My understanding of the Jaguar SUV line was piss-poor ; I thought the 'E-pace' was the electric version of the 'F-pace' - dumbass me. So now I'm reading about it - seems like the F-Pace is the bigger SUV and the E-pace is the smaller SUV, both offering hybrid options. The non-hybrid versions of the F- and E-pace both have 2 liter engines, which is a surprise. And even more of a surprise that the RAV4 hybrid has a bigger gasoline engine (2.5 liter) PLUS an electric motor! I always imagined that the sporty Jaguar SUVs would have big engines; bigger than a 'workhorse' like the RAV4!

Did you know that the 'Waymo' self-drive taxis in San Francisco are all based on the Jaguar I-Pace SUV? https://www.wired.com/story/jaguar-i...-self-driving/

I'll look up the 'GPS' stuff we were talking about - I don't drive my Venza that often so I'll make a point to use it today (it will be a good excuse to take it out for a spin - it only gets used once every few weeks these days).

I think that brand "Jaguar" took a massive hit when it got taken by Tata - and that Tata were arguably after the "Land Rover" side all along, the Jaguar bit was just part of the deal ... sniff ... damn shame really given the history.

I know absolutely sod-all about taxis, self drive or otherwise.

Actually, reflecting for a moment, that's a fib on two counts - taxis here in BE are mostly Tesla, and taxis in Switzerland cost more per km than most monthly mortgage repayments.

Coming back on this snippet ... With mine, the onboard system looks to be based on TomTom, rather than Garmin or any Google offering, but is also throwing a couple of others in to the mix.

Things called 'HERE Global BV' - presumably a Dutch outfit and also something called 'Toyota Smart Center' - I haven't yet pointed out their spelling mistake.

Toyota Smart Center provides mapping/route planning, HERE BV provides 'local' traffic updates - I think.

I've not used it too much (not as yet for any route planning, as I know where I'm going, mostly.)

But can I already see a few niggles with it:

I'm on a 50kph road, suddenly the heads-up switches to 120kph permissible, but that's just as I'm on a bridge crossing a highway, I'm not actually on the highway.

A message pops up on the big mappy screen 'Traffic incident ahead' with a 'More ...' soft-touch field. I'm really going navigate that to look at that level of detail while I'm driving???

Best one so far - I've had this every time now (in exactly the same spot) - making my way out of the village, turn onto the main road and after a while a loud audio alert sounds:

"WARNING - IN ONE KILOMETRE, DANGEROUS VEHICLES"

I know that junction very well, the only thing I see at that point is a Mercedes/AMG dealership...

I'm pretty sure I was completely wrong about Toyota using an OEM'd version of Google Maps; there ARE a long list of vehicle manufacturers who are signed up to do that but Toyota is not one of them. See this article for Google Maps embedded options. Long list at the bottom of the article - https://built-in.google/cars/

The biggest issue I've come across while reading about Toyota's latest Nav is that they now deliver it as a 'subscription' model, with a healthy free/introductory period. The upshot of this seems to be (based on many complaints online) that if you don't renew the sub, not only do you not get any updates, the core product completely stops working / disappears from your screen! That, I find to be unacceptable. Of course, you can just switch to Apple CarPlay / Android Auto, but still - the idea of pulling it altogether is pretty nasty. Would love to know if your 'service' is described as a subscription or not - maybe something to ask at your next dealership visit.

Personally, I always 'test' the route planning by using it when I DO know exactly where I'm going - that way, I can 'QA' the result. If the first time you use it, you are on an unfamiliar route, you will have no way of knowing if the chosen route was any good.

One day I got so frustrated with it, I wasted half an hour playing with it just to see how bad it was! I entered "Post Office" and the first result it gave me was 500 miles away. I then tried variations like "USPS", "United States Post Office", etc. It would show me UPS locations, UPS drop-off points, etc but never showed me the main Post Office in the town I was in. I also asked for my local 'Fry's Grocery', and got a 'Fries' restaurant 2,000 miles away. It wasn't just bad, it was shamefully so! I also tried its voice recognition capabilities; not only wasn't it that good, but I got consistently different results between using the steering wheel 'voice' button and the main screen 'microphone' icon. I then used Google Maps, and it gave me exactly what I wanted, first time, every time. The other thing that drove me crazy with mine was - it would insist on a full address (in 'address' mode, not POI mode); you couldn't just enter 'Main Street'; it wanted '1234 Main Street' and rejected the effort if the address wasn't accurate.
That's weird; mine can read actual speed limit signs on the road, and shows a representation of the sign in the console. Yours sounds like it's using positional information to infer speed, which is an interesting approach.

They (Toyota) definitely use the term 'subscription' throughout the blurb that I see, but to be fair (for the moment) the blurb that I'm seeing is coming from an EU-wide website, I'll ask at the dealership for a bit more precision when I next visit - which is planned around 10 and a half months from now
I always check Google Maps upfront on the laptop before leaving home in the case of a previously unvisited destination.

If in any doubt, I'll choose the route and download that to the mobile 'phone.

For the 'I know where I'm going anyway' stuff, I check the Google view just before leaving so as to get the latest traffic density view.

You'd get really pissed (off) even with Google's superb homing in ability here.

If I enter 'DickHeadStraat' I get back "Do you mean "DickHeadStraat" in village (a) or (b) or (c) - (c) being actually somewhere in the Netherlands, and if I'm really lucky a fourth choice somewhere in Germany.

Bingo! Mine too (but it does not always react to the temporary small signs placed by arguably overpaid contractors who sit in the shade near their vehicles, pretending to not be drinking beer).

Google (via Android Auto) tells the car and hence the HUD what is what in a far better way than the onboard system when the 'phone is plugged in - it's never said 'Yo, 120kph from now to the supermarket'.

So - there's integration between AA/Google Maps and your HUD? Wow - I was not aware of that. A lot of people are saying that a big benefit of their 'Toyota (integrated)' NAV (over AA) is that it works with the HUD, so if AA/Maps is doing that, even more reason to go with AA/Maps. I do appreciate the fact that AA interacts with the steering wheel buttons (I think ... I've actually stopped using AA and simply use my phone standalone as a secondary display).

That certainly seems to be the case so far, I'll push it a bit further and get back as to yay or nay.

Will be following up in the Android Auto thread.

A quick followup on this; If I ask Google Maps (by voice) to 'Find Costco' (or even 'find nearest Costco'), it will pull up a list of nearby Costco's for me to choose from (list and map) on the screen. But - I learned that I can also say, 'Navigate to nearest Costco', and it will locate the nearest one AND launch directly into navigation mode without further input. Or, if I want to visit the Costco that's not the nearest I can say 'Navigate to Costco in Danville' and it will launch directly into navigation to that Costco.

Now that I've got an iPhone, I guess I can start playing with Apple Maps!

My 74 inch wheelbase VW buggy is nearing completion. I tore down the engine and was able to reuse the case, crankshaft and distributor. Every thing else is new. I had a shop in Oneida TN rebuild it for about $3500 parts and labor. That includes many of the major parts I bought for them to use. I just discovered the fuel tank will have to be raised or install electric fuel pump.

It's looking good! Thx for the update.

How much longer do you expect the project to take?

I hope to get the engine started in a couple of weeks. Maybe totally done by thanksgiving. A lot of minor complications keep popping up. Like the fuel tank is not going to drain by gravity as I had hoped so plan to buy a facet cube fuel pump. Spent all day trying to fit the intake which should have been a drop in but Chinese parts seem to be close but not a perfect fit.

I had my first short test drive today. Still in process of trying to bleed brakes. Engine runs good but need to recheck timing. Haven’t yet installed windshield or seat belts. Getting windshield made for $75 to pick up next week.

It's looking good!

Thanks. I am starting to see some progress in the brake bleeding. Will license Monday and get it insured. My title says 76 vw beetle but wondering just how much I should disclose to insurance company about “Modifications”