I finally installed XM radio in my 8 today. I've really missed having XM in my vehicle since I removed the receiver from my truck two months ago to sell it.

I went with the new Delphi Roady unit for its small size. I used the Delphi FM Modulator.

I'll post a series of pictures I snapped during different stages of the install. Some of them are blurry, my digicam doesn't focus very well close-up.

I'll skip the pics of taking the center console apart and removing the radio; that's already been covered in another thread.

The first pic shows where I tapped in (using a crimped-on "vampire clip") to the 12V ignition power line on the wiring harness from the back of the head unit. I can verify that Yukhi's information about which wires are ignition power and backup power (see <A HREF="http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8483&perpage=15&pagenumber=3">this thread</A> for details). Green/Orange is ignition power (which was all I needed for my install) -- I verified this myself with a multimeter.

This is the radio antenna "pass-thru" connection from the Delphi FM modulator and the 12V power wire (in a protective loom) running behind the head unit mount.

In this blurry picture are the 12V power wire, with its inline fuse, and the radio antenna wires running down to where I ended up mounting the FM modulator (behind the side "knee panel" on the driver's side).

Here's the FM modulator (about the size of a pack of cigarettes) in its new home, behind the side "knee plate" on the driver's side. This was the ONLY spot I could find to mount it, but it's perfect!

A nice solid grounding connection is very important with car audio. I drilled a pilot hole in this steel frame and attached the ground wire from the FM modulator with a self-tapping screw.

A little messy, but I didn't want the extra wiring hanging around back there, getting into trouble.

Here's the extra wire from the line input and 6V power supply (to the Roady from the FM modulator), tucked neatly in behind where the ashtray goes.

Here's the ashtray compartment back in place. That convenient hole in the bottom where I fed the power, line-in, and antenna wires up appeared when I removed the metal spring clip that holds the ashtray liner in place (I don't smoke, so I don't need the ashtray!)

Here's everything put back together with the Roady in place. I decided to go with the red faceplate since it was such a good match with my 8's red/black interior. :p

And here's a pic of the Roady in operation.

Other installation comments:

I do plan to get an iPod soon, and I'll use the FM modulator for that as well. I may try to rig up some kind of switch for the line input, so I don't have to keep plugging and unplugging it. Anyone have any ides?

I haven't decided for sure where to mount the antenna, though it seems to work well where it is -- velcroed at the base of the rear window (inside) in the center on the rear deck. I don't really want an antenna on my roof or trunk lid, so I'll probably just leave it where it is.

wow
great pics and instuctions

I didn't post a pic of the antenna yesterday, because I hadn't decided where I was going to mount it. Well, it's been working fine where I have it, so I'll probably keep it there. I haven't yet hidden the wire, I'll do that later, but here's a shot (from the outside) of where it's mounted. I just used sticky-back velcro to hold it in place.

Edit: Yes, my window is dirty. My baby needs a bath!

Finally, here's a gratuitous interior shot, showing how well the Roady with its red faceplate matches my interior! :cool:

Great pics man! Thanks !!


I don't know if I would put take the cigarette ashtray approach to mount my roady when I get it..

Have you thought about other places you might place it? How about the left of the steering column?

Originally posted by Squidward
Great pics man! Thanks !!


I don't know if I would put take the cigarette ashtray approach to mount my roady when I get it..

Have you thought about other places you might place it? How about the left of the steering column?

I tried a couple of places before deciding the ashtray cover was really the only option. Right of the steering column there was no place to put it where it wouldn't be blocked by the steering wheel. Left of the steering column would be too weird, and I'm not sure there's room either. I considered the blank space below the CD slot (I don't have a cassette player), but it didn't fit there very well -- it hid the A/C button and just looked junky. I also considered mounting the Roady on the supplied rotating bracket (still on the ashtray cover) but it stuck out too far and got in the way of shifting!

personally I would take the roady apart and make a custom cover using the existing cover below the CD player.

(Similar to what somebody did with their Valentine One radar detector).

What do you think?

I agree, that valentine one install was very sharp and looked like it came from factory

Originally posted by jtimbck2


I tried a couple of places before deciding the ashtray cover was really the only option. Right of the steering column there was no place to put it where it wouldn't be blocked by the steering wheel. Left of the steering column would be too weird, and I'm not sure there's room either. I considered the blank space below the CD slot (I don't have a cassette player), but it didn't fit there very well -- it hid the A/C button and just looked junky. I also considered mounting the Roady on the supplied rotating bracket (still on the ashtray cover) but it stuck out too far and got in the way of shifting!

Hey jtimbck2,
Nice write up on your installation!

You may want to try placing the Roady in the overhead bin for a concealed and custom look. That's what I did with my Alpine FM modulator and its pretty damn slick IMHO. :D

Originally posted by Speed Racer
You may want to try placing the Roady in the overhead bin for a concealed and custom look. That's what I did with my Alpine FM modulator and its pretty damn slick IMHO. :D

Well the roady is something you interact with, unlike an fm modulator.

putting it there is not only impractical--it simply wouldn't allow you to press any buttons on the roady, since the buttons are along the bottom.

Originally posted by Squidward


Well the roady is something you interact with, unlike an fm modulator.

putting it there is not only impractical--it simply wouldn't allow you to press any buttons on the roady, since the buttons are along the bottom.

Actually I chose that location so that the remote display would be easy to interact with when I decide to add an XM tuner (http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S-OPsd03qjAJY/ProdView.asp?a=&s=0&cc=01&g=79900&id=essential_info&i=500T020XM) and it is actually very easy to use all of the buttons with it mounted there.

With the Roady I would imagine that some of the plastic would have to be trimmed (due to its larger size) so that all of the buttons would be accessible but that is not hard to do.

It all boils down to what you want it to look like and how much effort you want to put into it.

Originally posted by Speed Racer

With the Roady I would imagine that some of the plastic would have to be trimmed (due to its larger size) so that all of the buttons would be accessible but that is not hard to do.

I don't know...the Roady is a little thick to try to put it up there. Besides, I use my sunglass compartment for sunglasses!


It all boils down to what you want it to look like and how much effort you want to put into it.

Precisely. I put several hours into my install. I'm happy with the results, and I don't see a need to spend any more time on it. The Roady's controls are in a very convenient place (I can reach them with my hand on the shifter), and there's a lot to be said for that!

Originally posted by jtimbck2
Precisely. I put several hours into my install. I'm happy with the results, and I don't see a need to spend any more time on it. The Roady's controls are in a very convenient place (I can reach them with my hand on the shifter), and there's a lot to be said for that!

Cool, then sounds like it is time to just sit back and enjoy your tunes! :D

nice install speed racer

Very nice install, I am going to try to install my Delphi SkyFi this weekend.

Was it hard to take apart the dash?

-Chris

Originally posted by synthtk
Very nice install, I am going to try to install my Delphi SkyFi this weekend.

Was it hard to take apart the dash?

-Chris

Not too hard, but a bit intimidating the first time! On the lower console piece (the piece surrounding the shifter and brake lever), watch out for the far "lower right" clip (the one closest to the brake handle and the cup holder) -- it's easy to snap off (unfortunately, I know this from experience :( ). There are detailed instructions that came from the MP3 player install instructions in another thread (I'll try to find it and post a link here).

Edit:
(rummage, rummage) <A HREF="http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7644&perpage=15&pagenumber=2">here it is!</A>

Sweet, thanks for the info!

-Chris

I really Like the install in the ash tray area. I have a couple of questions....

1. with the FM modulator, what is displayed on the stock RX8 radio when the XM is being used? Is it a FM frequency?

2. How does the sound of the FM modulator compare to the sound of a direct connection with a XM ready radio?

3. I looked at "add on" XM receiver options like the ROADY, and also found the SKYFI. which one is better? The SKIFI has a round shuttle like controller and only one backlight option, but it looks like it might be slightly better quality than the ROADY. Can anyone confirm that?

The $500 dollars from mazda will go into the audio in my car. Infinity component front speakers and new 6x9s in the rear should brighten things up a bit. I also plan on flush mounting the new tweeters in the front in the stock location. The aluminum look Infinity Kappas should look decent.
I have been steadily impressed with XM radio. The quality of the sound and programming ara awesome. I also like the interaction with the reciever. That is why I will only want the best receiver I can find. So if anyone has any Ideas or thoughts on the SKIFI...ROADY, or any other appropriate "add on" XM Reciever that is high quality please let me know what you think.

Originally posted by Gyro
I really Like the install in the ash tray area. I have a couple of questions....

1. with the FM modulator, what is displayed on the stock RX8 radio when the XM is being used? Is it a FM frequency?

Yes, if you go with Delphi's FM modulator (which I recommend, because it steps the 12V power down to the 6V the Roady needs so you don't have to do anything crazy to get power to it), you get your choice of 3 frequencies. All of them are in the low range (I'm using 87.9, I don't remember what the other two are).


2. How does the sound of the FM modulator compare to the sound of a direct connection with a XM ready radio?

You lose some of the higher frequencies even with a good quality FM modulator; but XM Radio is advertised as "near CD quality" (it's 128k, I believe), so it's not much loss at all. It sounds good.


3. I looked at "add on" XM receiver options like the ROADY, and also found the SKYFI. which one is better? The SKIFI has a round shuttle like controller and only one backlight option, but it looks like it might be slightly better quality than the ROADY. Can anyone confirm that?

The SkyFi is the Roady's predecessor (though they aren't going to stop making the SkyFi, as it is both a home and a car receiver). The SkyFi is bigger, and requires a docking station-like cradle to get its power, signal, etc., so it's significantly more bulky (and thus harder to find a place to mount in your car). Its advantage is that you can get a home cradle, or even a boombox that you dock the receiver into, so you can carry XM radio from place to place while only paying for one subscription.

People have complained about the line out signal being too quiet in the SkyFi, the Roady's output is apparently much better. Besides this, and its size advantage, the Roady also has a feature called "TuneSelect" -- basically, if you hear a song you like you tell the Roady and any time that song is playing on any of its 100 stations it will beep to let you know. Then of course there's the ability to change the backlighting color -- the SkyFi only has orange backlighting.

So if anyone has any Ideas or thoughts on the SKIFI...ROADY, or any other appropriate "add on" XM Reciever that is high quality please let me know what you think.

Your other choices for an XM receiver (assuming you're keeping the Mazda factory head unit) are:

Delphi SkyFi with car docking cradle

Delphi Roady (these two are already discussed)

Pioneer's FM modulated receiver -- this one has a gray box you usually mount in the trunk somewhere that's the actual receiver...you put the FM modulator wherever is convenient in the dash, and there's a small wired control/display unit that attaches to it. The drawback with Pioneer is that the display is only 10 characters (which don't scroll). I used to have one of these in my truck, it sounded great but the display was annoying. One nice feature is that their FM modulator has a broad range of frequencies to choose from if you're in an area with FM stations all over the dial.

Alpine still sells a similar unit to the Pioneer if I'm not mistaken. Sony used to have a unit kind of like the Delphi SkyFi, but they've gotten out of the satellite radio business; their unit was clumsy and noisy (it required a loud cooling fan).

I hope this info helps! You should check out www.xmfan.com, there's a lot of good info in the forums there.

Thank you. That is just the info I needed.
the SkyFi is probably not the unit for me because of its bulk as compared to the Roady. I'm actually surprised there is not more options out there. Sony is pulling out of the satellite radio business?....wow ...do they know something we dont?

thanks again for the info. If I go satellite, I will follow Jtimbck2's guide to the letter!

Just saw the XMCommander at XmRadio.com

I dont think its available yet but looks very promising. Its very small...and it can be mounted in more placed due to its size. Any drawbacks??

Originally posted by Gyro
Thank you. That is just the info I needed.
the SkyFi is probably not the unit for me because of its bulk as compared to the Roady. I'm actually surprised there is not more options out there. Sony is pulling out of the satellite radio business?....wow ...do they know something we dont?

thanks again for the info. If I go satellite, I will follow Jtimbck2's guide to the letter!

You're welcome. I've gotten so much useful info from these forums, I'm glad to be able to "give something back".

My understanding is that Sony is all about global products -- they've decided they're not interested in products like XM that can only be used in North America.

Originally posted by Gyro
Just saw the XMCommander at XmRadio.com

I dont think its available yet but looks very promising. Its very small...and it can be mounted in more placed due to its size. Any drawbacks??

If the XM Commander and the Roady had been available at the same time, I probably would have gone with the XM Commander. I just couldn't wait any longer (I was going through XM withdrawls -- it's addictive, one of those things like TiVo where once you get it you don't know how you ever lived without it!)

The part of the XM Commander you see is just the display/control (like the Pioneer unit I mentioned earlier). The receiver itself is a box you mount somewhere else in the car. I guess maybe that adds a little to the complexity of the install, but otherwise I don't see any real drawbacks.

I picked the SkyFi because at the time it was the only Dephi out, but I would still probably choose it again because its nice to un do the unit from the doc, walk to my office at work and plug it in and listen to XM all day long :) Plus its nice to see channel, artist, and song title at once. So far I believe the SkyFi is the only unit that does this.

It is definately bulky and hard to mount in a car, in my Eclipse and in my Civic i usually just let it sit on the passenter seat and would tuck it away when I left the car. Im hoping I can find a more suitable mounting place in the 8 for it.

The new XM Commander looks very nice and if I was going to get a car only solution I would probably get this unit, the small remote display could be put in many places and the base unit could either be tucked behind the dash or under the passenger seat as it is very small too.

The new micro antennas on the Roady and Commander are very nice...

-Chris

Got a quote from a place to do the install of SkyFi for $125. Top quality place, but that seems a bit much. I'm too chicken to try it myself. The only place they would put it is in the CD holder behind the cups in the center console. Might be tough to keep my eyes on the road and have to glance down and to the right to see the display.

I'm afraid the ashtray location will be in the way of shifting. No other places seem to work out.

Is XM worth it? Local radio is awful. It will shoot my whole $500:

it just depends on how important music is to you
I love music and I know you do too
I dont really listen to the radio because I have so many cd's but thats just me

Originally posted by LesPaul
Got a quote from a place to do the install of SkyFi for $125. Top quality place, but that seems a bit much. I'm too chicken to try it myself. The only place they would put it is in the CD holder behind the cups in the center console. Might be tough to keep my eyes on the road and have to glance down and to the right to see the display.

I think you're right -- the display would be hard to see and the controls awkward to reach in that location. Out of curiosity, why are you going with the SkyFi? The Roady is a much better fit for the RX-8.

$125 sounds a bit steep for an XM installation. I certainly wouldn't pay that (then again, I've done 4 different XM installations myself now, so I have a bit of experience with it).

I'm afraid the ashtray location will be in the way of shifting. No other places seem to work out.

The ashtray location does not get in the way of shifting with the Roady. I imagine it would with the SkyFi (IF you could figure out a way to mount the SkyFi there, and that's a big IF).

Is XM worth it? Local radio is awful. It will shoot my whole $500:

That's a subjective question. In my area, local radio is OK if you listen to Top 40, country, or Christian music; I don't. The only things I listen to on FM radio now is NPR Morning Edition and Car Talk. Occasionally.

Thanks for the advice. I do love music but the local stations play crap (Urgent wasn't any good 20 years ago, it's not any good now, I'm not hip enough to hop and country gives me a headache.) I have digital cable radio at home and love the mix and variety.

I'm going for the SkyFi so I can have the boombox in my office. The others don't seem to offer that option.

I've installed stuff before but I'm so concerned about breaking something or having less that a perfect installation. I wouldn't trust me doing it. In the long run, maybe the $125 is worth it. I've checked around (guys in car clubs and such) and these guys have an excellent rep.

Now I have to work on wifey: "hey, we we weren't expecting this money, so what the hey?"

well, I am following these instructions to install my xm commander. One last step: the 12V lead- does it need to go all the way to the battery, and if so, how do you get through the firewall. Or do you tap into some other connection? I have the ground and the acc connections complete.

this forum is such a wealth of knowledge!