Dashcams

[Gavster]

I'm also looking to get a dashcam at Christmas for the Ateca, does anyone have recommendations or ones to avoid? I guess they're all pretty straightforward really, plus the car already has USB wiring in place.

Depends on budget, I got a Viofo based on numerous positive reviews on youtube. Viofo also have a good reputation for good customer service and firmware upgrades.

Well worth spending some time looking on youtube, there are a couple of prominent youtubers that do detailed road tests. One of the most important tests to check out is night time performance. Software is as important as hardware specs with damcams, which is why its important to check out road test reviews and not just rely on comparing hardware specs.

That's really useful and the Viofo A119 v3 seems to get loads of good reviews and still regarded as being a great option even though it's a few years old, plus it's still on black Friday so gonna grab one while it's only £88

[Gavster]

Not sure where else to put this, but I've been hitting the save button so much almost every single journey.

Used it three times in the space of five minutes today, once because a zombie walked across the road in front of moving cars, secondly because a Merc tried to overtake a learner on a residential 20mph road while there was oncoming traffic and lastly because a guy went to turn across me at a traffic light controlled crossroads. I'm just saving these for the memories, not because there's anything I can do with the footage.

It's fucking mental out there.

[Ascender]

I've just picked up a Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3 for the exact same reason as @Gavster says - that its crazy out there! Up north I can only see things getting worse when NC500 tourist season kicks-in.

Install was very easy - I was going to tap in to the Porsche dash cam prep power, but in the end, it was easy enough to run the power cable down to the USB in the passenger footwell.

Will see how the video quality is and report back.

[Rich B]

The cigarette lighter socket in my van appears to be live the whole time - so i can’t just leave the camera plugged in. i might have to look into it, because as it stands i just don’t bother using it for fear of forgetting to unplug it.

Though, could it be that the socket is live for a certain period? or only when the car’s unlocked? hmmmm

[Ascender]

The cigarette lighter socket in my van appears to be live the whole time - so i can’t just leave the camera plugged in. i might have to look into it, because as it stands i just don’t bother using it for fear of forgetting to unplug it.

Though, could it be that the socket is live for a certain period? or only when the car’s unlocked? hmmmm

Yes, I had this issue with my wife's Navara - socket was live all the time so I had to remind her to plug it in when she was using it (which was just when towing really).

In the dakar, the one in the passenger footwell is only live when the ignition is on so it removed that concern.

[Beany]

I never had a problem with permanent live 12v on the E46 with a cam on it (the current draw is very low) but if you're leaving the vehicle for weeks at a time it might add up.

[V8Granite]

The cigarette lighter socket in my van appears to be live the whole time - so i can’t just leave the camera plugged in. i might have to look into it, because as it stands i just don’t bother using it for fear of forgetting to unplug it.

Though, could it be that the socket is live for a certain period? or only when the car’s unlocked? hmmmm

I would have a nose on the forums as I think my mk4 Golf ? had a fuse where if you moved it over half a slot it would change from switched live to live.

I’ve certainly done it on one of the cars I’ve messed about with

Dave!

[jamcg]

The cigarette lighter socket in my van appears to be live the whole time - so i can’t just leave the camera plugged in. i might have to look into it, because as it stands i just don’t bother using it for fear of forgetting to unplug it.

Though, could it be that the socket is live for a certain period? or only when the car’s unlocked? hmmmm

If it’s like Skodas it goes to sleep and wakes up when the door is opened. Leave a phone plugged in to charge and sit in it to see what happens?

[Simon]

Yeah, think the Yeti is like that. It 'looks' like it's on all the time, but actually if you leave it and lock the car it'll power down after a few minutes.

[Rich B]

i will run detailed experiments and report my findings…!

[Gavster]

For your viewing pleasure, these both happened less than half a mile apart on the same journey lol

Zombie


Neat overtake

[Marv]

Zombie walking straight into the path of a learner driver...talk about a deathwish!

[Jimexpl]

Zombie walking straight into the path of a learner driver...talk about a deathwish!

Not the learner car, but the Zombie on foot/scooter/bike is pretty standard in London these days. I encounter at least one every journey. I nearly got one outside DeskJockey's office this morning!

[mik]

Not a dashcam, but I found this one quite interesting. DPD van is a slightly cheeky chappie, but Jaguar dude.....

[Gavster]

Not a dashcam, but I found this one quite interesting. DPD van is a slightly cheeky chappie, but Jaguar dude.....

Wow, that's some serious anger issues if a LWB van is doing a 3 point turn, just let them finish it with plenty of space.

[240PP]

I see the zombies regularly. Stepping out into the road, hood up, earphones in.

I have to admire their optimism. Like nothing bad is going to happen to them today.

[integrale_evo]

It’s only going to get worse isn’t it, auto braking and collision avoidance, knobheads know the car is going to stop regardless of the driver.

I’ve joked before that I can’t wait for the majority of cars on the road to be autonomous, it will mean I can drive however I like and they’ll avoid me

[Mito Man]

Had a good one tonight. Driving back from a supercharger. Road ahead has 2 lanes, left lane is left turn only, right is straight ahead. In the left lane waiting at the junction is a 520D with 4D plate ending in CEO. So I gave it a wide berth.

Light goes green and it’s clear Mr CEO actually wants to go straight. As he’s alongside me and rapidly heading towards a curb, braking at the last moment. He seems displeased with me for some reason and then overtakes nearly killing a cyclist in the oncoming lane.

At the next junction that I’m behind it’s clear he’s smoking weed too. Hopefully he smears himself down a streetlight before he actually hit and runs someone…

[jamcg]

I had a woman in an Audi convertible pull out onto a roundabout whilst I was already on it in the work van. I was turning right, heading for the a19 northbound, which she had just exited.

Now she wanted to go right, to where I had just come from, but decided that was best done in the left lane

So she’s now trying to go all the way around a roundabout in the outside lane with a van next to her that clearly is going to need to cross her path, and seemed confused by the van driver mouthing “what the fuck are you doing????” At her. Fucking idiot

[Rich B]

have we got to the stage where we’re describing what our dashcams would have seen on this thread?!