https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/skugta9x1.html
Or directly from GTA directly: https://www.gtacarkits.com/product/wire ... 2013-2016/
The price is the same from either seller, however GTA will provide tech support if you purchase from them directly.
My car is a 2014 base Cayman with option P9F Infotainment Package and Sound Package Plus which includes the PCM 3.1 head unit. I am the second owner of my car, it has about 30,000 miles, has a solid service history and everything works as it should. I have the SportDesign steering wheel, so no controls on the wheel. While the PCM 3.1 is clearly dated, I like the quirkiness of the unit and wanted to retain what it does and the period correct look. I use my car for my 100 mile round trip commute occasionally, local tours/rallys, trips to the beach, and fun drives. I rarely listen to music and prefer the sound of the car and my FabSpeed exhaust.
First, the SSD. After reading about drive failures, I decided to replace the HDD before installing the GTA unit. My old drive works fine so it was easy to copy using the WavLink. I put the old drive in a cabinet with the car’s other records and will probably never touch it again. Once the unit is out of the car, it is very easy to remove the drive and install the new one—there is a great thread on P9, so I am not going to elaborate any further. If you do remove the ribbon connector from the PCM, it is a bit fiddly to reinstall—you do this four more times with the GTA kit, so practice is helpful. I did put the unit back in the car to make sure it works with the new SSD before installing the GTA kit. All good.
GTA has a youtube video for installing the kit. It is 95% accurate. Their newest kit has a single antenna for BT and WiFi, not two and honestly the hardest part was separating the CD drive from the main PCM unit. It has stickers which must be cut and the old steel pieces do not slide well. Patience and persistence paid off here.
https://youtu.be/vwnwfwTsFTQ?si=FZ4W-IUvaPYv8E3X
The unit itself performs very well. It connects very quickly in both wireless and wired CarPlay modes (I do not use an Android phone). The initial setup is fast and intuitive. If you have ever used CarPlay on another car, you can do it without any drama. I use wireless most of the time. Another person warned me that the GTA kit uses the cars factory AUX/BT. Not a big deal for me, but you do have to select that option every time you get in the car and connect your phone or you do not get any sound. Maybe the other kits on the market offer a different option, but this is a reasonable compromise to add new tech to an old system. I did notice that when using Siri to read text messages, the volume is very low. At which point you turn up the volume to hear it. When you are done and it switches back to music or a podcast, the volume is very loud unless you turn it down first. I cured this by telling Siri to speak louder, that fixed it and I admit I emailed GTA for some advice. All good now. Also, I do not have a back up camera and did not add one with this project, but I can tell you the GTA unit has all of the hardwires in place if you want a camera. I noticed the unit would switch out of CarPlay when I used reverse—the screen would go black. I also emailed GTA on this and they offered a new setting which stopped this from happening. I will say that GTA’s tech support was amazingly fast and helpful. As I noted above, buy the unit from them and they will help you with any issues. A+ on support.
Four weeks of use and I am thrilled with having CarPlay. The SSD clone I made has been flawless as well. I did notice one thing I want to share. I will preface this with the fact that I am an accountant, and therefore tend to nerd on most things cars and little details which may seem OCD or highlight my ADHD, but clearly please understand I am not an electrical engineer and probably could not explain what the difference is between an amp and volt.
I noticed that when I was getting in may and starting it, the voltage gauge would read a bit high, ~14.5v. Rarely have I ever seen it over 14.2v before installing the GTACarKit. It will read high for a while and settle back to high 13s to 14. Then one day I walked into the garage to work on something and pulled out my phone to search for a video I was looking for. When I picked up my phone, it was attempting to connect to CarPlay in the Cayman. The Cayman had been parked for a few days, I didn’t open the door, and my key was in the house. It seems likely the GTA has an active service looking to connect to a paired device whether the car is on or not.
I wanted to test my theory (did I say nerd?) so I got in the car later and turned off the wireless CarPlay and Wireless Android settings on the GTA. I ran a cable to the console when I installed it so I could charge my phone and use the wired connection anyway. My thinking was that if the wireless settings were off, the GTA would not be looking for a connection and using battery power when the car is parked. I tested my theory a couple days later by going to the garage with my phone, but no attempt to connect to the car—as I expected.
Today, I decided to drive the Cayman to my office after the car was parked for 6 six days. When I got in the car, I turned the key on without starting the motor to see what the battery voltage was before a cold start. The gauge read 12.2v and when I cranked the motor it dropped to 11.7 and then immediately went up to 14.7v. This was still below the red part of the gauge. My commute is 55 miles one way and the voltage gauge stayed at 14.7v for 38 miles or 45 minutes, then dropped to 13.7v.
This may be one big nothing biscuit, but I still think the GTA kit is still drawing power when parked and the car spends time recharging the battery after being restarted for a period of time. The AGM battery in my car is less than 2 years old and I have never had any electrical issues. The only change is having the GTA kit installed.
I don’t really have any concerns and I am not remotely considering removing the GTA. The battery was still fully charged after being parked for a weeK after all. I suppose the gauge may not be very accurate at any measure as well. Like I said the convenience of having CarPlay is nice. I had no work calls on my drive this morning, so I listened to Renthusiast radio and then Chris Harris. I still recommend this gadget to anyone looking for an upgrade.
Would I do this again? Yes. I like the result. I am pretty depending on CarPlay when driving (My daily is a Lexus which has it factory installed). On work days I have frequent Teams calls or phone calls plus text messages and Teams messages which do not work well on CarPlay, but I found a work around. It’s nice to have all of that if I decide to drive the Cayman to work.
Happy to answer any questions. Also, I admit my sons helped me with the install. I am old school handy, but the ribbon cables are a pain. My son did all four of them in about 5 minutes, otherwise I may still be trying to get them in place. This is a two bourdon project, fellas (and ladies).
Cloning the old hard drive to a new solid state drive.
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