Hi all

 

Just taken delivery of my 2014 vRS and am having (not a lot of joy) with the SatNav on my Columbus-based system.

 

I specifically didn't spec a SatNav on my previous (non-Skoda) vehicle as as I was more than happy to utilise my easy-to-use Google Maps on the 'large enough' screen of my smartphone, with a Brodit holder.

 

However, my new 'year-old' Octy was really well specced up with various extras including the Columbus Infotainment system, so I thought, great I'll go with that and the bang up-to-date maps that were done by the dealership.

 

Problem Number 1: On our departure from the dealership, I tried to input our home address (which is a small private estate of 20yrs standing...) and - it couldn't find our street!

It DID find our postcode after a bit of fiddling (but the street still came up as 'unknown' or something similar...) but off we went.

 

The route we put into Google maps was taking us on a completely different route, but decided to try out the Octy's version to see how it fared. The long and short of it all was we 'eventually' arrived home, albeit via a very different route to what we expected. We put this down to unfamiliarity with the new system.

 

Problem Number 2: Today, I went to a local supermarket and decided to try it out again. It's not far from home (less than 7 miles - but decided to see which way it sent me...) It gave me the 3 options for , Eco, Speed. Distance. I chose Speed (which I knew would take me out of the supermarket's exit and to the right....WRONG!

It told me to go straight ahead and through a council estate that would have taken forever to get through due to all the speed humps and twisting corners therein, rather than a 70mph bypass!

 

Problem Number 3: I tried to input a route to my fathers house - a nearby village some 4 miles away. I input the village name (OK)...then the street (again, it picked that up OK)....but rather than asking for the number - it asked for the 'intersection'?? (there isn't one within a mile or so of him!) So basically, you can't get to 'exactly' where you want to go...quickly, or accurately....

 

How do other, more experienced Columbus users find the SatNav on their vehicles?

 

Cheers for any input  :beer:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I only use Columbus when I don't have access to my Tom Tom navigator. Route calculation algorithms on Columbus is not efficient.

Edited 2 April, 201511 yr by Sak

I have columbus but haven't really used it much as yet. The old system in my 2011 passat was dire. It would direct you off a main A-road diwn a little single width track (much slower than the a road) only to bring you out further up on the same A-road. It considered all unclassified roads as having a 60 speed limit so often directed you off main roads with a 50 limit. Absolutely ridiculous at time it was. I tended to use the free 'waze' app as a supplement instead. Will have to see how the columbus performs in in due course

Snet with speeling mistkaes from my phoen

Thanks for the replies. It's not looking good then  :no:

 

Looks like I might have to invest in another Brodit holder for my longer trips then. Trouble is the cigarette/12v supply's in a daft place to power the phone during the journey (unless the USB port will power the phone - I'll have to try it later!)

The same as all the above.

Very frustrating to use.

Last year we drove to Gatwick airport.It's route was to take us all the way through central London from the A1.

No way would it consider the M25.

Fortunately it came already fitted to the car.

I've not found it too bad for directions to places I don't know, but a sat nav will never beat local knowledge. My main complaint with it is the dire TMC traffic. The quality of the traffic reports are not Skoda's fault, but the choice of system is theirs.

I'd recommend you ensure you have the latest maps, it can help a lot. You'll need to give it about 90 mins to update.

Had SatNav in my Disco, BMW and last Skoda (Came with it), all total rubbish, I have TomTom on my iPhone and never rely on car built in SatNav, they are hopeless and do not give reliable traffic updates.  The cars SatNav always seem to give crazy routing whatever settings you use.  That’s why I did not order SatNav in my new vRS, stick with your smart phone.

I've not found it too bad for directions to places I don't know, but a sat nav will never beat local knowledge. My main complaint with it is the dire TMC traffic. The quality of the traffic reports are not Skoda's fault, but the choice of system is theirs.

I'd recommend you ensure you have the latest maps, it can help a lot. You'll need to give it about 90 mins to update.

 

 

Ive not found it too bad either , we had Columbus in our Mk2 Superb , we nicknamed it Columbo since it was doddery and seemed dull witted but always got there in the end , side by side with a Tom Tom there was no difference in the 2000 miles we did on the continent last summer.

 

Our Columbo TMC seemed to have an issue with Rouen , always warned of major traffic jams when there was none and was as responsive as the mk1 eyeball , we joked that it was connected to the brake lights of the vehicle in front since as soon as they stopped the warning would come on

 

Time will tell how the new one works as ive not had the car long enough, I have to say the oem system would have to be truly dire for me not to spec it.   

I've not found it too bad for directions to places I don't know, but a sat nav will never beat local knowledge. My main complaint with it is the dire TMC traffic. The quality of the traffic reports are not Skoda's fault, but the choice of system is theirs.

Seems like both the abysmal directions and TMC quality are a UK specific issues, because I haven't had any issues here in Finland. Every time I've used it it's picked the same route Google maps has recommended and which I would choose myself. I've only encountered one country road that was builta year ago that the Columbus wasn't aware of yet (but it didn't even appear on Google maps until late last year).

 

Ok, I too have picked a couple of different roads closer to home, but that's local knowledge no GPS can muster, and is more a matter of personal preference than actual travel speed/distance.

Edited 2 April, 201511 yr by kallekilponen

Done 8000 miles using mine regularly and not had any issues, TMC been generally in line with overhead gantries and only roads it doesn't have seem to be new ones.

I guess as it's not a live system like a smart phone it's never going to be as up to date, but for me preferable to having loose satnav etc kicking about.

The same as all the above.

Very frustrating to use.

Last year we drove to Gatwick airport.It's route was to take us all the way through central London from the A1.

No way would it consider the M25.

Fortunately it came already fitted to the car.

I had a similar experience navigating to Peterborough a few weeks back.made the journey 30 mins longer..

Turned out I had inadvertently set the "avoid motorways" option in the infotainment - doh!

Unchecking that option in the infotainment saw it happily select motorways and ever since. I was much relieved as was missing my TomTom!

I have found the Columbus satnav to be pretty good, including TMC and dynamic routing. It hasn't done anything ridiculous so far, using all types of routing. Having said that, it's not as good as the Carminat system in my previous Renault Laguna.

Isn't that because Carminat is made by Tomtom - a company that does actually know a thing or two about routing.

How accurate is the Columbus regarding calculating time of arrival?

One guy at a Norwegian forum said his Columbus was way off. It calculated way longer traveltime than actually needed.

Isn't that because Carminat is made by Tomtom - a company that does actually know a thing or two about routing.

No. The Renault Carminat partnership with TomTom did not start until 2009. My 2009 Laguna had the Navteq version and in my opinion, overall, it was better than the Columbus, though I'm not too disappointed with Columbus either.

That's surprising as I used to have one of the first Laguna Initiale's that had sat nav built in (Navteq) and apart from it being disk based, was also IIRC not too good. Then again, that may have even pre-dated the Tomtom GO so might actually have been cutting edge tech then?

How accurate is the Columbus regarding calculating time of arrival?

One guy at a Norwegian forum said his Columbus was way off. It calculated way longer traveltime than actually needed.

Most sat navs are a little conservative with their estimates in my experience.

Most sat navs are a little conservative with their estimates in my experience.

The only satnav I have used alot is a Garmin something, and it has always been quite accurate. And on a 330km trip, its usually just 10 minutes of target. Is the Columbus worse?

The guy on the forum, was hours of target. But that again Sounds like a user error.

Mine does not appear to update the arrival time on route. Maybe a setting. Driving from Devon to Northampton a couple weeks ago it still said 45 minutes to go when I was parking at the ground!

That's surprising as I used to have one of the first Laguna Initiale's that had sat nav built in (Navteq) and apart from it being disk based, was also IIRC not too good. Then again, that may have even pre-dated the Tomtom GO so might actually have been cutting edge tech then?

The early Laguna IIs had the CD based Navteq system. The post 2005 models and the Laguna IIIs upto 2009 had the DVD based Navteq system and it was significantly better than the CD based system.

Mine does not appear to update the arrival time on route. Maybe a setting. Driving from Devon to Northampton a couple weeks ago it still said 45 minutes to go when I was parking at the ground!

Thats weak. I would say that updating the arrival time on route is something that should be a basic functionality on a satnav.

I hope its just a setting.

Ive been using the columbus now for almost 21k miles and its always taken me to my desired location, it even seems quite good at routing around traffic, although its never going to be as accurate as a tomtom with live traffic updates.

Its arrival time update as you go, and its pretty accurate for the most part.

Its a shame you cant spec it with a sim card to get live traffic like the bmw and audi systems.

People need to play around with the settings as you can change most of what has been posted above. And remember just because the nav says go one way you don't have to follow it.

@ the two last posters

Thanks. You just put my mind at ease.