SD Card SatNav ... is it any good ?

[JannerAudi]

Hello all,
I have a new A6 S-line on order and decided to stick with the standard SD card SatNav but I have since read that it is not very good compared to a basic TomTom system. I would be interested in hearing how good it is from anyone on the forum with the SD card system. How accurate and reliable is it ?

I am wondering if it is worth upgrading to the HDD system. (£1500 I believe) Can someone confirm that the HDD system comes with Audi connect and Google maps as standard or is the Google bit extra. I am assuming that Audi connect is the system that provides internet access from your car to in turn access Google maps. Not very up on in car technology so would appreciate a simple explanation of how it all works e.g. Audi connect Google maps, 3GPhones etc.

Janner

[Guest 2]

I had it in a loan car for a week and found it very good for what it is, was fast and provided good detail. No real better (imo) than the 2G system in my A6 but its good at what it does. Obviously the big dog is the HDD but the higher res screen and colour DIS would make me get the HDD if I changed.

[johnsimcox]

I have the SD Card system in my car and also have experience of both TomTom and Garmin sat nave.

The accuracy of the system seems pretty good and on many occasions I have arrived at my destination within a couple of minutes of the estimated arrival time at the outset of the journey. The routing is OK, especially once you have turned on the option to get a choice of routes rather than letting it go for the default which like most sat navs has no local knowledge of actual speed over the ground compared to potential speed using speed limits. Unlike the system in the C6 the one in the C7 has the actual speed limit for almost all roads stored in it which no doubt helps to improve its route calculation accuracy and you can have the speed limit displayed in the BRH corner of the MMI display even if you do not opt for the speed limit/road sign camera option.

Where the system is not as good as the one from TomTom in particular is that the traffic data it uses comes from the TMC system and this is nowhere near as good as the TomTom live system, or indeed the traffic data from Google that you can get with the Navigation Plus combined with Audi Connect option (as per the Technology Pack), as it only covers roads with the old TrafficMaster sensors plus some manual intervention.

If you upgrade to Nav Plus, get the Technology Pack as that will give you Audi Connect and other stuff too for a more sensible price. To access Audi Connect you need to either have a SIM card with a 3G data contract (many seem to be buying the PAYG option from Three via Amazon) or have a phone that supports rSAP in which case you can use the data contract on the phone to access Google etc. If you have an iPhone then you have no option but to go via the in dash SIM option. Some Android phones do support rSAP (Samsung S3, S4 and HTC One seem to be OK but do a search on this forum for rSAP and you will see other options). Be aware that prior to the current model year putting a SIM card in the dash slot disabled the ability to connect a phone via bluetooth on UK/European cars much to the frustration of iPhone users. This was sorted out for the current model year so is no longer an issue (unless of you have an older car of course!!)

I am perfectly happy with the SD card system and do not really miss not having the HDD system although as with all things it would have been nice to have it. When I got my car the iPhone issue meant it was not worth upgrading for me

[daycartes]

Notwithstanding the very good explanation from John Simcox, I have a few issues with the SD card system. The pronunciation of towns is, quite frankly, a joke. So much so, that certain ones are incomprehensible. I have also found it to lead me up the garden path on a number of occasions especially in France. Suffice to say that I have a road atlas in the car.

[JannerAudi]

Thankyou A6_Chris, johnsimcox and daycartes for your replies.

John thanks for your in depth reply. Not sue what rSAP stands for but and I will attempt to educate myself more about it all before the time comes to collect my car next March.

Many thanks.

Janner

[johnsimcox]

Thankyou A6_Chris, johnsimcox and daycartes for your replies.

John thanks for your in depth reply. Not sue what rSAP stands for but and I will attempt to educate myself more about it all before the time comes to collect my car next March.

Many thanks.

Janner

rSAP stands for Remote SIM Access Profile. Basically it allows the device (in this case the mobile phone) to transfer the SIM card to another device (in the is car the car) and the car then has all the phone functionality without needing to actually have its own SIM card. However it is something that is increasingly being dropped from mobile phones and hence the problems that many people have with Audi Connect and in some cases opting to ditch their much loved phone in favour of one that supports rSAP. iPhones never supported it and increasingly it seems that Android devices are dropping it, although in some cases an App will allow the phone to offer rSAP. I would anticipate that the next generation of Audis (and possibly even the facelift of the current A6) will ditch the rSAP requirement and integrate the phone and car via other means, especially as Audi are known to be working closet with Apple on future MMI style development. As some have already mentioned here and elsewhere why not use the phone's ability to be a wifi hotspot to provide all of the data connectivity for the car rather than the car being used to create hotspot?

[Bash D Bishop]

I find it is fine 90% of the time. However, over long distances it can give you some bizarre routings. The TMC function is pants. Lots of areas where there is no coverage. When you do get coverage it is reluctant to use the info to reroute around the problem.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 4

[rickerby]

If you want to get to where your going the SD card navigation is absolutely fine. If you want to get to where your going and impress your passengers, spend £1500 on the HDD system.

[boof]

Doesn't add much to the thread and may upset some people but if the upgraded system is on your radar - do it.

I'm in an A6 loan car today, Pretty much the same spec as my own car except without the uprated satnav and colour DIS. Huge difference.

Perhaps not functionally but certainly cosmetically in what you would expect from a 'premium' car. The SD NAV is very low res in comparison and the normal versus colour DIS has already been done on another thread. But same applies. The two of them lift the interior of the whole car in my opinion. 1.5k is pricey I suppose but you'll see the difference every second of time you're in the car.

Even if I'd never seen the uprated system I'd be disappointed by the standard offering. In a car of that price bracket it looks poor. The uprated system should be the standard in my opinion.

[k6rff]

I've got the sd card nav on my A6. Frankly, it's ****. I'm a long time user of Tomtom on HTC phones and then from version1 on the iphone. It's now had 12 (free) upgrades, is significantly more accurate in location than the Audi version. It's does know where the Swindon Audi dealer and the Lydiatt beefeater is. Unfortunately the Audi version which I initially used did not and sent me on a 10 mile wild goose chase. I am able to buy traffic and speed cameras at around £22 per year. Furthermore, it tells me which turn off before a roundabout exit, rather than when I have just turned into it.
It is poor quality, poor mapping and not really what you would expect to find in an Audi. And that is up against a £50 product through the AppStore . Quite unbelievable.
I have used both in tandem but I'm tending to just use the iphone in a Brodit holder with proclip. I thought the Audi nav might be better at capturing sat fixes. Not so, both are equal.
My daughter has just bought a new A1. No prizes for guessing my advice to her - and they want £550 to activate!!!!!!
i love my Audi and the build quality - but they let themselves down badly on this. An ideal solution would be to allow Tomtom on sd card access to their system. That would be better than the separate iphone.