720s Sat Nav Map Update

[danieleither]

What's the procedure for updating the Sat-Nav map in a 720s? I asked my dealership and their initial response was that there is no update, however I find this hard to believe. The car is a Launch edition 720s so the map is 2.5 years out of date!

[Palmball]

I’m afraid the dealer is correct. I tried to update the nav on my 570S and 720S, but they don’t exist.

Seems McLaren launch a car with a version, and that stays with the model forever. Ridiculous really, as they could easily monetise a map update and it wouldn’t be that hard to offer (just buy a newer version from the supplier...but this seems beyond them).

My 2018 570S was running with c.2016 maps and I suspect a new 2020 720S will still be running on the 2017 maps that the launch edition cars have.

There will be those who say to just use a phone, but of course there is no CarPlay and in any case, I don’t want a phone stuck to the screen / dash.

I know all the Germans offer map updates but I’m curious whether the likes of Ferrari do.

[danieleither]

This seems absolutely ridiculous!

[drcarrera]

Crazy! It wouldn't be quite so bad if the cars had Airplay or Android Auto. Is there any other manufacturer in the world who doesn't provide updates to built-in sat nav?

[Palmball]

That was my question above.

I know all the German brands (Merc, BMW, Porsche, Audi etc and therefore I also assume Lambo as it uses Audi systems) have updates but I’m less sure about others, such as the likes of Ferrari.

Buy a 2017/18/19 488 today, can you get an up to date map on it?

[johnnyreggae]

I think there's no updates (maybe one) on the 2009 California and that probably also applies to the 458

[Ferruccio]

To keep you up to date with the massive new road building that’s happening in the U.K..............???

[Macboy]

Ferruccio said:

To keep you up to date with the massive new road building that’s happening in the U.K..............???

I live in small-town Cheshire and they have built 3500 new houses and more than doubled the population in 10 years. Every one of the last 2500 houses built is on a new road. The nav in my car can't find any of them. No, there aren't any new motorways but there are literally thousands of new roads in the UK because there are hundreds of thousands of new houses being built. It's meant to be an amusing comment I know but it's also wildly inaccurate.

[12pack]

Thankfully, rarely use my Mac to go somewhere new.

This is in stark contrast to my daily Tesla, where the maps are updated continuously.

[davek_964]

12pack said:

Thankfully, rarely use my Mac to go somewhere new.

This is in stark contrast to my daily Tesla, where the maps are updated continuously.

That's pretty rare among manufacturers though isn't it? Pretty much every car I've owned has had out of date maps - it's not really a problem unique to McLaren.

[Macboy]

davek_964 said:

That's pretty rare among manufacturers though isn't it? Pretty much every car I've owned has had out of date maps - it's not really a problem unique to McLaren.

But not being able to buy a disk or download of new maps surely is quite unusual? I don't have much experience with exotics but every luxury car I've owned has updates available albeit often at a relatively high price.

[davek_964]

Macboy said:

davek_964 said:

That's pretty rare among manufacturers though isn't it? Pretty much every car I've owned has had out of date maps - it's not really a problem unique to McLaren.

But not being able to buy a disk or download of new maps surely is quite unusual? I don't have much experience with exotics but every luxury car I've owned has updates available albeit often at a relatively high price.

Yes and no.

You can usually buy discs - but it's not like they're usually updated monthly or even yearly. Quite often the "latest" maps are a few years out of date.

[Olas]

There are myriad options for re-coding/uploading/downloading data through the obd port - consider these.

Alternatively, the Waze app has live traffic updates and you can either leave the phone on your lap, hold it to a vent with an elastic band, or just accept that you need a holder if there are no cubby holes or cup holders.

[12pack]

davek_964 said:

That's pretty rare among manufacturers though isn't it? Pretty much every car I've owned has had out of date maps - it's not really a problem unique to McLaren.

You're right, that is unique - getting continuous over the air updates on the Tesla.

But certainly have been able to update my Aston's map with SD cards, though pricey.

[drcarrera]

Olas said:

Alternatively, the Waze app has live traffic updates and you can either leave the phone on your lap, hold it to a vent with an elastic band, or just accept that you need a holder if there are no cubby holes or cup holders.

Yes, let's drop a quarter of a mill on a state of the art supercar and drive it around with a mobile strapped to the dash with a lecky band! (Although preferable to your first suggestion which is illegal in the UK).

I got my first car with integrated sat nav in the late nineties (a Porker) and have owned around ten since with it fitted and every one allowed updates, even if only every two or three years and via a fairly laborious process. Our current Merc updates OTA regularly which reflects the level of the more recent tech. For McLaren to not offer a basic technical process that was commonplace twenty years ago is appalling imo.

It'll be interesting to see if the forthcoming hybridised Sports Series comes with manual wind windows and just an AM radio ...

[Olas]

satnav won’t update.
OP doesn’t want a phone holder on the dash or windscreen.

With the exception of an A to Z which is bulkier and less Convenient than a phone, how else do
You fulfil the request without a lacky band holding a phone to a vent? You could wedge the phone into a gap in the steering whee(if it fits)

You could buy a car with an updatable satnav
You could keep your mclaren for track days where satnav is unnecessary.
If you want to drive a car with no satnav to a location you’re not familiar with, AND don’t want a holder attached to the screen or dash, what other options are there?

I’m all ears

[anonymous-user]

Would make more sense for them to drop the in-car satnav tech and build a decent area for a phone (or even tablet) to be mounted. Most people I know use Waze. There would be little need for a large screen in the centre console, which could be replaced with a tablet and apps of the owners choice.

Maybe a much smaller screen for basic aircon and vehicle setup would suffice.

[Jules360]

Apple carplay ? Or an alternate system that allows you to download apps and connect to your phone for data ? Surely not that difficult ?

[12pack]

MAC 720S said:

Would make more sense for them to drop the in-car satnav tech and build a decent area for a phone (or even tablet) to be mounted. Most people I know use Waze. There would be little need for a large screen in the centre console, which could be replaced with a tablet and apps of the owners choice.

Maybe a much smaller screen for basic aircon and vehicle setup would suffice.

Makes perfect sense for McLaren since all of their cars have the bespoke sat Nav setup anyway. Usually car companies charge extra with good margin for those. Would just then need to do something about the reversing camera.

[davek_964]

12pack said:

MAC 720S said:

Would make more sense for them to drop the in-car satnav tech and build a decent area for a phone (or even tablet) to be mounted. Most people I know use Waze. There would be little need for a large screen in the centre console, which could be replaced with a tablet and apps of the owners choice.

Maybe a much smaller screen for basic aircon and vehicle setup would suffice.

Makes perfect sense for McLaren since all of their cars have the bespoke sat Nav setup anyway. Usually car companies charge extra with good margin for those. Would just then need to do something about the reversing camera.

Sport series has that in the dash display anyway.