Porsche enthusiasts are always looking for new and interesting roads to drive. Often, we travel to faraway places to find and experience these roads. Out my way in Waterloo Region, it can be said that fun and interesting driving roads are not easy to come by, and finding hidden gems can be difficult. Technology has aided in this though: Google Maps allows us to quickly see a high-level view of the curves of a particular road; Street View tells us the state of the pavement and scenery.
As a driving tour host, I’m always looking to improve the experience for those who participate in this very popular UCR activity. As a pack leader, a major deficiency I’ve experienced is having to use paper directions. Taking a wrong turn on a tour and bringing five or six cars with you is an embarrassing feeling I and many others can attest to.
Some of the issues with paper directions are:
- Difficult to use while driving, especially without a navigator
- Distracting – trying to read directions while driving is hazardous
- Written directions are often not clear to those reading them
The above often results in missed turns, leading to stress and frustration for drivers. It only takes one mistake and before you know it, six cars are off route. Not fun.
It’s 2024, paper directions should really be obsolete by now. Many tools exist to get drivers from point A to point B as quickly as possible, but this is not what we want on a UCR driving tour. We want a route that combines the characteristics of a great drive – good pavement, sweeping turns, twists, straights, varying speeds and inspiring scenery.
Roads by Porsche
Enter Porsche’s Roads app. Launched in 2019 and boasting over 180,000 users, Roads allows users to create desired driving routes, either manually or automatically via the app’s AI – paired with social aspects to connect to the wider driving community. Most importantly, it gives voice and turn-by-turn directions to created routes – exactly what I’ve been looking for as I create routes not just for tours, but for my own personal drives also.
Some of Roads’ advantages are:
- Integrates with Apple CarPlay on current models’ infotainment systems, PCCM and PCCM+ head units
- Safer and easier to use than printed instructions
- Eliminates (or at least greatly reduces) missed turns
- More efficient for tour leaders
- Less stress for participants
- Free to download
- Customizable – Create Groups, add members and Routes to a Group. Make the Group public so everyone can see and rate your route, or lock it down so only the people you choose can access it.
- View 3D previews of the routes, with a timer to show the elapsed time to each part of the drive- this is super handy when creating a tour route
- Connect and share routes with other users
- Share pictures and experiences
The app isn’t perfect though – a few downsides are:
- Adding waypoints is more difficult than it should be
- User-friendliness can be improved
- Refuses to use highways/expressways
- Only available for iPhone at the moment
RoadStr
That last point is important, so I also want to highlight RoadStr, another very slick route generator and social app geared to the automotive community that is compatible with Android and Apple CarPlay. RoadStr has been around for a number of years and boasts over 300,000 users worldwide.
Creating routes within RoadStr is easier than in Roads, in my opinion, but RoadStr limits the number of waypoints on a route to 25. Creating groups and events then customizing privacy settings for these is straightforward. Overall, the developers have done a great job creating an easy-to-use route generator/navigator, with the social aspects car enthusiasts value. They even have an online store to buy RoadStr merch. I expect to offer both options on future tours I run, so both Apple and Android users can pick the app they prefer.
That said, I’d certainly encourage tour hosts to leverage these tools for the participants. In the event paper directions are the sole offering, I’d recommend participants take the written directions and plot the route themselves into Roads or RoadStr in advance of the tour, and take advantage of the turn-by-turn directions, especially if driving solo. In time, these types of apps will make written directions a thing of the past, but for now employ them as a companion to written directions. You’ll be glad for the extra navigator! </>
