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frifall's 2012 Superb Combi 170 TDI


frifall

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Hi guys!

 

I bought myself my first Skoda this tuesday. After hours of researching, trying out different cars, and thinking about what I want, I ended up with a Capuccino Beige Superb with the 170 TDI and a 6 speed manual.

The car has a few extras, such as:

 

-Bi-xenon with AFS

-Electric boot

-Webasto heater

-Electric seats with memory

-Auto-dimming mirrors outside and inside

-Sunset glass

-Bolero stereo

 

Now, the car is a fine car, no doubt, but I'm one of those who likes to tinker with things, and make them even better.

So, before I had even signed the papers, I had gone bananas on Aliexpress and Ebay and bought:

 

-Ownice C200 Android stereo http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1024-600-Quad-Core-Android-4-4-Car-DVD-Volkswagen-VW-Tiguan-Polo-Golf-Passat-Jetta/1504264998.html

-LED's for everything outside, and boot (read all threads I could find on the subject and mostly went with what Gizmo68 had used)

-5 rear-view cameras

 

Now, I know what you're thinking. Why did he not order more than FIVE cameras? Right?!

Well, lurking around on Ebay, I found that there are several different models of RVCs. They all look a little different, and the specs may differ a little. So, considering they only cost about 2 buckets of Ben&Jerrys each, I decided to order all the versions I could find and then compare them. All in the name of science! Or something... I will then use the best one as an RVC, and maybe, just for the fun of it, put one somewhere in the front facing forwards. Could maybe come in handy some day! The rest will go to friends who need one, or, something.

 

A fun thing I noted about 30 minutes ago though, is that the Bolero stereo in the Superb is not the same as the Bolero stereo in the Octavia (which is the same as the RCD510 in most VWs, right?) Considering the fact that the stereo I ordered fits instead of the RCD510 (and Octavia Bolero), I got sweaty palms... What to do now? How can I find something that fits?

After some intense googling, I noted that the Columbus stereo seems to be the same size as the RCD510, and it seems to have another fascia around it to make it fit... Hmm, could I find that fascia? After some more googling, I found a thread here where someone had managed to find that fascia, with model nr: 3T08580691QB
I ordered it from http://www.skodaparts.com/product/superb-satnav-surround-2008-2012-49990 and hopefully everything will fit like gloves.

 

Other things I will do:

-Probably tint the windows a bit more, since I don't think they are dark enough

-Sand and polish the headlights and fog lights (they have had quite a few pieces of gravel flung at them it seems)

-Use Chipex to try and fix some stone chippings on the front and some smaller marks on the sides

 

The first thing on my agenda right now though, is to go to a guy nearby who has VCDS, and reprogram the Superb to be even Superber. I will:

-Inactivate PWM for number plate lights (so they are LED-compatible)

-Turn off the horrid beeping from the tailgate when opening

-Enable remote closing of said tailgate

-Use fogs for coming home/leaving home

-Show cruise control speed on maxidot

-Enable automatic closing of windows in case of rain

 

So, right now I don't have much to show for, but I will keep posting in this thread when all my orders are starting to arrive and the real fun begins!

Edited by frifall
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Oh boy, isn't VCDS a wonderful thing?

 

Got some help today from a man who has one, and these are the results:

 

-Turn off tailgate bleeping when remote opening? Check.
-Enable remote closing of tailgate? Check.
-Use fogs for coming home/leaving home? Check.
-Show cruise control speed on maxidot? Applied, but doesn't seem to work. Tried factory resetting maxidot, no go. Will se what happens when the car has been still for a couple of hours.
-Automatic closing of windows in case of rain? Was already applied and is in Maxidot. Works like a charm.

 

One interesting thing though, is that this evening I can't fold the mirrors in from the remote anymore. It worked today after the VCDS-reprogramming, but since then, it has stopped working. The only thing I have done since is the maxidot factory reset... Any takers on what that could be?

 

Also, since the photos I posted earlier don't seem to work, I will post them again here.

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Edited by frifall
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Sometimes the window system falls over and needs resetting (also controls mirror fold)

 

Manually move each of the windows all the way down and all the way back up again (not the double press auto up/down) and the system will be reset and mirror fold should work now :)

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Sometimes the window system falls over and needs resetting (also controls mirror fold)

 

Manually move each of the windows all the way down and all the way back up again (not the double press auto up/down) and the system will be reset and mirror fold should work now :)

 

Ah, now that sounds familiar. Have read that before! Will try tomorrow, thank you!

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A steady stream of packages has now started appearing in my mailbox, Santa came early this year! :D

 

The stereo has arrived, but it won't go in for a few days. Will be getting the columbus frame (which is needed) tomorrow.

 

A few of the lights have arrived as well, so far I've done:

 

-Replaced numberplate lights. Ordered these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300708064052?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT but as soon as I got them I realized I had ordered the  38mm instead of the 37mm. Instead of returning them and getting a new pair though, I managed to squeeze these into place with some gentle coercion... ;)

What bothers me though is that the car is throwing a "broken taillight"-warning, this despite the fact that I disabled it via VCDS. Hmm, will try disabling PWM and see what that does, if none of them works, I'll solder a resistor over it. 

 

-Replaced fog lights. Ordered these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390992469638?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT and they work brilliantly! Sure, not quite as white as LED's, but they are a lot whiter than normal bulbs, and they match the xenons quite nicely!

 

-Replaced the parking lights. Ordered these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290617035424?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT and they too work brilliantly. Once you get the bulb holders out that is... I tried to get them out on monday, but no matter how I tried, I couldn't get the. Got back on the forum, and people have in earlier discussions said "pull harder", and so I did. And with a little bit of help from a pick'n'hook, out they came! So far,  no warnings, which is nice.

 

-Replaced the DRLs. Ordered these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271050683903?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT and I haven't been able to try them yet. Up here in the north, it is dark when I go to work, and dark when I get home, and I don't know if it is possible to trick them to start? Tried pointing a flashlight at the sensor (or at least I think that the sensor is up there in the rear view mirror?) but that didn't help! :p

But, even though they aren't even lighting up, I still get a "broken bulb"-warning. Boohoo. So I ordered these and hope the will rectify the situation: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271945887238?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

Now that's as far as I've come now. While replacing the bulbs, I noted that there were two small H3-bulbs that apparently work together with the xenons to form the high beam, and these are horribly yellow. So, I ordered these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171466659921?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT to see if they improve anything.

 

Bonus picture is of the Android car stereo we installed in my friends Ford Transit last night. He got all kinds of fired up when I told him about the stereo I had ordered, so he ordered one himself.

First impressions are: very impressive! For that price, you get a lot. Sure, time will tell how well it actually works, but I am not in any way deterred from putting mine in my car, on the contrary! :D

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So, tonight I managed to get rid of the number plate-light error, by disabling PWM via VCDS. What's a bit crappy about this method is that the number plate-lights don't dim down nicely before turning off when using coming home/leaving home anymore, they just cut off. (Which isn't weird because that's what PWM does...)

Now all I have to figure out if I'm willing to solder on some resistors to the bulb holders just so that I can still use PWM... Don't think so. I'll just have to live with this.

 

Another thing I tried was to lower the sensitivity of the rain sensor. Driving in a light drizzle two days ago I felt that the lowest setting on the wipers (in rain sensing-mode) was too eager. So, in VCDS I changed from the "Superb windscreen" which had an enhancement of 253% or something like that, to one with a factor of 45% or whatever it was. Will have to wait until it's wet outside to try it though, no idea if it works. :p

 

Will be getting the Columbus frame for my Android stereo tomorrow, but I don't think I'm going to be able to do the installation before this weekend. Until then, you can have a look at these two pictures of the unit where you can see the cables that came in the box and the unit itself. It doesn't feel bad at all to the touch. The buttons and knobs feel nice, and I like it! Excited to see how it all turns out in the end.

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So, today the number plate-lights threw a warning, despite having disabled it both ways possible via VCDS. So, I guess that seals my fate, now I'm gonna solder on some resistors and get it working with PWM activated as well. I'm almost glad the car decided for me! ;)

 

Also, driving for the first time in daylight since I changed the DRLs to LEDs, I noticed that they don't light up at all. This probably has something to do with the centre pin positive/negative I've read a little about. Will have to whip out my multimeter and see what's what.

 

Edit: So I just went out and checked, and my MY2012 is centre pin negative. Will have to try the LEDs tonight to see if they are positive, but I find it highly likely!

Edited by frifall
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Alright, so the LED is centre pin positive and car is centre pin negative. Why the heck would they make the car centre pin negative? I'm thinking I might redo the bulb holders so they are centre pin positive instead.

 

Edit: Also did some maths on the LEDs for the number plate-lights, and it seems I need resistors with at least 63 ohm resistance capable of at least 2.3 watts. Time to go shopping for resistors then!

Edited by frifall
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Alright then. Got the Columbus frame today, so I couldn't wait any longer and fitted my new Ownice C200 android stereo tonight!

 

First off, getting the old Bolero out was no easy task. I assumed the stereo frame was clipped into place, and with some small plastic tools I tried to unclip it somewhere just to get it going. After some fiddling, it snapped loose in one corner. Yay! Kept pulling firmly but gently and soon I had clipped it loose all the way around.

 

Or so I thought...

 

It turned out I had actually tore off the entire front of the stereo, with screen and buttons and all. It is held in place with like 6 small screws that go from the head unit into some plastic fittings in the front. These are now completely torn to shreds. Now, this annoys me a little bit, but I do think it is salvageable. If only I could get the damn frame off! With the front lying in front of me on the table, I still can't figure out how the frame attaches to the front... It's a bit late now, so I'll have another look when I'm feeling fresh.

 

With the original stereo out, I removed the glove box so I could get better access and find somewhere to put the GPS-antenna. This also proved invaluable later on when I had to reach in via this hole to be able to get the new cables stuffed behind the new stereo in a decent manner.

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WIth the new stereo fitted I started playing about. And here are some thoughts so far:

 

The bad:

-the stereo won't shut off when I remove the key, it has to be shut off via the power button. This is inconvenient, and I'm also a little scared that it will drain the battery.

-while the volume rocker on the steering wheel works, I can't get the prev/next-buttons to work. The stereo has a way of mapping steering wheel buttons, but it just doesn't seem to respond at all. This worked flawlessly in my friends 2008 Ford Transit, I would expect the same results in my car.

-it came with a VW boot logo, and I haven't figured out how to change it. This obviously has to change! :p

-Radio reception is terrible. While the original antenna has two cables, the adapter and cable to the new stereo only has one. Not sure if this is the only reason for the poor reception, but it would be interesting to see if one could have a 2-to-1 adapter.

-there is some kind of "android helper" (seen in the third image as the little android figure down to the left). This guy can be moved to anywhere on the screen, and when you push him you get a menu with sort of "shortcuts" to settings, home, program switcher and back. This seems completely unnecessary since all these things can be done with the physical buttons on the unit. And, I haven't figured out how to remove him...

 

The good:

-the unit is snappy, and the touch screen works wonders.

-it came with iGo navigation and offline maps for... I'm not sure how far, but seems like Europe?

-installing Spotify and running your music from the unit itself leaves your phone out of the equation, and should have better sound than streaming over Bluetooth.

-matching button color to the Superbs original buttons is nice.

-sound quality in general seems nice.

-all the different CAN-bus displays (AC, heated seats and such) come up on the display. It's supposed to show the "open door" symbol, and it did briefly when testing the unit, but haven't seen it since... :p

-shifting into reverse brings up the reverse camera. Now, I haven't installed the camera yet (but I will) so the screen shows a black image, but the parking sensors show up on the screen. Either along with the reverse camera, or just a top view of the car filling up the entire screen and showing the distance.

-and speaking of reverse, what impressed the crap out of me was that while in reverse, I actually get the "highline" moving lines when turning! This was something I had NOT anticipated since my camera doesn't have any kind of factory reverse camera. Plus points!

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Edited by frifall
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Looks great man! Definitely a smarter look than my current setup (Pioneer AppRadio 4), but at this point I can't imagine living without Apple CarPlay!  :)

I'm not too happy about where I put my iPhone-connector though (in the little box at the driver's side) because my new 6s doesn't fit in there at all, so I might have to follow your lead and just remove the glove box to put the cables in there! :)

 

 Seems like removing the Bolero was a bit more unintuitive than the Columbus, I hope it's fixable! Might get something for that if you sell it! :)

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Alright! Time for an update on the stereo:

 

The bad:

1. The stereo won't shut off when I remove the key, it has to be shut off via the power button. This is inconvenient, and I'm also a little scared that it will drain the battery.

2. While the volume rocker on the steering wheel works, I can't get the prev/next-buttons to work. The stereo has a way of mapping steering wheel buttons, but it just doesn't seem to respond at all. This worked flawlessly in my friends 2008 Ford Transit, I would expect the same results in my car.

3. It came with a VW boot logo, and I haven't figured out how to change it. This obviously has to change!  :p

4. Radio reception is terrible. While the original antenna has two cables, the adapter and cable to the new stereo only has one. Not sure if this is the only reason for the poor reception, but it would be interesting to see if one could have a 2-to-1 adapter.

5. There is some kind of "android helper" (seen in the third image as the little android figure down to the left). This guy can be moved to anywhere on the screen, and when you push him you get a menu with sort of "shortcuts" to settings, home, program switcher and back. This seems completely unnecessary since all these things can be done with the physical buttons on the unit. And, I haven't figured out how to remove him...

 

1. Haven't looked into this yet. Sent an email to the seller asking about my issues, and am awaiting response.

2. After some googling, I installed the app "Ownice RK3188 HeadUnit" from Play Store which enabled the use of more steering wheel buttons! I can now use prev/next to control Spotify, yay! (Using prev/next also played a polish voice direction from the Navigation program through the standard music player, so it doesn't really work 100%. No problem for me though since I only use Spotify. I just disabled the standard music player and now it works flawlessly.)

3. After some more googling, I found that there is a place called "factory settings" in settings. To get access, you punch in the code "126" and voilá, you can now change the boot logo!

4. Purchased a double fakra to din-adapter from my local electronics store, and with that installed instead of the adapter that came with the stereo, radio reception is now flawless!

5. Awaiting response from seller on this one as well.

 

After some more usage, I'm really pleased with the unit. iGo navigation seems to work really well (went on a 1000km trip through 3 countries on friday, and performed excellent) and is a lot more advanced than I initially thought.

 

Double fakra-adapter:

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And an update regarding LED-lights:

 

Number plate-lights:

I installed the LED number plate-lights about a week ago, and after removing PWM I got them working error free. For a little while. First I had an intermittent warning which went away, but then I got a warning that didn't go away. Well, yesterday I noticed that the warning wasn't bogus, neither of my plate lights were alight!

Took one of the bulb holders up to my apartment and fed it with 12V, and the bulb shone like it should. Weird. Went down to the car and tried it, no light. Disconnected it and measured the voltage in the connector, nothing. "Blown fuse then?" I thought, and brought out the manual. Despite my best efforts though, I couldn't find any mention of the plate light, so I went ahead and tested every fuse in the car. All were fine.

Went back to the car and measured the current again - 12V. What? Weird. Maybe it is working! Plugged in the light, nothing. Disconnected and measured current - nothing. Hmm. Switched the lights off and on, measured current - 12V. Plugged in light, disconnected, measured again - nothing. Switched to regular light bulbs, plugged 'em in - it works...

 

Now, I can't really figure this out. It seems as if the car cuts the power to the number plate lights when I plug in the LED, but not otherwise. And the lights have been working for a week before this! Weird...

Oh well, I've ordered the resistors that I will solder on to the bulb holder and try to see if I get it working with everything "stock" in VCDS, so that I get dimming of the lights and all. Update will follow.

 

DRL's:

Discovering that my car has centre pin negative on the DRL's really bugged me. Why would they do something like that? Why change something that works and is (sort of?) standard, centre pin positive, to something else? I decided I had to fix this deliberate error...

 

Took the lights out, and tried removing the connecting pins from the connectors so that I could just switch them around. Didn't succeed in this, and didn't wanna destroy the connectors when trying harder, so I did the next best thing: cut the wires, switch them around, solder them together and voilá, I now have DRL's that are centre pin positive. This works as well with regular halogen bulbs as it does with the LED's, and also: no bulb errors! Which in one way kinda sucks since I ordered these "error free-boxes" just a couple of days ago. Oh well, hopefully I can return them.

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And a final post before I hit the bed...

 

Washed and waxed the car with SWMBO (I learned that acronym through these forums, and I love it!) yesterday, and in the afternoon autumn light I thought I might get some nice pics of dear Lazlo.

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Couple of things that might help.

 

Show cruise control speed on maxidot - this is a function of the ECU so it's likely your ECU isn't sending the correct message to enable it. I believe a skilled tuner can add this.

 

LED number plate-lights - I'd be tempted to try the 18 SMD versions that replace the entire unit rather than a festoon bulb and resistor. Something like this: http://www.superskoda.com/Skoda/SUPERB-II/Superb-II-Combi-MEGA-POWER-LED-licence-plate-lights-system-KI-R although you can probably find a much cheaper version on aliexpress or ebay. The ones fitted to my O2 have given no errors since disabling PWM.

 

Android helper - if you press and hold it, does it give you the option to remove at the top of the screen?

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Couple of things that might help.

 

Show cruise control speed on maxidot - this is a function of the ECU so it's likely your ECU isn't sending the correct message to enable it. I believe a skilled tuner can add this.

 

LED number plate-lights - I'd be tempted to try the 18 SMD versions that replace the entire unit rather than a festoon bulb and resistor. Something like this: http://www.superskoda.com/Skoda/SUPERB-II/Superb-II-Combi-MEGA-POWER-LED-licence-plate-lights-system-KI-R although you can probably find a much cheaper version on aliexpress or ebay. The ones fitted to my O2 have given no errors since disabling PWM.

 

Android helper - if you press and hold it, does it give you the option to remove at the top of the screen?

 

Yeah, I've gathered as much that it is probably the ECU which isn't compatible. Don't know if I'll bother with it though...

 

Paying that much money for the plate lights is something I wont do though. I'd rather fiddle around with resistors and make something of my own, I like tinkering with things!

 

Nope, no matter what I've tried I can't figure out how to remove the bugger...

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Hey guys, here is an idea:

 

Since normal rear view cameras gather a lot of crud and can quite easily become useless, and there are no OEM folding rear view cameras for the Superb, what do you think about building my own folding rear view camera?

 

I've got a few friends that are electrical wizards, and one of them also has a 3D-printer. So my idea is to print out a plastic housing and have a servo controlled by an Arduino do the folding of the badge-thingy. Now that would be a fun project me thinks! :D

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So, now I've gone ahead and hopefully fixed the number plate-lights once and for all.

 

Inspired by ChrisBarnes' post (http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/204652-led-number-plate-light-bulbs-with-no-errors/page-4#entry3596781) I ordered two resistors and soldered them to the bulb holders. The current draw of the LED-light (plus resistor) now matches that of the old bulb. It seems to work, but I will have to reserve final judgement 'til I've gotten the changes (no PWM, no bulb warning) removed from VCDS.

 

While still having the lights on my table, I powered one up to see how warm the resistor got. After a few minutes, the temperature seemed to stabilize on around 100°C (ambient 20°C).

Now admittedly this is quite hot, but the resistors should manage. I also checked to see how hot the plastic closest to the resistor got, and that seemed to get around 65-70°C. Checked if the plastic would melt with my soldering iron at 150°C, but it didn't, so I'm guessing it should manage.

 

The only concern I have is the longevity of the solders and how well the connection will stay. I had some trouble getting a good connection (soldering something to a flat piece of metal isn't that easy...) and with the vibrations of a car, I'm thinking it might break sometime. Only time will tell I suppose!

 

All in all, a fun mod to do. It's not often I get to pull out my soldering iron and actually do something with it. :p

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  • 2 weeks later...

Rear view camera-review:

 

So, I have now received 4 of the 5 cameras I ordered. Since the fifth one doesn't really look like it will be that easily mounted compared to the others, I decided to do the test with just these 4.

 

1: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311424530839 £10.99

2: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291381002430 £7.66

3: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201400725851 £11.79

4: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231353089456 £11.95

 

The content of each box is quite similar. They contain:

-camera

-video cable, allegedly 6m long (haven't measured any)

-power cable

-thin leaflet with specs

 

Camera 1 is the only one to differ, in that box a HSS Hole Saw was included, for drilling the mounting hole. This was of pretty poor quality (not unexpected considering the price...) but still, more than the others included and it worked for drilling wood at least! (Haven't tried metal.)

 

So, let's get on with the testing!

Please keep in mind this is the first time I've ever tried my hand at reviewing a camera. Also, since it's not that easy to run around with the "testing rig" (consisting of car stereo, an old computer PSU, and the four cameras) all test where done on my kitchen bench and with only one light source.

The cameras are always in order from left to right.

 

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Round 1, mounting:

If you take a look at the first picture you will see the different ways the cameras mount to the car. Camera 1, 2 and 3 all use the mounting hole for the cables as well, camera 4 differs here.

 

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1: Big nut screws onto metal threads. Felt good. 2nd place.

2: Some kind of metal thingy with small hooks that is somehow supposed to make it stick. By far the worst. 4th place.

3: Same as #1, but with smaller threads and nut, not requiring as big of a hole. Also, this camera has a special connector containing both video and power, small and nice! 1st place.

4: Two small screws, plus a separate hole needing to be drilled for the cable. Not as nice as the others, but still beats out crappy #2. 3rd place.

 

Round 2, build:

Have a look at the second picture, and you will se the cameras mounted and from the front. Here you can also see the special connector of camera 3. I won't rank them here, since this is very individual what you like.

 

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1: Nice shape, second smallest, feels well built.

2: Smallest and really discreet. Most plasticky feel.

3: The only glossy one. Biggest of the bunch, and feels very solid. Heaviest by far, and not plasticky at all.

4: Second largest. Feels somewhere between #1 and #2 quality wise.

 

Round 3, resolution/sharpness/white balance:

One thing I found hard to judge here was white balance. #2 and #4 are quite similar, and are most true to the actual lighting under which I did the tests, namely halogen spotlights with yellow light. On the other hand, looking at #3 I feel as if it most truly represents the actual colors of the paper and everything, as if it had been under natural lighting.

 

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1: Best sharpness/resolution. Crappiest white balance (quite a lot of red/purple). Second least wide angle. 4th place.

2: Worst sharpness. Best white balace. Widest wide angle. 2nd place.

3: Second best sharpness/resolution. White balance most "natural" but not really true to the situation. Second widest wide angle. 1st place.

4: Quite sharp, but I feel it lacks a little quality vise. Second best white balance. Least wide wide angle. 3rd place.

 

Round 4, color reproduction:

 

post-135906-0-00129400-1448128760_thumb.jpg

 

1: A lot of red/purple discoloring. 4th place.

2: Natural. 1st place.

3: Feels most "true" if I disregard the fact that the scene was lit by a halogen spotlight... 3rd place.

4: Natural. 2nd place.

 

Round 5, low light:

 

post-135906-0-91857000-1448128764_thumb.jpg

 

1: 1st place.

2: 2nd place.

3: 4th place.

4: 3rd place.

 

Conclusion:

Considering all the different aspects, this is my verdict:

 

1st place: Camera 3. It feels solidly built, it is the best one to mount, white balance is good, color reproduction as well, and resolution/sharpness is solid. Not really "best" at anything, but it is the best overall package.

2nd place: Camera 1. Best at low light, and has best resolution/sharpness. Too bad the white balance is so off! Is also small and easy to mount.

3rd place: Camera 4. Decent enough. Keep in mind it has the least wide angle and the fact that you need to seal the hole through which you feed the wire.

4th place: Camera 2. Good picture quality generally, but it is really crappy in low light and the mounting is something I can't really grasp.

Edited by frifall
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The bad:

-the stereo won't shut off when I remove the key, it has to be shut off via the power button. This is inconvenient, and I'm also a little scared that it will drain the battery.

-there is some kind of "android helper" (seen in the third image as the little android figure down to the left). This guy can be moved to anywhere on the screen, and when you push him you get a menu with sort of "shortcuts" to settings, home, program switcher and back. This seems completely unnecessary since all these things can be done with the physical buttons on the unit. And, I haven't figured out how to remove him...

 

Time for another update on the stereo!

After some more googling, I found that the little "android helper" could be removed from the "factory settings" I talked about earlier (password: 126). Great!

 

The only thing that still bothers me about the stereo though, is that it won't shut down when turning off ignition. Now, on newer cars, stereos are completely controlled through CAN-bus, and thus no "accessory wire" exists. While the stereo has a CAN-bus adapter that manages to decode all the other CAN-bus stuff (showing open doors, showing air-con controls, PDC, moving lines in rear view camera) they seem to have failed to make it decode when it should be up and running and not. Don't know if it is my unit that is at fault, or if they just haven't figured that out at all. I am going to open a dispute with the seller since they don't seem to want to reply to my messages (despite others reporting good support) and see if I can get a partial refund so I can buy myself a CAN-bus ignition generator and install as well. There is a british company that makes these things: http://www.connects2.co.uk/UniversalProductInformation.aspx?id=IGNI-GENCAN.2

An alternative would of course be to steal some ignition controlled power from the fuse box and feed to the stereo, but I really want to keep things as stock as possible so... We'll see what I do.

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The bad:

-the stereo won't shut off when I remove the key, it has to be shut off via the power button. This is inconvenient, and I'm also a little scared that it will drain the battery.

 

There! All the bad things about the stereo are now fixed!

 

After 4 messages/e-mails over a 2 week period to Ownice and no reply, I finally got tired and opened a dispute via Aliexpress. I described the problem and asked for a 50$ refund because of this rather big issue. I thought I would then solve it myself.

Lo and behold, a day later they had replied! They said that if the unit was fitted to a car with CAN-bus, I would have to disconnect a connector in the harness that came with the stereo. So, I tried this, and now everything works as it should! I have no idea how this is possible, but all that matters is that it works!

 

I'm now a happy man! :)

post-135906-0-44702800-1448993933_thumb.png

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