Although the main idea of this blog is maximizing mileage in the FFH, I've been so intrigued with the (free) Sync update
with turn-by-turn nav that I'm entering another report. Here's how Sync helped me out a couple of days ago.
Tuesday evening I was in Boston in the height of rush hour right before Thanksgiving. In the drizzling rain. I had detailed directions to an address by me on the passenger seat, but I missed a turn and suddenly found myself in unknown territory. It was one of those situations in which the problem was not an easy one to undo. I would have to get back on a parkway going in the opposite direction and then figure out how to get off and then head back the opposite way. Doable but a pain. And I was tight for time for my meeting.
I decided to get Sync to help me out. I pulled over and looked up the exact street address, then, with voice commands quickly went through the nav menu. Sync very quickly figured out a route and guided me through a part of town I have never been in, connecting me with a direct, but highly intelligent route to my destination. I was parked in front of the office within 10 minutes. I was quite impressed.
And guess what? I had saved gas in the process. Didn't have to head back up the parkway and then back again to pick up where I had left off. Didn't have to try to figure out some new route on my own. That's the thing, this Sync system will, in most cases I'm finding, provide a route that is the shortage to your destination. That means driving less and saving gas. All good stuff.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
New record: 80.4 MPG
I recently set a new MPG record on the test loop that I run. This loop starts at my driveway, runs between 8 and 9 miles through suburban roads and ends right where I started. In this case the battery was highly charged when I left and had a midpoint charge when I returned, which does factor into the high mileage figure. However, this effect is somewhat diminished over the time and length of the route.
I've been looking forward for some time to breaking 80 MPG. And guess what, I believe there may be a little more MPG in there still! Which means that this may not be the highest figure that I can attain.
How are your figures? If you have some mileage numbers to share, please feel free to post 'em.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Three years FREE
I don't want to sound like an advertisement but frankly getting this Sync features trial for 3 years for free is providing some real delight. This is SWEET!
So, I've been evaluating what this thing can do now that the Sync upgrade is installed. Let me just say this: it's a whole new world out there. The things that this can do are quite cool.
First off, directions have been spot on in my suburban location. I was in Boston on Saturday and there were problems there. Basically it was because the tall buildings were blocking my cell phone signal and making it impossible for Sync to remain connected. So that didn't really work. However, every other time I've used it has been perfect.
Let me mention what else this can do. It can find a business. Or type of business. Tried it with a bunch of local businesses. It could not find a Trader Joe's, which must be missing from the database, but every other business I've tried has been perfect.
And it finds a type of business. Say you are driving along and want a restaurant. Wow, wish I had had this on a road trip two weeks ago! Haven't evaluated this yet, stay tuned, I will.
It will also TXT you information. Here's how: search for a local business, once Sync finds it, it can TXT the info to your cell. I tried it and almost immediately got a clear readout of business, address, and phone number. Not sure what I would use this for, but it's cool anyway.
Sorry I've gotten off on a tangent about Sync. . .but it's too good to pass up. My only request is that Microsoft figure out a way to make it MUCH easier to install. But it was worth going through. Definitely.
So, I've been evaluating what this thing can do now that the Sync upgrade is installed. Let me just say this: it's a whole new world out there. The things that this can do are quite cool.
First off, directions have been spot on in my suburban location. I was in Boston on Saturday and there were problems there. Basically it was because the tall buildings were blocking my cell phone signal and making it impossible for Sync to remain connected. So that didn't really work. However, every other time I've used it has been perfect.
Let me mention what else this can do. It can find a business. Or type of business. Tried it with a bunch of local businesses. It could not find a Trader Joe's, which must be missing from the database, but every other business I've tried has been perfect.
And it finds a type of business. Say you are driving along and want a restaurant. Wow, wish I had had this on a road trip two weeks ago! Haven't evaluated this yet, stay tuned, I will.
It will also TXT you information. Here's how: search for a local business, once Sync finds it, it can TXT the info to your cell. I tried it and almost immediately got a clear readout of business, address, and phone number. Not sure what I would use this for, but it's cool anyway.
Sorry I've gotten off on a tangent about Sync. . .but it's too good to pass up. My only request is that Microsoft figure out a way to make it MUCH easier to install. But it was worth going through. Definitely.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Turn-by-turn (without optional nav system): WORKS!
Hello all,
If you have been following the last couple of posts, you'll know that installing the free Sync upgrade to provide turn-by-turn navigations was pretty tough for me to get through. This is not the upgrade to the full map-on-screen navigation system that one could get as an option, this is free navigation, based on the cell phone that you've got synched.
After about an hour and a half of work and 5 calls to sync tech support I finally got it working. And it works GREAT!
I've only tested it locally, but this is great for those of us who did not purchase the optional navigation system when we bought the car. No picture or map obviously, but the turn-by-turn still seems to work quite well.
Here's what you get:
Select the talking head on the steering wheel button, say "services" then when prompted say "directions". Then you call out the street address, town and state that you are going to. Sync downloads the info. It takes a little bit of time. About 60 seconds I'm guessing for Sync to map the route and then download it to your car.
Once it's downloaded, it begins to work immediately. Sync knows where you car is, and you hear directions called out over the radio. It has been quite accurate so far. I'll give it a bigger test shortly and get an updated reviewing up here.
If you have the turn-by-turn on your standard (non-navigation equipped) FFH, let us know how it works in your vehicle.
If you have been following the last couple of posts, you'll know that installing the free Sync upgrade to provide turn-by-turn navigations was pretty tough for me to get through. This is not the upgrade to the full map-on-screen navigation system that one could get as an option, this is free navigation, based on the cell phone that you've got synched.
After about an hour and a half of work and 5 calls to sync tech support I finally got it working. And it works GREAT!
I've only tested it locally, but this is great for those of us who did not purchase the optional navigation system when we bought the car. No picture or map obviously, but the turn-by-turn still seems to work quite well.
Here's what you get:
Select the talking head on the steering wheel button, say "services" then when prompted say "directions". Then you call out the street address, town and state that you are going to. Sync downloads the info. It takes a little bit of time. About 60 seconds I'm guessing for Sync to map the route and then download it to your car.
Once it's downloaded, it begins to work immediately. Sync knows where you car is, and you hear directions called out over the radio. It has been quite accurate so far. I'll give it a bigger test shortly and get an updated reviewing up here.
If you have the turn-by-turn on your standard (non-navigation equipped) FFH, let us know how it works in your vehicle.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Good, the Bad, . . . and Microsoft Sync
The Good, the Bad, . . .and Microsoft Sync.
Well folks, here's the update on installing the free upgrade to Sync offering turn-by-turn directions, and other goodies.
This follows up on the postcard I got yesterday which offered a no cost trial of Sync including turn-by-turn directions.
The good news: it's free. For three years. The bad news: you will have to be a network engineer or IT specialist to install it. I am neither.
Here is the upgrade path so far. . .and I still don't have it working:
1. Go to syncmyride.com and follow step by step instructions to download the sync upgrade
2. You will have to input the VIN number of your vehicle in order to register for the sync upgrade.
3. Input VIN.
4. Attempted to register but it rejected VIN. Checked VIN. Everything looks good, clear form and try again. Rejected. Try again. Rejected. Go to vehicle and
recheck VIN. It's correct. Try again. Rejected. Sigh.
5. Call Synch technical support. Wait 8 minutes in line.
6. Sync tech asks me if the VIN has an "O's" or "I's". Yes, I reply. Tech states that they look like letters but they are numbers. An "O" is a zero and an "I" is a one.
OK, I say, why isn't this up on the Sync site, right next to where you input the numbers, so a person doesn't have to call tech support. The tech says, "We've been telling them they should do that."
7. OK, now the VIN goes through. This leads to detailed step-by-step directions for downloading the software to a flash or usb storage device. Sometimes called a thumb drive. There are 14 steps. It works and is appears to be successful. I check the usb drive and there is software now on it.
8. Now we have to take the usb drive, plug it into the port on the Fusion and go through another series of directions.
9. These instructions are lengthy, 26 steps in total. They look well explained with photos of the screen above the radio for each step. Problem is, how am I going to refer to these and be in the car at the same time. They are on my desktop system. I saved these to a PDF, loaded them on a laptop and took this out to the Fusion.
10. Put usb drive in, start car, start radio. Got to step 5 then a funny thing happens. Music comes on. Looking at the radio I can see the artist displayed, these are songs stored on the usb drive being used. OK. Try a few work arounds. No luck. Music keeps playing. I turn off car, pull out usb drive. Then another curious thing happens, my iPhone (which has been synced already) starts playing music the second I pull out the usb drive. Music won't shut down. Can't stop it. Exit car. Finally, I reboot the iPhone to shut down the music stream. All sorts of fun.
11. So back to sync tech support. No wait this time. The tech says that yes, the usb is going to play music and that's why they say to use an empty usb. Only problem is, they don't say to use an empty usb. It's kind of like the zeros and ones thing that I ran into earlier.
12. Tech support puts me on hold, comes back with a workaround. I take notes on a different 12 step process.
13. Back to the process. It works. The software download takes about 8 minutes. Sync says figure on 10 -18 minutes, so it was quicker. Which is cool because I didn't feel like sitting in the car for 18 minutes waiting for the download.
14. Now to test. The sync lady now has new commands. A good sign.
15. But. . .now the iPhone is no longer synced. It said this would probably happen.
16. Can't get the iPhone to sync, although it's probably my fault as I can't exactly recall the process.
17. Tech support again, they explain how to do it. Also how to clear out previous sync info which may or may not be important but we'll do it anyway.
18. Back to car, phone is synced. Now to start using turn-by-turn. Can't figure out what the prompts are. Explore some of the obvious ones, "Directions", "Turn-by-turn", No go on those. OK more research needed.
Stay tuned. I think we are almost there. The $40 charge from the dealer now seems like it would have been a pretty good deal.
Well folks, here's the update on installing the free upgrade to Sync offering turn-by-turn directions, and other goodies.
This follows up on the postcard I got yesterday which offered a no cost trial of Sync including turn-by-turn directions.
The good news: it's free. For three years. The bad news: you will have to be a network engineer or IT specialist to install it. I am neither.
Here is the upgrade path so far. . .and I still don't have it working:
1. Go to syncmyride.com and follow step by step instructions to download the sync upgrade
2. You will have to input the VIN number of your vehicle in order to register for the sync upgrade.
3. Input VIN.
4. Attempted to register but it rejected VIN. Checked VIN. Everything looks good, clear form and try again. Rejected. Try again. Rejected. Go to vehicle and
recheck VIN. It's correct. Try again. Rejected. Sigh.
5. Call Synch technical support. Wait 8 minutes in line.
6. Sync tech asks me if the VIN has an "O's" or "I's". Yes, I reply. Tech states that they look like letters but they are numbers. An "O" is a zero and an "I" is a one.
OK, I say, why isn't this up on the Sync site, right next to where you input the numbers, so a person doesn't have to call tech support. The tech says, "We've been telling them they should do that."
7. OK, now the VIN goes through. This leads to detailed step-by-step directions for downloading the software to a flash or usb storage device. Sometimes called a thumb drive. There are 14 steps. It works and is appears to be successful. I check the usb drive and there is software now on it.
8. Now we have to take the usb drive, plug it into the port on the Fusion and go through another series of directions.
9. These instructions are lengthy, 26 steps in total. They look well explained with photos of the screen above the radio for each step. Problem is, how am I going to refer to these and be in the car at the same time. They are on my desktop system. I saved these to a PDF, loaded them on a laptop and took this out to the Fusion.
10. Put usb drive in, start car, start radio. Got to step 5 then a funny thing happens. Music comes on. Looking at the radio I can see the artist displayed, these are songs stored on the usb drive being used. OK. Try a few work arounds. No luck. Music keeps playing. I turn off car, pull out usb drive. Then another curious thing happens, my iPhone (which has been synced already) starts playing music the second I pull out the usb drive. Music won't shut down. Can't stop it. Exit car. Finally, I reboot the iPhone to shut down the music stream. All sorts of fun.
11. So back to sync tech support. No wait this time. The tech says that yes, the usb is going to play music and that's why they say to use an empty usb. Only problem is, they don't say to use an empty usb. It's kind of like the zeros and ones thing that I ran into earlier.
12. Tech support puts me on hold, comes back with a workaround. I take notes on a different 12 step process.
13. Back to the process. It works. The software download takes about 8 minutes. Sync says figure on 10 -18 minutes, so it was quicker. Which is cool because I didn't feel like sitting in the car for 18 minutes waiting for the download.
14. Now to test. The sync lady now has new commands. A good sign.
15. But. . .now the iPhone is no longer synced. It said this would probably happen.
16. Can't get the iPhone to sync, although it's probably my fault as I can't exactly recall the process.
17. Tech support again, they explain how to do it. Also how to clear out previous sync info which may or may not be important but we'll do it anyway.
18. Back to car, phone is synced. Now to start using turn-by-turn. Can't figure out what the prompts are. Explore some of the obvious ones, "Directions", "Turn-by-turn", No go on those. OK more research needed.
Stay tuned. I think we are almost there. The $40 charge from the dealer now seems like it would have been a pretty good deal.
Monday, November 9, 2009
This just in - Sync upgrade FREE
Look what popped up in the mail today - a promo from Ford. This follows a recent post t in which Ihad gone to my local Ford dealer for oil change and tire rotate and they offered a Synch upgrade for $40. Which I declined. . .however it might have been nice if they had mentioned that I could do it myself for free and a promo was probably in the mail to me. Well, maybe they didn't know.
So here is what the flip side of the direct mail says (paraphrasing here):
You get three-year complimentary sevice which gives real time traffic, and turn by turn directions. Also weather, biz locations, sport updates. Looks like it needs to be activated online at Sync. Put in your VIN etc. etc.
I'll be back with an update after I go through the upgrade process.
If this works out it will be sweet!!!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Conversation between man (or woman) and machine
I was out on a bit of an errand yesterday. Gorgeous fall day, small town New England roads, good stuff.
On the way back the drive settled into a comfortable type of engagement between driver and vehicle: I would coast down a hill on electric, then juice it for a couple of seconds to get up the next hill, then on the flat on electric. This cycle started to repeat itself, I began to look ahead to the next hill, think about how long I would need to run on gas, give a touch of throttle, let up. Something interesting was happening on this drive, there was a rhythm that I could just kind of feel. It felt good.
I began to challenge myself with the MPG. Slowly it began to move upwards. I would go up a hill and it would drop. On the other side, it would rise. But the overall trend was upwards.
Then it hit me why this rhythm felt so good. It was a conversation between driver and car, somewhat distantly like driving along a twisty road giving throttle, backing off, a little more throttle. This felt similar, just a little sporting somehow as the car responded to my inputs, we were working together, in this case to maximize efficiency and mileage. There was a blend of man and machine that was surprising and felt great at the same time. I can't recall the exact figure when I pulled into home but it somewhere in the low to mid fifties. Not bad for having a good time.
On the way back the drive settled into a comfortable type of engagement between driver and vehicle: I would coast down a hill on electric, then juice it for a couple of seconds to get up the next hill, then on the flat on electric. This cycle started to repeat itself, I began to look ahead to the next hill, think about how long I would need to run on gas, give a touch of throttle, let up. Something interesting was happening on this drive, there was a rhythm that I could just kind of feel. It felt good.
I began to challenge myself with the MPG. Slowly it began to move upwards. I would go up a hill and it would drop. On the other side, it would rise. But the overall trend was upwards.
Then it hit me why this rhythm felt so good. It was a conversation between driver and car, somewhat distantly like driving along a twisty road giving throttle, backing off, a little more throttle. This felt similar, just a little sporting somehow as the car responded to my inputs, we were working together, in this case to maximize efficiency and mileage. There was a blend of man and machine that was surprising and felt great at the same time. I can't recall the exact figure when I pulled into home but it somewhere in the low to mid fifties. Not bad for having a good time.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Sync upgrade with turn-by-turn nav
I just got back from my first service. Just an oil change and tire rotate. The service (advisor, technician, counselor, whatever they call themselves these days) asked if I wanted the Sync update. Sounded interesting as it apparently includes turn-by-turn direction capability. Which would be great since I didn't opt for the navigation system (I was feeling unusually disciplined on the finances when I ordered the Fusion). Anyway, the upgrade is $40 and decided to wait until I hear how good it is.
Has anyone gotten this upgrade to their non-navigation equipped FFH? Write in and let us know what you think and how it is working. And also whether it is worth the $40. I've got the nav system on my iPhone which is awesome, but having turn-by-turn would be terrific.
Incidentally, speaking of Sync, I'm going to do some entries on my experiences with this system at some point in the future. Thanks for staying tuned, and thanks for your comments.
Has anyone gotten this upgrade to their non-navigation equipped FFH? Write in and let us know what you think and how it is working. And also whether it is worth the $40. I've got the nav system on my iPhone which is awesome, but having turn-by-turn would be terrific.
Incidentally, speaking of Sync, I'm going to do some entries on my experiences with this system at some point in the future. Thanks for staying tuned, and thanks for your comments.
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