I tested a $52,000 Cadillac XT4 crossover SUV that used an old-school navigation system instead of digital maps — here's what it was like

Matthew DeBord

December 27, 2018 5:37 PM

Matthew DeBord/BI

GPS mapping has become quite sophisticated in the digital age. Here we have Audi's MMI with Virtual Cockpit, a Google Maps-powered system that can render landscapes and destinations in great detail.

Many vehicles are now equipped with GPS navigation systems that use digital maps, rendered in infotainment screens.
Recently, I tested a $52,000 Cadillac XT4 crossover SUV that lacked this feature. Instead, it had an older system, called "Turn-by-Turn."
I've always been a fan if Turn-by-Turn, and on the XT4, I found that I preferred it over the more familiar systems.

We've gotten so used to GPS navigation system on smartphones and in vehicles that at Business Insider, when we encounter a car that doesn't have a mapping setup, it can be sort of disorienting (pardon the pun).

Every so often, this happens on a mass-market vehicle. It almost never happens with a luxury car. And even when we think we might not have GPS mapping, we've been known to push buttons and dig around in an infotainment system in the vain hope that we might find some colorful digital coordinates.

That quest was familiar when I recently sampled the all-new 2019 Cadillac XT4, a compact crossover SUV from the luxury brand. My test car, which priced at about $52,000, did not include a $1,500 optional technology package that would have added mapping (along with some other features).

The XT4 was rather superb, but in at least one respect it was a throwback for me: instead of mapped directions, with that familiar colored line to follow on a route, it showcased turn-by-turn navigation accessed through General Motors' good old OnStar system.

How did turn-by-turn compare with the more "modern" systems? Read on to find out.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider