Vehicle Dynamics
Like any red-blooded American male who grew up fascinated by cars, I've often found myself wondering as I drive, "how many Gs can I pull when I accelerate?" Or, "what's my angular velocity as I hit this hairpin turn too hard?" Or, "what's the slope of my car, right now, as I'm braking as hard as I can?"

Well, thanks to the AVIC-N1, now I know.* And my life is much better for it.

How many Gs can your car pull on acceleration? The AVIC-N1 can tell you! That, and much more.

Vehicle Dynamics mode clearly separates the AVIC-N1 from other navigation-capable receivers, and catapults it into the performance-equipment stratosphere. It'll give you readouts of your speed, force of acceleration, angular velocity (how fast you're moving sideways in turns), force of side acceleration, the slope of your vehicle (the relation, in degrees, of the height of the car's front end to the car's back end), and alternator voltage. This mode also can provide a compass and a clock.

These specs are displayed on the monitor in the form of electronic gauges. A needle and a digital readout let you know your exact specs, and your maximums are saved (unless you reset them, of course). Three gauges are displayed on the screen; in the center is the speedometer, which can't be changed, flanked by two smaller gauges. To switch the specs they give you, all you have to do is touch the gauge you want to change, and choose the spec you're looking for from the dynamics menu. Quite simple.

Dynamics specs only become available after the AVIC-N1 has sufficiently calibrated its internal sensors. This presented my only major disappointment with what was otherwise a nearly perfect receiver: the calibration took over 400 miles of driving to complete. Luckily, I chewed up most of that mileage on my trip to the Bay, but it was still a bit frustrating, as I was chomping at the bit to get a look at the Dynamics gauges. I was able to check on the calibration process as much as I liked in the navigation menu screen; accessing it was quite simple (from the same menu, you can also check on your connection and satellite communication status). But waiting for it was like watching a pot of water come to boil; it certainly tried my patience.

Once the calibration was complete, however, all my frustrations were quickly forgotten. The Dynamics specs are cool. Unbelievably cool. As soon as I was able to pull them up, I cheered out loud (luckily there was no one around to hear me). And then I got on the road.

My advice to you, should you install the AVIC-N1 in your vehicle is to be very careful with the Dynamics specs. They're a lot of fun, but they can be quite distracting. For safety's sake, I would advise anyone using the AVIC-N1 in Dynamics mode to make sure that he or she has a passenger in the car who can watch the gauges. The owner's manual provides plenty of important safety information; it's all worth reading and taking to heart.

*Semi-full disclosure: I drive a 1998 Ford Taurus with a stock V6. Not exactly a high performance machine. So, if it's all the same to you, I won't list my car's maximum Dynamics specs; but I do know them. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice.