LS430 downgrade from NAV to no-NAV
#16
Moderator
Definitely agree all the screen based NAV apps on phones, garmin style devices, and inbuilt car screens are all potential dangerous visual distractions that can cause loss of situational awareness (term more commonly used investigating airplane crashes) that can cause an accident. Anything that takes your eyes off the road however briefly can be dangerous. Somewhat mitigating the visual distraction risk, most of these devices, including the better phone apps, now provide audible turn by turn directions so that the driver does not have to take eyes off the road as much.
Control and information screens in a car can be a bad idea in my opinion, we are in the infancy of screens in cars, at some point there will have to be standards developed and used that standardize the interface and also limit how it is used by the driver.
Control and information screens in a car can be a bad idea in my opinion, we are in the infancy of screens in cars, at some point there will have to be standards developed and used that standardize the interface and also limit how it is used by the driver.
Last edited by Jabberwock; 01-14-14 at 08:01 AM.
#17
Pole Position
The Gen 4 Nav system does a decent (and better than the Gen 2/3 system) of providing audible and timely turn-by-turn guidance. And the distances until a turn are reflected in feet (500, 400, 300, 200, 100 feet) on the Gen 4 (in tenths of a mile on Gen 2/3), and the zoom in feature on the Nav 4 screen maximizes to a 700 feet view (vs. 1/16 mile on Gen 2/3). Having had the Gen 2/3 for many years and 200K miles, and now having the Gen 4 in both LS's, the Gen 4 is much improved especially for turns in city driving. Yes, it'll definitely be interesting to see the continuing evolution of technology and screens in cars. Audi just revealed a self-driving car (the A7) at the Consumer Electronics Show this month!
#18
Moderator
The Gen 4 Nav system does a decent (and better than the Gen 2/3 system) of providing audible and timely turn-by-turn guidance. And the distances until a turn are reflected in feet (500, 400, 300, 200, 100 feet) on the Gen 4 (in tenths of a mile on Gen 2/3), and the zoom in feature on the Nav 4 screen maximizes to a 700 feet view (vs. 1/16 mile on Gen 2/3). Having had the Gen 2/3 for many years and 200K miles, and now having the Gen 4 in both LS's, the Gen 4 is much improved especially for turns in city driving. Yes, it'll definitely be interesting to see the continuing evolution of technology and screens in cars. Audi just revealed a self-driving car (the A7) at the Consumer Electronics Show this month!
#19
Pole Position
For the record, I have to correct (amplify) some information I provided above ... the Gen 4 Nav system allows zoom in on map all the way down to 150 feet (not 700 feet) segments (which the Gen 2/3 does not) - maximizing road detail and distances down to very refined levels. Also, to put the Nav technology and evolution into a proper time perspective, even the Gen 5 DVD-based Nav system (the Nav system on many Lexus and Toyota models through 2009) wasn't really much of an improvement over the Gen 4 system. (I have a Toyota with Gen 5 Nav and it has virtually the same features as the Lexus Gen 4). It wasn't until late 2009 - 2010 that screen (Nav) technology improved significantly and audio technology with USB ports started to appear in vehicles.
#20
For '04 to '06, both the Nav and Mark Levinson features were included in the Modern Luxury package, and neither was available as a separate option.
So, you could not buy a car (at least in the US) with only one of the options.
I am not certain that the above applied to '01 to '03 cars.
Also, in some years (I don't remember which ones), Nav was not available in Canada - presumably because Lexus had not licensed the Canadian road database.
So, you could not buy a car (at least in the US) with only one of the options.
I am not certain that the above applied to '01 to '03 cars.
Also, in some years (I don't remember which ones), Nav was not available in Canada - presumably because Lexus had not licensed the Canadian road database.
#21
I personally can't see paying money to upgrade to another dvd disk based NAV on the LS these days. The mapping function on my 5S phone is so much better and easier to use. Also have latest Garmin as backup but use that mostly for traveling/road trips. I personally think the Lexus NAV systems made before 2010 or so are pretty obsolete especially dvd based systems (that is 90's technology at best). But that is just my opinion..no more no less. Lots of very smart folks on this forum like the Lexus NAV systems in the LS especially the later year versions. They are not wrong - they have a different opinion and viewpoint on the NAV system - and it is perfectly valid perspective. This forum is so valuable and somewhat unique in part because folks can successfully share differing opinions and perspectives about LS430s and related automotive items/issues in a civilized and respectful manner.
It will be interesting to see what folks are using in these cars as audio/Nav systems continue to evolve. I am pretty confident some of these cars will be driven as classics in next 20-30 years. Hope I am around to see it.
It will be interesting to see what folks are using in these cars as audio/Nav systems continue to evolve. I am pretty confident some of these cars will be driven as classics in next 20-30 years. Hope I am around to see it.
#22
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: HI
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#23
Intermediate
Nav
Yes I think we figured out Bayani has one of the very few with ML and W/O nav, Hawaii car. Who needs nav on an island?
I use my Gen 4 nav as a backup. It saved my bacon my first day driving the car for work. Had an appointment to meet a customer at a restaurant out of town. My cell battery went dead. Uh oh, I use Waze for nav. Fortunately the place was in the Gen 4 database and the Lexus nav got me there.
I am not motivated to replace my navigation with a more modern unit. Gen 4 is OK not great but OK. Given all the other functions that use the screen I will continue to use it.
The voice command however is a joke. The voice command in my old Prius was OK, it was 5 model years newer.
I use my Gen 4 nav as a backup. It saved my bacon my first day driving the car for work. Had an appointment to meet a customer at a restaurant out of town. My cell battery went dead. Uh oh, I use Waze for nav. Fortunately the place was in the Gen 4 database and the Lexus nav got me there.
I am not motivated to replace my navigation with a more modern unit. Gen 4 is OK not great but OK. Given all the other functions that use the screen I will continue to use it.
The voice command however is a joke. The voice command in my old Prius was OK, it was 5 model years newer.
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