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Standalone CarPlay/Android Auto in Factory Nav Hood, No Metra
Wireless CarPlay/Android Auto can be very useful and people have retrofitted them to their RX-8 using a Metra kit to put a modern dual-DIN head unit in their dash. (Sample forum thread)
I'm posting this thread to report my success trying a different way: installing a standalone Wireless CarPlay/Android Auto receiver in my 2004 RX-8's factory navigation hood. Maybe knowing it has been done successfully will encourage someone else to undertake their own project.
Here's a picture taken before I started my upgrade project, holding the standalone receiver in front of the sorely outdated factory nav screen.
And the current state, with the receiver now living where the factory nav screen used to sit:
Advantages of this approach versus dual-DIN Metra conversion:
No need to deal with steering wheel control interface, risk messing up HVAC, etc. It all stays factory and keeps working.
Maintain factory interior appearance, no need to worry about replacement kit facade mismatching factory interior surface texture.
Screen is higher up and closer to driver's line of sight.
Theoretically maintain factory motorized hood functionality, though I haven't accomplished it yet. (Details below.)
Depending on specific unit, may have other features such as backup camera.
Disadvantages:
Does not get headlight status wire as head units do, so won't auto-dim when headlights are on.
Does not receive vehicle speed as factory nav does, so unable to estimate position when GPS signal is lost.
If using audio cable, needs AUX port which is absent from early RX-8s and would need to be added.
Won't be able to show custom text on the LCD bar, which Metra kit does.
Details:
I've wanted Android Auto for a while, but have been intimidated by various problems people reported with their Metra kit. A few months ago I learned that wireless CarPlay/Android Auto have shrunk down enough to be available on standalone little tablet-sized receivers, and started contemplating this project. I foolishly thought: Why go the Metra route, with problems and solutions already provided by this forum? I can dive head-first into an entirely different set of problems I have to solve on my own!
Most of this post is generally applicable to all such units, but for the record I bought mine off of this Amazon listing:
Like many Amazon items, the exact same thing is probably available from different vendors. Also like many Amazon listings, this vendor might start shipping a different product under the same listing at any point. It's a roll of the dice! I was fortunate this 7" unit's display area is almost the size of the factory navigation screen. By my measurements, 2mm narrower in width and 1mm shorter in height, so there's now a tiny black bar around my factory screen bezel. Small enough it doesn't bother me.
For sound output, this unit has a tiny little built-in speaker that's better than nothing. It can also act as a FM transmitter for the stock radio to tune into, but for best quality we want a wired audio cable. Problem: early RX-8 don't have AUX in port so one would have to be added. This forum has many threads ranging from cheap DIY hacks to commercial products. I installed the Sylfex AuxMod (since discontinued) in my RX-8 many years ago, I also needed a ground-loop noise isolator but that was necessary before this project.
For sound input, I don't use voice commands (Siri or "Hey Google") so I can't report on how that works with this setup.
Mechanically, this receiver is effectively a 7" tablet. There are multiple long threads on this forum with people who have installed Android tablets (Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy Tab, etc.) in their factory navigation hood, and those threads were quite helpful in my project. Thank you all! Like those tablet projects, even though the screen area is nearly identical to the original factory LCD, the whole thing is larger and required cutting some plastic behind the factory bezel. Fortunately those cuts don't have to be pretty since we don't see them once everything is buttoned up.
I ran into a hitch with the retraction motor, which is controlled from the factory LCD screen circuit board. The people who installed tablets kept the circuit board sitting behind their tablet to run the motor. When I followed their footsteps, my Android Auto receiver freaked out from electrical interference. Sometimes acting as if I touched the screen when I haven't, and not reacting reliably when I do touch the screen. I opened it up and saw it didn't have any metal shielding around its circuit board, something you would find in a Nexus 7 or a Samsung Galaxy Tab. Ah, the perils of cheap Amazon gear. I expect higher-end receivers to have proper shielding and not have this problem. On my to-do list is to fabricate my own shielding with kitchen aluminum foil or something, in the meantime my navigation hood is not motorized and left sitting in the raised position.
Speaking of touch input, this cheap receiver has very sluggish response. Reminds me of early touch-screen phones. Or maybe today's $50 prepaid phones are still sluggish. They might use the same chips inside, I wouldn't know. This sluggishness has not been a big problem for me because if I need to do more than one or two taps (for example, entering a new navigation destination) I can always pull out my phone with its far more responsive touchscreen. It depends on how you'll use yours.
Even More Details:
Pictures of project in progress, decisions and mistakes made, along with notes to my future self are written down and posted on my online project notebook under tag rx8nav: https://newscrewdriver.com/tag/rx8nav/
This is really cool, congrats for pulling it off.
However, I suppose the easiest way to go would be using the actual phone in a simple holder on the top of the dash, connected via the Sylfex aux-in adapter that is wired to a Bluetooth receiver. Of course no Android Auto, but GPS, playing music etc. would still work pretty much the same way. No backup camera though, that would need to be separate.
That's true enough! I had my phone plugged in to the Sylfex aux-in adapter until I got a new phone without a headphone jack. I looked into a Bluetooth receiver just as you suggested. Then I thought if I were to get such a thing, I should hide it under a trim piece or behind the dashboard to make my interior look neater. Then I thought if I am going to take apart some trim pieces, I should.... well, we don't need to get into the whole train of thought. Suffice it to say the whole chain of "well if I'm doing that, I might as well..." ended up with a wireless Android Auto receiver in my navigation hood.
LOL, I see what you mean! This is actually interesting to me because I was looking for exactly something what you accomplished. Not having a navigation system in my car but already using the Sylfex module, I finally decided to get a BT receiver that is hiding in the back compartment of the armrest console, easily powered from the cig lighter there. Wired it up to the Sylfex for audio. Makes connecting my phone easy and have most of the functionality I need.
Your solution is much more elegant of course.
I have finally broken my lurker status and signed up just to participate in this discussion.
Thanks @TWNROTR for the awesome documentation you're keeping on your blog and for posting this here.
I had a 05 worn down RX8 that I bought for cheap, which made me go down the RX8 rabbithole and now I'm a brand new engine and another 04 RX8 into the project to make it all work well.
Around a similar timeline to yours, I started looking into Carplay options for the RX8. Here's the requirements that I set out for myself:
- Must be able to support stock nav controls next to shifter
- Must be able to support reversing camera (and engaging it automatically)
- Must have Wireless Carplay
I looked into the category of products that you ended up using, but instead decided to go with a custom solution due to my DIY bias. I ended up getting a raspberry pi 4, pairing it up with a 7 inch DSI touchscreen from Waveshare (https://www.waveshare.com/7inch-dsi-lcd-c.htm) along with a Pololu buck converter for power (https://www.pololu.com/product/4091) from the same pins that you mentioned in your blog. I got a Carplay dongle from Carlinkit (CCPA) and set it up on the raspberry pi with node-carplay (https://github.com/rhysmorgan134/node-CarPlay), don't remember which H-bridge motor controller I ended up going with.
Overall, the system worked, pretty nicely. I never got around to the stock nav controls but the rest was solid. The only "janky" part was that the screen was held together with some double sided tape instead of actual screws with the enclosure. Also the boot time was ~15-30 seconds but I didn't mind since I live in the nordics and you always have to warm up the car anyway. I am pretty inspired by your solution, you only had to forego the ability to support stock nav controls and basically got a system for much cheaper, and definitely more compact.
Good job on your work! I may end up crossing the bridge over to your side if the current solution proves inadequate over time
Great to hear of your success @04rx8estonia . I thought hard about the embedded computer route, but didn't know how to turn one into a CarPlay/Android Auto receiver. I might have gone that route if I knew about node-carplay! Thanks for letting me know such a thing exists. I am also worried about overheating, which is probably more of a concern here under the Southern California sun than some other regions.
Beyond that, I enjoy seeing all the different approaches people have taken with their own cars. Everyone has different willingness on how much money and effort to spend, and success stories are always a joy. I have to confess that at many points in my project when something didn't work as I had expected, I would say to myself "I should have just used a Bluetooth receiver." (Like what @Tamas did.)
I'm looking into doing Android Auto with https://getcrankshaft.com/ on mine, and am wondering if anyone has some schematic for how the nav controls are wired? I feel like most of the buttons would have nice equivalents in AA, but have no clue how to wire the stock controls into the GPIO.
Also currently I have a 06 Mazda 3 which I did install a Garmin 7' inch GPS, I can get pictures later....
Both my installs I was able to using the open/close and tilt buttons and I have the some wire diagram (pin outs) for some displays (above the radio).
10-07-2023, 08:07 PM
