for some reason, when i first start my car, and the screen flips out, despite getting a good signal my arrow shows me going through some damn forest. it's obviously not accurate and only correctly shows my position after 5 minutes of driving... what gives?

No GPS unit can acquire the satellite signals as soon as you start the system. Depending on where you are located, and the types of buildings and foliage are by you, it may take a few seconds to several minutes to get a good GPS reading.

also where is your antenna? If it's inside your car, it'll take longer than outside and on top of your car. Also are you in a city with tall buildings/tall trees... there's a lot of variables that will make your gps acquire longer. Mine takes as long as the intro screen where you have to hit ok, and I have a signal. My gps antenna is on roof of truck, clear view of sky. Hope that helps

Also might want to make sure your speed sense is hooked up. My d1 used to do the same thing when it first started before I hooked up the speedd sense.

i don't have vss hooked up on mine... works fine