Rick-A-Shay

I have a '11 GTS without navigation. According to dealer parts dept. a different PCM must be purchased and installed to allow for nav. $$$. A recent note in Panorama stated that 997.2 models have preinstalled PCM's that only require an "unlock code" and software installation by dealer to activate the navigation. Anyone have a link to previous posts on this or comments/pricing? Otherwise, my Garmin "stick on" does work quite well!

jhbrennan

I saw the same tech article and asked my dealer last week - he had no clue (but that doesn't really surprise me). Assuming Panorama Tech guy is correct that would mean cars without nav would also have to have GPS antenna installed and some other "stuff" too. My 2012 GTS is without nav too - don't really miss it but would like to find out more. I'd be more interested if the PCM had sat radio installed that could be activated similar to the dealer activation/coding in recent BMW's.

ajayabb

I read the same article, also curious about this. Hopefully someone in the know will chime in

ADias

I saw the article and I am skeptical. At least for XM one needs to install an antenna, and I doubt there is digital storage for maps already installed…

andy92782

I'd skip it. Even if you could activate the nav you'd be stuck living with a system designed 7 years ago with maps constantly getting outdated, forcing you to spend big bux every couple years to update them.

Meanwhile all I need to do is say to my phone something like, "OK Google, navigate to Porsche of Newport Beach" and let it do the rest...for free.

sleepy

Except when you travel out of the signal range and didn't plan ahead to download offline maps. And it's hard to listen to the voice guidance coming from the phone's speakers... Bluetooth streaming? Sorry, no A2DP on 997, good luck with muffled speech over road noise on 18+ wheels and minimum sound proofing. Then there's the tiny screen size; even the largest phones are not comfortable for quick glances while driving.

I can't see myself spending $$$ to swap a factory PCM w/ nav either, but the smart phone solution is far from perfect. It'd be nice to have a cheaper solution to "activate" nav, if such thing exists.

andy92782

I hear you.. the smartphone isn't ideal but I've got some experience with it. A few points:
- My 997.2 has navigation. It isn't that great and the screen isn't in a location that's easy to glance at while driving. The map database dates back to 2010 when the car was new and no, I don't feel like spending $300+ at the dealer to bring them up to date.
- Not having access to nav because I might be out "in the weeds" away from cellphone reception isn't generally an issue. If I'm gonna be out in the weeds I'm usually in my 4Runner and I'm using a cheap Garmin nuvi. YMMV.
- I frequently use Google Maps/Navigation on my Android phone while out traveling in strange lands on business trips. Although the screen might not be front and center, it works well.
- You can get an A2DP Bluetooth Audio streaming gadget from Amazon that plugs into the AUX input in the armrest for little money - perhaps $30 or less.

Minok

The maps there need to be occasionally updated sure, but the problem with the phone nave approach:

1. Its not showing in the dash OBC for instructions
2. The screen is a bit smaller - and you need to figure out how to mount it ad where.
3. When you don't have a cell data signal or the data network is congested, your nav drops out. Look at the data coverage - its easy to get off of data network in the west of the country... and that isn't 'in the weeds'

I imagine the phone/cell approach works quite well for much of the country, but when you are inside of mountains and other tricky terrain (urban cell provider dead zones), you can loose navigation... so if you need to make a turn in that area.. it gets annoying.

cutlass476

http://content3.eu.porsche.com/prod/...ac=seriesbtype

You shouldn't have to spend $300 at the dealer to update your maps. It costs like $175 + tax to purchase the upgrade directly from Porsche. There is no dealer installation required. Just start the car insert the disc and the update occurs automatically.

andy92782

Is this really true? According to this page dealer installation/activation is required *on top* of the $269 they charge for the update:
http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...newproductpage
...AND the 2015 map database is already a year old.

Even if the update cost was $175 all-in with no dealer visits required that's still absurd. Garmin sells nuvi units for less than that with free lifetime updates or you can simply use your smartphone with an AD2P adapter for practically nothing.

Minok

The future may be to allow wifi updates of map systems - so you can authenticate your car to your home/known wifi and securely update the map data that way. So long as Porsche's design is such that it may require more hands-on work (ie there is an opportunity for something to go wrong and have to be reset) they may want you to be at the dealer so you don't end up with a non-functioning nav system.