[amitroy]

Hi,
I recently purchased a used Skoda Superb 2.8 V6 2008 model. While the car is “Superb” in all aspects the in car entertainment system is dated and does not have many of the features that are available on all the newer in car entertainment systems. I am a big fan of “stock” however I am thinking of upgrading my in car system. A few things I want to take care of before I do it
1) The new system should integrate well with the current dashboard, else the entire look of the car gets spoiled
2) Integration with steering mounted controls
3) Touch Screen system with phone, USB, etc. ( If possible Navigation system too)

- Is there a possibility of taking it to a Skoda workshop and have a Skoda system with the above features installed in my car?
- Is there a different brand that can fit in well with my requirements?
- Which is a good place in Bangalore to get such a work done ?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by amitroy

... 1) The new system should integrate well with the current dashboard, else the entire look of the car gets spoiled
2) Integration with steering mounted controls
3) Touch Screen system with phone, USB, etc. ( If possible Navigation system too)

- Is there a possibility of taking it to a Skoda workshop and have a Skoda system with the above features installed in my car?
- Is there a different brand that can fit in well with my requirements?
- Which is a good place in Bangalore to get such a work done ?

* Integration with dashboard is a matter of getting the right fascia adapter

* Integration with steering mounted controls depends on HU. Usually for after-market HUs, you get a brand-specific box that can interface the steering wheel controls to the HU. Search on the net

* 2DIN systems (costing about 18K and above) are with touch-screen display. The lower end 2DINs don't have navigation built-in, and must be added as an accessory to the HU. Above ~30K they tend to have navigation built in. Check Kenwood, JVC etc.

* Yes, Skoda do have units that can be installed (not sure about price, but likely to be stiff)

* The usual 2DIN brands in India are Kenwood, Pioneer, JVC etc. One or the other model from these would fit your requirements

* Look up the Bangalore installers directory on the forum

[SafeDrive]

Skoda does have systems that can be put on but they come at a steep price of 30+ K. They wanted 18K to adapt my Laura for blue tooth - I bought a Jabra and put the rest in the bank

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by amitroy

... “Superb” in all aspects the in car entertainment system is dated and does not have many of the features that are available on all the newer in car entertainment systems. ...

Originally Posted by SafeDrive

Skoda does have systems that can be put on but they come at a steep price of 30+ K. ...

The one that @amitroy is talking of replacing, is the one that costs 30K+. The new one that he wants would be twice or more, if one takes the standard Skoda part.

[nishantgandhi]

DerAlte's suggestions are spot on. Identify a 2-DIN HU if you're keen on maintaining the stock looks (at the compromise of SQ) and use a fascia adapter (available both from Skoda and from installers) to retain the look.

As regards retaining steering wheel remote and BT compatibility, there are universal solutions (PAC and Parrot) and CAN-BUS specific ones too (Connects2).

I'd suggest go the component route i.e. buy-and-build your setup as per your preferences and budget. You will definitely have more options in that scenario. Going to Skoda will limit your options and unnecessarily strain your budget, because better and cheaper alternatives exist in after-market.

[jinu_joseph]

Hi Folks

After years of procastination i have finally taken the plunge and bought a Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI CR AT Elegance (2010 model). She is a beauty. And the ride is beyond comfortable.

Her sound systsem is great the bass output is not as per expectation. I feel my setup in the i10 has punchier bass and better sound output compared to this. Suprisingly could not find many ICE setups for the superb here.

I now want to add a sub and amp to the current setup so that the bass becomes a lot punchier. BUt after scanning the net and reading up a lot i am totally confused. So here are my questions:

1. Does the superb have a built in stock amplifier. I have seen a few threads which say it has a stock amp/DSP. If so where in the car is it locatied (on the net i found one reference stating that it is under the left passenger seat and another reference which states that it is somewhere in the boot).

2. Can i connect the sub to this stock amp. Does it have a channel or output for a external sub. If it does can i expect the same result as a external amp. Moreover can the stock amp take the additional power load of a sub.

3. How many speakers are there in the Superb 2.0 TDI CR AT Elegenance 2010 model ( I think its 8 based on the grills i can see on the door, but not sure)

4. What is the general opinion on the quality of these stock speakers ? Personally i found them to be good, but feel they could be better. The reason for this observation is that i feel the boomy bass overpowers everything and if i reduce the bass from the HU, the music kind of goes flat.


Now the requirements i have:

1. Most important, the stock HU will not change and all controls currently done through the stock HU should continue as is. Then the standard requirements of no cut wires, joins etc. Wiring if any should be laid in accrodance to the vehicles wiring guides and channels. I still have a little over 1 year extended warranty and knowing SKODA i dont want anything endangering this.

2. I need the amp and sub to be totally concealed. Further i cannot compromise on boot space. My wife did not like what i did to the i10 with the sub enclosure and amp in the boot. For this i was thinking that the amp can go below the Left Passenger seat (but then my concern of the non standard wiring rears its ugly head). Regarding the Sub i am open to ideas. But one option i was thinking of was to use the two cubby holes on both sides of the boot. But i think this will limit the size of my sub, but can i compensate for the loss of size by putting 2 subs, one on each side?


3. Need advice on how to do the setup - where should the amp input come from, the HU, the stock amp/dsp and if so how do we consolidate the singals so that the amp can then resdistribute them. I have heard and read about Line Converters, DSP, Amps with speaker level inputs. But that only adds to the confusion.


Over to you folks. Thanks in advance for all your advice.

[nitinbose]

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

1. Does the superb have a built in stock amplifier. I have seen a few threads which say it has a stock amp/DSP. If so where in the car is it locatied (on the net i found one reference stating that it is under the left passenger seat and another reference which states that it is somewhere in the boot).

This is usually a 10-Channel amplifier located below the front passenger seat. The Stock HU connects to this amplifier and CANBUS controls the whole thing. The output from the stock HU is at Line level when the stock amp is connected. The amp also controls the volume, bass, treble and mid-range. it is also a DSP.

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

2. Can i connect the sub to this stock amp. Does it have a channel or output for a external sub. If it does can i expect the same result as a external amp. Moreover can the stock amp take the additional power load of a sub.

I would not suggest any such modifications especially because it voids your warranty as there aren't any "stock" methods of doing this. You can however tap the signals from the stock door sub or woofer and use it as a source to the subwoofer amplifier. However, do note this additional amplifier can cause issues if this is not a CANBUS enabled amplifier. Please note in premium cars EVERY device has to be controlled by CANBUS.

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

3. How many speakers are there in the Superb 2.0 TDI CR AT Elegenance 2010 model ( I think its 8 based on the grills i can see on the door, but not sure)

Yes, there are eight speakers, however, these are independent woofer & tweeter channels. The stock amp is designed to output woofer & tweeter separately unlike in a conventional amplifier where a full-range signal is split using passive cross-overs.

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

4. What is the general opinion on the quality of these stock speakers ? Personally i found them to be good, but feel they could be better. The reason for this observation is that i feel the boomy bass overpowers everything and if i reduce the bass from the HU, the music kind of goes flat.

The stock speakers are pretty good for the stock setup. If you're getting boomy bass, its probably because of the incorrect settings. Using VCDS software, one can get into the amplifier and choose the correct vehicle environment.

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

Now the requirements i have:

1. Most important, the stock HU will not change and all controls currently done through the stock HU should continue as is. Then the standard requirements of no cut wires, joins etc. Wiring if any should be laid in accrodance to the vehicles wiring guides and channels. I still have a little over 1 year extended warranty and knowing SKODA i dont want anything endangering this.

2. I need the amp and sub to be totally concealed. Further i cannot compromise on boot space. My wife did not like what i did to the i10 with the sub enclosure and amp in the boot. For this i was thinking that the amp can go below the Left Passenger seat (but then my concern of the non standard wiring rears its ugly head). Regarding the Sub i am open to ideas. But one option i was thinking of was to use the two cubby holes on both sides of the boot. But i think this will limit the size of my sub, but can i compensate for the loss of size by putting 2 subs, one on each side?


3. Need advice on how to do the setup - where should the amp input come from, the HU, the stock amp/dsp and if so how do we consolidate the singals so that the amp can then resdistribute them. I have heard and read about Line Converters, DSP, Amps with speaker level inputs. But that only adds to the confusion.


Over to you folks. Thanks in advance for all your advice.

Given your requirements, let me tell you the costs are going to be high. You would have to get a CANBUS enabled HU such as the Blaupunkt or Pioneer (not available in India though). The price can be between INR 40k-150K. This unit would give you preouts/subouts and the normal parking and climate control displays.

You will also have to get a CANBUS based amplifier, again available through Blaupunkt (only online), or obtain CANBUS adaptors for the standard amps, which may be tricky to adapt.

We can of course circumvent these at the expense of warranty by drawing line-outs from the stock HU, from the power IC input pins which then connects to the amplifiers (either subwoofer or full-range). In this case CANBUS wont be able to regulate the amplifier power which can have some bad consequences.

I have given you the options for you to weigh. Alternatively, you can talk to Sukesh of Vagtune who has recently done a similar implementation. This is infact a full blown Dolby-digital 5.1 setup.

[jinu_joseph]

Thanks a lot Nitinbose.

This is really disheartening. I don't want to change the head unit so that stays. Also given the kind of expense a visit to the SKODA workshop incurs i cant afford to void the warranty. So no tapping the head unit or stock amp for pre-outs.

You mentioned the VCDS software. Is this the same one as that made by Rosstech. Is this also the same one that you get on eBay ? I need to try this.

So lets say i dont want to change my HU and don't want to void my warranty. So will getting a CANBUS based blaupunkt amplifier help. Do you know of any good Blaupunkt canbus enabled amplifiers.

Would the Blaupunkt amp replace the stock amp or come after it ?

Now i understand why there are so few threads on ICEing the Superb

[nitinbose]

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

You mentioned the VCDS software. Is this the same one as that made by Rosstech. Is this also the same one that you get on eBay ? I need to try this.

Yes, its the same. You'd be better of purchasing it from the ross-tech site.

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

So lets say i dont want to change my HU and don't want to void my warranty. So will getting a CANBUS based blaupunkt amplifier help. Do you know of any good Blaupunkt canbus enabled amplifiers. Would the Blaupunkt amp replace the stock amp or come after it ?

Well, again, its not a full fledged CANBUS amplifier, just that you can get adaptors to connect to Skoda/VW etc., which means you don't have to cut/splice any wires. The Blaupunkt PnP ranges suit this purpose. The harnesses may be available from Halfords. I have seen many articles in the internet where VWs have such amps installed. Yes, if you install such an amplifier, it would replace the stock amplifier. This is not impossible to achieve, just that you've got to use the correct wiring harnesses. It does void warranty in India, though.

The reason why the PnP range amps are recommended is because they are 4/5 channel class-d amps with power ranges of 400-600W, therefore can be powered from the 30A power point from the fuse box, instead of drawing the power directly from the battery where you may lack the power management features which may prove critical at times.


You can get full fledged CANBUS HUs however, such as the Blaupunkt Philadelphia http://www.blaupunkt.com/en/nc/blaup...s/single/3959/, Pioneer: http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/25...10BT/page.html or even Witson which is a Chinese make.

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

Now i understand why there are so few threads on ICEing the Superb

These are premium cars which are rigorously tested for safety and performances. Infact they require no upgrades at all. You can purchase the original spares and upgrade, if you've opted for the lower trims. CANBUS integration offers a whole lot of integration between the various systems in a vehicle offering intelligent features which would be difficult to be provided on normal vehicles. You would also find few threads on ICEing BMWs, Audi or even Jaguar or Bently!

My personal opinion is to leave the vehicle as is (from my experience).

[jinu_joseph]

Once again thanks for taking time to respond to each of my queries. I think I will take your advice,

It is too risky to tamper around with the system. I don't think the end result is worth the risk.

I think I will proceed with the option of tuning the system through VCDS

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

... I think I will proceed with the option of tuning the system through VCDS

We eagerly await results of your 'tuning' through the VCDS software!

Perhaps you should ask @nitinbose to join you and guide you when you do it, so we can know many more aspects of tuning ICE through VCDS.

[jinu_joseph]

Dear DerAlte, i am sorry but is that sarcasm in your post that i see. Sorry but i dont know much about the high end cars and have to go with what members in this forum advice. If it was computers it would have been a different story, but high end cars are not my area of expertise.

Are you saying it is not possible to set configuration of the stock amplifier using VCDS, which would solve the boomy issue?

How do you suggest i go about the same. What would your response be to my original post (post 6).

Thanks

[navin]

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

Dear DerAlte, i am sorry but is that sarcasm in your post that i see.

No Jinu,

I don't think DA was being sarcastic.

[jinu_joseph]

Originally Posted by navin

No Jinu,

I don't think DA was being sarcastic.

Sorry Navin. My apologies to DerAlte for the misunderstanding. My mistake.

I am still researching for a straight plugin solution also, as VCDS is expensive (about 26K after customs duty).

But doing some more research on the net (based on Nitin's pointers) and i came across the Blaupunkt solution to my problem.

Blaupunkt seems to have a set of PNP amplifiers which can straight away be swapped with the stock Amp in the Skoda superb. I am referring to the Blaupunkt THA 555 PNP amplifier along with the wiring harness (part number 7 607 622 015 001). But also noticed that in most places the THA 555 is tagged as a discontinued product.

[Akshay1234]

I don't think the Superb has a stock amp. It has only 8 speakers, and not 12. As far as I know only 12 speaker systems like on the Laura L&K have a separate amp. Do check this out first.