I finally got around to it. Here are some pics of the finished product. My goals for hard-wiring the GPS, Radar, and Mirror:

-Assist my daily driving by having as much information available to me.

-Keep the gadgets hidden from view, not giving would-be thieves something to spot from the outside that might tempt a break-in.

-No wires dangling anywhere. Keeps the windshield from being obstructed and gives the car a more organized look.

For any info on the install process, see my hard-wired radar detector thread. I simply tapped into the same wires as my radar detector. The GPS and Radar are controlled by a single custom switch, If I need to turn the Radar off for any reason, the GPS switches to Battery Mode.

My own personal cockpit!

 

how well does the radar work being that high up?

 

Very creative work caliban10010. You must have poured in lots of your effort and sweat on this...looks very neat and organized. I liked the tidiness.

I am interested to know more about.....

1) What's the sensor that just situated behind your rear view mirror. I think the sensor is facing towards the windshield. Or would that just be the mirror holder mount?

2) Being not directly underneath the windshield and but under the roof instead, would the Garmin be able to secure GPS signals easily without line of sight to the sky? Do you need external antennae for your Nuvi?

3) That's a good place to conceal radar detector, behind the tinted strip. As mentioned by RetroAttack, would the radar detector be within the range of field of the radar. I think the cops normally shoot at flat surfaces of the front of the moving vehicle to enable the rays to bound back to their radar (COPS) to lock in a reading.. They prefer shooting at licence plates as this seems to be the only flat surface for our FIT. The rest of the front end of the FIT is sloping. They will avoid shooting their radar gun at the windshield or sloping hood because the rays will deflect skywards and would not bounce back to the cops. From your photo, it seems that you have a high end passport ix (I may be wrong) and you may be OK. You may like to test and deliberately drive into a police radar trap.. within speed limit of course.

4) With the radar detector hard-wired, do you travel to states that banned radar detectors. Do you have a way to dismount the radar detector I suppose you just disconnect the 12 DC plug right?

 

It works just fine. Several websites have done tests to determine where to mount the detector. It's a give and take, a high position is supposedly better for RADAR and a low position for LIDAR. Most of the information I've read only equates to small differences in detection range. I personally like it high for RADAR. Unless you have a Jammer, getting tagged with LIDAR essentially means you're caught and no amount of braking is going to help. Pray the cop tagged someone else going faster.

 

1) No sensor. Just the mirror mount.

2) Satellites are acquired with no problem. No external antenna needed.

3) Answered in the other post in response to RetroAttack

4) I haven't traveled to any states that ban them yet, but yes, you can remove the plug and release the mount. I still have the cigarette power cord for the detector.

 

Thanks caliban10010, Good stuff and you've inspired me to think about my FIT as well.

One sensor I also always wanted to have is to provide external temperature reading on the dashboard for my FIT. From your FIT wiring experience, would that be difficult to wire?

Thanks

 

Thank you.

The auto-dimming mirror I installed has a temperature sensor. I mounted the sensor near the front grill and routed the wiring along the driver side into the cabin via the wire bundle for the door electronics.

Members have done other temperature sensors in the same manner. It depends on your craftiness, but I think it's an easy install. Razor, screwdriver, and a wire hanger bent to use as a hook are all the tools I required.

 

Thank you!

 

Good stuff! Plus reps.