Well, I have had the Corksport with the Pioneer AVIC Z2 for 2 weeks now and even had one major road trip with it, I thought I should review what I think about it so far -

Let me start by going over the system that I had before the upgrade -

factory radio
OEM MP3 cd player
Sirius S50 radio
3Sixty.2 Sound processor
Apline PDX 1.1000 amp (subs)
Alpine PDX 4.150 amp (interior)
2 Apline Type R 10"s
Apine Type R 5x7 components in the front
and Alpine Type R 6x9s in the rear

here is a picture of my trunk -


On my old system, I really enjoyed the MP3 cd player, and the "save" feature on the Sirius radio. I liked that i could be hearing a song that i liked and then hit one button and just save the whole song for whevenever i wanted to hear it. I also liked the 3Sixty because i could tune my system from my drivers seat with my PDA without having to go to the trunk to make changes

since that system I upgraded to the Pioneer AVIC Z2 headunit with the corksport kit
I added on a bluetooth adapter,
Sirius Radio adapter
and the Pioneer steering wheel controls (because the corksport steering wheel controls SUCK and I wanted to be able to control the phone and stuff with it)

here is a picture of my HU with the steering wheel controls (notice the boot up screen i added)




and here is the Sirius ant, and the GPS reciever on my trunk





and with this setup i took out my 3Sixty and used the pre-outs from the HU to go straight into my Amps - the HU has several "staging" setting, a custom EQ and adjustable crossover built in, so i didn't need the 3Sixty anymore

and I must say it sounds ALOT better maybe it's because I'm not tapping the old wires and running new ones and then going through the 3Sixty.. or maybe its because i didn't have it set up right.. but I think the sound is MUCH better, especially around the crossover point

I did lose the sirius "save" feature, but the HU will rip my CD's onto the HDD (up to 200 cds) and then i can access them whenever, so if there is a song i want on my HDD i have to burn it onto a cd and then it will rip into the HDD - but what i am doing is having a good baseline of all my regular cds, then putting all of the "songs i like for now" on a MP3 cd - so they can be traded out regularly

and having the bluetooth adapter is SAWEET!! i don't even have to take my phone out of my wheelchair anymore, whenever i turn the car on it automatically connects and I uploaded my entire phonebook into the HU with the bluetooth so i can call anyone straight from the HU and i have a small mic hidden in the very top of my a-pillar (sorry no pic) and it picks up the sound of my voice pretty well, even with the windows open as long as I'm not on the highway

It also has gyroscopes which aid in the GPS calculaitons when there is low signal - and they are used "vehicle dynamics" seciton, which watches speed, voltage, accelleration Gs, side acceleration G's, and direction.. all that can be displayed as your driving (or racing)

the GPS and route features aren't the absolute best they could be, but they are really nice. i just took it on a road trip the other day, it planned my route perfect, and judging by how fast I drive, it figured how long it would take me to get there, then told me the time i would be there by looking at the clock. it was off by 15 mins over 400 miles, but i need to adjust my driving speeds in the options to fix that

now the down sides -

sometimes the routes do have flaws though, one time I needed to turn right on a road, but the Z2 told me to go left, and then go about 100 yard and do a U turn.. LoL - so you have to watch for mistakes like that.. hopefully that will be fixed with an update soon

You can only watch DVD's when your stopped (and there is no bypass YET for the Z2) but i've been lurking around AVIC411.com and it looks like they are close.. it would have been nice to have on the roadtrip, but i can't see myself watching anything on it at any other time.

the layout of the Sirius radio screen SUCKS! it has 6 preset buttons which is a nice update from the S50, but it won't even display the artist and the track name at the same time, instead it has a 3 inch "Sirius radio" banner, with one little line for text... but I still couldn't live without it.

-

as for the install of the unit, it took me about 4 hours total. the corksport instructions are REALLY good and most of the time was just getting all of the wires run and hidden good enough

-- so thats all i can think to put for now. I invite anyone thinking about upgrading to visit me near Nashville, TN - and if you have any questions feel free to PM

 

That's a very sweet system Wikked! Congratulations.

I hope to begin enjoying your OEM MP3 player soon. I haven't yet had time to install it. I wish that I had 10% of your ambition and skills!

Thanks again for all of your help. I hope to recreate your previous system as soon as possible, although I am concerned regarding your comments about your new setup sounding much better. Perhaps the OEM HU output is not quite as hifi as the aftermarket units such as your AVIC Z2.

If anybody has audio questions regarding our beloved RX-8 's, Wikked's a wise and willing mentor.

 

So you don't recommend buying the Corksport steering wheel controls? It's like almost $200 more for the steering controls.

 

no - do NOT get the steering wheel controls, a) it doesn't plug into your new HU, it is has a small IR transmitter that you have to mount where it can see the HU like TV remote.
and b) if you are getting a HU with more than just audio, your going to loose alot of functionality, like phone and navigation controls. I, for one, LOVE my pioneer remote..

there is a thread about the corksport remote, do a search

 

I love the wallpaper on the HU.

Nice!

 

Thanx here is a closeup!
if anyone has an Avic-Z1 or Z2 there is instructions on Avic411.com that tell how to set it as a background

 

^^ Awesome. Thanks.

 

Hello,
Can you please tell us a bit more about your boot up screen and possibly some more picture of it and from where did you get it
Thanks in advance
Michael
shh125@hotmail.com

 

I got it from avic411.com - there is a thread that explain how to make it... and i found the picture on google images..

you just make a cd with a "pictures" folder and put the images in that folder.

 

Hey Wikked, did you find out if there is a way to get video to work (bypass) for the Z2?

 

yeah it works now! check out www.avic411.com and go the the mods seciton of the Z2 to find the instruction

if you bought a newer unit you won't need to do the software patch but you still need to ground the wires.. PM me if you need help

 

Has anyone used the Corksport kit with 2 one DIN units? I was thinking of getting the Defi DIN gauge along with a one DIN stereo. Something different.

Bob

 

Thanks! Wikked, that site has a lot of useful information

 

Don't think this has been answered yet, but does the corksport kit have an illumination wire hook up? I'm considering that a necessity when installing my D3 here next week.

 

nice trunk..how much was it for the whole system?

 

keep in mind i bought all this stuff a while back.. and you get get it all much cheaper.. and everything except the corksport kit came from ebay.

Corksport - 500 (i think)
Pioneer Avic Z2 - 1600
Alpine Type R 5x7 components - 100
Alpine Type R 6x9 rears - 100
Alpine PDX 4.150 for interior - 400
Alpine PDX 1.1000 - 600
Apline Type R 10"s (4 ohm) 225 for the pair
Q-Logic box - 125
3 farad cap - 50
wires - 50 (high estimate)

so everything for
3650! but i'm sure if you looked hard enough on ebay today, you could get it for half that. and if you do it a piece at a time.. it's not that bad at all.

 

really late answer.. but if anyone is looking - yeah it does! and don't worry the corksport instructions are SUPURB! you won't have any problem hooking it up

 

Haha... yeah REALLY late. I've had the D3 installed for like 2 months!

The instructions were decent. Above average, but I noted some room for improvement. Listed on here in another topic.