Garmin Drive Assist 51 Videos

[mwilson]

After much research and debate I settled on a Garmin Drive Assist 51. It is a navigation unit with a dash cam built in.

The Garmin replaces my trusty Tom Tom and a couple low end dash cams. Figured I would roll it all into one and make it super easy to move from vehicle to vehicle.

Hoopty has built in Nav but the updates are very expensive, one update sells about what this entire Garmin unit cost. Plus Hoopty rarely leaves the State of Maine now. If we take a trip now it's with the truck...

So bear with me as I learn what this thing will do, am starting to learn how to run it and make it do what I want......

 

[mwilson]

Fighting with the upload.....nothing is ever easy...

 

[mwilson]

Leaving my road and Northbound for Houlton on US Route 2......playing around with adding music which took longer to upload..just trying different stuff so I can learn...this is the morning of the big storm...notice the hard packed shiny ice on the roadway. It has not warmed up enough for any kind of thawing to take place since the last storm..

https://youtu.be/2HPKp6Xomes

 

[jgillott]

That's a fairly big unit. Do you have any issue with it moving around on the mount?

 

[mwilson]

Now this is 7 hours later Southbound on US Route 2A and then at the end is the junction of US 2 and US 2A. There are a few vehicle tracks here but there were areas above where I was breaking trail. I don't know when it became the norm to not plow the roads a few times during a storm but it has happened several times over the last year.

The consensus of us life long Mainers is this storm was one of worst if not the worst we had ever seen for driving. We are not cupcakes but between the snow rate, wind and the no plowing it was pretty hairy. I was questioning whether or not I was going to make it home.

I wish I had known a little more about the Garmin Thursday, I would have had much more video....just barely making several hills, meeting an empty 18 wheeler and the snow just splattering on my windshield, people in the middle of the road that would not or did not dare to get over so I was forced into the ditch. It was bad enough that I did not dare stop as I knew that I would not have gotten underway again....

There is a good 8" inches of snow that I am running in during this video, maybe more. It was really hard to tell...

https://youtu.be/DTZ0MA-CIZk

 

[mwilson]

That's a fairly big unit. Do you have any issue with it moving around on the mount?

Rock solid on the suction cup mount in Hoopty.

I did purchase a Garmin Sandbag mount for the truck, that will be the test....

 

[mwilson]

Picture quality seems pretty good, I think I'm happy with it so far....

 

[jhenderson]

Man, that Caddy does well in snow. Of course experience does help. Nice of those folks to stop in the travel lane. The. Only difference here is, they'd have stopped at the top of a hill so you couldn't see oncoming traffic when you pulled around them. I heard on your radio (Road Dog ) that RI closed 95 to 18 wheelers. That's because there were 7 stuck ( jackknifed, crossways, or plain stuck) in the first 15 miles from the CT. border. Guess we weren't keeping up with the storm either.

 

[fest3er]

Reminds me of my drive across the Kancamagus years ago in my Formula 350 in 4-6 inches of snow. I'd headed up 93 and over to Conway because the road up the east side of New Hamsha had become too crowded; all them Cape Coddas didn't know how to drive in snow. Crossin' the Kanc really didn't take any longer and was a lot more fun. Sometimes I miss them days; it rarely snowed enough for me.

 

[mwilson]

Man, that Caddy does well in snow. Of course experience does help. Nice of those folks to stop in the travel lane. The. Only difference here is, they'd have stopped at the top of a hill so you couldn't see oncoming traffic when you pulled around them. I heard on your radio (Road Dog ) that RI closed 95 to 18 wheelers. That's because there were 7 stuck ( jackknifed, crossways, or plain stuck) in the first 15 miles from the CT. border. Guess we weren't keeping up with the storm either.

The car does extremely well in the snow, the ‘97 Eldorado ETC that I owned in the past was just as surefooted. Same power train so I guess that makes sense. Usually I can run 50 mph or better in snowstorms which is the point where you can park your wipers as the snow will slide off. But pushing that much snow dictated 35 - 40 mph as maximum speed if you wanted to remain between the snowbanks..

Hoopty will let you know when you are pushing your luck...and give you time to react...

I will have to find another DTS when Hoopty goes to his well deserved reward, I don’t think any other model of anything (I’m talking cars) would provide anymore overall satisfaction in my situation.

In defense of the stopped car, that 1/2 mile stretch right in the middle of Macwahoc was narrowly plowed. He could not pull over as the snowbank would have captured him. His wipers probably needed a good smack or two...

 

[mwilson]

Reminds me of my drive across the Kancamagus years ago in my Formula 350 in 4-6 inches of snow. I'd headed up 93 and over to Conway because the road up the east side of New Hamsha had become too crowded; all them Cape Coddas didn't know how to drive in snow. Crossin' the Kanc really didn't take any longer and was a lot more fun. Sometimes I miss them days; it rarely snowed enough for me.

I did the same thing one night with a loaded 18 wheeler. That was exciting...not one of my better ideas but I made it safely across...spun a few times but it kept me interested and not the least bit sleepy....

 

[fest3er]

By the way, as I understand, S. Carolina are dispatching their plow and a crew to help Mainers in their hour of need.

 

[mwilson]

By the way, as I understand, S. Carolina are dispatching their plow and a crew to help Mainers in their hour of need.

Oh, I like that!!!!