Shortest route Montana 600 v XT

[zoltan]

Just purchased the XT and I can't get my head around this issue. Point to Point the XT calculate 38 miles as the shorter route, the 600 calculate 28 miles. If I turn on motorways avoidance on the XT the journey drops to 30 miles, still 2 miles longer than the 600. On the 600 I don't need to turn on the avoidance, Google maps and Garmin DriveAssist 50 all show the 28 miles route.
Is this an algorithm issue?

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Just purchased the XT and I can't get my head around this issue. Point to Point the XT calculate 38 miles as the shorter route, the 600 calculate 28 miles. If I turn on motorways avoidance on the XT the journey drops to 30 miles, still 2 miles longer than the 600. On the 600 I don't need to turn on the avoidance, Google maps and Garmin DriveAssist 50 all show the 28 miles route.
Is this an algorithm issue?

Yes
My XT always calculated a longer route A to B than my Montana 600 does
Both set to shortest distance
2610 performs similar to the Montana in the way the routing algorithm is calculated, XT doesn’t
You have to use other planning tools with the XT guess which is a faff, if it’s raining and you’re out on the bike, sheltering in a garage canopy and you just want the shortest and quickest way to your destination-the XT selects main roads although it’s longer in distances
Loads of angst on the XT/XT2 facebook pages about the GPS unit’s weirdness about routing

 

[John Armstrong]

The XT (on software 6.50) prefers faster roads, which may, or not be the shortest time when "faster" is selected.

 

[zoltan]

I achieved a shorter route (29 miles) by turning off motorways. However it didn't take the backroad track (enabled) around Alton which is marked on the map but send me across town.

 

[Mzokk]

The ZumoXT algorithm for "faster time" isn't actually faster time but more major roads. The previous Streetpilot 2610 and earlier Zumos calculated the faster time from the combined speeds of roads to get to a destination taking the shortest distance/time into consideration and in the case of the 2610 on your on the fly road preferences. There is a discussion about it here. https://www.ukgser.com/community/threads/xt-issues-with-routes.355963/

My main issue with this is a Zumo XT could potentially put you in the middle of a large town or city (something I try to avoid) when its not necessary. Knowing how it behaves in this instance and being aware of its potential routing foibles (which are also well documented) issues can be avoided. That said for point to point routing, my Honda Africa Twin has Android Auto and google maps has the best routing options for point to point navigation taking into consideration live traffic.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

The ZumoXT algorithm for "faster time" isn't actually faster time but more major roads. The previous Streetpilot 2610 and earlier Zumos calculated the faster time from the combined speeds of roads to get to a destination taking the shortest distance/time into consideration and in the case of the 2610 on your on the fly road preferences. There is a discussion about it here. https://www.ukgser.com/community/threads/xt-issues-with-routes.355963/

My main issue with this is a Zumo XT could potentially put you in the middle of a large town or city (something I try to avoid) when its not necessary. Knowing how it behaves in this instance and being aware of its potential routing foibles (which are also well documented) issues can be avoided. That said for point to point routing, my Honda Africa Twin has Android Auto and google maps has the best routing options for point to point navigation taking into consideration live traffic.

Finally, an explanation
Thanks