I recently installed an Eclipse 5495 in the wife's Jag and realized I still wanted a nav unit for the C5, but I'm satisfied with the stock audio (especially after adding an iPod adapter to the mix) and I didn't want to spend that kind of loot again on another Eclipse. Even though I absolutely drool when I see some of the nav/audio setups some of our fellow members have. Incredible stuff. Anyway, the Navman ICN 530 caught my eye, because it fits in a shirt pocket but also because the styling of the case and buttons has "C5" written all over it. I modified a $6 vent clip to work with the Navman stock mount that is usually used with a suction mount, and here are the results.



I'm digging it. It's within easy reach, and looks like it belongs in the cockpit, plus it's easy to remove.

 

Looks nice! Does mounting it in that location block off the flow of the air-conditioner?

 

Looks good -- not too obtrusive and it has a good sized, bright screen. How's the interface and accuracy?

 

Where's the pic?

 

I don't like it. Makes the interior look cheep. I say do it right or not at all. Just like people and their XM pods stuck to the dash. Tacky. Nope not for me. Just my .02

 

Not half as cheap as fake stickers on their car.

 

Looks okay, I think installed in the dash looks better, but as long as you like it that's all that counts. does it block the A/C flow?

 

Looks good. I just got a Garmin Nuvi, but have not used it in the Vette yet. I normally have my iPod in a vent mount where your Navman is though. I'll probably just use the window mount for the gps.

 

uh...oh...

 

Looks nice. Living in Texas, I need every bit of air flowing from the AC vents during the summer, so not for me.

 

OH SNAP!

 

I have a Garmin C340. I put down on top of the ashtray. I don't have to look at it because IT TALKS. Great little unit as I'm sure yours is. Maps are preloaded and it has a battery. It also works great on my motorcycle, my truck and my other truck. All for 300 bucks...

 

 

Yeah, I realize the unit and the way I installed it may not be everbody's cup of tea. Just like every other mod we make to our cars. All subjective. I'm good with that.

Like I said, I really like the look of the built in units, but I'm a little leery of going that route with a vert, and after having spent nearly three grand on the wife's installation, I'm not anxious to repeat the expenditure. Plus, I wanted a portable unit that I can take when I travel sans the 'Vette. I like the Garmin Nuvi, and I suspect it's a superior unit, but nearly twice the cost of this one.

Now, to the substantive questions... It works great, so far... and it doesn't block the airflow enough for me to notice. My outside temp display read 100 degrees outside and I was quite comfortable for the long drive I just took. So, that doesn't seem to be an issue. The unit is very accurate, and has different screens you can page through with one of those front buttons. A 2D overhead view, a cool 3D effect, where it looks like you're looking down on your position from a low flying plane right behind you, showing you the roads in the distance, and even blue skies with a few clouds for good measure.

There seems to be a fair degree of customization available, and while I think there are probably better nav units out there, it did just great in taking me to my destination without any errors. The mileage indicator to the next turn turns from 10ths of a mile to feet and counts down for the last 1,000 feet, so there's no questions as to which turn you're supposed to take.

It also shows you the street numbers along the bottom of the screen as you're driving. Pretty cool. All in all, a pretty good package for the dough. The built in antenna does a good job of snagging the signals. The only thing it doesn't do (which I find a drawback) is that it doesn't tell you which side of the road your destination is on as you approach. But it tells you you're there when you're right in front of it. The accuracy seems very, very good. There's a built in stylus that pulls out of the top corner to use on the screen. This one also has voice navigation and several pleasant sounding voices to choose from. But at the volume I like listening to music, it's usefulness is limited. However, it does have an earphone jack.

It will also automatically change from day to night display. All in all, a pretty decent package for the price, and it looks nice inside the car. Another nice place to put it would be on the front bar of the top, right between the visors, but I'm not keen on messing around with velcro just yet. What I really need is a ball with a clip, that will mate with the socket that's on the included mount. I didn't want to stick it on the windshield with the suction cup mount that came with it.

 

Good review on the functionality and features of the unit. Thanks for posting it.

 

 

Thanks guys. That's very gracious of you. One other feature I neglected to mention that is kind of cool is a user selectable "auto zoom" that will automatically zoom in on the map for a closer look the slower you're going, or zoom out on the freeway to give you a better overview of the nav picture.

There is also an upgrade you can order (and then use for no charge after the intial purchase) that will inform you of real time traffic problems and alternate routes to avoid them, if I understand that feature correctly. All the "usual" features are included, like the ability to schedule multiple stops on your destination, choose roads to ignore, bias towards freeways or streets, shortest routes, quickest routes, whether or not to include toll roads, etc. And it corrects the route on the fly pretty quickly if you decide to veer off course and do something else.

The front panel includes backlit buttons for finding the nearest gas station, the nearest public parking lot, main menu, the aforementioned multiple options pages for displaying nav info and an escape button to undo whatever you just did. I pressed it, hoping that my car would materialize in Hawaii, but alas, that's not the kind of escape that Navman could program in.

For $438 plus shipping, I thought it was a great bargain, particulary since the styling matches nicely with the C5 interior. Internal battery supposedly lasts up to 4 hours. Okay, I'm done!