Stereo upgrade

[Weelawser]

Hi Folks,

Looking for advice on stereo / media centre upgrades for my 2008 XTR, it has the 6 CD standard stereo ?

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

 

 

[Avalon]

May help if you gave us some idea of what you want from the upgrade? Eg DAB? CarPlay support etc?

[Weelawser]

Dab, play music via mobile, more media functionality, touchscreen. 

[Weelawser]

Anybody fitted an aftermarket head unit to their Rav ? 

As above, touchscreen, android auto, bluetooth, mirroring - recommendations ?

[152bobby]

If you do a wee search on the forum, you should find something I posted, as I have just replaced mine.

[Avalon]

The issue is it's a bit of a rabbit hole. Resistive vs capacitive screens, branded vs Chinese, hardwired CarPlay vs wireless, TPMS/OBD2/reversing camera/TV support, do you value custom ROM's and an active community or the abandonware that is many of the big name brands?

Personally I suspect my next HU will be fully Chinese rather than just made in China, but my usage scenario is more car-PC than HU, something intel based by Joying generally has the best support, but i'm a few months away from buying anything as other work will take priority.

Branded options such as the Pioneer SPH-DA130DAB or the 230 for a slightly larger screen are cheap and easy to live with, the resistive screen puts me off, but it's acceptable in real world usage, Kenwood 7017DABS is another option for similar money, you'll be able to retain the steering wheel remote functions with a suitable adapter.

[152bobby]

That's the Kenwood unit I have just had fitted.

Excellent upgrade.

[Weelawser]

Any idea of what fitting kit was used ?

[152bobby]

No, but if you contact caraudiosecurity.com they will list everything you need for your car 

[Weelawser]

Ok, cheers

[Avalon]

Fitting a HU is pretty similar no matter what brand/model, generally you need an ISO harness adapter (which converts the OEM pin-out/connector to the industry standard) and a SWC adapter depending on if you have SWC. On some cars you also need a fascia kit as it's become fashionable in some cases to have plastics beyond the DIN space connected to the OEM HU. Either way wherever sells you a HU should be able to advise you.