Traffic info in London? IQ Routes? Which sat nav?

[Mrdini]

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a sat nav, perhaps a Tom Tom (but TBH, I have no preferences).

A couple of features that I'd love to see would be...

*) As I live in London, traffic avoidance would be awesome. However, as I understand it, the majority of traffic info (RDS-TMC, Trafficmaster & suchlike) are restricted to motorways, & A roads - which is kinda useless for roads in London. My friend mentioned IQ Routes, which sounds almost exactly like what I'd want. But how good is it? Do any other sat nav companies have anything similar? I'm perfectly aware that IQ Routes isn't "live" traffic info, but I can deal with that!

*) Since I have a MX5 I'd love the ability to get nice B-roads recommendations, instead of defaulting to motorways. A bit like the Navigon "Scenic routes" option. (How well does that work anyway?)

I don't really have a budget in mind, but since I notice a basic TomTom ONE with IQ routes is £150~, I guess that's about what I'm happy to pay.

TIA!

[Andy_P]

[DennisN]

To disagree with other people, I don't think IQ Routes is anything like as useful as the hype suggests.

Firstly, it's historical data which is embedded in the map - so it's out of date!! How long does it take to put a map together? At a guess, the best data is a year old and that's only if that particular data actually makes it into the map - how many new roads are "still not in the latest map"?

Second, it's subjective data - collected from users. The TT devices store information on routes driven and time taken - supposedly including day of week and time of day. That information is uploaded from devices connected to TomTom Home, provided the user agrees for it to be done. I don't know how big a proportion of users decline to allow TT to ferret around inside their devices, but there are some (I'm one). So the data says driver Bloggs got from A to D via B in 20 minutes. The alternative route via C has no data collected, because nobody drove it. So the data is inaccurate insofar as it may not include equivalent data for all possible routes.

Depending on the definitions of possible routes, IQ Routes will direct you through the quickest one - that can (and does, for me) result in you being directed along a narrow winding country lane, probably simply because somebody (no, several somebodies) took 40 minutes to drive from A to D via B, whilst via C is on derestricted (theoretically 60mph) lanes. Except that this was the data a year ago during a three month road widening project which delayed traffic beyond reason!!! Or for the last three months before that particular school closed and put an end to the school rush hour!! Or during a road closure period when nobody suffered a single delay on that route (because it was closed so nobody could drive along it).

It's a minefield which would have been better left alone by TT who should have concentrated on more practical solutions to existing problems with their devices rather than add to the already overcomplicated insides.
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

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