I was cought up in all the snow in Cornwall/Devon earlier this week. I was in Exterior around 4pm when it started coming down hard. Having to get back to Cornwall that evening I made a dash for the RRS and started heading back. Not knowing the area very well and having no signal on my phone for my Co-Pilot App I had to use the sat nav in the RRS (2012MY) I was in a lovely little pub just outside Exeter called Fingal Bridge, right at the bottom of a hill hence no phone signal. The journy back was getting difficult due to so much snow falling and it was begining to get very slippery on the narrow country lanes going up steep hills. I had a friend in the car how was getting very nervous due to the road conditions only seeing meters in front of us and guessing where the road was at times. I've not had the car for long but have owned two other RRS's so knew the cars capabilities so I was confidant it would be able to handle the conditions but I was also concerned how quickly things were deteriorating, we were a good 90min away from our destination and I needed to get on to the A30 ASAP and off these lanes. So the LR sat nav brought me out to a junction which looked very familiar to me but the roads were thick with snow and the signs were also covered in the stuff, cars and lorries sliding all over the place, those that weren't stuck. I needed the A30 a straight run from where I was to my destination all but a 5min ride through some lanes at the other end. So sitting at this familiar junction I'm sure the A30 was to my left I could see it not 100yrds from me but the sat nav was telling me to go right? As I say I didn't know the area so had to take the sat nav's advice that right turn was correct. I made my way behind cars and lorries slowly toward a hill that was cluttered with cars sliding in every direction. Now I'd have made it up there no problem as long as nobody slid in to me but I wasn't sure what was at the top of the hill? A little village maybe and how bad that was going to be the snow was falling hard. So I decided to zoom out on the screen of the sat nav to check where it was taking me while I waited for the traffic to start moving. I couldn't believe what I see? The sat nav was taking me through lots of lanes and villages to join the very same road the A30 further along. But if it had turned me left at the last junction I'd have gone straight on to it?? Why didn't it just turn me left at the junction, put me straight on to it? Why did it want to take me through lanes and villages only to join the same road as it could've put me on only meters away from where I was? I turned around and got on to the A30 and just made it back before they closed the A30 minutes after I got off it. The RRS is a remarkable vehicle in lots of ways but it really come in to its own that night, got us safly back it handles thick snow, icy hills etc with ease. But this bl dy sat nav???? Is it something I need to do in the settings of it it? Or is it just a pile of cr p? Twice while I was in Cornwall it took me out of my way going over a narrow bridge only inches to spare either side of the car to get somewhere which my Copilot on my phone took me a much better way along decent roads every time! Cheers Laurence.

Trying to remember the sat nav, but are there not three options once the route is calculated?

Fastest, shortest and not sure of the third!! It is a while since I had my Black Edtion.  2023 P440e SE Dynamic on order -cancelled

2022 HSE Dynamic P400e

2017 Discovery 3.0 HSE Silicon Silver Nimbus interior and a few extra toys SOLD

2013 HSE Black, Orkney Grey, Ebony Seats and Ivory Interior SOLD

2006 HSE

Plus a few other cars inbetween!

Its not the greatest SatNav, well certainly the version I have in my pre-facelift. I've had the same issue where it prefers a more major road over a b-road shortcut that stops 10 miles on the journey. Either that or random deviations when on small roads. I always run in a view level that I can see these strange routes then take view and over ride when I think its being stupid.

SatNavs work on the basis that each road is applied a speed value, say, M-Way 65, A-Road 55, B-Road 45, Country Road 30, Unclassified 25 etc. It then calculates the distance from A-B using a variety of roads in order to come up with fastest/shortest whatever.

So what probably happened is that the SatNav calculated the route between your point and the A30 and decided that if you went an extra 2 miles via that deviation (as the roads had a higher speed factor), it would be quicker!

I've spent weeks tweaking road values for a least cost routing solution I was working on but it still would throw in seemingly obtuse routes every now and then. Its all down to the granularity you can achieve but then earlier satnavs didn't have that benefit. They also tend to provide one fit for all vehicle types. When you can add in realtime traffic flows, then things can become much better but not in an RRS standard SatNav!

Also the satnav in my 2007 RRS could be set to learn routes you use that it wouldn’t normally take you down, so next time you drive the route in good weather set the satnav to learn mode. My L494 also had the facility - the first time I drove from home into Glasgow it routed me cross country through all the local villages whereas I take a route that,while 7 miles longer,has no speed restricted villages and is on a flatter, less twisty road which actually saves some 10 minutes despite its additional distance. The L494 never routed me through the villages again but then the alternative road I mention above that I use was closed for a long spell and the satnav had to relearn the old route and trying to get it to calculate using that old route was quite difficult so ended up driving it without guidance.
I was really surprised the first time I tried the BMW nav suggested route in the Countryman - it recommended the longer route I normally take as it was more electric powered motoring friendly - more flat than the other route that has some steep inclines on it to waste precious battery power climbing! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I have not come across any sat nav that beats Waze.

how do you set a 2007 to learn?

People love waze, but even it was trying to send me down a tiny road the other day, too small for a fiesta! when there was a more obvious route