Getting Rid of that crappy factory Infotainment system

After much research and debate, I decided to loose the factory infotainment system. Toyota really dropped the ball with their factory system especially in the US market. We didn't even have the option for GPS much less android auto or apple carplay.

I looked at a number of head units and were tempted by a few inexpensive units like the xtron and the joying. I even wrote Xtron and they swear they do not have a unit to fit the CHR or the Toyota 86 but I know at least one guy on this forum installed one successfully.

I finally decided on this unit by Kenwood:

DDX917WS | Multimedia and Navigation | Car Electronics | KENWOOD Australia

The unit is made for Toyota. Its 200mm wide and fits perfectly in the space. The correct harness is included. I only had to purchase an antennea adapter and a USB adapter to retain the in dash USB connection. I wanted to replace it with a dual USB port since this units has dual usb output but I couldn't find anything that fit the factory cutout.

I am OK with the backup camera in the rear view mirror so I was not concerned with mapping the reverse camera wires. Although this unit has dual camera input in addition to a dash cam interface.

The installation was pretty easy, I started by prying off the trim around the factory HU. see pic1 and pic2

Once the trim is off, there are 4 mounting bolts securing the unit. see pic 3. These are easily removed with a socket and long extension for the back ones.

The unit simply slips out and you can access all the plugs. There is plenty of room behind the head unit. see pics 4 and 5.

I also include a shot of the HU model in PIC 6

Once the factory unit was out, I put them side by side and swapped over the mounting brackets which fit perfectly on this unit.

I had to connect the p.cont wire on the new head unit to the blue wire for the antenna adapter. I grounded the park break wire so I would have full functionality of the unit at all times. Everything else was plug and play. No external steering wheel controller is required for this unit. It is all built in and works flawlessly.

Although there is no built in NAV in this unit, it has a GPS antenna to improve accuracy of your phone GPS. There was room way back in the dash behind the radio to mount the GPS antenna.

For simplicity, I ran the microphone just to the left of the screen, for UK versions it would be to the right.

I simply slid the new unit in and installed the original four mounting bolts and fired it up. I set up the steering wheel controls through the on screen setup menu and I was good to go. PIC 10

I snapped the trim back on and done! I have photos of that too but I reached the file limit for this post LOL.

I posted this because this project seems daunting but this is one of the easiest installs I have done and I am no pro. I feel that Toyota really let us down with this crappy system and I hope more of you ditch this dog for a better infotainment experience.

I scored this unit for about 650.00 us off ebay. Hopefully more manufacturers will make more compatible units for the CHR. I am glad that there are trim kits available so double din mounts will fit as well but I like the look of this one because the fit looks more factory.

Hope this helps.