General Features
Navigation Features

General Features

Overview: The Garmin Drive 51LMT-S, part of the 2017 entry-level Garmin Drive series, is a portable GPS navigation device that provides automatic routing and turn-by-turn voice directions. The unit receives data from overhead global positioning satellites, not cellular signals, for reliable navigation directions. Garmin Drive devices include driver awareness alerts for upcoming hazards such as sharp curves, railroad crossings, school zones, and speed limit changes. It can also provide a fatigue warning after you have driven a long period of time without a significant break. The Drive 51LMT-S features free Lifetime Map Updates and Lifetime Live Traffic.

5" Touchscreen LCD: The Drive 51LMT-S features a 5" (diagonal), dual-orientation, color TFT touchscreen LCD with a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels. The resistive touch screen can be viewed in either landscape or portrait orientation, and can be switched in the Settings Menu.

Preloaded Maps: The Drive 51LMT-S contains NAVTEQ's City Navigator NT North America "Lower 49" maps with detailed road maps of the United States (including Hawaii, but NOT Alaska), plus Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, and Jamaica.

On-screen Owner's Manual: The unit now features the full Garmin owner's manual in its memory, so you can access it at any time.

microSD Card Slot: The Drive 51LMT-S has a microSD card slot so you can store and use optional maps (available from Garmin), or download custom voices and vehicles from the Garmin Garage.

Universal Mount: The Drive 51LMT-S features a universal mount that holds the unit securely in place, but can be easily removed. The circular Universal Bracket mount clips into the socket on the back of the unit, and fits the ball mount found on Garmin windshield and dash mounts.

Power Requirements: The Garmin Drive 51LMT-S is powered by a built-in Lithium-Ion battery, which will provide up to 1 hour of use when fully charged. The unit comes with a 12-volt DC power adapter for powering and charging the unit while you travel. The unit can be powered by your computer when it is connected via the supplied mini-B USB cable.

Compatibility: You can connect the unit to your computer with the supplied mini-B USB cable for downloading map updates, custom POIs, voices, and vehicles. The Drive 51LMT-S is compatible with Windows XP or newer and Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

Navigation Features

Free Lifetime Map Updates: The Drive 51LMT-S offers free lifetime map updates (of the preloaded map software) so you'll always have the most up-to-date maps, POIs, and navigation information. Map updates are available for download up to 4 times a year with no subscription or update fees and no expiration dates. Free Lifetime Map Updates are subject to Terms & Conditions.

Live Traffic: Live Traffic helps you avoid traffic tie-ups that may delay your travel. Here (formerly NAVTEQ) collects, processes, and distributes real-time traffic conditions. Live Traffic requires the use of a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone loaded with the Garmin Smartphone Link app (requires iOS 9.3 or later, or Android 4.0.3 and up). Traffic data is refreshed every 60 seconds, with more than 1000 messages received with every update. Updates appear to the side of the map, so your driving map remains onscreen at all times. The updates can give you details about the situation, including the estimated length of the delay. Free Lifetime Live Traffic requires no subscription or activation, and is subject to Terms & Conditions.

Live Parking / LiveTrack: In addition to Live Traffic, the Smartphone Link app enables the use of Live Parking and LiveTrack on your Drive 51LMT-S. Live Parking from Parkopedia.com shows you helpful parking information, including pricing and availability trends for on-street public parking. LiveTrack lets you share your location to your friends so they can track your whereabouts.

POIs with TripAdvisor: The built-in maps include millions of Points of Interest (POIs) such as hotels, restaurants, gas stations, attractions, and ATMs. Many of the listings show ratings from TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site. Additional search information sourced from Foresquare. In addition, you can download additional points of interest and add them to the unit's memory (Custom POIs). The free POI Loader software can be downloaded from the Garmin website to assist you in creating Custom POIs.

Map View Options: You can choose from a 3D map view or two 2D map views (Track Up or North Up) as you navigate to your destination.

Garmin Real Directions: The Drive 51LMT-S announces your upcoming maneuvers with a clear spoken voice. Using Garmin Real Directions, the spoken turn-by-turn directions utilize traffic lights and recognizable landmarks to guide you. For example, the unit uses phrases such as "Turn left at the traffic light" or "Turn right at the gas station."

Junction View: While navigating a route on a major roadway, a realistic image of an upcoming junction appears on the screen. Junction View with Lane Assist can help you select the proper lane with brightly colored arrows pointing the way.

Speed Limits: As you travel along a major road or street, the speed limit is displayed on the screen alongside of the vehicle's speed display. If you are exceeding the speed limit, the color of the vehicle speed indication changes to red. If the highway's posted speed limit has changed since the last map update, you can change the speed limit display on the unit.

Driver Alerts: The Drive 51LMT-S features audible and visual alerts to help you drive more safely and increase situation awareness. Warnings include alerts for Speed Limit Reduction, Speed Limit Exceeded, Slower Traffic, Animal Crossing, Railroad Crossing, School Zones, Red Light and Speed Cameras, and Sharp Curves. Each situation can be selected or deselected in the menu.

Where Am I?: The "Where Am I?" feature gives you instant access to important information in case of an emergency. When you touch the vehicle icon on the map screen, the "Where Am I?" feature provides the coordinates (including elevation) of your current position, plus the nearest address and intersections. There are also buttons to help you locate the nearest hospitals, police stations, and gas stations. You can also save the location for future reference.

Up Ahead: As you travel along your route, the Up Ahead feature constantly indicates the location of nearby businesses, including gas stations, restaurants, lodging, rest areas, parking, and banks/ATMs. The locations are shown as icons, some with brand logos, and when the icons are touched on the screen, details of the services are displayed, and you are given the opportunity to navigate to that address.

Last Spot: To assist you in finding your parked vehicle, the Garmin Locate feature saves your location to memory when you remove the device from the windshield mounting cradle while the device is on. You can search for your vehicle's location using the Last Spot button in the menu.

Destination Search: When the Where To? button is pressed, you can use the search tools to find your destination and plan your route. The search tools allow you to search for cities, addresses, intersections, or coordinates. The Search Bar lets you directly enter a category, brand name, address, or city name. The unit's memory stores the last 50 locations you have found so you can quickly find a previous destination.

Vehicle Icons: The unit offers your choice of nine standard icons, such as arrows, sports cars, trucks, and compact cars to represent your vehicle. The online Garmin Express offers dozens more vehicle icons that you can download for free. In addition, you can purchase icon and voice bundles that you can load to an optional microSD card.

Trip Planner: You can create and save a trip with multiple destinations using the Trip Planner. Once you have entered your destinations, you can manually set them in the order of your preference, or allow the device to calculate the most efficient route. Trip itineraries can be saved in memory for future use.

Trip Data: The Trip Data feature is a customizable tool to provide helpful statistics about your trip. Numerous data points can be selected, and three of them displayed on the main map screen. Selectable data points include: dual trip odometers (Trip A/Trip B), Direction, Current Speed, Maximum Speed, Moving Average Speed, Overall Average Speed, Stopped time, Moving Time, Total Time, Time of Day, Elevation, Location Coordinates, and GPS accuracy.

Where I've Been/Trip Log: The Where I've Been application allows you to view your previous routes and places you have stopped on the map. In addition, the device keeps a Trip Log, which is a record of the path you have traveled. The Travel History setting must be enabled in order for the Where I've Been and Trip Log features to function.

GPS Simulator: When indoors, you can activate the built-in GPS simulator and practice using the unit. This turns off the GPS receiver so it's not searching for satellites, saving battery power.

Optional Backup Camera: You can add the optional Garmin BC30 wireless backup camera to the Drive 51LMT-S, allowing you to view on the screen what's behind your vehicle when it is in reverse.