Oh that is awesome! How does it sound compared to the stock?

 

No better, no worse. A little more volume than the Alpine allowed but same weaknesses of the stock speakers and lack of amp exist.

 

I installed the external Alpine Amp which helps.. Is there a harness adaptor or did you just clip wires and re-wire it?

 

I used the Alfa harness that was connected to the OEM Alpine harness.

 

That looks really good. Suits the space perfectly.

 

That looks great, I looked all over on line, no one carries that model, where di you purchase it from?

 

Of all places... Walmart!

http://goto.walmart.com/c/404739/56...k-CP-71-Apple-CarPlay-Only-6-5-Touchscreen-Car-Stereo-Single-DIN-New/5055269224

 

That looks very nice

 

Interesting that its not a unit listed on the Power Acoustik web site. I really like it, but will only consider head units with a dial for volume...

 

I completely hear you about the volume dial... It's my biggest concern in the week or so I have been using the unit.

 

A nice fit, but it seems to be Carplay only, no AA.

 

Sadly, yes... no Android Auto

 

Any way you could post a picture of this from the side? Looks fantastic but I'm curious to know how it looks from the sides.

 

Could you post a photo of the stereo unpowered, so we can see how it looks when we want only to hear the song of the 4C motor? Thank you!

 

Here you go!

 

Looks pretty clean from the sides, thanks. I've got one on the way. You mentioned that you re-used the existing wiring harness but did you need to re-wire it at all or just plug in and off you go? Thanks for the find!

 

Just color coded splicing/soldering of wires from the cars harness and the new stereo harness.

 

Yeah, at higher volumes and upgraded speakers.

I spent way way too much time trying to get a decent sound out of the system. In the process I figured out that the DAC in the head unit just isn't that great. The best sound by far is from an external device using bluetooth and boosting the bass before it gets to the head unit.

I ripped a high quality CD, then made a lossless audio file and a high quality MP3. I flipped between the original CD, a file off a USB device and bluetooth off my phone, by far the best quality was bluetooth from my iPhone..

 

Hi, I have installed this unit in my Lotus Elise and AR 4C. Huge improvement over stock. However, in the AR 4C the front cover plate does not fit completely in the DIN opening - (of course, I may be doing something WRONG!). I will connect it firmly to the bracket in the back of the car. I really like the Apple Car Play - nice feature to have! Anyway, I'm not that much interested in the sound of the head unit and much more interested in the sound of the car!

 

That’s correct. It doesn’t fit “in” the open. Rather, it sits up against the opening. Good point. I used some felt to line the top, bottom and side of where it slides into the cage to create friction and help lock it in to the opening.

 

Ahh this is a nice one

 

This is finally an elegant solution to the head-unit issue. No way to get this in Europe I gather, right?

 

Not sure if Walmart ships internationally but if you cover shipping, I would help you buy it and ship it to you. Might not make much sense financially when all else is considered. Let me know.

 

Did a test fit with mine this morning and really liked how it sat in the space so I built the harness and got it put in and tested. Love it. Wireless carplay is awesome. Second time I started my car it came up with navigation like this.

It's not done yet in that I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to remove the existing cage (see second picture) from the Parrot. I'm not a car stereo guy so any advice would be helpful. I didn't see any way to secure the new unit using the existing cage so I assume I need to remove the old one and put this new one in. Any help would be appreciated.

 

The tabs on the original cage need to be bent back to flat and then it can be removed. When you install the new cage you will need to bend the tabs outwards to fix it in the dash. Use a small flat head screw driver.

 

Ok, great, that's what I initially did but must have missed a few.

Also, note that there is a new firmware available for this headunit that adds support for Android Auto and also allows you to change the boot screen. Still getting the boot screen dialed in but I'm already much happier.

 

I have installed this unit in a Lotus Elise (very tight fit due to limited room for wiring) and a 4C. In the 4C I added a rear back up camera which works seamlessly with the head unit (more on that later).

Now, unlike the Lotus, this head unit does not fit completely into the 4C opening thus, it is not really "locked in place". To securely fasten the head unit, I added a ~ 4 inch stud (M5 with 0.8 pitch if I remember correctly and sourced from Ace is the place with the friendly hardware man) that is mounted in the center of the head unit and which slides into the mounting tab behind the head unit under the dash. The OEM head unit has a small stud that fits up against the mounting tab smack dab in the center of the back. I used washers and a wing nut (easier to maneuver behind the tab with fingers) to make the head unit tight. No need for a friction fit - now it's firmly locked in place and no "shake, rattle and roll"!

 

Awesome. Super helpful. As you pointed out, the head unit doesn't lock into the cage because the cage is too recessed compared to the face of the head unit. I pulled a few tabs of the cage inward to create some friction and that's sufficient for daily driving but I definitely need to do something like this before autocross. Do you have any pictures of this? It's hard for me to picture it in my head but it also might be impossible to take pictures of.

 

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

 

I guess it's obvious but don't pick a white background. You won't be able to see any of the text ...

That's also one of the reasons that I chose to do the silhouette in red (also my car is red)

 

Just bought this unit today from Walmart. Labor days sale was $10 OFF so $140. Honestly, I could care less about the radio or sound as I am all about that sweet exhaust note, but having NAV maps and Waze on spirited drives could potentially pay for itself. Would like ot get a backup camera to hook into this. any suggestions?

 

Quick questions guys. As the OEM apline unit does not come with the removal keys how did you get it out of the dash without destroying it?

 

My car is a 2015 so I had the Parrot but it is long gone. I used some tools I had hanging around, most are pretty much the same. I assume that you could borrow removal tools from any Alpine unit.

My rear license plate mounted backup camera died after letting in water so I got this license plate light unit off ebay

Car Rear View Camera for Alfa Romeo 147 156 159 166 145 937 932 939 936 952 940 | eBay

Perfect solution to get rid of that poor rear view visibility on your car that has no rear-view mirror or poor rear vision. Suitable car models Extra-low illumination of 0.5 Lux for clear night vision.

www.ebay.com

Works fine.

 

How much work is it to create the wiring harness for both the 4C and the Elise, please?

 

It was easy. The unit comes with one so you can sacrifice the OEM one or buy a new one and just color match the worse together with some shrink tubing.

 

When I use a phone for navigation, it is typically in portrait mode rather than landscape, and it is typically near the top of the dash. This unit appears to be wider than tall (different aspect ratio) and lower than I am used to. Are people still finding it to be useful for navigation? I, too, may consider putting one in an Elise and in a 4C.

Thanks!

 

Jon the only issue I am having is I cant hear notifications from WAZE when driving. Granted my top is off and the car is loud. Do you have this issue?