I got off my **** and decided to try and find out, so called a mate of mine who works for the parts dept of one of the larger UK dealers..

Apparently you can buy the motorised housing seperately from the rest of the NAV system, although on his paperwork it does show it coming with the screen. He's going to see if you can buy the housing without the screen, allowing an aftermarket screen (maybe a touchscreen?) to be fitted.

It will take a day or two for the prices to come back from Mazda UK but it'll be interesting to see how much it works out to.


-andy-

 

The best nav system in the world: Spouse / Kid / Friend with a map. Toss 'em a couple of sandwiches and a drink every now and then and there ya go!

Of course, every so often they do need a bath and change of clothes...but with every system there are a few maintenance things that need to be done...right?

 

The installed system for $2000 is waaaay cheaper in the long run. And it doesn't need sandwiches. ;-)

 

You obviously don't know my spouse - toss her a map and 10 minutes later we are both on our cellphones looking for divorce lawyers. The integrated NAV is so much cheaper than alimony...

 

LOL...I have to say you got me on this one!

 

i priced out the cost of the motorized nav unit its 1500 from mazda you cant get just the housing it comes with the screen too

and i dont even think that was for the navigation system just the dash part

 

Guys, i just bought a palm, zire 72 and bought a GPS with it, it's the Tom-tom that's made to go along with the Palm tungsten and zire 72. So far i love it, it's compact, the holding suction device that comes with it holds great, it's easy to use and we have a very nive female french voice that tells me where to go !! Here's the link if anyone's interested.
http://canadastore.palmone.com/produ...ductId=1818975
Note that this is the Can. $ pricing. On another note i saw that my speedo is off 4% since i changed my tires to a 235-40-18 p zero nero MS. I figure it would be off a bit since the tire is a big smaller. So i guess it went from 2% to 4% off. No big deal, it may save me a few speeding tickets. :-)

 

You bet you can get some kind of a NAV system some where and if not from mazda but a good Audio shop. Thats where I will be looking.

 

i think it can be adding. cuz guys just look at the nav top. it can be take off. so i think it can be adding to. but.. the fact is are u really want to add the factory nav.? or.. just buy a aftermarket
instead. cuz u know if it can add. it will be freaking expensive... ha ha..

 

Buy it with the car. Even though it's expensive at least you'll have no regrets about not getting it.

 

For the ones you mount on your dash, aren't you afraid someone will just break in and steal it? It's a nice fat trophy just sitting there for them to see!

 

I didn't get mine with nav mainly because the dealer didn't have any available, and I didn't feel like waiting, nor did I feel like it was worth it. I do, however, wish I had the screen. I plan on picking up the screen, with the motorized housing, and doing an in car computer. Who needs nav, if you've got wireless internet? I just like the screen and housing alot.

I'd like to find a way also, to route info from the ecu and different sensors in the engine and exhaust manifold, to eventually display gauge readings on the LCD screen. I've seen this done, and it is definitely a sick set up.

 

I have looked into this on the Mazda6 sites and the factory set-up is very pricey to install.

I have one owner that has purchased the housing and motor from overseas since the navi is not a US option on the 6.

The plan is to use the factory housing and a carputer.

We should know in a month or so how it turns out

 

With all due respect I dont completely agree with some of the points above :p
Here's my first hand experience with iQue. I am extremely happy with its performance.


I use Garmin's auto navigation kit along with PROCLIP mount and a tilt swivel purchased from proclip.com. The cig lighter charger cable comes with built in speaker which as loud as you want it to be. I usually keep it at half volume if I need voice guided commands...most of the time keep it turned off.


Yes, you have to install maps for the area you are interested in. I have PA, VA, DC, NC, NY, NJ and its taking about 120 MB of memory on my 1GB SD card...which leaves me lots of memory for my all my favourite MP3s and loads of palm software. If I must travel out of these states, once in a blue moon, it takes about 5 minutes to install new maps...again...in my case i hardly ever need that.


Routinely dropping sync???? ****NOT AT ALL****.
The only time I experience dropped signal was while travelling in NY's tunnels. But the moment you come out of the tunnel, it picks up the signal immediately.

The route recalculation is fast enough for me, doesn't take more than 5-10 secs and works like charm.


It takes a minute to initialize only if you manually set your current location a place other than the one that iQue determined when you last used it. If you dont do that it initializes quickly. I normally get signal from 6-7 satellites OR MORE at a time which is more than enough for accurate positioning. Yes, Garmin's ique 3600 has one antenna and thats built in and thats the beauty of it. Just snap it in the cradle, flip up the antenna and go. You can take from one car to another, use it in the rentals etc.