Garmin and routes through Germany

[YosemitePaul]

I'm intending to travel to Italy for my summer hols. The route will take me from Rotterdam via the Autobhans of Germany for one nights stopover.
My question is: if I plan the route using as many motorway type roads on Navigator 8 and down load it to the unit (2720) will it be the same as if when I get off the ferry and type in Freiburg and ask it to route me using the fastest route.
In essence I'm asking would I be wasting my time planning via Navigator?
I have no interest in varying my journey, just want to use the shortest / fastest route possibe?

Ta for the help,
Paul.

 

[chasr]

If all you want is the fastest route, the 2720 will work it out fine - no need to bother with Mapsource. But you're missing a lot of fun!

 

[PanEuropean]

Hi Paul:

You'll likely get the same results for the situation that you described using either MapSource or the GPSR. However - you can increase the likelihood of the GPSR choosing the high-speed autoroutes in Germany if you go to the preferences section of the MapSource application, and edit your highway speed to make it more representative of the speed you will actually travel on the German autobahns.

The default highway speed in MapSource (when you first install it) is about 68 MPH, in reality, you will probably move at a speed closer to 85 MPH when you are in Germany. If you make this tweak to MapSource, then construct the route in MapSource and save it and download it to the GPSR, the slightly different route created as a result of using the higher average speed will be preserved when you activate it on the GPSR. If you were to just construct the route on the GPSR, the average speed for motorways would be taken from your historical average speed on motorways, which is a number you cannot change via user intervention.

Michael

 

[GSPeP]

Just ask for the "fastest" route and it will send you to the nearest autobahn and stay on the autobahn till you are near Freiburg. No planning on the computer required for that.

 

[st13phil]

If you were to just construct the route on the GPSR, the average speed for motorways would be taken from your historical average speed on motorways, which is a number you cannot change via user intervention.

Now that's a fascinating bit of info that raises two questions:

1) Can I interogate my historical average speed by road type from the GPSR so that I can plug the same numbers into MapSource and thus encourage them to route the same way for any given start and end point? and...

2) Does a GPSR unit reset erase these historical average speed values (I would guess it does)?

This may go some way to explaining why, after a recent trip to France where my average speed on non-motorway roads was massively higher than it would have been for equivalent category UK roads, my 2720 would choose to route me across London as the fastest route for a journey from Bicester to Bexley rather than around the M25. Any comments?

 

[PanEuropean]

Hi Phil:

I wouldn't get too excited about the 'historical averages' numbers. I've looked at the averages on my GPSR, and they are pretty close to the numbers that are used nominally in MapSource as defaults.

I think (I'm guessing here) that these historical averages are used primarily to fine-tune the estimated time of arrival display. For example, if you are travelling on arterial city roads in Detroit, MI, your average speed will probably be about 48 to 50 MPH (the roads are generally posted as 45MPH), but if you are travelling on the same class of roads in Toronto, Canada, your average speed will probably be closer to 35 MPH (the roads are generally posted at 35 MPH). This difference in speed actually accomplished is not going to change routing very much, because if the GPSR is trying to construct a route to get you somewhere quickly, it's going to choose the arterial roads in either case. The only difference will be that you'll get there faster in Detroit, and eventually, the GPSR will learn that and that will be reflected in the estimated time of arrival that is displayed as you progress.

Where it does make a difference (and this is about the only place I have noticed that it makes a difference) is in Germany, where the average speed of travel on the Autobahn road class is so much higher than the default. In this case (only), it makes sense to tell MapSource that you will be averaging 85 MPH - or 110 MPH or whatever - on the Autobahn, because then the routing engine in MapSource might take you a bit further out of your way than normal to put you on the Autobahn.

This is the kind of thing that would be worthwhile doing if you have a really long trip to plan, not just for a trip to the milk store.

What is useful to know is that you can use these 'average road class speeds' in MapSource to keep you OFF the controlled access highways if you don't like them. If I am planning a recreational motorcycle trip, I don't want to be riding on interstates (motorways), because they are boring. So, I set my average speed for interstates in the MapSource application to 31 MPH, and then tell MapSource to calculate the fastest route for me. Because the secondary roads now have a higher average speed indicated, MapSource will avoid the motorways like the plague, except when no other logical route is available - and then it will use the motorways only for the shortest possible distance before getting me back onto the secondary highways.

Michael

 

[araspitfire]

So, I set my average speed for interstates in the MapSource application to 31 MPH, and then tell MapSource to calculate the fastest route for me. Because the secondary roads now have a higher average speed indicated, MapSource will avoid the motorways like the plague, except when no other logical route is available - and then it will use the motorways only for the shortest possible distance before getting me back onto the secondary highways.
Michael

Smart boy!

Al...

 

[YosemitePaul]

Its interesting that to get from Rotterdam to Freiburg. Navigator routes you through Holland down to Maestrict before entering (I assume) the faster Autobhans of Germany. In comparison AutoRoute takes you west out of Rotterdam entering Germany North of Dusseldorf.
Both software give just about the same distance, and the same times.
Which should be a better / faster route Navteq or Microsoft??

 

[araspitfire]

I know that people tend not to exceed 130 kmh (120 mostly) here in The Netherlands... the odd car goes by, but generally not...

But when you cross the border... zip... zip... zip.....

With little traffic, I was doing 150 kmh (92 mph) easily in Germany...

The dutch roads are good, but quite congested in the mornings and afternoons...

Al...

 

[Britishbeefy]

Not wrong about those morning roads! Got off the overnight ferry and spent an hour and a half following/passing what seemed like a solid queue of lorries and cars...not the ideal start to a 550 mile day.