yes it's worth the 2 k .i went to an rx8club event last summer in the middle of no-where.when it got time to leave half the guys did not know how to get back to the interstate ,pulled up my nav and it found us the fastest way back.also i was in myrtle beach this summer sitting in what would have been 2 hour traffic jam, blew up the screen found some back roads and was out in no time.need i say more.

 

I had it and loved it. It will keep it's value even when you sell the car. I enjoyed my NAV system and will buy another!!

 

i have had two rx8s, one with nav and one without. my first was a winning blue that i returned to mazda in the hp fiasco. i bought the same exact vehicle later that day, but this time with nav (and cheaper). is it worth it? i think absolutely.

1) i don't think you'll be paying $2k for it because you'll get a lower than invoice price on that option.

2) it's saved me so many times with its closest gas stations. i always run the car until empty.

3) i like to try new restaurants and it helps me decide what's closest and what type of food is available.

4) it has the highest "cool" factor of any options.

as others have stated, it's a personal choice, but i use it all the time, even if i'm driving in a familiar area. i even use to just to figure out how many miles or how long it will take to get home.

if you don't think you'll use it, you can certainly live without it. for example, i never use a sunroof though others do. either way, i still enjoy the nav every time i used it and i'm sure you will too.

 

maybe invest in a carputer system, shouldnt cost 2k along with everything. but it does take a lot of time and patience tho

 

i use it almost daily
i love the nav

 

i regret not getting it cuz i want to get a carputer installed now.

 

I keep seeing how people would rather have a carputer instead of the overpriced NAV... without the factory NAV screen there is currently no nicely integrated way (ie not looking like you velcroed a screen to the dash - which also screams "steal me") to put a screen in the damn dash without paying big $$$ in a custom install.

 

my caputer cost around, 700 bucks, but thats only because im the beta tester for digitalwheelz's G35 custom screen housing. and I built my own computer from old parts and stuff from work. And I had couple of friends help with install, which is extremely difficult and require a lot of expertise not only in wiring and circuits but also intimate knowledge of where all the swtiches and relays are in your car. I got the housing+ the 7" xenarc touch screen at cost, they didnt make a dime off me, and it still costed 480 bucks.

Regular price for the housing and screen is 730 bucks. You need to know how to build a carputer, which is different from building a computer, it requries different types of powersupply and switches and relays. The ready to use carputers usually starts at 500 bucks with minimum specs. Then if you pay for installation, the final cost will come pretty close to factory Nav. Depending on how powerful your carputer is, it can easily exceed the cost of a factory Nav. Lastly, if there isnt a company that has a professional conversion kit for the RX8 then you wont be able to integrate it and make it look factory and sleek. Overall its just such a large amount of work and hassle, Its really not for people who dosnt have a lot of time on their hand, patience, electronic and circuit know how and not affraid to get their hands dirty. In the end the result is really great though, since it can do so much more than factory navs, but its just not something where you can just go and buy and get installed with ease.

 

I didn't get the Nav because of my wife's experience with hers on her G35, which was miserable.

So, I bought the Garmin 2720 with the traffic receiver. It's phenomenal. Routing is great, it's portable and gives me real time traffic that integrates into my routing. When there's traffic problems on my route it automatically offers to re-route me. All for about $1k.

Oh, and map updates are about $75 with free firmware updates for the 2720 itself. I can also manually add routes and waypoints through my computer which is a nice feature.

 

You can find a high-end portable GPS (Tom Tom, Garmin, etc.) for around $500 or $600 if you shop around online. Setting aside the issue of how much you'll use it, I can't imagine any feature that would make factory nav worth triple an aftermarket system. Like any computer, in 3 years it will be outdated. In 7 years, it will be obsolete. For $2,000, you could buy a portable GPS and upgrade in 3 or 4 years to a system that will be more accurate and more powerful than anything on the market today.

 

I have had it in my last few cars and this is the last one I'll buy built in. Portable units are getting too good and too cheacp to pay for a built in that you'll give away when you get rid of the car. Plus, I can grab a portable one and throw it in my wifes car or a rental.

 

Great feature, but not worth 2000 dollars when you can get a better aftermarket unit that does a hell of a lot more. BTW my voice wont turn off unless you lower the volume to 0, anyone have any comment?

 

Turning volume to 0 is the only way to shut her up while you are being guided to a destination.

Turning "voice feedback" off just makes her talk less. When you have it turned on, she will give you advanced warnings like "in 1 mile turn left...in a quarter mile turn left" and so on. When you have it turned off, she will only say "turn left" when you are physically at the point you should be turning on. In other words, when it's off, she'll only say something during the instant you have to perform the manuever or get off at the exit, instead of warning you about it in advance.

 

Hunting up a stock nav dash panel is a real B'&$%. BUT... a car computer (or even Alpine nav) install will look factory.

As far as building a car computer... it's not rocket science. If you can build a desktop, you can build a car computer... just use the "SEARCH" function called "google" or "Yahoo". mp3car.com is a good place to start.

Ever installed your own car stereo, amp or speakers? If so, you can do a car computer. Installing your car computer isn't any more difficult.

Again... the key is research and ask questions.

 

I guess there's always the carputer thing, however I wanted something that was stock, under warranty, and looked good. While it impresses people (not worth $2k for that alone), it has come in handy many times for me. I don't travel too much, but I can't count the number of times the nav has saved my butt. One instance I was out in the country, near a wooded area. Dark and scary. I had no idea where I was and there were no street signs so a regular map wouldn't have helped at all. The nav got me to where I had to go within 5 minutes.

Should you get some navigational device? Definitely. Should you get it stock, built-in, and for $2k? It depends on if you want to deal with a carputer or not. Personally I'm very satisifed with my stock install. And as an earlier poster mentioned, it does look very sexy when it pops up out of the dash.

- Chris

 

My stepdad had a Lincoln Blackwood with Navigation and using the regular maps it just showed a blinking dot on there for where my house is, like we lived in a big black hole of something. It really sucked. It couldn't find anything until you actually hit town!!!

P.S. Mapquest and all those other map places can find my address no problem. Of course, they send you the long way, past it and then backtracking, instead of turning onto the road I only live a few feet off of!!!

 

Thats why you need to update the maps every so often.

GPS systems while not perfect are very helpful and meant to help you navigate through places you might be unfamiliar with not your own house address which you probably know how to get to (and which is probably a new suburban subdivision anyway - easy to get in and out of).

I drove from St. Louis to Seattle using my portable GPS and made many detours along the way choosing option on the Nav like Scenic route and a stop at Yellowstone when I was crossing through Wyoming. Can't imagine doing that fublimg with paper maps.

Anyways I am a gadget guy, I'm sure many people out there aren't and for them we have atlas's!

 

How hard/costly is it to simply upgrade a car without a factory nav system? One of the other guys in the Indy RX-8 club (flyboyIndy) has a really nifty setup on his... He has routed both an X-Box (mostly functions as a big MP3 Player) and rear-view camera to his nav screen, which is pretty much what I'd like to do with mine.

With all the travelling I've been doing lately, and plan to do in the future, this is something I'd seriously like to look into as well.

 

I absolutely love my nav system...but then again I do a LOT of travelling. I guess it's really worth the 2000 if you travel like I do.

edit-Just had to say, it has been very precise everytime I use it.

 

I got the same Streetpilot,couldn't be happier with it's performance.

 

I live in a rural area about 13 miles outside of town, lived my whole entire life there (25 years) and the roads haven't changed!!! I thought it was kind of funny that he spent nearly $70K on a truck and it gadgets weren't smart enough to find home.

I can't wait to see if mine can find it. It would be interesting to know.

 

I don't know the NAV option. I will say, having NAV in your car that can do routes is awesome. Imagine never having to ask for directions anymore. Call anyone, get their address and off you go. OK, so it's not 100% perfect, but it gives you a whole lot of that "no getting lost or time wasted trying to find your way" confidence.

IMO, if you are trying to save money (e.g. getting a sport pkg) and otherwise don't mind spending $2K all that much, then I suggest getting it. Stock NAV is well-integrated in the car, has a big screen and keeps track of you inside of tunnels and other places where you lose the GPS signal.

On the other hand, I spent ~$500 and got me this PDA-based setup. It works well enough for times when I need directions, but it's not the easiest/simplest thing in the world to use.