Columbus ETAs

[davekmoore]

My Columbus gives ETAs as 20% later than reality if set to fast and 40% later if set to slow. I'd put up with how awful the rest of the GPS is if I could get this t be correct. Is there a fix?

[davekmoore]

Any thoughts, please?

[2SkodaFamily]

Not that I've seen, I'm afraid. Mine is the same. The ETA often starts out as a ridiculous figure but adjusts as it goes along. My actual arrival time (without speeding at all) can be an hour or more earlier than the original projected ETA.

[davekmoore]

Yup, mine also becomes accurate to within 45 seconds, when I'm only a minute away from the destination, which renders the unit useless for me. Surely there must be a fix for people who need to know how long it will take to get someone when they set off rather than only knowing accurately just before they arrive?

[Graham Butcher]

This is a common problem with all sat navs I have ever had the pleasure to use. Stepping outside the circle and looking back in to it again, is it any wonder really? I suspect that all such units will work out the distance and then work on an average speed of 50mph and then if you have the traffic updates switched ON it will constantly be reviewing the ETA against the traffic updates, your current speed and location and the remainder of your route will updated as you drive. Any sat nav can only be as good as the information supplied to it and with live data, this can have the potential to alter your ETA in both directions. I would personally rather have it over estimate the ETA then under estimate it

[artichoke273]

I've found ETAs more accurate recently and the only thing I've changed is updating to V9 maps (always been set to "fast").

[Bartatman]

Within the setup function for the satnav you can select a speed of travel upon which the system will then base it's calculation. By default this is set to medium but to change it to fast will impact on your etas and may help your problem.

[spencem]

I don't think the system can tell the difference between an almost motorway standard multi-lane A road and an urban A road, it seems to me it uses about 35mph as the average speed for both. I find that if my route is almost all motorway then the ETA is very close to reality, but if there are A roads involved it will be way off. For instance a run from Plymouth to home (Northampton) will start out showing a 6 hour journey time, but by the time I reach the bottom of the M5 in about half an hour it will have dropped to about 3.5 hours, which is correct for an average 60-70 mph from there on.

[Kingsgate73]

I find the same as spencem above. Where I live in Kent, I have about 17 miles of 'A' road until I reach the M2 - but the road is 70 mph dual carraigeway. Columbus seems to think I'll be driving at 30 - 35 mph and always knocks off about 15 - 20 mins by the time i get to the end of the road.

[Huwcymru]

Checked mine on a trip to Gatwick on a Friday afternoon it was spot on. Return journey last Saturday with hold ups and high speed bits, so fairly unpredictable and it was right to within a minute or so. Mine was registered on November 2012 so perhaps it's the software.

[KBPhoto]

Look on the bright side, at least you'll arrive 20% early rather than be late...

Or drive a little slower and then it'll be right (and you'll save on fuel).

See, every cloud...

It's not perfect, even the ones where you can adjust the speeds you drive on different road types are always out by some margin.

[bw10030]

It's not only that the ETA's are hopeless, but the routes it picks are sometimes ludicrous! I travel weekly from Milton Keynes to Preston (basically all motorway or 70mph limit), its 180 miles (plus or minus) and assuming no traffic issues it's a 3 hour (again plus or minus) trip. Sat Nav usually claims it's 191 miles, and 4 hours 30! I refuse to follow some of the 'advice' as to routing - why you would leave the A50 and go to Birmingham is a mystery only the sat-nav programmers will know! Now I can understand pessimism given the state of our knackered transport infrastructure, but these sat-nav systems built into cars can cost ££££'s. My previous approach (a Tom Tom) not only got the route right every time, but the time for most journeys was within a few minutes for every route (except if you went anywhere near Grantown on Spey, where for some reason - perhaps a whisky stop - it would add an extra 40 minutes. Now I can live with that approach!).

Anyway, you're not alone with rubbish sat nav forecasts from the Columbus system. Basically I pass on the message 'I'll be a bout 3 hours' and then see how it goes! I've asked at the dealers, who just shrug their collective shoulders. So if it's built into the car OK, but never, ever spec one as a cost option.

[KBPhoto]

I've found ETAs more accurate recently and the only thing I've changed is updating to V9 maps (always been set to "fast").

Funnily enough, since upgrading to v.9 mine have been accurate to within a few minutes as a general rule! Today's 160 mile round trip was within in 3 minutes on each 'leg' - the longest being 65 miles.

[2SkodaFamily]

Funnily enough, since upgrading to v.9 mine have been accurate to within a few minutes as a general rule! Today's 160 mile round trip was within in 3 minutes on each 'leg' - the longest being 65 miles.

Is upgrading to v9 expensive?

[KBPhoto]

Is upgrading to v9 expensive?

Yes. All map upgrades can be, but speak nicely to your local dealer...

[2SkodaFamily]

Yes. All map upgrades can be, but speak nicely to your local dealer...

Quoted £144 by my "friendly" dealer DM Keith in York. Nice, for a car that's less than a year old. :moon:

Are map upgrades licenced to each unit? Or could a map upgrade by bought by, say, 10 members for £15 each and used ten times?

Edited 17 June, 2013 by 2SkodaFamily

[KBPhoto]

Map upgrades are a one time license: You have one Columbus, one disc, one license.

That's the legal answer!

The dealer will have a different license allowing them to instal on multiple devices for which, I guess, they pay extra to Skoda for...

[2SkodaFamily]

DM Keith said that they don't have a disk, they'd have to order one in.

I know when I had a Garmin satnav the update was registered over the Internet and tied to your devices serial number, so you couldn't use it more than once.

[Penpusher]

Last week, I drove from Slubice (in Poland just over the border from Germany) to Bialystock (in eastern Poland) and the ETA was some ridiculous time that I can't remember because it only recognised the motorway from the German border to Warsaw for a short section around Poznan. I drove this motorway in June 2012 in my MkI Superb and it was completed back then. I bought the MkII in September 2012 and expected this road to be on the maps. OK, if a minor road is adjusted I could understand, but large sections of new motorway?

I bought a DVD of eastern Europe on Ebay as I went on to Lithuania. OK, it's not the latest version as I wasn't going to pay full price as I know most of the roads and only need it for a couple of weeks. I'm staying in Klaipeda and I'm disappointed as the map only shows a couple of the main roads in the city. It does say the maps are only partial, but I expected to see a bit more for a city of 200,000 people!

[countryboy]

All ETA's will be inaccurate to some degree, that is why they are estimated time of arrivals. On a journey of 75 mins to see my girlfriend I can usually knock a good 5 mins off the eta as I'm driving along, usually by making very good progress on the motorway, if you know what I mean,

[JakeBlade]

Was originally going to post about how accurate I've found the ETAs.

BUT I'm currently in France and found the ETAs to be laughable over here. I thought it might have something to do with the constant unnecessary roadworks - I sat shaking my head as I waited at temporary lights today for 10 mins as they lay asphalt on a road that had been perfectly fine and billiard table smooth for the last 7 days - but then I tinkered with the settings...

set up > navigation > advanced settings > average speed > high

ETAs are pretty much bob-on now that I've changed the average speed.

[jonteflon]

It's worth noting that you can download the latest maps from the navteq website without going through your dealer or paying a penny. Download is 17gb though, so you'll need a similarly hefty sd card to copy it over.

Jon

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[artichoke273]

It's worth noting that you can download the latest maps from the navteq website without going through your dealer or paying a penny. Download is 17gb though, so you'll need a similarly hefty sd card to copy it over.JonSent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Here's the direct link http://www.navigation.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/Navteq-NavteqEurope-Site/es_GB/-/GBP/View-Promo?&cwt=application/ApplicationFrame_campaign_light&&Page=Skoda-Landing-Page-MIB-Columbus&&NewDomainName=Navteq-NavteqEurope-Site& . I've not tested the download as I already have v9 maps, but if it works I think Jon should be fast tracked to Honorary Member.

Edited 2 July, 2013 by artichoke273

[davekmoore]

Here's the direct link http://www.navigation.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/Navteq-NavteqEurope-Site/es_GB/-/GBP/View-Promo?&cwt=application/ApplicationFrame_campaign_light&&Page=Skoda-Landing-Page-MIB-Columbus&&NewDomainName=Navteq-NavteqEurope-Site& . I've not tested the download as I already have v9 maps, but if it works I think Jon should be fast tracked to Honorary Member.

Not possible to select Skoda - or VW or Audi sadly.

[renzema]

I had no problem downloading...what error are you getting?