Best Auto GPS
Having been a dedicated GPS user for only four years, I have come to some conclusions. For pure auto use the latest Garmin Street Pilot is hard to beat. I use my Garmin 176C on all my motorcycles, and in everything I drive (rental or personal rigs).
All of the Garmin maps are loadable from your PC, as are routes you may wish to take off-road or on-road. The Garmin maps have every dirt road and trail out there (well as many as I have seen even on the Forest Service maps).
I use the RAM Mount suction cup to mount the GPS on the windscreen of vehicles, and other mounts for the motorcycles. It is so easy and rugged that it still amazes me just how far into the forest I can get and still know exactly where I am.
The navigation systems available in cars are OK for road trips. But for using the 4Runner as intended, a real GPS is the only way to go. A GPS that you can load detail maps into. I save the "tracks" of my off-road adventures to upload into my computer for later use, and modification.
Save your $$ by passing on the navigation system and getting a GPS you can use everywhere.
Many off-road racers will pre-run a serious event using a laptop and GPS. That way they can save much larger "track" files. Then they modify the tracks into raceuseable files which are downloaded into their GPS unit.
NB: I don't own any Garmin stock, don't work for them either. I put on off-road motorcycle events and have come to realize that Garmin is the most accepted GPS for rugged off-road use.
