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Streets ahead

Published: 25/04/2007 - Filed under: Features » Lifestyle » Car Rental » Archive » 2007 » May 2007 » Lifestyle »

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In a few years' time, hire cars will navigate themselves to their destination at the touch of a button. While you're waiting, make the most of the new GPS systems on offer, says Robert Couldwell

The key pieces of science that will allow this were both developed for military use: the Global Positioning System (GPS) and radar. GPS is well known to drivers: an array of 24 satellites orbiting 12,000 miles above the earth, it was created by the United States Defense Department and is now used by sales reps all over the UK as a result of a White House decree in the 1980s, which allowed civilians to use the system free of charge.

Radar, the older technology, was invented in 1904 by a German engineer and developed by the British in the Second World War. It has recently found a use in motoring as the basis of highly sophisticated cruise-control systems which maintain the desired speed until something gets in the way, at which point the radar senses the obstruction and applies the brakes. The very latest systems will actually brake the car to a halt in the absence of driver input.

Before you start to write a "Doubtful, from Surrey" letter: it does work. I recently drove from Bridgewater in Somerset to Amersham in Buckinghamshire without touching the brakes or accelerator using such a system. It's amazing how boredom can be allied to fear.

Currently the radar cruise control is only available on the most expensive luxury cars and often only as an option, but satellite navigation systems are available as standard fit on many rental cars (particularly on the prestige fleets run by Avis, Hertz and National's Guy Salmon partner), while portable systems such as NavMan and Tom-Tom are offered separately at the time of hire. Incidentally, in many cases these systems are even better than those installed by car manufacturers as the mapping is often more up-to-date and they have more features.

For instance, Avis offers Tom-Tom portable SatNav systems in 40 of its major rental stations at around £6.50 per day. The initiative is part of the Avis "Inspired Change" programme developed after research among its employees and 13,000 customers across Europe. Meanwhile, Hertz has its NeverLost®, a portable satellite navigation system covering 27 countries with instructions in 11 European languages and including a database of Hertz return locations and points of interest. Since its launch in November 2005, more than 20,000 customers across Europe have used the system.
Sixt has recently launched a SatNav rental service and charges a flat rate of £10 for any length of use, while Europcar UK offers Navman satellite navigation systems for rental at its major airport locations. The rental price is £8.99 per day for a minimum of two days, with a refundable deposit of £300. Europcar also has a number of vehicles on its fleet which come with satellite navigation as standard.

Tom-Tom GO navigation systems are available from Budget in the UK from £7.50 a day and £350 deposit, while National is now making GPS equipment widely available across Europe including all major UK airport locations as well as selected locations in South Africa. In the UK the cost is £5.99 per day and £300 deposit, though note that the units are not pre-bookable.

- It takes around four years for the leading-edge systems pioneered on luxury cars to filter down to medium-price machinery and another four until every car has them. Watch out for: cruise control, automatic wipers and lights, basic park-assist systems and Bluetooth telephone connectivity.

THE CAR OF THE FUTURE

Lexus claims that its recently launched LS460 is the most advanced car available and most of the equipment is standard. With its radar cruise control and satellite-navigation system the car can navigate itself to an exact address and actually parallel park itself into a suitable space with no driver input apart from a touch of the accelerator and the final application of the brakes.

It also offers Advanced Obstacle Detection, which uses radar and a near infra-red camera to detect a wide range of obstacles up to 25 metres distant. If the system identifies an object, it calculates the likelihood of a collision and, if serious, sounds a buzzer on the dashboard and triggers various systems to improve chassis response to the driver, vehicle stability during evasion and stiffen the dampers to reduce nose dive.

Its Driver Monitoring System's steering-column-mounted infra-red camera constantly monitors side-to-side movement of the driver's head and, if the driver turns away when the car is moving and there is an obstacle ahead, the Pre-Crash warning function is activated. If there is no driver response, the brakes are briefly applied.

The radar-operated Rear Pre-Crash Safety system scans the area around the rear of the car and, if a collision is deemed unavoidable, the front seat headrests are automatically moved forwards and upwards in anticipation of an impact to reduce whiplash injuries. There is even Lane-Keep Assist which detects if a driver is falling asleep.

The Advanced Obstacle Detection System, Driver Monitoring System, Rear Pre-Crash System and Lane-Keep assist system are all world-firsts for Lexus but will soon be copied by other luxury car manufacturers and might soon be available on prestige rental fleets.

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