Sold!

I sold the car (along with it went the Erisin too, of course) yesterday.

I will be moving over to another blog when I get my new car - I will however transfer all of the posts concerning the Erisin over to the new blog and set up a redirection from this site to that one. Just for my personal stuff I wouldn't bother doing that, but from the amount of comments on my Erisin posts and the amount of traffic to those I think many people still read them and keep posting comments. So those posts are going over to the new blog and I will still keep answering comments and questions if they keep coming.

Cheers for now. New blog will be up once I buy the new car (what it is shall remain a mystery for now...).

-Timo

Six months after, thoughts and answers to frequently asked questions

So it's been a little over six months since I installed the ES777 in my car. There have been a bunch of questions and comments on this blog on several issues and I thought to make things easier for the readers, I'd round them up here as well as give an honest "re-review" of the device.

First things first; everything still works the same as it did in the beginning. The unit has had no new problems or other issues for me in during the time that I've had it, so I would rate the build quality as good.

Now for the negative and so-so stuff. I would not recommend this to anyone just wanting a good head unit. Configuring (rooting the pad, removing stuff and reinstalling other stuff, hacking the mph/kph settings etc.) requires time, effort and patience. You really need to do this if you want it to work properly. Out of the box experience is NOT good on the Android side. Same thing with the day-to-day usage, you really need to know how to use it properly or it will seem to be broken or behave strangely.
I have found a logical explanation for everything it does and can now predict accurately how everything works, but it has taken some time.
I mentioned already in my other posts that the user interface of the head unit's music player is pretty bad. And that statement stands. It really is difficult to use and is for me the main reason I wouldn't really recommend this device for anyone just needing a nice new head unit.
The pad is pretty useless as a standalone tablet as well, the touch screen works like something from the 90's as it is capacitive.

That being said, there are a lot of good things as well. The sound quality is really good and if you can get past the user interface the device has a lot going for it. The usb/cd/dvd/sd availability is great, whatever form you happen to have your music in (even mp3:s burned onto a dvd) this can play them. The ipod connectivity also works great and the cables are included so there's that too. The navigation works great (assuming you configured the android pad properly in the beginning) as do all of the cool other apps available for your car on the android market. I've tried a bunch of lap timer, g-meter, lap profile mapper and performance measuring apps and they all work great. If that is what you are mainly looking for in the unit then this is definetly your only choice on the market.

Then again - the novelty of those ran out really fast for me. After maybe a week of playing around with those,  I have only used mine for the daily music/radio listening on the way to work and as a navigation device when going on longer trips. If that's the only thing you need, I'd definetly recommend picking up something else - Erisin's build quality seems to be good so I'd select some non-android device from their line-up.

I'm going to be selling my car and the Erisin along with it in a little while and getting something newer and more powerful. Maybe if the OEM head unit in the new car is not up to what I want, I'll get a non-android Erisin device and do a write-up/review of that one as well.

so now for the FAQ:

1. can I use BT on the pad?
- No.

2. can I use GPS on the main unit?
- No.

3. can I access cd/dvd/sd/usb/ipod connected to the main unit on the pad side?
- No. Everything is completely separate, the pad has it's own sd and usb but no way of connecting the ipod.

4. can I use xx as my navi software / do I need internet connectivity with my navi software?
- Same as with your phone. You can use anything available on the android and if the app (like Google maps) needs internet connectivity, you will need it here too. The pad comes preinstalled with iGo and it works fine and does not need internet.

5. does this have dual-zone?
- Yes. You can have the main unit's audio source playing while using the pad.

6. Can you change the car logos on the main unit?
- No. There is no way to access the main unit's OS directly to change the logos. You are stuck with what is there.

7. Why the rebooting/strange behavior when connecting the pad, shutting down the car, starting, etc?
- The pad seems to get the turn on/shut down signal from the head unit with a little lag. Also, if the main unit tries to shut the pad down when it is already shut down, it will start. Your best bet is to always have the pad connected even when the car is shut off. The other way to go is to always disconnect and reconnect the pad only when the car is running and the head unit is on. This way you will have the least amount or even zero problems.

8. I have no experience with Android nor do I want to do extensive internet searches for obscure open source apps or code that is needed to get everything up and running properly. Should I still get this and just let a car audio shop do the install?
- In a word: NO. The install is the easy part, everything is standard connectors and so on. The configuration part is really where you need to be able to do things yourself. Car audio shops will not have the know how to work with no-brand one off products like this, especially when the manual will not tell them what to do.

9. I DO have experience with rom hacking on my Android phone, can and want to do hacking on the pad, can and want to experiment with different apps and settings and am not expecting everything to work immediately like it would on a name-brand player. Should I get this?
- Maybe. Like mentioned, the quality is good, sound is excellent etc. Those things you do not need to worry about. If messing around with Shenzen type devices sounds interesting then go ahead and get this thing. You will most likely be pleasantly surprised after all of my negative comments ;)

Day-to-day living with the ES777A and other ramblings

Well this is a bit embarassing. I originally thought I would be updating this blog often with new fixes and other things for the ES777A, but as it turns out - it's been a pretty easy experience. The thing just pretty much works.

I will be doing more posts on other things like the chip installation, OBD2 plug etc later. Right now I'm pretty busy at work but I will keep answering your comments every day. I've had thousands of visits and dozens of comments on a small blog which I thought maybe only a few interested people would read. So thanks to all readers for that!

But I'd like to address a couple of usage issues as I've now been using the ES777A for almost three months on a daily basis. The way that you use it matters quite much. It seems that you will be experiencing the least amount of problems if you follow these basic rules:

1. Always let the system do a "full cycle" with the power. What I mean by this is that you should leave the pad connected to main unit when you turn off the power on your car. This will initiate a controlled shut down on the pad and it will be in sync with the main unit's power cycle.

2. Either let the unit start up before connecting the pad OR connect the pad (in shut down mode) while the main unit is turned off. This will allow the pad to be turned on by the main unit in a controlled manner. If you have the pad already on (even with the screen turned off), chances are that it will reboot when you connect it to the main unit.

3. For best sound quality results use the main unit's player software. The sound quality in the main unit is very good, there's very little noise and distortion. On the pad the story is a little different, the noise level is worse and the sound in general is not quite as good. This is not to say that it's unusable or even very bad. Just that given the option I at least will choose the better sound quality of the main unit over the better usability of the Android media player softwares on the pad.

Finally, for absolute the best results in everything - just leave the pad connected to the main unit. When you turn off the car the pad will shut down properly and when you start again the pad will turn on too. Of course this might not suit everyone, i.e. if you are afraid of burglars stealing your stuff (I park my car in a locked car park building at home and in a private garage at work), but if this applies to you I recommend it.

Erisin ES777A review with tips and advice

I've had some questions about the Erisin ES777A and thought I'd write an actual review about it. Since my last posts have mostly been just a walkthrough and a listing of the programs I use on it, the thing that's missing here is a review with my opinions and tips for potential buyers. So here goes:

The Erisin ES777A is in essence a double-din sized car stereo with a detachable face plate. What makes it interesting and different from the pleothra of competitors on the market (several models even from Erisin themselves) is the fact that the unit also runs Android. As far as I know it's the only one on sale today anywhere to do this. There is the Parrot Asteroid, but it hardly qualifies since you are very restricted on the programs you can use on it.

A bit of history and background first. I'd been looking for a head unit for my car (actually way before I even bought the current car) that could do anything - basically along the lines of the projects featured on mp3car.com. What I didn't want was a whole mess of different pieces and computer parts and a slow desktop OS in my car. Windows CE was one option, since all of the other cheap 1 or 2 din head units from China use it. However the Windows CE is not a very user friendly starting point since most of the software on it are either OEM/proprietary style or old/clunky and ugly. Android is what I use on my phone and what I knew I wanted. No devices were on the market and I continued my searches from time to time. Then out of the blue sometime last Autumn I saw something on the Internet called the Erisin ES666 and I was instantly hooked. Exactly what I'd been looking for - a 2din head unit with a detachable Android tablet! My enthusiasm was short lived as I read user reviews and saw a couple of Youtube videos of the device. It was painfully slow and clunky and used the already very outdated Android 2.1. I considered buying it anyways but thought I'd better not since it already looked like I'd be dissapointed.
Then in December I saw that they had released a new version with an upgraded tablet and my hopes went up again. I read everything I could find about the unit and it all seemed very exiting - a new 1Ghz Telechips chipset, double the memory and Android 2.3! No reviews were to be found at the time, but I decided to take a leap of faith this time and ordered it.

Now for the actual review.
I talked about the aesthetic aspects already on my unboxing post but I'll go into a bit more detail here.
The unit itself really IS way more professional looking than most cheap Chinese head units or Android tablets. There are a few issues though. The tablet part suffers from the same problems that the other cheap ones do - mainly that the screen is too close to the other inner bits which causes the screen to touch the other bits when tapped, which then causes ghosting. You'll know what I mean if you've ever pushed your finger against an LCD screen that is NOT a touch screen. This isn't a very big issue and it mostly affects the upper left corner of the screen (when held horizontally). The other obvious thing is that the touch screen is resistive rather than the more modern capacitive that all newer mobile phones use. This is an issue to consider if you're going to be using the tablet as an actual tablet computer at home. In the car it doesn't affect the use much at all in my view.

The tablet is fast. Very fast. Faster in operation than my HTC Desire S mobile phone. The startup is quick and the navigation program (which is the heaviest one of all of my apps) starts in a couple of seconds. So the speed issues of the ES666 are well and gone.
You do need to do some tinkering however if you want it to run smoothly in your car as the Android 2.3 operating system is not designed originally for tablets. This means you'll have things like a dialler program, contact list and all the other things normally found on a phone. Essentially they've just put the vanilla Android 2.3 phone OS on the tablet and not done anything about it. Luckily the Android community is buzzing with talented people who make fixes for these kind of problems. My post about the software I use is a good place to start with this tab. You'll be fine after deleting the unneccessary apps, installing some others, and tweaking a lot of settings. To put it bluntly - you're not going to have a good time with the tablet straight out of the box.

There are Wifi and all of the acceleration sensors in the tablet, and it connects to the GPS system in the head unit. However, there is NO bluetooth in the tab, only on the head unit. This will be an issue if you are planning on using an OBD2-plug with your car as the tab is perfectly suitable for running Torque or Adyno. Luckily there are a couple of options: you could use a Wifi-OBD2-plug or you could jury-rig a bluetooth module inside the tab - as I'm intending to do.

The tab has a big 3000mAh battery and it'll take a few hours worth of use outside of the car. You also get a wall charger for it.

On to the head unit. The construction is good, I'd say it's on par with any Japanese or European manufacturer. All of the plastic bits on the front feel good and the buttons click nicely and sound satisfying when pushed. There are an excellent selection of connections, such as line outs for all 4 channels plus the sub, rear camera input, standard ISO connections for all the normal stuff like power and speakers AND they even supply a cable for you iPod and the device can do iPod controls right on the screen. There are also cables for steering wheel controls and instructions on how to wire them up. Great stuff.

Some bad things as well. The buttons on the head unit are strangely chosen. If you don't have the tablet connected and are only using the hardware buttons you have VERY limited controls to some things and absurdly complex controls for others. For example: there are only play/pause, next and previous-buttons to control the songs. You can have a 16gig sd card or an usb stick connected with thousands of songs and there's no way to change the folder. What a drag. You'll have to click next a thousand times to get to a song you want to hear. The worst part is that the previous button doesn't go back more than to the first song on the folder you are currently in. So if you went over - good luck, you'll have to scroll forwards a thousand times again. This is my biggest gripe with the head unit itself.
When the pad is connected you obviously have more control. Still, it's not one of the best ones I've seen. You're going to see the first 8 characters of the folder and song titles and you'll have to touch the screen each time to get the control buttons to show up (they overlay over the bottom part of the screen and go away if you don't touch anything for a couple of seconds). Even with those the folder navigation is way too much of a hassle. First you touch the screen to get the controls, then you press the button to get a new screen of controls as the navigation buttons are on the second screen, then you navigate to the right folder and only then press enter. It's a mess.

I should explain that the problems arise from the fact that the head unit runs Windows CE and is totally separate from the Android tab. The screen is shared and you have a hardware button to switch between the Android OS and the head unit's one. All of my complaints about the user intefrace are about the head unit's proprietary music player that as far as I know cannot be altered or replaced. If you use the Android for music playing it'll be just as good or bad as the app you'll use for it.
The radio is actually quite good, reception is better than average (I used to have a late model Blaupunkt and the reception on this is noticably better) and the on screen controls are good. There are 6 hardware buttons for channels when the screen is detached so no problems there either.

The iPod connectivity works fine, as soon as you plug the cable to your iPod you get controls on the screen of the head unit that give you access to your playlists, artists, albums and such. Pretty basic but works without a hitch. There is also the bluetooth functionality I mentioned earlier. You have both hands free calling and streaming audio over the bluetooth. Both work fine and the telephone controls are large and clear to use. I only wish that the guy who did the radio and bluetooth apps on the head unit would have designed the controls for the music player app as well.

You have the option of choosing from 9 different car manufacturer logos for when the head unit is loading a disc or starting up. Unfortunately you HAVE TO select one of them and as you might suspect when there are only 9 - chances are that yours isn't among them. So maybe you'll end up with a Saab that has a Chevrolet logo or a Porsche with a Volkswagen logo like me. A small issue I know, but annoying all the same.

There are basic equalizer functions and some other settings such as button sounds and rear view camera mirroring in the setup screen. Mostly pretty basic stuff and nothing too special.
Sound quality is excellent and the built-in amplifier is among the best and most powerful I've found in any head units. Like I previously said, I used to have a Blaupunkt unit that I replaced with this and the sound quality is easily on par with that.

Other noticable things: there is no installation bracket in the box but they do supply all the cables (even the iPod one!), a remote and a nice leather holder for the tablet.

In conclusion I'd say this is an excellent product with some problems you'll need to keep in mind when buying. The fact that it has the Android tab makes it a must-buy for many since you can use all of the g-force and GPS performance software AND any navigation app you want straight on you car head unit. If you're willing to do some app installation and configuration on the pad and can overlook some of the usability issues I think it's impossible to get anything even approaching this unit at the same cost.

and this is where I bought mine from: http://www.erisin.com/erisin-es777a-3g-wifi-tablet-midi-pad-hd-car-dvd-player_p253.html


UPDATE: I can do a video version of the review and/or talk about a specific aspect or use case if there is interest. Comment on the post or send me a message if you'd like to have that.

Erisin ES777A walkthrough video and comments!

Here I'm using some of the basic features of the Erisin ES777A. The video is in 720p HD if you go and watch it on Youtube (or full screen). The list of programs and settings I have can be found in my earlier post Erisin ES777A configuration and software.

The feature I get most questions about is the so called Dual Zone (all of the Chinese manufacturers call it that on their car stereos), which basically means that you can have sound playing from another input - like the radio - while using the navigation app. Yes, this unit has that even though the manufacturer told me it doesn't.


I have unfortunately found a couple of bugs. The other one shows up on the video, in essence the Android tab/pad sometimes reboots when it's disconnected from the main unit while it's on. I believe this might have something to do with the acc power of the car or some faulty connection. Luckily this happens very rarely and when you disconnect the pad, most likely you are leaving the car anyways so it's not that big of an issue.
The other bug is that even more rarely (this has only happened to me twice in all of my time using the unit) the pad has some sort of connection issue with the screen and displays only a white screen. The problem occures only with the main unit - so the radio, DVD and other features accessible from the main menu give a white screen, but the Android has a normal picture. This problem goes away by rebooting the unit.

I'll try dismantling the unit sometime and see if there are some faulty or loose connections that could be causing this.

Otherwise it's pretty great and I'm quite anxious to try out the rest of the performance features once my other "club sporting" parts arrive :)

Here once again are the specs for the device from the manufacturer's website (complete with typos and such):



Key Features:
- ISO 2 Din Size , 7 Inch (16:9) wide screen Monitor
- HD Digital LCD Screen, Resolution: 800*RGB*480
- Super Sensitive Touch Screen Control
- Detachable Panel, after separation, one is Car Audio Player, one is Car PAD 
- Google Android 2.3 Operation System 
- 1GHz CPU, 512M RAM, very fast response
- Built-in 3000mA Battery, it can support longer work time 
- Support WIFI & 3G Internet, you can connect a 3G USB dongle to fit 3G Card 
- Support OTG Function, directly play HD Movie or transfer Data from USB Device, Hard Disk etc. 
- Support HDMI Screen Output to HDTV 
- 3.5mm Earphone Jack, Micro SD Slot, USB 2.0
- Host 1.1 Port can be connected with Mouse and Keyboard 
- Built-in 3MP Camera, DV Recorder 
- Support Google Maps online Navigating 
- Support Android Maps Navigation, Free Map SD Card included as gift 
- The PAD supports external memory card up to 32 GB
- 4GB ROM Flash, Could download more than 20,000 excellent software via Android E-market 
- 3D Games, Support HD Video Formats 
- Built-in Speaker and MIC 
- Support HD Videos up to 1920*1080 pixels, Photo up to 4096*4096 pixels 
- Change Wallpapers, support live image 
- Portable, we provide one black leather Case as gift
- 4 x 50w Surround Stereo Output
- 3D Effect While change the mode
- Compatible with MP4 AVI WMA DVD VCD MP3 JPG… - 2 Button LED Light Color: Orange and Blue
- 10 Open Unit Logos for your Choice
- One Button for Blank Screen on main menu 
- Support A2DP Bluetooth Function, can play stereo music through Bluetooth
- Radio Tuner, 30 Preset Radio Stations, with RDS function
- Built in VHF/UHF TV Tuner, 100 Preset TV Stations
- USB Port and SD Slot, Support USB Stick and SD Card up to 8 GB
- Touch Music Title to play directly, Select Title with small Keypad 
- Support Steering Wheel Control, support Subwoofer Audio Output 
- Support Rear-view Camera Video Input, support iPod Audio input
- Built-in Microphone, Electronic Anti-Shock
- Back Sight Control, Hand Brake Control, Remote Control


Description of Detachable Panel -- Car PAD/MID


General
-Operation System: Google Android 2.3
-CPU: Telechips TTC8803, 1GHz
-RAM: DDR III 512M
-ROM FLASH: 4GB 
-LCD: 800*RGB*480 HD Screen
-Extended memory card: Up to 32GB SD/TF card
-G-SENSOR: 3 axis acceleration sensor and 3D IC hardware acceleration, could realize dynamic 3D game and 3D interface
-WiFi: Built-in High performance, low power consumption, WiFi:802.11 b/g
-3G: 3G Universal Drive Support external USB Dongle: WCDMA,EVDO,TD-SCDMA
-Camera: Built-in 3MP Camera, DV Recorder
-Speaker: 1pc 1W,80hm
-Battery: 3000mA / 3.7V Li-Battery
-Microphone: High sensitivity input, right&left channel
-Size: 170*103*15mm
-Weight: 415g
-Languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Polish, Czech and more customer-made languages


Slot 
-HDMI: Standard, Mini Port, Support DMI1.3; Support screen output
-OTG: Directly play HD movie in Hard disk, digital camera, mobile phone, U Disk and Card reader; Transfer data freely, connect with Printer and other OTG functions
-USB: USB2.0 High Speed
-HOST: HOST 1.1, could connect with mouse, keyboard, U Disk and other peripheral equipment
-SD/TF: Support multimedia Card or Maps Card
-Earphone: 3.5mm Earphone Jack+CVBS output
-Charge: Small charger slot, DC 9V input


Audio
-Format: MP3, WMA, MP2.OGG.AAC.M4A.MA4.FLAC.APE.3GP.WAV etc.
-Record: Format: MP3.WMA
-Other: LRC synchronized display; ID3 search; Search by files; Album pictures; User-defined audio effect
-Audio IC: Top Global Cirrus IC, independent audio decoding
-SNR: Noise ration: ≥90dB


Video
-Format: Support AVI(H.264.DIVX.DIVX.XVID).rm.rmvb.MKV(H.264.DIVX.DIVX.XVID).WMV.MOV.MP4(H.264.MPEG.DIVX.XVID).DAT(VCD format).VOB(DVD format).PMP.MPEG..MPG..FLV(H.263.H.264).ASF.TS.TP.3GP.MPG etc, ≥30 formats, playing internet video directly (while downloading)
-Play: Up to 1920*1080 pixels. 30Mb. Fluent play without light spot
-Video output: HDMI 720P to 1080P, full HD output and common video output (AV)


Description of Car Multimedia System


General
Power Supply: DC 12V (Allowable range: 10.8-14.5)
Max Current: 10A
Install Size: 180mm*160mm*10mm
Package Size: 310mm*310mm*170mm
Gross Weight: 4.0kg
Net Weight: 3.5kg


Display
-Screen type:   7 inch touch screen
-Resolution:     800 * RGB * 480
-Built-In LC Clock Display Function: Yes
-Built-in Accelerator:  Yes, very fast response 
-Touch one button to display black: Yes
-Digital or Analog:   Digital Touchscreen, very vivid


Setup
-Camera Setup: Normal/Mirror
-Bell Setup: Button Voice on/off
-Button Light choice: Red/Blue
-Menu Language Setup:  English/Chinese
-TV Setup: PAL: I/DK/BG,NTSC:PAL M/PAL N, SECAM;DK/BG
-Steering wheel Control Setup:  Yes
-Touch screen calibration:    Yes
-Radio Setup: Europe/America 1/America 2/Japan/Russia
-RDS Setup: on/off 
-Time Setup: Yes


Panel
-Viewing Angle adjustable: No
-Detachable control Panel:  Yes, after separated, one is PAD, one is Car Audio Player
-Fluorescent Button:   Yes, red or blue LED Light


DVD
-Compatible Format:  MP4, AVI, DIVX, DVD, VCD, MP3, CD, WMA, JPEG
-OSD/Audio/Subtitle Language:  English/Italian/French/Spanish/Portuguese/German/Latin
-Position of Disc Slot: Behind the detachable Panel
-Auto-Save Function: Yes, expediently watch all kinds of disc continuously


Bluetooth
-Version:  V2.0
-A2DP (Bluetooth Stereo Music):  Yes, can play stereo music through Bluetooth
-Built-in microphone:  Yes
-Call Records:  Dialed Call, Received Call, Missed Call
-Bluetooth Music control: Yes, play/pause/previous/next


TV
-Digital or Analog: Analog TV Tuner
-TV System: SECAM/NTSC/PAL
-Preset Stations: 100
-TV Antenna Jack: Yes, on the back


Radio
-AM Frequency Range:  522-1620KHz
-AM Increment: 9KHz
-FM Tuning Range:  87.5-108MHz
-FM Increment:  0.05MHz
-RDS:  Yes
-Preset Stations: 30 (FM 3*6, AM 2*6)


USB
-Position: On the Back 
-Capacity:  8GB
-Select Title with small Keypad: Yes
-Touch music title to play directly: Yes


SD
-Position: Behind the detachable Panel
-Capacity:  8GB Micro SD/TF Card
-Select Title with small Keypad:  Yes
-Touch music title to play directly:  Yes


Input
-AUX Video In: One
-Rear-Camera Video In :   One
-Ipod Audio In:  One
-AUX Audio In: R/L
-TV Antenna Input:  One
-Radio Antenna Input:  One
-GPS Antenna Input:  One


Output
-Video Out: Two
-Audio Out:  FR/FL/RR/RL
-Surround Stereo Output: 4 x 50w
-Subwoofer Out:  One


Control
-Remote Control:  Yes
-Back Sight Control: Yes
-Auto Antenna Control:  Yes
-Hand brake Control: Yes
-Steering Wheel Control:  Yes
-iPod Control:  Yes
-Headlight Control:  Yes
-Auto Mute Control:  Yes


Description of Both


Accessories
-User's Manual in English:  Two
-Remote Controller (Battery excluded):  One
-Power Cable: One
-USB Cable: Two 
-USB OTG Cable: One
-IPOD Cable:   One
-TV Antenna Adapter Cable: One
-Steering Wheel Key Extension Cable:  One
-RCA Cable:   Two
-Wall Charger for PAD: one
-Leather bag for PAD: One
-GPS Antenna:  One
-4GB Micro SD Card:  One
-Touch Pen:  One
-Install Fittings: One

Club Sporting the S2 pt. 1

So I've been a bit busy. I promise I'll do a larger post with video and whatnot about the Erisin ES777A - full overview of features, performance, my customizations etc.

For now however I've been doing some other things to the car. Mainly prepping it for the track events of the summer. I'm going to do all my modifications with the Porsche Club Sport ideology in mind - this means reducing weight and improving chassis performance. My inspiration of sorts is the 968 CS.

I really don't want to save weight on the basic convenience features like the 968 does, this means electric windows, power steering and stereo. I believe I can achieve similar weight savings by doing other things and still maintaining the daily usability of the car as good as it is.

This was my first purchase:

A polycarbonate rear window. It weighs less than 10 kilos WITH the frame. Swapping it over with the original will save over 20 kilos when the rear wiper is removed with it.

Next on the list is a replacement headlight system that will remove the pop-up mechanisms alltogether and save around 16 kilos. And the third thing is a "rear seat delete", which of course means removing the rear seats and fabricating a piece of carpet to cover the seat place.

Now of course I could not resist when I had the chance to get a chip for the engine. Especially when it is supposed to be a clone of the original Porsche racing chip that was used in the S2 cars that were sold directly to race teams and was actually designed by Porsche themselves for this car.
I say supposed to, because to be honest I have no way of confirming this. I am however going to take the car to a dyno, measure the power with the stock chip, change over the new one, and do a re-run to see the actual changes.

Erisin ES777A installation and first tests

Today I finally had some time to get to the actual installation part of the project. The talk around the interwebs is that the 944 is not double din compatible, or at least that even with some cutting and grinding the double din units will not fit properly.
This did not discourage me.

This was what I started with. Under the radio is a non-original storage bin that is roughly din sized so I figured I'd be able to make it fit somehow.

First I took out the radio and removed the trim piece around the radio and some other interior bits that were in the way.

There is a divider between the radio and the storage bin. The actual divider is a metal plate and there is a plastic piece on top of it. I used a Dremel to cut the plastic and a hand saw to cut the metallic plate under it.

I then removed the entire center console to gain more access and wired the iPod connector and the usb cable under it. I cut a small hole for the wires under the armrest and pulled the wires inside it. Now the wires are cleanly hidden when not used and when the iPod or usb stick are connected they can be stored inside the armrest storage compartment.

I wired the GPS antenna on top of the dashboard, in the middle where it would look the most like an original installation.

Testing the unit. I fitted the wires and powered it on. Works without any problems. The screen is quite dirty and the flash makes it look glossy, in normal use it looks a lot better.

All done. Working nicely and fits perfectly. I still need to fabricate some bezel around it to cover the small openings now visible around the unit. Fitment is snug since I modified the original inner radio installation bracket so that it grips a 2din unit properly. Now if I want to swap over any other 2din unit in the future it will fit perfectly too.

G-meter testing. Works perfectly.