I just traveled around ireland with my garmin sat nav towing a caravan, but it wanted to take me down small roads alot rather then using main roads that were a simlar distance, which was difficult when towing, heading to france in 3 weeks and i was wondering if anyone knows a way to set it that it uses main roads and not smaller roads/lanes? or is there any other way around this.
Heading from roscoff to carnac, then carnac to vendee and then to samur, any advice on route very welcome
thanks
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Hi carpetking.
We used a Garmin 255W last year down in the Ardeche, and I have to say, it was brilliant for getting around, and finding our way back to the campsite.
Having said that, on one ocasion due to bridge closed for repair, not far from Vallon, I selected re-route, it then lead me of up a small road, which then turned into a farm track, this track then started to weave through folks properties, and as my cars wing mirrors started to make contac with walls, due to how narrow things were getting, I decided to get the maps out, Michelin 331 (1cm = 1.5km) and Michelin 113 (1cm = 1.6km) both cover the Ardeche.
Clearly the Garmin was taking me the next direct alternative route. human intervention was needed.
The map showed that Garmin route was not a good idea, as there was an alternative D road, that altough longer in distance, would have been a far more sensibe re-route.
And that's the rub, most satnav's don't have any common sense, and for under £100 I would not expect it to have.
I suppose like redwatch says you could download your own route, although that would have been of no help in my situation.
If I was towing a caravan I would be going for one of the satnav's that has dedicated towing software built in, cheapest I have seen has been around £300.
We have an older garmin, and although it doesnt have dedicated towing software built in, you can choose vehicle type, so we change it to truck when towing the folding camper. Having said that, have never done a direct comparison on the routes it chooses.
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Hi Mark.
That truck setting would be handy, even if not towing, at least then if you do a de-tour re-route like I did, due to a closed road, then it would not send you along the nearest tiny country road like mine did, will look out for that feature when I upgrade next year, odd how that truck feature is not on the current sub £130 new models.
We had an older Garmin and it was brilliant because we too had the 'Truck' setting. It never took us anywhere dubious and I had complete confidence in it.
We changed to a nuvi (old one broke).... and it didn't have the truck setting (oversight on my part). When we travelled down to Spain last year there was so many times where I had to tell hubby (who was driving) to ignore the Sat Nav as it was trying to take us through small roads. (I checked the settings so many times!!) It actually sounded as though she was saying 're-calculating' with an attitude!!!
This year (I know it's a bit of overkill) I have checked all our routes on Goole maps and then put 'custom routes' in on the sat nav just to make sure that we follow the right course. (Don't know what we'll do if there is a hold up and have to use a different route... suppose I'll have to resort to good old map reading!!) We have an Apple PC - found out recently that the garmin software is not compatible and doing routes and waypoints via the PC and then downloading them is not possible (it would be great if anyone can suggest a way of getting around this).
Anyway Carpetking, if you are unable to use your PC, in the 'settings' option you should find 'custom routes'. This should allow you to put in a route with allocated waypoints to ensure you follow the route that you want!! Good luck!!
Just had a quick look, the Garmin Nuvi 465T has truck setting, so all is not lost, cheapest price was £175 which is more than I would wish to pay for a satnav, £100 being my budget, but will keep on eye on this model, it's been out since 2009 so could soon become an EOL bargain.
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I doubt you'll find those truck settings much good - they normally just alter the driving times to allow for a slower speed (that's what mine does - doesn't change the route at all). Understandable really - most B roads are easily wide enough for a caravan but not all - how can a sat-nav know that? None of them can hold the data needed to determine the width of every road in the country along their entire length.
In fact, I can never understand why people say use a map - an unnamed road on a map could be easily big enough for a caravan but it could be a single lane with passing places - I've never had a map that can distinguish that.
The best you can do is to make sure your sat-nav is on 'Fastest' route, as opposed to 'Shortest'.
Shortest will do the nearest to a straight line between where you are and where you want to go (good fun if you're just exploring by the way, takes you to very out-of-the-way places ).
Fastest will take account of road type and what speed you do on them and so will always suggest an A road over a B road, for example (unless the A road takes you miles out of your way).
------------- 'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain
Hi nelmo.
Would you not think the truck setting, would avoid low bridges and weight restricted bridges etc, just a thought having never owned a satnav with truck setting on it, so you could well be correct.
Maybe it's a good question to ask the work experience kid, when I am next in Halfrauds!.
I doubt you'll find those truck settings much good - they normally just alter the driving times to allow for a slower speed (that's what mine does - doesn't change the route at all). Understandable really - most B roads are easily wide enough for a caravan but not all - how can a sat-nav know that? None of them can hold the data needed to determine the width of every road in the country along their entire length.
In fact, I can never understand why people say use a map - an unnamed road on a map could be easily big enough for a caravan but it could be a single lane with passing places - I've never had a map that can distinguish that.
The best you can do is to make sure your sat-nav is on 'Fastest' route, as opposed to 'Shortest'.
Shortest will do the nearest to a straight line between where you are and where you want to go (good fun if you're just exploring by the way, takes you to very out-of-the-way places ).
Fastest will take account of road type and what speed you do on them and so will always suggest an A road over a B road, for example (unless the A road takes you miles out of your way).
I have to agree, the 'fastest' route is the right setting. We are going through France and into Spain and initially was using the Garmin Mapsource program (its a quite brilliant program when you get the hang of it) to work out all my routes in blocks with waypoints for rest periods and refueling. It was all going according to plan then I transferred all the data to my satnav (Garmin Nuvi 265WT) and I could find all the waypoints but no routes??? After further research it seems my series does not support routes so Im going to have to add the waypoints when we move off each day. So i'd advise anyone purchasing a new sat nav to make sure it lets you preset your routes.
One thing I had been doing in the mapsource program was making a closer study of roads closer to the sites, using a combination of Google Earth and Streetview I was able to set the route to avoid unsuitable roads such as some where you could just about get a car down apart from a caravan aswell!! Because I also downloaded the the map updates to my pc aswell it automatically installed the updates in MapSource, the routes automatically match the routes that would come up on your satnav. MapSource also allows you to block off unsuitable roads or roads you wish to avoid meaning it directs you where you wish to go. But as I said its no use if your SatNav doen't allow you to input the preset routes.
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Thanks all for the replys, been very hellpful, i have a garmin nuvi 250, it hasnt got the truck settings, i think i will map out my own route and try and load it on as a custom route, i dont mind smaller roads when we are driving without the caravan and i only have 4 different drives with the caravan on so will give it a go that way.
Hi. The only problem with the truck setting is that it avoids bridges with a 7.5 tonn weight limit. When touring in France and avoiding toll roads this can lead to much longer routes.
Quote: Originally posted by Francais on 13/7/2011
Hi nelmo. Would you not think the truck setting, would avoid low bridges and weight restricted bridges etc, just a thought having never owned a satnav with truck setting on it, so you could well be correct.
Maybe it's a good question to ask the work experience kid, when I am next in Halfrauds!.
They may do but I can honestly say, in my 25 years of driving, I can't ever recall coming across a bridge that low. There's lots of them with a height of something like 4m but I've never seen anything lower that might affect a caravan. Also, as John says in the above post, you're not going to weigh more than 7.5t and have you ever seen a bridge with a lower rating?
The kid in Halfords won't have a clue...
------------- 'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain
I've used a Garmin in Ireland as well as extensively on the continent. I think the problem is the way the Irish clsssify their roads. They seem to just have "main roads" and "other roads" with no other classification, and from this limited mapping information you do get sent down tiny country roads.
However, fear not Carpetking, things are much better in France and Garmin will happily take you on a sensible route. I would agree with the fastest route setting to be best. It is always best to use one of the voices that does not give road names. Emily's French pronunciation is appalling.
It is sensible to always check the route given on a map before setting off. garmin often likes to find small roads from the campsite that appear to be a short cut.
Quote: Originally posted by carpetking on 15/7/2011
Thanks all for the replys, been very hellpful, i have a garmin nuvi 250, it hasnt got the truck settings, i think i will map out my own route and try and load it on as a custom route, i dont mind smaller roads when we are driving without the caravan and i only have 4 different drives with the caravan on so will give it a go that way.
Thanks Again
Though as I said above I dont think any of the Nuvi 200 series allow you to do custom routes.
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Topic: Garmin Sat Nav, Road settings??
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