For navigation, I have been using Google Maps with my Android phone on a mount on top of the dash. No, Google Maps doesn't care about width of height restrictions, but I'm in a 5.4m Ducato van, so it's rarely an issue. What Google Maps is excellent for is how up to date the maps are, the routing, and the excellent real time traffic info.
Quite a few friends and family have cars with Android Auto. I like it a lot, but I always thought my large'ish phone in a mount on the dash did a similar job. Then when I was on holiday a couple of months ago, the hire car had Android Auto. Just plug in the phone and it instantly worked, no faffing to unlock the phone and open the mapping app, then switch to nav mode. And the larger and much more stable screen made is so much easier to use... But new head units with Android Auto are really expensive, aren't they???
Well Halfords keeps putting them on sale. Over the Black Friday period, the new Sony XAV-AX3005 which retails at about £450 was £300 (which I nearly bought, but missed). Then the other day its predecessor, the XAV-AX100 briefly came up for £200. It's an early Android Auto head unit and it's pretty basic (no DAB and 'mechless' so no CD player) but it's got good reviews, so I thought I'd give it a go.
First thing was to rip out the Kenwood single DIN stereo and the storage pocket, which took about 5 minutes:
The big connector block is a standard ISO car stereo connector, which is good. I don't know what the other connector block (with only 2 wires) is, but the Kenwood didn't need it, so I've ignored it. The biggest issue here are the dividing supports that mean you can't put a double DIN unit straight in. However, they are only plastic and took about 10 minutes to hacksaw off and trim back.
After that it's mostly easy. An aftermarket facia adaptor clips into the hole to cover up the nasty edges and then the double DIN sleeve/cage slides in. There's next to nothing for it to bite into to stabilise it and I wanted the stereo to be pretty solid. The Sony unit is a large screen at the front, but it's pretty much a single DIN behind with the lower half being empty. It meant I could put a self-tapping screw through the cage and into the soft plastic behind (I checked, there was nothing important behind!).
After than the head unit plugs in, slides in and clicks home:
All that is the same as any other stereo change. The additional bit was the phone connector. On the back of the stereo is a USB cable that has to be connected to the phone. I bought an extension cable from Amazon that ended in a USB connector in a 12v cigarette lighter socket. As I've never used them, now both of my 12v sockets have been replaced:
Note: For Apple users, the equivalent is similar and is called Apple CarPlay. The above stereos are also CarPlay compatible. However, the XAV1000 is only CarPlay and not Android Auto for some reason.
I gave it a quick run go last night and I was pretty impressed. It takes about 10 seconds for the stereo to cold start, but I can live with that. There's a software update that makes it a bit quicker that I need to install (via USB stick).
And while I was there, I upgraded my speakers. The 6.5" woofer door speakers and the tiny tweeter speakers in the A pillar have been replaced with some £50 JBL components. The original Fiat speakers were terrible and the paper cone in one of the woofers was starting to rip. The new setup sounds so much less muddy and crisper (I've previously added closed cell insulation inside the doors to keep the heat in, but it also acts as sound deadening).
Quite a few friends and family have cars with Android Auto. I like it a lot, but I always thought my large'ish phone in a mount on the dash did a similar job. Then when I was on holiday a couple of months ago, the hire car had Android Auto. Just plug in the phone and it instantly worked, no faffing to unlock the phone and open the mapping app, then switch to nav mode. And the larger and much more stable screen made is so much easier to use... But new head units with Android Auto are really expensive, aren't they???
Well Halfords keeps putting them on sale. Over the Black Friday period, the new Sony XAV-AX3005 which retails at about £450 was £300 (which I nearly bought, but missed). Then the other day its predecessor, the XAV-AX100 briefly came up for £200. It's an early Android Auto head unit and it's pretty basic (no DAB and 'mechless' so no CD player) but it's got good reviews, so I thought I'd give it a go.
First thing was to rip out the Kenwood single DIN stereo and the storage pocket, which took about 5 minutes:
The big connector block is a standard ISO car stereo connector, which is good. I don't know what the other connector block (with only 2 wires) is, but the Kenwood didn't need it, so I've ignored it. The biggest issue here are the dividing supports that mean you can't put a double DIN unit straight in. However, they are only plastic and took about 10 minutes to hacksaw off and trim back.
After that it's mostly easy. An aftermarket facia adaptor clips into the hole to cover up the nasty edges and then the double DIN sleeve/cage slides in. There's next to nothing for it to bite into to stabilise it and I wanted the stereo to be pretty solid. The Sony unit is a large screen at the front, but it's pretty much a single DIN behind with the lower half being empty. It meant I could put a self-tapping screw through the cage and into the soft plastic behind (I checked, there was nothing important behind!).
After than the head unit plugs in, slides in and clicks home:
All that is the same as any other stereo change. The additional bit was the phone connector. On the back of the stereo is a USB cable that has to be connected to the phone. I bought an extension cable from Amazon that ended in a USB connector in a 12v cigarette lighter socket. As I've never used them, now both of my 12v sockets have been replaced:
Note: For Apple users, the equivalent is similar and is called Apple CarPlay. The above stereos are also CarPlay compatible. However, the XAV1000 is only CarPlay and not Android Auto for some reason.
I gave it a quick run go last night and I was pretty impressed. It takes about 10 seconds for the stereo to cold start, but I can live with that. There's a software update that makes it a bit quicker that I need to install (via USB stick).
And while I was there, I upgraded my speakers. The 6.5" woofer door speakers and the tiny tweeter speakers in the A pillar have been replaced with some £50 JBL components. The original Fiat speakers were terrible and the paper cone in one of the woofers was starting to rip. The new setup sounds so much less muddy and crisper (I've previously added closed cell insulation inside the doors to keep the heat in, but it also acts as sound deadening).
