JVC KD-R810 – Available at Amazon for about $130 shipped

About 4 years ago I installed a Pioneer head unit and dash kit in my 2005 Toyota Tacoma with excellent results. That stereo got stolen when my truck was broken into this summer and I needed to find a new stereo to replace it. In the 4 years since I did research into  different stereos there has been an increase in features being included in units for about the same or a bit more money. iPod, USB and Bluetooth integration are becoming ubiquitous and HD Radio tuners are even starting to be included at lower price points. One big movement coming is towards “Media Receivers” that forgo a CD player completely and are really designed around using an iPod, phone or USB drive exclusively.

Bluetooth: My only Bluetooth experience has been in our Jetta Sportwagen. As far as I know you can only receive calls on that unit and initiate calls from the phone since there is no phonebook support. The JVC KD-R810 does have support for a manual phonebook and can access your phone’s recent received/dialed/missed calls. I mounted the external mic directly below the stereo in my dash kit’s pocket. My wife said I sounded fine the few times we’ve used it so far. Units with the mic built into the faceplate of the stereo have received marginal reviews on Amazon so the external mic was a plus in my book. I also tested streaming music from Pandora on my phone to the unit over BT and it worked flawlessly.

iPod Connectivity: The unit has worked great with my 5th generation iPod. Compared to the factory media interface in our Jetta, the JVC is vastly superior. Browsing is easier with the knob and loading is nearly instant. Spin the knob quickly and it will go into a fast seek mode much like the iPod does allowing you to skip quickly through a long list of items.

Color Customization: One other big selling point was the ability to customize the display’s colors. My Tacoma’s dash has an orange/red backlight across all of the controls and aftermarket head units like to use bright alternative colors that clash. The button lights and display can be set to different colors for day, night and menu use. One of the color presets matched the rest of my dash lights exactly and I set it to use that all the time.

Sound Quality: I have a pretty good ear for audio and dialing in an EQ. This unit was much easier to dial in than my previous Pioneer unit. Not sure if it has more power, but it just needed a healthy boost at 50hz and small cut at 1khz. It is very clear and pumps out more than enough low end with my stock speakers. The unit does have a Burr-Brown 24-bit DAC which is a step above what you’d get on a cheaper stereo.

One Con: The only con of the unit I can find is that the display is not polarized lens friendly. With my sunglasses on, the display text is almost completely filtered out. It is slightly annoying, but I shouldn’t be looking at the display when I’m driving anyways.

JVC KD-R810 – Available at Amazon for about $130 shipped

Shopping List

• Head Unit: JVC KD-R810
• Dash Kit: Scosche Single Din Silver or Double DIN or Single DIN Black
• Wiring Harness: Scosche Wiring Harness
• Tools: Crimp Caps, Wire Strippers, Socket Wrench Set and Joint Pliers

Head Unit: Last time I bought a Pioneer unit and liked it, but this time around I was looking for more features, especially built in Bluetooth. I narrowed my choice down to the JVC KD-R810 because it had Bluetooth and good iPod support along with customizable backlight colors. One of the preset colors matched the rest of dash exactly. You can read my full review of it here.

Dash Kit: The Scosche kit is pretty nice and matches the flat silver color on my 2005 SR5 Access Cab almost exactly. I prefer it to the stock stereo which has the textured silver. I chose to run the Bluetooth microphone and the rear USB connector through the back of the dash kit’s pocket. There’s a plastic support piece that screws onto the back of the pocket and it covers up nearly the whole thing. I was able to drill two 1/2″ holes right next to each on each side to feed through the mic and USB. There’s just enough room with the support piece on for the cables themselves and covers up the bulk of the holes. You can kind of see this in the picture below.

Wiring Harness: The wiring harness is a must. Not only does it make installation go quicker, but it avoids having to cut the factory harness off. The wire color on the harness and the stereo are standardized so you just have to match them up and crimp. You can solder them, but either way works just fine. I found joint pliers were the easiest to get a good crimp with.

Final Results: I’m much happier with the install this time. My old stereo matched the color of the dash, but it had white text and green backlighting. I think I prefer the JVC and its black/silver front with matching lighting.

Installation Process

1. Pop out climate control panel with a screwdriver
2. Unbolt stereo from dash, 4 total behind the climate control panel (exact head size of bolts eludes me)
3. Pop the whole stereo out, it’s held on by little clips
4. Unconnect everything and bring the stereo inside
5. Transfer the little yellow clips onto the dash kit
6. Transfer the clock and hazards assembly to the dash kit (kind of a pain to get out)
7. Wire up the harness to your new stereo, twist matching wires together, stick them in a crimp cap and give a good squeeze with pliers (give them a tug to make sure they’re in there tight)
8. Drill any holes you might want in the pocket
9. Install stereo in kit, but be careful not to scrape the mouth of it, the metal sleeve will take paint off
10. The metal sleeve around the stereo has little tabs, bend those up along the back of the face to help lock it in
11. Hook the stereo up and test it (having a second set of hands will help here)
12. Connect the hazards and clock harness
13. Once everything looks good, bolt the dash kit back on
14. Snap climate control panel back into place

We started the selection process with one criteria: the replacement vehicle had to get similar or better gas mileage than the RSX. That eliminated a pretty big portion of the car market because the RSX was capable of mid 30′s on the highway and high 20′s in the city while still being fun to drive. Our full list of criteria really narrowed things down: 35+ MPG on the highway, automatic transmission, 4 doors, leather interior, AUX input, and not a hybrid.

A quick filtering of 2010 models shows that there isn’t much to choose from once you add on that MPG requirement. There are some small gasser like the Mini, Yaris or Fit that get decent MPG, but they weren’t what we wanted really.

The only other thing left were Volkswagen’s diesel TDIs. Between the Jetta Sedan, Jetta Sportwagen and Golf, we liked the Sportwagen the most. It was equipped with everything we wanted and destroyed practically every other car in its class in MPG. It’s kind of crazy that no other car manufacturer has bothered bringing a middle of the road, fuel efficient diesel to the US.

If all we cared about was mileage then we would have just gotten a Prius, but I like driving. The Prius is a great midsize econobox, just a little uninspiring. Toyota can keep their few extra MPG and unwanted acceleration.

So after finding the one dealership in So Cal with the exact car we wanted and getting a quote $1k under sticker we drove home in a new 2010 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI.

2010 VW Sportwagen TDI

Between the DSG transmission (Dual Shift Gearbox, pretty much an automatic manual) and the gobs of torque turned out by the turbocharged diesel the JSW is actually pretty fun to drive. Shifts are super quick and I don’t think I’ll miss driving a stick; the 6 speeds and lower RPMs would mean a lot of rowing through the gears around town. We got 35 mpg on our first tank of diesel with mixed driving, but I expect that to rise as the car breaks in and I tone it down on the accelerator.

There were a couple things I wanted on the replacement stereo: black face and red backlighting to match the rest of the dash and a front auxiliary input for easy and cheap iPod integration. The Kenwood KDC-MP208 matched this pretty good and the price was hard to pass up, $59 shipped from one of the third party sellers at Amazon. If you are hooking an iPod up to an auxiliary input I highly suggest a cable that gives you a line level output like this Cables To Go – 4ft iPod Dock Connector to 3.5mm Cable.

Type-S Owners: If you own a Type-S with the premium stereo (no pocket, like this) you will need to get a replacement dash kit to accept either a single or double DIN aftermarket stereo. This Scosche installation kit allows for either single or double DIN and comes with the pocket if you go with a single DIN unit.

Installing Double DIN unit: If you want to install a double DIN unit then you’ll need the Ssosche kit linked above.

Head Unit: This JVC unit looks interesting as it has built in HD radio and customizable colors: JVC KD-HDR50. These units look like good matches to the RSX’s red/orange backlighting too: Kenwood KDC-MP142, Sony CDXGT430U, and Sony CDX-GT330. I got the Kenwood KDC-MP208 but it is no longer available at Amazon.

Wire Harness: Scosche HA08B Power Speaker Connector for 1998-Up Honda

Installation Steps

1. Pull off bottom plastic dash cover that houses the power adapter plug. There are little tabs on the side to get a screwdriver in. Pop one side out and firmly work the rest of it out. It might be tough at the end, just give it a good tug straight out and it will give.
2. Unplug power adapter to get it out of the way
3. Using a small ratcheting wrench with 8mm socket or stubby Philips screwdriver, unscrew the two screws going up towards the stereo. They’re at a funky angle and there’s not a whole lot of room to work. Might be a good job for someone with smaller hands. I loosened the screws and backed them out by hand to avoid the risk of dropping them into the bowels of the dash.
4. Once the screws are out the whole stereo and hazards section will slide out with a little force. Grab the back of the stereo mount through the dash and give it a real good pull. Mine had never been removed and it took some pretty good yanking to get it to budge. I used a screwdriver to pop a clip on the top right corner above the hazards switch. Slide it out a few inches and disconnect the hazards wiring harness and then the stereo’s harness.
5. Unscrew the stock stereo from the bracket and replace it with the new unit. Plug it in with your prepared wiring harness and test to make sure everything is working. Pan to each of the channels to verify the speakers are connected correctly.
6. Plug the hazards harness back in or your turn signals won’t work. Wonder how I know that?
7. Slide the whole thing back into the dash while trying to keep all the new wires on top of the stereo so they don’t get smashed behind it
8. Replace the 2 screws and pop the dash cover back on. That’s it.

I’m really happy with the results. The sound on the inexpensive Kenwood unit is much better than the stock stereo. The bottom end was very lacking before, but now it is more than adequate with the stock speakers. Radio reception is good and overall this is a nice cheap way to get your MP3 player hooked up in an RSX.

So Ford is complaining that they can’t bring a good fuel efficient car to the US because of the barrier diesel presents. You know what, if you advertise a car that gets 65 mpg, the public isn’t going to care what it runs on. When it comes to cars, America is just slightly retarded.

I’m one step closer to my bike commute though. I bought locks, rear rack and trunk bag last night which means I might be ready to make the switch in a couple weeks. The Topeak rack and bag are pretty sweet since they have a slide on mechanism for easy installation and removal. Ordered from Tree Fort Bikes which had everything I wanted at very competitive prices. Still contemplating if I want to put fenders on.

I hate bad journalism and when journalists write about anything remotely scientific they sound like friggin idiots. Case in point this remarkably dumb article trying to summarize a remarkably dumb study. The attempt to present statistics supporting the conclusion that “Cell phone users tie up traffic” is laughable:

“In medium- and high-density traffic, drivers were about 20 percent less likely to change lanes. They also spent about 25 to 50 seconds longer following slow-moving vehicles before changing to an open lane. And they drove about 2 mph (3.2 kph) slower than the undistracted drivers and took 15 to 19 seconds longer to complete the 9.2 mile trip.”

Here we are presented with 4 statements that in no way support the idea being presented by the study. Drivers changing lanes less causes an increase in traffic? Spent 25 to 50 second behind slower vehicles? Drove 2 mph slower which increases a 9.2 mile trip by 15 to 19 seconds? If I did my third grade math correctly and assumed an “undistracted” speed of 65mph, that results in a increase of 27 seconds. Assuming a target of 55mph that number jumps to 38 seconds. The use of the word “about” when presenting quantifiable facts is just plain sloppy. Funny how statistics don’t make sense without standard deviations.

Here’s a bright idea, maybe the slower moving vehicles are causing more problems than the people on the cellphones. In my observations of traffic patterns lane changes, merging, and slower moving vehicles have the greatest effect on highway speeds. 605 South approaching the 5 crawls to a stop every single day for no good reason other than people having to merge. It also seems impossible for mentally deficient California drivers to maintain their speed when approaching the “time left to destination” signs. I’m just flabbergasted about people’s inability to maintain a constant speed and drive in a straight line. Am I expecting too much from people or is it small portion of the populace ruining it for everyone else?

Our own ban on hand held cell phone use here in California goes into effect later this year in the hopes of reducing accidents. Too bad that’s a bunch of you know what. Here’s a real study with real statistical analysis and a much larger sample: The Impact of Driver Cell Phone Use on Accidents. And a quote from its conclusion:

“Our models predict no statistically significant reduction in accidents from bans on usage of cell phones while driving. Our estimates of the reduction in accidents from a ban on cell phone use while driving are both lower and less certain than some previous studies indicate.”

Cell phone bans are just another example of government wasting our money and meddling where they don’t belong.

The Tacoma’s stock receiver does not have an auxiliary input and there’s no way I was going down the FM transmitter route so it was time for a head unit upgrade. Here’s a quick look at my installation of an aftermarket stereo/radio/cd player and auxiliary input for an mp3 player, Ipod or any other audio playing device in my Tacoma. The install isn’t too bad so if you want to breath new life into your Tacoma’s stereo on the cheap then this is a great little project.

Dash Kit Info: I got the Scosche TA2052B Single Din from Amazon, there’s also a double DIN version.

Head Unit Info: I got a Pioneer DEH-P4800MP, but it is discontinued now which is too bad since the finish matches the dash kit almost exactly. I keep looking, but haven’t found anything with as good of a color match.

If you want to buy new, these Pioneer units have a bit of the lighter silver color and have received good reviews: Pioneer DEH-P5000UB , Pioneer DEHP4100UB, Pioneer DEH2100IB.

This is the stock stereo I had to work with. The trend has been towards completely integrating the stereo into a car’s dash, it looks great but as soon as you want to install an aftermarket stereo in you might be stuck. The aftermarket dash kit is color matched to the silver around the vents.

Step 1 – Rip out climate control, unbolt and remove dash and stereo, unhook everything.

Step 2 – Wire up the wire harness so you don’t have to cut any of the factory wiring.

Step 3 – Hookup stereo and test to make sure everything works before putting the whole thing back together.

Step 4 – I’ve got everything in and just need to stick the climate control panel back on. Getting the head unit and hazards/clock panel into the replacement dash was the most time consuming part of the whole project. First I couldn’t get the hazards panel out of the stock dash but managed to pry it out after an hour. Secondly, the installation instructions for the dash kit were pretty brief, I guess you can consider a diagram and a few unintelligible sentences instructions. At this point I had also drilled a hole in the back of the pocket to feed the cable for the auxiliary input through.

Finish – With everything put back together I actually like the look of the replacement dash kit more than the original bumpy texture.

Audio quality is much better after a little EQ’ing and I can now hook up an Mp3 player. New speakers would be a nice upgrade, but the new head unit really helps the stock speakers come alive.

Not a terribly difficult project and I’m glad I did it myself instead of paying an installer a good chunk of change to do it. I probably got lucky since most dashes aren’t this accessible and easy to work with.

I wouldn’t even consider an FM transmitter and would only resort to tape at last resort.

The best option is to plug directly into your car’s head unit through an auxiliary input. Even with stock car stereos there is a chance an adapter is available. And if not, I’d try a FM modulator (different from transmitters, they plug directly into antennae on the stereo to minimize interference).

I use to have a Kenwood head unit in my old truck and I got the adapter that plugs into the cd changer port and it worked great. Just ran the RCA cable out from under the dash and up to the center console and plugged straight in.

The best list of available adapters I’ve found is at Installer.com.

So in summary:

• FM transmitters (the cheap toys you get at Radio Shack) – avoid like the plague.
• Tape Adapters – Final resort if you are strapped for cash and you actually have a tape player (which is becoming quite rare on newer cars and head units).
• FM modulator – plugs directly inline with your car’s antennae, final resort if you value sound quality.
• Auxiliary input – Stereo manufacturers are finally catching on and Aux inputs are becoming more widespread. They offer the least amount of sound quality loss and depending on your setup can be pretty affordable.

I think a lot of people view hooking up their Mp3 player the same as the headphones they use, they simply see no reason to upgrade. After dropping $200-300 on a very capable Mp3 player, most people will not spend the extra money to upgrade their headphones. This is why you see the trendy Ipod masses on college campuses walking around with their white earbuds stuffed in their ears. Spend another $35 on something like these Sennheiser PX 100‘s and increase the quality of your music, unless looking trendy and “cool” matters more.

The same goes with hooking your Mp3 player up in the car, don’t spend $15 on the FM crap emitter, invest a little more and get a higher quality signal with less hassle. I look at it this way, how much is it worth to not have to listen to crappy radio music and commercials? Stick it to the man and hook your mp3 player up to your car stereo.

• Increase of price of crude oil (which is not set by oil companies, thank the commodities market and OPEC for that)
• Decreased refining capacity
• Cost of transporting gasoline to stations (those big trucks run on gas too don’t they)
• Current supply interruptions, Nigeria, who supplys the US ~13% of our oil is completely shutdown because of political turmoil
• Futures market is being bid up, caused by anxiety of future supply interruptions
• Switch over from winter to summer blends (know how gas prices go up at the time leading into summer, they have to use a different cleaner burning formula, during transition it kills the productivity of refineries)
• People aren’t changing their lifestyles and driving less
• People are still buying big cars (~25% of cars sold last year had a large V8 engine)
• The government has increased excise taxes on gasoline over the past few decades, not reduced them.

That’s just off the top of my head using information gained from reading and listening to the radio.

I don’t see much changing. Hybrids aren’t an attractive alternative yet (unless you mind paying $5000 over sticker which would take a decade to make up with the savings on gas) and their isn’t enough ethanol being produced to make a dent (3.4 billion gallons of ethanol produced a year compared to the 131.4 billion gallons of gasoline used per year in the US).

So what do I think? Let the market go where it will and keep the government out of it. If people are willing to pay over a dollar for a 12 oz bottle of water then they have no room to complain about gas.