NAV coverage

Edit: This no longer appears to be a missing road situation, but in fairness to the responders, I've left that text unedited in the message below. This is now simply a thread on the differences between the 'detailed' coverage areas on various versions of the NAV software.


I think I found out why roads are apparently missing for some people on the NAV DVD. Only select areas appear to be covered in any detail.

If you hit the MENU button, then press "MAP DVD", you will see a "COVERED AREA" button at the bottom of the screen. Press it, then scroll thru the various areas. This shows you where 'detailed' coverage is available.

Now this is Lexus-quality coverage, but not Street Atlas USA coverage. You'd think it'd be the other way around... :blink:

Since neither Toyota nor Denso are talking about what changed between each version, I thought it might be interesting to photograph these screens, and post them to this thread. This may be the only way I can think of that people can figure out what minimum version is required to get any roads missing from their area...

Since I bought my Prius this summer, I'll go first. I have NAV version 5.1. Here are my screens.

So, who else has a different (higher/lower) version? What about the '06???

 

Denso uses Navteq also, so wouldn't bee too surprised to see that we're using the same database.

I suspect they just don't want to put anything out that would more or less alert people that all roads aren't already included...

 

I appreciate the responses, but I really would like this thread to be photographs of the various NAV coverage maps.

So, anyone got version 4.2? Something earlier? A 2006? Show us your pics! We might actually be able to generate our own list of what changed between each version!

 

Thanks, Ghoti.

Nate, I can find no reference that says the detailed coverage maps apply only to POIs. If you have one, please post it...

 

Thanks kinged, much appreciated!! It answers the question as to whether the databases are different (they are not), but also gives us a nice side-by-side comparison of the very nice resolution of the '06 MFD!

Thanks!

 

You missed the two times we said they weren't different, interestingly, in the two posts right above your own...

Still looking for a v4.2!

 

He originally said he had 5.01, but in any case we wanted to confirm the '06 was the same as the '05. At least the '05s made since August... It was just a confirmation excercise on a car we haven't seen before, nothing more.

Looking forward to the 3.3s...

 

I bet you're worried about Warren, Vermont, which isn't in the detailed coverage area, aren't you?

I think we're still trying to get a feel for this, but what jbreynolds wrote in response #11 above may be one of the more probable explanations I have seen. In the NAV manual, I see this explanation: "There are two types of areas available for route guidance. In one type of area, primarily around metropolitan centers, detailed route guidance is available for the entire area. In the other type of area, all roads are displayed on the map, but route guidance is limited."

I personally have had no problem with rural areas, but I've only attempted a route to a single location so far.

As a quick test, I picked a random location in the Warren VT area, "279 Brook Road". Take a look at the map (attached below), and see if the roads in that area look reasonable.

Two things I noticed when I did this: First, the guidance lady said "On the way to your destination there will be roads with incomplete data. Turn by turn guidance will not be provided for these areas." Still, I had the usual 3-route selection on screen, varying between 785 and 885 miles from Fort Wayne, and a complete route was shown.

The second thing is I noticed the guidance shown in the picture passes up what I believe is a shorter exit off the highway, but what the heck, it isn't that far off.

Next, I checked for POIs. I turned on gas stations, restaurants, and ATMs, and got hits on each. I then turned off ATMs and used the Brook road location as my center, and called up a POI list. That list is also attached below. Forget the arrows, my car was not pointing North when I called up the list.

I think it did pretty well.