Race 2 accuracy
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@shamilt1 correct, the Vertical 2 shows no sign of shortening the distances. It’s just the Race 2. I had some chatter with Suunto help, and it seems they are aware of the issue with the Race 2 (but who knows if or when an update will make any changes to the algorithm).
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@Finnjf After 2 runs with the Vertical 2 I can confirm that while the difference is not that prominant it still is a bit more close to what I’ve known with other watches. And the GPS track looks so freaking good - aligned with where I ran almost in centimeters. This is of course with the weather being sunny these past 2 days. I’ll run tomorrow again with the Race 2 on a nice weather and compare.
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@EzioAuditore said in Race 2 accuracy:
@Finnjf After 2 runs with the Vertical 2 I can confirm that while the difference is not that prominant it still is a bit more close to what I’ve known with other watches. And the GPS track looks so freaking good - aligned with where I ran almost in centimeters. This is of course with the weather being sunny these past 2 days. I’ll run tomorrow again with the Race 2 on a nice weather and compare.
That perfectly matches the behavior I observed with the Race 2 in my tests. For me, the tracks from the Vertical 1 are also cleaner.
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So I got my watch this week, it’s my first Suunto and I have to say I’m impressed with how it looks and performs…but it did slightly under report on distance compared to my Garmin Forerunner 265.
Garmin was 12.07km, Race 2 12.01km, so about .5% less- I noticed it was a bit behind the Garmin when alerting me at each 1km. Strangely at 5km they were about the same, but then by the end there was about 60 meters difference.A few of my first impressions compared to my Garmin.
The Suunto is so easy to use! I can’t make out tiny letters or stats when running so everything is big, bold and colourful- wonderful!
Instant pace seems to be a little quicker updating on the Suunto.
Maps are brilliant, clear and responsive.
Optical heart rate was perfect…the chart after the run was like a mirror image of the Garmin one.
Looking at the GPS tracks post run, they were similar but I’d say on this first run that the Garmin maybe edged it. It’s a tricky route for GPS, canal towpaths and single track roads under tree canopies. The Suunto looked to be a bit more meandering and not quite as reactive on sharp turns…but it was negligible really- both units had me in the canal at some point!
Then obviously there is the small discrepancy with distance.With the distances I run being 15k and under, if it stays around .5% then it’s negligible enough for me to live with it- there’s always the chance it could be improved upon in updates anyway. I’ll have to do another run not following a route to see if it makes any difference for me.
Finally, if I needed any more persuading to get on board with Suunto, the fitness age in the app has me at 34- I’m 56. Flattery will get you everywhere so I’m definitely keeping the Race 2!

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@shamilt1 I think the GPS tracks will become better once the watch has ‘settled’ around your preferred run area. At least that’s what I see. The first one, two were good but after that spot on. The distance in my runs has stayed same. Meaning the shorter meters do not increase as the length increases.
Enjoy your watch and may it serve you well. -
@shamilt1 Suunto uses something called FusedSpeed. It uses GPS and your steps to calculate your distance. So it is possible the calculation differs, especially as GPS coverage gets bad…
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Just had my first run with my Race 2 and the new firmware…I think the distance shortening may have been fixed. For the first time it’s recorded the same distance as my other GPS watch. I”ll give it a better test at the weekend

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I went for a gravel bike and the distance was same as the edge I have but the gps track was out of this world-superb!
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@shamilt1 I’ll try to check it this afternoon…

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Small update after easy run (where I think the Race struggles the most - slower paces).
I ran with 3 watches:- SV2 (left hand outside of fingers),
- SR2 (left wrist) and
- AWU3 (right wrist)
Final distance:
- SV2: 9.2 km
- SR2: 9 km
- AWU3: 9.14 km
So in my experience it has not been addressed and also today was the worst undercut since I own the Race 2: 200m in less than 10km.
On other news though the GPS track of the Race 2 is the best and smoothest for some reason
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@EzioAuditore That’s disappointing to hear.
My run was a 6km zone 2 run, so also an easy run and the watch nailed it- I’m hoping it wasn’t a fluke, although looking at your stats it’s looking like it may have been.
I’ll be out again tomorrow for 6-8k so I’ll see how it does then and at the weekend I’ll be doing 13-14k so that should be far enough to get a better idea.
It would be useful to hear from one of the people in the know, if this issue was addressed in the update. -
@shamilt1 I’m seeing the same shortening of distances with the updated software, possibly even slightly more (definitely not less shortening).
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@EzioAuditore I am not aware, that anything has been changed in the distance measurement with the recent update.
And I have also seen the Race 2 measuring less than Vertical 2. Just I have not made a bug from this, as I am not sure, it is one. A slightly less distance does not affect me in a negative way. Plus it is not clear, if less is actually wrong…