retrofit navigation system?

[JohnnyTucker]

Hello all,

Ive preordered the GT-R in April 08 in Germany without Navigation System beacuse otherwise I had to wait till 2010 for delivery

So the question is: does anyone know if it is possible to retrofit the original navigation system in the new GT-R?

Thanks
Jo

[supraman]

It's definitely not possible.

[nas3damus]

Originally Posted by supraman

It's definitely not possible.

Sorry not true

I say it is definitely POSSIBLE!!!

The only thing that is not sure for now is the cost to do it, because the circuits are existing of fiber optics .. it can be pricy ..

I had the same here in Belgium ordered the car without any GPS for the same reason of late delivery.

I found nice pictures of it in redline magazine, from the Yellow Hat white GT-R; they put the double din unit containing the heating and sound controls into the glove compartment; and put in another aftermarket double din solution; I think this would be also an option

[supraman]

Originally Posted by nas3damus

Sorry not true

I say it is definitely POSSIBLE!!!

The only thing that is not sure for now is the cost to do it, because the circuits are existing of fiber optics .. it can be pricy ..

OK. Let me be more specific. Nissan have explicitly said that they are not offering this as an option.

Of course, if you want to tackle it yourself then there's nothing to stop you - assuming Nissan will sell you one.

Remember that the European Sat-Nav is a brand new unit that they haven't even finished developing yet so it is a complete unknown.

[tokyogtr]

won't the Euro one be identical to the US unit which is already in production on all new US Nissans? Surely it's just a matter of a few tweaks and different software on the harddrive.

[timechaser]

For that matter - sticking to the topic - would it be possible to mod the Japanese system? I know the sat-nav there is based on a combination of telematics and GPS (Carwings), but can it be modded for Singapore?

Tokyo - any comments?

Mapping of course will be an issue - depending on the way Nissan have put the maps in the car, the encryption etc. but apart from that?

[supraman]

Originally Posted by tokyogtr

won't the Euro one be identical to the US unit which is already in production on all new US Nissans? Surely it's just a matter of a few tweaks and different software on the harddrive.

I don't know. Is it a brand new unit? I was told by Nissan that the model used in JDM cars had reached the "end of its product lifecycle" and was to be replaced. Is the US Sat-Nav different?

[tokyogtr]

Originally Posted by timechaser

For that matter - sticking to the topic - would it be possible to mod the Japanese system? I know the sat-nav there is based on a combination of telematics and GPS (Carwings), but can it be modded for Singapore?

Tokyo - any comments?

Mapping of course will be an issue - depending on the way Nissan have put the maps in the car, the encryption etc. but apart from that?

it would require the complete system to be replaced as it's embedded with the ECU etc. not sure it's worth doing. it's not like you need satnav in singapore or hk anyway. i think people would be better off with a decent tomtom like system. the other thing you could do is try to intercept a euro version on the way to europe... then everything will be in english but you still won't have localized satnav.

[supracat]

yes, cheaper and easier to fit a Navman/tom tom type unit - easier and cheaper to replace too once it breaks down!

[JimmyNeutron]

Some food for thought:

Nissan and Infiniti have been using the same touch screen AV/Nav system throughtout their ranges in other markets. This includes Bose upgrades etc. The system used by the US GT-R is thought to be the same basic system used in the G37 with the multidisplay functionality added. There is a central device (a black box located in the dash) which runs all the SW for both Nav and AV.

The only piece of HW that would be missing on a non Nav car would be the GPS antenna and receiver (which is mounted under the grill in the middle of the top of the dash) and possible also the Nav related hard keys on the dash (can anyone confirm if they exist on non-nav JDM cars?). Everything else would be identical save for SW installed on the Harddrive (or in the worst case a new black box with Nav capability). All other components are already there and linked together (screen, controller keys, touch screen, sound system etc).

Nissan has been telling us that there will be some new "super duper" nav system for the GT-R coming to Europe in September. I don't buy it. My strong feeling is that this was a way to distribute initial demand over a longer period. The reason for this strong feeling ? Infiniti will be launching the FX50 in Europe in the Spring of 2009. Does anyone really think that they would launch that car in Europe without Nav ? No chance (they might be able to have guys like us bite the bullet for a non-Nav GT-R but not for a relatively run-of-the-mill SUV). Is that going to be some crap stop-gap system until "super duper" is finished in September? Again, I don't think so.

Ergo, one can safely assume that Nissan will have a European sat system which runs Euro maps etc on the same HW platform as the GT-R's (or perhaps a new one) when the GT-R is released. They just don't want to give it to us.

My bet is that at worst case we'll need to swap out the black box (the Infiniti nav version costs about $3500 in the US) once the September version is available, and quite possibly we will be able get away with some hacker/dealer magic coping SW from a Nav black box to the non-nav version and adding the Antenna/Receiver. Even in the worst case, namely a complete HW platform change for the black box, I can't see any reason that any changes would need to be made to the wiring harness (since everything is already there) which could potenitally be the only real deal killer.

If Nissan doesn't want to sell the necessary components to us, I have a feeling they'll be in for a very, very unpleasant time.....

Any thoughts?

M.

For anyone who's interested you can find a G37 service manual with very detailed schematics on the Infiniti system here (Category:Service - The Infiniti G37 Information Resource ) click on the factory service manuallink (please note you will need 7zip to unpack it).

[timechaser]

JimmyN - I hear what you are saying. I have suspected as much, and am trying to source a G35/37 Maps DVD to fiddle with the Nav in my JDM car (no luck so far - so if some willing soul has one, can you make a copy and send it over to Singapore? Promise to share all oucomes :P).

What I have heard about Europe/UK and the Nissan Nav fiasco is that they had a hard time buying rights to maps for certain European countries - and as they wanted to integrate some European Roads into the UK maps as well, UK got impacted as well. Nothing to do with hardware, no Super Duper system - plain simple glitch in the process. They wanted the rights so they could encode the maps in their own pissy format so if you want to take the UK car to Switzerland e.g., you will have to pay to get the detailed Swiss maps. I totally agree with what you say about the G37 components, though would suspect the ECU integration would make it a harder task than simply plug and play.

Here's another thought (more of a thinking aloud/day dream scenario) - I believe there are AV sockets and wires which allow you to play anything you want on the MFD screen. You could take a Nuvi - say 660, pull the GPS aerial off and stick it somewhere else permanently - say behind the rear-view mirror, route the wires to the Nuvi, and route the display to the AV sockets so the map display is on the MFD when you choose that option. The audio can be routed as well.

To me - sounds pretty feasible. I am useless with DIY so how possible, I dont know. No pissing around with the ECU or the build in black box systems. Just need someone who is handy with tools, and the total integration cost - provided you can figure out all the wiring and dont screw anything up is likely to be less than $1K.

Downside: Adjusting the route or reprogramming would involve pulling the unit out of the receptacle where you keep it, and using it - unless someone can figure out how to feed the touch screen inputs to the Nuvi.

[supracat]

just stick to getting a Navman - so much simpler and can easily be bought for <£100 now, if you shop around - in the UK anyway.........

[timechaser]

I already have two Garmin Nuvi 660s. Garmin's preferred around these parts coz updated maps are free

[supracat]

maybe a silly question but why have two????

I think i;ve got a Garmin nu250(???) in one of the cars and it cost anout £100out my local halfords store, plus £30 annual sub for the mobile speed camera sites.

[timechaser]

One for me, one for the wife

Silly question, Silly answer. Used to have a tomtom (was in London till last year) and the speedcamera db on that saved me plenty, especially in central london and up the A13!