PRODUCT: TomTom GO 6000 Test Update

We've got the latest, all-singing, all-dancing, all-new-design flagship TomTom GO 6000 on test right now – with its brand new design language appearance, offering a streamlined, "map-centric experience" making it easier for the driver to use and read, displaying only the most relevant information at any given moment.
The new GO 6000 retails at a £1 under £300, so the fact it now includes lifetime Traffic and Map updates (of 45 European countries!) and built-in mobile data for the first time is a good thing, as that's quite an investment.
But what you get for your money is a stunning six-inch touchscreen, which is larger than a lot of built-in sat nav devices. The supplied mounting bracket is also really good, conventionally sticking into position, then twisting to get it stable and solid.
Being used to the old TomTom menu system, we found it took us a bit of time to get used to the new layout, colours, sounds and all with the fresh and funky GO 6000. But, once you do acclimatise, there's no going back… it's really intuitive, clean and clever.
The TomTom GO is the only navigation device which allows you to start navigating in two taps, which is really simples when you're in a hurry, and the map with live traffic is the first thing you see – giving you an immediate overview of the traffic situation around your current location and your potential route - supplying you with instant options and helping you avoid traffic from the off. That's ace.
But the best feature by far is the ‘Jam Ahead’ warning for traffic incidents – indicated with the bar on the RHS – which tells you exactly when you’ll hit the jam, what type of incident it is, warns you in case you’re moving at a faster speed than the traffic ahead and tells you exactly how many minutes it's going to add to your journey. And, if it's bad it'll suggest re-routing, where possible. This use of real-time TomTom Traffic information is just amazing, and has saved us countless times getting stuck in horrible traffic jams on a number of occasions already… which more than justifies it's £299 price tag to us.  

The GO 6000 is really good helping you stay legal too. Like the TomTom's of old, you get a central speed display, which goes orange when you wander over the limit and red when you're in points territory. But, even better now, the new RHS bar display that gives you traffic info. also calculates your average speed when you're travelling through a camera-monitored average speed check zone – again, changing colour to warn you if you're just, or miles over. This helps you stay points-free, at a glance – which is dead useful, especially in those frequently-found, nasty 50mph, narrow lane motorway roadworks the M25 and M62 are full of right now. And the GO also shows you the locations of solid-state and mobile zone Gatsos, which is helpful (although the updates for these are an extra £19.99).  

Another top function we enjoy is when you're searching for a destination – the TomTom GO starts finding it and suggesting options from the moment you start typing… like a Google search. And it'll even list points of interest on the RHS of the search too. 

And when you enter a city, the map goes all 3D on your ass, making it easier to relate the map to what you see ahead of you as a driver. This is really useful, and cool: When you approach a real landmark, there it is in 3D form in front of your eyes. 

Our experience to date with the GO 6000 has been akin to my experience with the most recent Kings of Leon album. At first, whilst I knew it was good, I didn't like it as much as the last one. But, the more I listened/used it, the more it rewarded me with its apparent simplicity, but actual complexity.  

The GO 6000 may not be cheap, but you get what you pay for and it comes highly, highly recommended by us at Road HQ. 

NEWS: Funny New TomTom Ads Campaign

Portable Navigation Device specialists, TomTom don't just make perfect sat nav devices designed to take the sting out of navigating and now avoid traffic jams (like the GO 6000 we have on test does, which is mega, see below...!) – they are branding genius'.
To prove this, TomTom has teamed up with DDB and Tribal Worldwide to create "a light hearted and funny take on the frustrating experiences of being stuck in traffic" for some new advertising in the UK and Germany.
TomTom says: "The campaign plays on insightful, awkward moments when you want to reach your destination as quickly as possible – such as sitting in an unexpected traffic jam after mistaking your travelling partner for being pregnant.
"The aim of the campaign is to change how people think about and use their portable navigation device (PND), from it being a thing they use for the occasional journey to an unknown destination, to a device they use every day to help avoid traffic jams on their daily commute and get to their destination faster.
"So whether you are trying to make it to an important meeting on time, trying to get home to see the kids before they go to bed, or simply trying to escape an awkward moment in your car, TomTom Traffic will always find the quickest route."
Gary Raucher, SVP of Marketing for TomTom added: "The team really helped bring the TomTom brand to life and show how a PND becomes relevant to daily driving when it delivers real-time, accurate traffic information. This is an important campaign for us, being the first significant above-the-line campaign we’ve launched since 2009 and the first to be developed with DDB."
And Mark Chalmers, ECD at DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Amsterdam said: “Best friends or colleagues, husbands or wives, we've all dropped some clangers and need a quicker journey as a result. Just like our scenarios, the TomTom device is for the daily commute, the airport trip or the big day out. As the campaign develops, we'll be opening it up to the public with a real time, social media tactic, created by consumers, as they contribute live, via Twitter, to improvised comedy shows in cars. “
The campaign runs in the UK and Germany until the end of 2013. Listen to the radio commercials here, and check out the full campaign on the TomTom website. Check it out...

NEWS: Istanbul to Rotterdam: 50 City Stop-Start Index Unveiled

TomTom and Castrol have just revealed the results of a survery of 50 global cities – to highlight which suffer from the most stop-start traffic – with drivers in Istanbul coming out worse, experiencing 31,200 stop-starts a year, compared to the lowest ranked city, Rotterdam, where drivers might only experience 6,211 stop-starts - more than 24,000 fewer.
The study was carried out for Castrol by TomTom, using information from its satellite navigation systems on vehicles in 50 cities worldwide. The goal was to highlight the pressures that changing driving conditions place on vehicles across the globe.
Here in the UK, the total number of stops per year by all drivers in London is 225,644,745. The figure for Manchester is 10,521,105. Other cities in the study include Beijing with 28,200, Manchester with 22,680, London with 21,000 stop-starts, New York with 15,480, and Sydney with 13,200. Stop-start driving can increase microscopic wear in car engines and Castrol’s studies have shown that even a normal driver can experience as many as 18,000 stop-starts every year. 

According to Castrol engineers, frequent stop-starts can cause increased wear to a car engine. The number of stop-starts reflect the driving conditions and situations drivers are facing in each market. These results show the size of the stop-start problem and indicate that precautions are necessary, one of the reasons why Castrol commissioned this study.
Castrol have identified three levels of stop-start driving, Green, Amber and Red (detailed below): 

· GREEN: Moderate level of stop-start driving, as drivers are experiencing less than 8,000 stop-starts per year. Recommend drivers to take necessary precautions against stop-start engine wear.
· AMBER: Heavy level of stop-start driving, as drivers are experiencing 8,000 stop-starts or more per year. Drivers should take actions to protect against stop-start engine wear.
· RED: Severe level of stop-start driving, as drivers are experiencing 18,000 stop-starts or more per year. Drivers should take actions to protect against stop-start engine wear. 

Amber and Red warn drivers of heavy stop-start conditions which are likely to bring about serious stop-start wear to the engines. They will trigger drivers to take appropriate actions to fight against stop-start wear and protect their engines every time they start.
The project highlights stop-start driving, including traffic, urbanisation, and short journeys experienced in each area. Data from vehicles and trips within a region and time span was aggregated by TomTom, total driven miles and total number of stops calculated, and an average number of stops per driven mile per region derived.
Gareth Bracchi, Senior Development Technologist at Castrol, said: “This project confirmed that drivers were making lots of stop-starts in their vehicles. In fact the numbers of stop-starts per year far exceeded our initial expectations – almost double in some cases! This highlighted that there are many more drivers out there that need the stop-start wear protection of Castrol MAGNATEC STOP-START.”
Ralf-Peter Schäfer, Head of Traffic at TomTom, said: “The results from the Index are fascinating and working with Castrol to produce the Index has been very revealing. Istanbul’s highest stop rate among the big cities corresponds to its very high congestion level, followed by Moscow and Mexico City, certainly founded by heavy daily congestion as well. Traveling in Rotterdam however goes along with the lowest stop rate as the city has moderate congestion.”
Please check out the Castrol MAGNATEC STOP-START Index report here to see where your local city stands globally. For more information on the methodology of the study and implications of stop-starts on your engine, please visit http://magnatec.castrol.com/campaigns/stop-start-index.html

PRODUCT: New TomTom GO 6000

The new, top quality TomTom GO 6000 just arrived for testing – and first impressions are utterly awesome! The huge, six inch capacitive screen is deeply impressive, clear and freshly designed – with the aim of making navigation as idiot proof, simple, straight forward and accurate as possible, with loads of new features and real time traffic reports on your route, helping you to avoid traffic jams... which has got to be good, right? 

The new TomTom GO 6000 PND now features an interactive 3D map system, aiming to assist you navigate in urban environments:

And there's also quick search function, a 'My Places' section for favourite destinations and an all-new route bar – loaded with simple, easy to read, all inclusive information, like ETA, distance to destination, delays on route in minutes, speed limit on upcoming cameras, road works detected, zoomed-in speed camera alerts, traffic speed on route (in colours) and distance to the next event etc. 

The PND looks, feels and sounds superb – with every possible function nailed down, and that's just on the home screens; there's a whole host of useful functions, preferences and information in the menus. 

And, even more impressively, there's now lifetime maps and real-time traffic updates supplied – something that would have cost you over £100 previously. Cool eh?

TomTom point out the TomTom GO range is the only navigation device...:

* Which allows you to start navigating in two taps. 

* Where the map with live traffic, is the first thing you see – giving you an immediate overview of the traffic situation around your current location and potential route. 

* With a ‘Jam Ahead’ warning for traffic incidents, which tells you exactly when you’ll hit the jam and warn you in case you’re moving at a faster speed than the traffic ahead. 

* Covering overs 99.5% of all roads allowing you to have precise traffic information wherever you go. 

* Is used by some of the world’s leading brands such as Renault, Daimler, Toyota, Blackberry and the AA.
Batteries last two hours when not plugged into a power source, there's smartphone connectivity, an eight gigabyte internal memory (that also accepts SD cards) and a one year warranty.

Prices are really competitive too:

GO 400 EU £159.99
GO 500 UK/ROI £189.99
GO 500 EU £199.99
GO 600 UK/ROI £229.99
GO 600 EU £239.99
&

The one we have on test, the GO 6000 EU is £299.99. We can't wait to get testing it out in the UK and EU on road trips and will keep you posted just how mega it is over time here, in Road Magazine and on Facebook and Twitter. Stay tuned... 

EXCLUSIVE NEWS: New TomTom Traffic Jam Buster Is Go!

Leading portable navigation device manufacturer, TomTom, has launched a new version of their superb TomTom Traffic – with its real time information service, assisting you in avoiding the hell of sitting in traffic, and keeping you safe.
And until the Government's recently announced £28 billion investment of our UK roads kicks in, the new TomTom Traffic system is the best chance you've got of avoiding traffic jam hell – being accurate down to 10 metres (whereas other services are precise down to 100 metres) and now covering 99.9% of all roads.
Best of all, the TomTom Traffic service is FREE on all if you buy any of the company’s new generation sat nav devices, for the lifetime of the product! A few years ago, a subscription would set you back £100 a year. Bonus!
The new TomTom Traffic also now includes an innovative ‘Jam Ahead Warning’ – which pinpoints the precise location of a traffic jam and sends an early-warning alert so that drivers can safely reduce their speed, or even avoid it by turning off the road they are on.
TomTom say: "This Jam Ahead feature has been developed to help reduce the likelihood of accidents from sudden unexpected jams ahead on the road (e.g. over the brow of a hill or around a bend where the slow moving traffic might not otherwise be seen). Often accidents occur as vehicles are unable to slow from higher speeds to the slow speed of the back of the queue.
"TomTom leverages the accuracy of being able to pinpoint the back of a queue and the relative difference in speed from the approaching road. If the speed difference is significant, drivers are alerted with a message as they approach the jam. On the new range of GO sat nav devices, the navigation bar changes colour to red as a warning.
"In a recent survey of over 1,500 British motorists, 44% say they’ve had to brake sharply because of a sudden traffic jam ahead. Nearly one in four (22%) claim the car behind has driven into the back of their vehicle when they’ve had to brake suddenly because of traffic.
"Whilst 58% of British drivers claim they always leave the required stopping distance between their car and the one in front, only 44% knew the correct distance at 60 mph (240 feet) – with 56% either under-estimating it or admitting they didn’t know.
"According to a recent TomTom survey, awareness of the stopping distance at 30 mph (75 feet) was even worse, with only 35% getting it right and 65% putting themselves and others at risk by under-estimating it or not knowing. Despite these findings, a staggering 90% think they have the necessary skills to be able to judge speed and distance accurately whilst driving!"
The latest version of TomTom Traffic also detects road works on highways, enabling drivers to adapt their journeys to avoid delays or adjust their journey times.
Additionally, the automatic detection of road closures is now extended and includes major secondary roads as well as highways. This improves the accuracy of routing and helps road users save time and fuel from unexpected diversions.
Tests have consistently shown TomTom Traffic, which is now available in 32 countries, to outperform competitor traffic products. Traffic quality should be judged on four key points: reliability of data, road coverage, accuracy of reports and frequency of updates. TomTom Traffic outperforms competitor services on at least three out of four of these criteria.
Cool stuff! Go TomTom... saving us from time we will never get back sitting in traffic jams. That's got to be good, right?