CX9 NAV system
- Thread starter eed_dba
- Start date
The full-blown LCD and Navigation system is not an aftermarket install option.
You are better off buying a portable Garmin, Magellan or Tom Tom. The CX-9 User interface is terrible.
I find the database good here for the northeast. Once the destination is entered, I find the navigation pretty good.
However the user interface to get to where you want to go, or have been in the past is completely un-intuitive. Actually, it's quite bad!
If you have ever used a portable GPS system, you'll be asking yourself "why did they organize the menus this way" or "How come there are all these destination entry locations and only one really allows me to enter one".
However the user interface to get to where you want to go, or have been in the past is completely un-intuitive. Actually, it's quite bad!
If you have ever used a portable GPS system, you'll be asking yourself "why did they organize the menus this way" or "How come there are all these destination entry locations and only one really allows me to enter one".
My Garmin Nuvi 660 is much easier to use (and better) than the Nav in my CX-9, Cadillac STS, and C6 Corvette.
I could take the Garmin out of the box and use it within 5 minutes. The built in units require lots of time studying the manuals--nowhere near as user friendly as the Garmin.
Just my opinion...
I could take the Garmin out of the box and use it within 5 minutes. The built in units require lots of time studying the manuals--nowhere near as user friendly as the Garmin.
Just my opinion...
nuhuskyfan
Member
I'm with you. Once programmed I find it very useful however not being able to do much of anything while moving is annoying. Also not being able add a non programed destination while moving is poor. I keep trying to master the voice activation system however I am hardly in the mood to sit down and commit the manual to memory. Perhaps I should get some flash cards
So does anyone know how to go back a screen in the NAV? That's the biggest pet peeve I have with the navigation aside from the absolutely horrendous UI. It's ridiculously un-intuitive, if that's a word... Any help would be greatly appreciated. I hate having to push the MENU button over and over if I mess up on something I have to start all over again instead of just going back a screen.
nuhuskyfan
Member
Agreed but the voice activated system should be able to accept an address while driving. It can find a friggen Chinese restaurant. Why can't it find 123 Main St?
I drive a lot with a co-pilot; it's ridiculous for the technology to be making these choices for us. The fact that portable units don't have this limitation but built-ins do illustrates how ridiculous the situation is.
I need to get one of those "solutions" that fakes the speed signal to the unit; but I don't like the fact that it reportedly makes the position changes jerky. Too bad there isn't much info out there on folks disassembling the nav software (seems like it's happened some in the past for very specific models / software versions but the info doesn't appear publicly available).
-Jeff
I agree that it's odd that the airbag disabling system isn't factored into the nav system and that would be a pretty decent solution.
On the other hand; overall I'd rather have a nav system that doesn't make decisions saftey or otherwise for me at all (just like the portables). I want a tool not a nanny. But alas; I like integration enough to live with the factory nav.
-Jeff
On the other hand; overall I'd rather have a nav system that doesn't make decisions saftey or otherwise for me at all (just like the portables). I want a tool not a nanny. But alas; I like integration enough to live with the factory nav.
-Jeff
Same company doesn't necessarily mean same NAV model.
I haven't really used Lexus or Toyota but when we test drove a Highlander my recollection is that the UI on the NAV looked much nicer than the CX-9. Like I said; I didn't see it long enough to remember specifics and maybe my first impression was wrong.
I can't imagine anything much worse than the CX-9 NAV UI actually qualifying as functional. It works and I'd rather have it than not; that's as positive a review as I can manage. The voice recognition implementation stinks although my seven year old loves it. He says random words to see what it will decide to do.
-Jeff
I haven't really used Lexus or Toyota but when we test drove a Highlander my recollection is that the UI on the NAV looked much nicer than the CX-9. Like I said; I didn't see it long enough to remember specifics and maybe my first impression was wrong.
I can't imagine anything much worse than the CX-9 NAV UI actually qualifying as functional. It works and I'd rather have it than not; that's as positive a review as I can manage. The voice recognition implementation stinks although my seven year old loves it. He says random words to see what it will decide to do.
-Jeff
No doubt, the nav in the '08 CX-9 sucks, whether we're discussing resolution, graphics, interface, or routing.
The nav in my '09 Honda Fit Sport rings circles around the Mazda denso unit, and even in that case, I got the nav because it was bundled with Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and steering wheel audio controls. The stability control is more important to me than the nav.
Still, the CX-9 excels nicely in so many areas that the disappointing nav unit is not a deal breaker for me. No car is perfect.
The nav in my '09 Honda Fit Sport rings circles around the Mazda denso unit, and even in that case, I got the nav because it was bundled with Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and steering wheel audio controls. The stability control is more important to me than the nav.
Still, the CX-9 excels nicely in so many areas that the disappointing nav unit is not a deal breaker for me. No car is perfect.
- :
- 2022 CX-5 Turbo
The NAVI on CX9 is very very similar to the one on my 2005 Prius.
My guess is that Toyota employ a newer generation of NAVI system from Denso, while Mazda still use the prior version of it. Highlander, after all, came out 1 year after CX9.
OE NAVI system takes steering angle and speed inputs. Your portables do not have them to perform dead-reckoning (some say, deduced-reckoning) when the visible satellites to the unit are less than 3. Normally, 5-8 are visible according to the diagonostic screen on the CX9. (3 are a must. 4th one used for reference.)
My guess is that Toyota employ a newer generation of NAVI system from Denso, while Mazda still use the prior version of it. Highlander, after all, came out 1 year after CX9.
OE NAVI system takes steering angle and speed inputs. Your portables do not have them to perform dead-reckoning (some say, deduced-reckoning) when the visible satellites to the unit are less than 3. Normally, 5-8 are visible according to the diagonostic screen on the CX9. (3 are a must. 4th one used for reference.)
The system I dream of is Google Maps with turn-by-turn guidance and voice features added on a dash-integrated screen (yes the car would neet Internet; in a perfect world it would tether via existing cell phone). It seems so silly when I'm sitting in my CX-9 with GPS and then pull out my iPhone so I can either see the cool satellite imagery of where we are (with a 1000x better screen that the expensive factory Nav), or look up places of interest, etc.
The technology is all there... it would just have to be worth it for someone to build it (and licensing of map data etc + allowing tethering on typical phone data plans).
-Jeff
The technology is all there... it would just have to be worth it for someone to build it (and licensing of map data etc + allowing tethering on typical phone data plans).
-Jeff
I bought a 2009 CX9 2 months ago and I have had Acura NAVI's since 1999. I was afraid of how bad this navi was going to be and I was suprised that it was actually pretty good. The only gripe is the grey-out issue. Yes there are some weird stuff like the turn by turn goes up rather then down, but overall it is a pretty decent system. The only other thing that would have been nice would have been the joystick that is in the Acura's. Moving around a map with the touchscreen sucks. Overall, if I could get rid of the grey-out and I would be happy. Unfortunately there are a lot of cars out there that are doing this.
