This is the stuff with GM that makes you want to bang your head against the wall. I have always thought it..and the WSJ dinged the ZR1 for it just last weekend.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1234...omcast_article

He is spot on. For those who do not know, the unit in the Vette is the oldest once in GM's current inventory. The one in the GMT-900's (Black tie changer and nav) is one generation ahead, and the one in the CTS and upcoming cars is two generations ahead. We are talking squiggly lines on a black background here. The radio is probaly the thing you deal with most outside the steering wheel...and the fact that GM uses such a terrible NAV in such an expensive car is a shame. Not when they have the better ones I noted on the shelf. Driving a car with a good NAV system like Dodge's MyGig really makes driving a lot more enyoyable. AFAIK, the Vette is the only car where this unit is still used (It was in the Grand Prix).

So it got me thinking...does GM design any backwards compatability in their cars. For instance, you can get a new style NAV in an Equinox...which is as hold as the Vette. Or does GM design things like head units to require all new supporting systems and wiring for each car they go in. The Black Tie changer and Nav seem to go in everything...so I wonder why they can't go in the Vette.

For those who do not know..we are talking about this guy...

 

Well, for one, the dash was designed for the 2005 model year, and this is the result.

CTS was a 2008 model year.

3 years makes a big difference in this type of tech.

If another unit can simply 'plug in' to Corvette, then there is reason to raise an eyebrow, but I am guessing that maybe the dash would have to be redone to accomodate this change.

Not saying the dash couldn't use a re-do either, but maybe that is the extra cost involved, and the reason for no update in the nav unit?

 

Any self respecting man that even needs Nav or a silly iPod jack doesn't deserve a ZR1.........yes, I'm serious....panty-waisted author needs to grow a pair and STFU.

Google maps are free, learn to read, plan ahead...when did people become so damned clueless?....not like you're gonna' drive the ZR1 on vacation...MP3's are for people who are clueless as to what music is supposed to sound like....God I hate those damned lousy sounding files....(I have a recording studio, so I'm damned particular)...

Dump those worthless options in a car like this....waste of time, money and weight....

You're driving a car with over 600hp, shut off the girlie gadgets and drive damnit.......

 

OK...

Might as well get rid of those leather seats too, who needs to be sliding around in their seat while doing 1 G on the skidpad? Chrome wheels? Sound deadening? Why not just remove the whole stereo and cruise control while were at it?

Lets make it a bare bones thrill machine...

 

Fine by me....hell I'd rather drive the Riley & Scott Camaro than an SS any day.....because after 36 years of driving, I still enjoy the actually driving the car........don't need gadgets to entertain me while I drive.

 

And people wonder why the simplicity of the 60's and 70's muscle is liked so much. Even the 80's while we're at it.

 

. No nav system in mine

 

Come on now, its not THAT bad.

 

Get out of my head Doug.....

 

Bare bones car is Viper's mission, not ZR1. Funny, that Car & Driver praised the ZR1's nav system in the last issue I read (comparing it favorably with the unit in the SL65 AMG Black Series).

 

Doug Harden for President!

 

Doesn't OnStar still offer turn-by-turn directions?

The ZR1 really should offer something better in that $10k interior upgrade option. Maybe instead of the leather they use, they should consider using suede like in the CTS-V?

 

So GM should go offer a stripper ZR1 so that a grand total of about 1 or 2 people might buy one?

I think we all know that factorty stripper don't sell anymore, especially when they are six figure cars ....................................

C'mon guys, reality check here.

 

i always thought it was funny that a cheap *** honda civic has an aux input but my $50k+ corvette has to have an aux input ghetto rigged in.

i know it is hard to believe for some people here but some people do indeed buy ZR1's or Z06's and they never hit the track, ever. i know, i know, shocking that some people buy fast cars to not race them, but this is reality.

 

How about looking at it like this?:

It's better to have A nav system, rather then NO nav system.