url=http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LU1FlQeQwQN/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?search=avic+z1&i=130AVICZ1]http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LU1FlQeQwQ ... =130AVICZ1[/url] , But I will find out for myself if something is wrong, but based on other reviews and forums, it's the best navigation so far. Like I said check with your installer because if you look over the web you'll be the only with a negative review despite the ones mad because of the bypass issue. But the z1 has a feature where if you go down a certain road instead of the route suggested it will use your route for future reference. But I'm getting the z1 especially with the lane features, 3D features etc. God Bless[/quote]

Do yourself a favor. After the install, get a Magellan Roadmate 700 or similar and compare the routing. The Z1 will get you there, maybe, but add some time cause likely it won't be the best route. I would make sure I buy from a dealer you can get your money back from. Just my opinion.

[rychone]

I agree with MChance000. I have this installed in my Porsche 996 for the past 3 days and the route calculation on the navigation is not very good. I live in Atlanta, GA and the map data is outdated and many streets are missing. When i enter an address it will be up to 1/2 mile off and request turns that are not neccessary. The routes it reccommends is not always the best route. It is good at getting you "close". I will have to play with the system more and see if i can fix this or set way points to give me the best route.

I also have an issue with the speedometer accuracy. The Z1 states my speed to always be 2+ mph slower than what my guage tells me. I dont know if this is affecting my car but I have no way to testing which is correct so i may take it in to the dealer.

Its also missing some basic features such as the radio does not display the information from the stations such as station name, artist, song, etc. The ipod interface is horrible considering the cost. The voice commands rarely work unless its quiet and it always wants to "zoom in" regardless of what you say.

But i do have to admit this is probably one of the best looking units on the market right now and it looks great. There are so many features that it almost out weighs the gripes i have with it. I hope that they release updates to the firmware and maps. I'm keeping mine for now.

[HeavenSoldier]

Really rychone, I was hope to speak to someone from Atlanta who has one. Because I mainly wanted to drive there to try the z1 out, the accuracy issue is not good then, how about e-mail z1 and letting them know? MChance I know the megallon(however you spell it) may be good, but I just wanted something that would fit in my dash and have hi tech features, but hopefully by the time I get it, updates will be in. But rychone, in Atlanta for example in POI if you goto entertainment then maybe the Georgia Dome, will it get you there good? Because I never drove in atlanta and I'm relying on the z1 and I don't want to end of no where. Do you recommend driving in atlanta with nothing but the z1? Thanks all and God Bless.

[MChance000]

My speed is off from anywhere between 4 and 6 miles per hour my car says 70 but the GPS shows 64. But, not only is it different that the GPS, it is no longer accurate period. This I can't live with. You are right the unit looks good, and certainly it is better to look good than feel good. But, when it comes to my Porsche I can't live with speedometer error AND poor nav. Guess I can look cool with it installed and bring my Magellan 700 for proper speed and nav.

[quote name="rychone"]I agree with MChance000. I have this installed in my Porsche 996 for the past 3 days and the route calculation on the navigation is not very good. I live in Atlanta, GA and the map data is outdated and many streets are missing. When i enter an address it will be up to 1/2 mile off and request turns that are not neccessary. The routes it reccommends is not always the best route. It is good at getting you "close". I will have to play with the system more and see if i can fix this or set way points to give me the best route.

I also have an issue with the speedometer accuracy. The Z1 states my speed to always be 2+ mph slower than what my guage tells me. I dont know if this is affecting my car but I have no way to testing which is correct so i may take it in to the dealer.

Its also missing some basic features such as the radio does not display the information from the stations such as station name, artist, song, etc. The ipod interface is horrible considering the cost. The voice commands rarely work unless its quiet and it always wants to "zoom in" regardless of what you say.

But i do have to admit this is probably one of the best looking units on the market right now and it looks great. There are so many features that it almost out weighs the gripes i have with it. I hope that they release updates to the firmware and maps. I'm keeping mine for now.[/quote]

[HeavenSoldier]

Also, call pioneer. If you check crutchfield, the units are out of stock. I heard someone say the avic z1 is being re-called. Call to find out why. God Bless.

[MChance000]

You can get a lot of things to look good in your dash for a lot less than $3000 with install. I just used the Magellan as one example of good navigation with a little money, almost anything is better at navigation than the Z1 in my opinion. It isn't that it won't get you there (eventually) it is just that instead of a 5 minute route across the street you might get a 20 minute route. Not always, but lots of the time. And it requires a lot more effort to get a route. I just think Pioneer spend their energy, creativity and money in avoiding liability by crippling the unit when moving and not being satifisied with a parking brake interlock added "I am smarter than you" self protection for themselves by inputting a car's speedometer/speed input to disable the unit. This only adds to the error possibilities. Not enough on good routing, data and useability. I didn't find any updates at Pioneer and havent gotten any reply to my inquiry regarding the Z1 defects. I expect they are think a pretty screen and gadgetery will let people not notice old data, inferior routing.

[quote name="HeavenSoldier"]Really rychone, I was hope to speak to someone from Atlanta who has one. Because I mainly wanted to drive there to try the z1 out, the accuracy issue is not good then, how about e-mail z1 and letting them know? MChance I know the megallon(however you spell it) may be good, but I just wanted something that would fit in my dash and have hi tech features, but hopefully by the time I get it, updates will be in. But rychone, in Atlanta for example in POI if you goto entertainment then maybe the Georgia Dome, will it get you there good? Because I never drove in atlanta and I'm relying on the z1 and I don't want to end of no where. Do you recommend driving in atlanta with nothing but the z1? Thanks all and God Bless.[/quote]

[MChance000]

You might want to reread the crutchfield reviews, the third one agrees with much of what I said here.

[quote name="HeavenSoldier"]Hmmm, I'm still going to get it though, most people told me they're avic z1 navigation was dead-on accurate, check crutchfield user
reviews here [url=http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LU1FlQeQwQN/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?search=avic+z1&i=130AVICZ1]http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LU1FlQeQwQ ... =130AVICZ1[/url] , But I will find out for myself if something is wrong, but based on other reviews and forums, it's the best navigation so far. Like I said check with your installer because if you look over the web you'll be the only with a negative review despite the ones mad because of the bypass issue. But the z1 has a feature where if you go down a certain road instead of the route suggested it will use your route for future reference. But I'm getting the z1 especially with the lane features, 3D features etc. God Bless[/quote]