Audi offer Dashcam on new cars

Fairynuff

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For the past few years I have wondered why 'Dashcams' are not a feature or 'extra' feature on new cars. With so many parking cameras on new cars it must be within the wit of man to factor them in as 'dashcams.' All that said it looks like we might be getting there (see below). All that said (again) I presume this cam is not a cam made by Audi but a cam made bt a cam making company to fit on Audis (at a premium price)

Audi was the first to release an OEM dash-cam system in Australia with its new Universal Traffic Recorder (UTR). Available as a single-cam or dual-cam unit, the device has three surveillance modes, full HD camera, radar, GPS, G-Shock sensor and can be monitored via a free smartphone app.

https://www.caradvice.com.au/546841...obile-app-also-features-find-my-car-function/
 
Other car makers elsewhere have been offering dashcams for a while but it doesn't seem to be a popular option. I think it may be better using aftermarket cams both for the better pricing as well as being able to keep up with technology improvements as they happen. You'll never get that from a car manufacturer.

Phil
 
I had a few week old Lexus loaner recently and that had a small unbranded camera fitted to the front - they made it as hard as possible to get the card out to check the quality but once I managed it I found it was absolute garbage.

Daytime wasn't brilliant and at night you could hardly see anything but a smear of dark pixels.

It wasn't even up to the standard Novatek NT96650 / Aptina AR0330 combo from years ago.

To be fair the fitting was done very well and discrete but it was a discrete turd.

Even worse was that even though the car was less than 2 months old the dashcam fitted wasn't holding the date and so the footage on the card was a complete jumble to piece together correctly.

It's convenient to get the factory fitted option but it didn't offer value for money in that case or at least not that I'd recommend.
 
I had a few week old Lexus loaner recently and that had a small unbranded camera fitted to the front - they made it as hard as possible to get the card out to check the quality but once I managed it I found it was absolute garbage.

Daytime wasn't brilliant and at night you could hardly see anything but a smear of dark pixels.

It wasn't even up to the standard Novatek NT96650 / Aptina AR0330 combo from years ago.

To be fair the fitting was done very well and discrete but it was a discrete turd.

Even worse was that even though the car was less than 2 months old the dashcam fitted wasn't holding the date and so the footage on the card was a complete jumble to piece together correctly.

It's convenient to get the factory fitted option but it didn't offer value for money in that case or at least not that I'd recommend.

was it anything like this one? they sell this as genuine Toyota
 
was it anything like this one? they sell this as genuine Toyota
Not that one mate, I was surprised to be honest what they'd gone for and half wondered if it was something the dealer had bought from the local market at 20 for £100 as a special deal.

It was cylindrical, mount on the right I think and microSD card slot on the right as you're sat looking out the windscreen. It was tucked right up against the plastic in the centre of the windscreen so very difficult to gain access to the card.

From memory it was fitted with an 8GB Sandisk Ultra so didn't keep loads of footage on.

I think it was a non standard small jack type power supply (smaller than the Nokia type connector) and four buttons each labelled with graphics with no logo to be seen anywhere.

It probably didn't help I was in a mood as it was when they knackered the car!

Actually it looked a lot like the DDPai camera:
https://uk.gearbest.com/car-dvr/pp_009344135394.html

In fact the power connector more like the Road Angel Halo type, I can't find much on the Halo Go so maybe a variant of that?

Whatever it was nighttime video was extremely poor without streetlights and daytime not great so felt like it was really old tech, probably upsampling to 1080p as well.
 
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To be fair the loaner was a low end model in their range (a CT), I was much happier when I got my V8 LS back (although after since getting a speeding ticket I think I need to go back to a slower car :D )

I thought I'd taken a pic actually but can't find one - I've got one of the factory option they were selling actually and it isn't what was in the car.

I meant to send this over 3 momnths ago but this is what they're offering as factory fit now.
 

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I meant to send this over 3 momnths ago but this is what they're offering as factory fit now.

no need to guess where that one comes from, surprised they still use the Nextbase branding though, dealers here would never have that
 
Wondering if that's only for there or world-wide, as Nextbase doesn't market directly to the US. I wouldn't expect Lexus to market such a 'potato' even on their lowest models, but it would fit well in a Yugo :ROFLMAO:

Phil
 
I think that's Lexus GB only - I can't comment on the quality of that one as it isn't what was fitted in the loaner.

Didn't Tesla recently enable the use of the built in cameras in the car to be used as a dashcam?
 
They talked about it, but i am not sure its enabled yet.
 
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