Alpine, what a pain...

[anubis1]

I have now the 7th !!! Alpine in my Evora: still the Navi is not working. And definitively: it is a problem with the Antenna. I searched the whole Internet and nobody has the problems like the Evora has. Result: it must be the antenna which does not supply the Alpine with enough data/power for having the Navigation running almost properly. Also the radio inputsignal is low (again the antenna). I drove the same roads with other cars and compared the radiosignal intensity. While with other cars there is good radio, the Alpine sounds like a radio in the early 70's. Fortunately I have a navi in my mobile phone. Anyhow... this can not be that way. I do not understand, why Lotus is not placing fair antennas in the car. A.

[alex-mayer]

Hello @ all,

I love the Evora.

It is a great car and my first 500 km with the Evora were unique driving fun for me.

But I do have the same radio-reception problems anubis1 has written about.

Here in southern Germany I actually do not get any radio station properly.

Even the strongest stations are offered to me in rather 1930s "sound" than 1970s as anubis1 spoke about.

I cannot follow the news on radio, and about listenig to music I´d rather not write.

It is just some kind of vuvuzela-like noise I get to hear...

Does anybody has contact to Lotus and can say anything about this subject.

Are they working on it?

And what about Alpine?

Do they know about the problem?

Are they working on it?

As far as the navigation is concerned, it does work here.

But I am not happy about the fact, that I will be forced to read through 86 pages of instruction, in order to be able to use the navigation.

It will be the first instruction I have to read, after the use of a Michelin, a Navigon, a Tom-Tom and a BMW-own navigation unit I did and do use..... without ever reading a single word in the instructions!

Greetings from Bavaria,

Alexander

[Bibs]

If you're unhappy with the unit I'd advise a call to Neil Turner who is customer services manager at the factory. I'm not sure how much he can do but it's his job to speak to unhappy customers! +44 (0)1953 608000.

[S7 EXG]

I covered 750 miles UK -> Belgium -> UK this weekend and stashed my trusty tom tom in my bag just in case. In fact the alpine nav worked better than ever. I believe the crux of the problem in navigation is that it is too slow to react when at speed, recalc route, or in the urban jungle. Out on the highway it's just fine.

As for the radio - in London it's fine. Travelling around less so. Abroad I just use itunes from my iphone.

A new respect found. Crank up the volume and it does a passable impression of an expensive audio system.

It's really not that tricky to use once you have basic setups sorted out - ie speed camera warnings on / off etc.

[Al]

Unit is crap. Period. No discussions IMHO.

I am totally with Anibus on this one. It is ruining the car for me I am afraid - amongst other niggles. I agree if at defening levels it sounds okay but who needs that. I have now become fully familiar with all the ways of getting to every part of the settings by each way because I have had to spend so much time searching for ways of fixing the latest failing. The Dealers Service Manager and I have literally spent hours either on the phone or in their car park talking me though the latest failings and the great thing is it fails on the way home without even switching the engine off first.

My one can't get itself out the drive without getting lost. Somebody else on the forum with a newer car & I drove the same route at sensible speeds over open Scottish moorland and we were getting lost on the only road in the place. Nearer home mine got lost on straight motorway at constant cruising speed just before a roundabout. It finally settled on going round and round the thing at 30mph for about 10 mins despite me being elsewhere. A few days later it finally came to rest (on another journey) in a car park in a town about 5 miles from where I live and stayed there. The great thing was it knew where I was and what speed I was doing becuase it gave me speed camera alerts correctly 50 miles away on next journey. Just picture didn't show it. This journey was to Lotus to be be left with them for the 4th time as I came offshore, for this Alpine and for the Air Con failing - again. I agree with Anibus that much appears to be antenna related as radio reception in this car is the worst ever experienced on my favorite statins which I cannot listen to if I drive this car. Also if I take the Blackbird unit into another car it works fine.

Lotus does not want to know I'm told. Dealer service manager has to deal with Alpine direct. He is not allowed to change the unit without their permission. Factory direct all issues to them anyway.

[Robert Crooks]

When my Alpine unit failed shortly after getting the car a few months back, the dealer were giving me the run around, needing me to take the car 20 miles to confirm the fault before they would order a new one from Alpine, and only able to get me booked in for this 2 weeks later. I spoke to Neil Turner at the factory and he had a new unit at the dealer and fitted in my car within 24 hours. He could not have been more helpful and the dealer performance improved as a result of his involvement too. Two months on, apart from very occasionally losing SatNav signal, I have had no further problems with the unit. Don't get me wrong, it is not a great unit, say, compared to the OEM unit I had in my Range Rover, but while it is working okay, it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the car.

[Bibs]

Al, buy another head unit!

[bolly girl]

We're on our third Alpine at moment and just before it went back to the garage for the A/C fix it decided to lock onto a position that we had been sat outside with engine running for 10mins (friends house so knew where we were and so switched system off). Next day system required and it wouldn't unlock from previous 'holding fix' . Anyway, long story short no amount of 'messing' could resolve it and it went to garage for said AC fix and was there for nearly three weeks.

On return Sat Nav worked beautifully - why???- but only for first hour of journey when battery promptly died on me - why???? - had taken portable out to use in other car. Had they disconnected the battery for three weeks I wonder or had it been left inadvertently 'on' inside the dash unit and the short journeys it made only enough to charge it for an hours worth?

Our answer has now been to remove it from docking station and stash in glovebox for use only in event of being in Evora on a long journey, remove it at the end and ensure switched off manually - also, carry an old fashioned paper map!!

Edited July 31, 2010 by bolly girl

[bingoking]

I am pleased to report that since I updated the Firmware, maps and speed camera databases I have not had any problems with the unit. Previously I lost GPS signal on a couple of ocassions on the A68 and on the Schiehallion Road in Perthshire but have since travelled these roads with no loss of signal.

I have to say that the more I use the unit I am getting used to it and quite like a number of features.

My only issue is loss of FM signal quite frequently.

[Justin182]

I've also not had any problems with mine, apart from the usual slow screen change, and with it being awkward to use.

[bolly girl]

BingoKing - numpty question, how did you update the firmware etc?

[bingoking]

I probably did it back to front in that I upgraded the firmware by downloading the update to an SD card before updating the maps through Naviextras toolbox.

This page http://www.alpine-electronics.co.uk/support/navigation-update.html takes you to the support page on the Alpine website and I downloaded the instructions and firmware update after clicking on the Firmware Update section.

I then discovered by clicking on the Map Update section that after downloading the Naviextras toolbox software and connecting my Blackbird to the computer that I the toolbox software scans the Blackbird and advises you of any software, map and speed camera updates available. There is no cost for the Firmware update but a cost for the maps and speed camera updates.

[Captain]

Hi! I confirm after the upgrade the unit works better. Bluetooth works now perfectly, the SatNav signal seems stronger and the unit a little bit faster (or is it the "placebo" effect?). The procedure must be followed rigorously to be effective.

[Beady]

Another unexpected thumbs up for the Alpine.

We updated the firmware and also the maps a week ago just before heading off to France for a week holiday.

Unfortunately due to luggage, son and dog, we didnt take the Evora, but did take the Alpine with the cradle in the other car.

It performed pretty much faultlessly throughtout the week.

We navigated close on 1500 miles in total.

It picked up all the (very few) speed cameras, the journey time was amazingly accurate, and it only took us to a dead end once - and in fairness the road continued but had recently been blocked off due to construction works.

Coming back, it even notified us of a severe jam on the M25 around the Dartfords bridge and diverted us about 10 miles 'cross country'. About half an hour after the bridge we kept seeing cars that had gone passed us after leaving the Eurotunnel so it is clrear that the alternative route was quicker

[The Yorkshire Inquisition]

Just to add to this topic for those who get a new Evora.

I was told that I had an updated unit fitted to my car - (car was built 10 days ago)

Not sure that correct - it's a B200P V2 (new 'S' is getting M300) - and the maps were from 2008 - boooo

If you do an update in the first 28 days from the unit getting a GPS signal (so even on a factory fresh car you may only have 7-14 days) they give you

the updated map FOC.

Compared to TomTom the maps seem quite expensive (I use the qtr update service) - but maybe on this one I will only update it once a year - or before epic trip!

[Myfavedave]

Thanks Iain, that's good to know about the 30 day thing. Mine is being built at the moment.

From looking at the Alpine site, it looks like the M300 loses the portability of the blackbird. Not sure, but the screen appears to be smaller too.. although perhaps it depends on the head unit. I'm going to the factory to see my car on the production line on the 27th, so I'll ask then..

[bingoking]

Well I didn't know about the free upgrade and I don't remember seeing anything in the documentation about this.

I have just returned from a long driving holiday in Europe (2,200 miles) and drove from the ferry port at Ijmuiden (Amsterdam) to Switzerland. It took the sat nav in the car 100 kms, yes 100 kms to come up with a route. It kept recalculating ever time it got to 100% due to traffic jams on the route. My TomTom on the other hand, which I took along just in case, calculated a route within 2 minutes of acquiring a satellite signal when we left the boat. Even after the Alpine unit decided on a route, it would frequently recalculate due to traffic jams ahead, but when I looked at the traffic info, there were no problems on my route!!!

Hopefully the the M300 unit is better then the Blackbird, and for me it wouldn't matter that it does not have a portable unit because I have my trusty TomTom.

I know this is off topic but:

The car performed perfectly, was very comfortable and very stable at 155mph on the autobahn (according to my Pogo alert which is set to show a digital speedo display) . I am not sure how much more I would have got as I have the close ratio box and I think the top speed of the standard box is 165mph. I am sure someone reading this will be able to do the calculation and let me know.

I couldn't take it any faster anyway as the speed limiter on the passenger seat was bleating away in my ear so had to slow down.

[Al]

From a conversation with a man who should know ,and knows a man who definitely knows, the new model being fitted from now does not have any removabale Blackbird unit. That gubbins is in fact removed from the head unit and in a separate module elsewhere for heat soak and other reasons I think. The screen is supposedly the same size and functionability and will look the same in the dash. I hope it has a better antenna as well from earlier posts.

I suspect that my passenger seat speed limiter would be set much lower than that Brian! In previous cars it has been known to kick in at 120 or so although granted not in unlimited Germany. You are lucky!

[RJB]

Problems with mine today -i-pod wouldn't connect then the sat nav froze, whole unit seemed pretty hot too!

[TBD]

I got my new Evora S three weeks ago and the first thing I did was to get rid of the Alpine System. Never saw a Car Entertainment System that is so difficult to handle. It just shouldn't be in such a grat car:

1) The look of the thing - the colors are terrible, the navigation screen overlay doesn't even fit well

2) The screen - such a miserable resolution

3) The Phone Unit - I couldn't get a stable connection with my Android Phone (HTC Desire). Sometimes it connects, sometimes not. If it does it generally diconnects when I get a call

4) The address sorting on the phone unit remains a mistery to me

5) At least the Navigation got me to my destination, but it doesn't even offer an overview of the route.

6) The antenna - I just couldn't beliee how bad FM reception is

I replaced the unit with a SONY XNV-L66BT which includes a TomTom Navigation unit. It is a changed experience, everything fits in and it all works without needing to study the users manual at 200Km/h on the Autobahn!

It also looks much better in the dashboard!

I actually didn't cost too much, I found a poor sucker on ebay who paid more for the Alpine than I did for the Sony! Only hadto pay the intallation.

[Bibs]

I must say that does look like a very nice unit...

[alan]

Did the new unit improve the radio reception?

[Bibs]

Radio reception was improved pretty early in production by moving the aerial, shouldn't be an issue on new cars.

[alan]

The reason I was asking is that the same Alpine system is fitted to the Tesla which despite having the moved / amplified aerial still struggles. I think carbon fiber blocks radio signals pretty well. If the Sony unit improves reception then it might be useful for the vast numbers of UK Tesla owners as well

[Justin182]

TBD - Does the sony work with the camera?