I'm driving a '91 VVT swapped Miata with an MS3 brain. I really don't want to have a gauge pod or other showy components, but I actually would like to have a modern Android auto double din touchscreen. I've already bought the JDM center tombstone, but haven't yet purchased a head unit. I was hoping that someone had already blazed this trail and gotten an Android auto enabled head unit and installed Shadowdash. This way, the head unit would be the AFR and (for a future turbo) boost gauge. Has this been done before? Is this sane? It's skipping a dedicated gauge pod, but it will have the information I need and in a clean way which I really like. I really have no experience with Android auto units and which ones are compatible with shadow dash. My fear is that these were made for phones/tablets, and not a dedicated head unit.

Worst case, I find an alternative (go the regular route) for the gauges and still end up with a double din head unit, but is this all-in-one solution a workable idea? Has anyone ever done it before, or am I just asking for trouble?

 

I'm running msdroid on my China android head unit via a USB cable to the ms3.

Works great, shows all the gauges I want

 

That's awesome. Got a link to the head unit? I'd love a cheapy one. Also, what happens if you start playing music? Do you lose the gauges or can you configure it so they stick around as a widget overlay?

 

I have a raspberry pi unit with a 7 inch touchscreen. I like it better than the android, because you can run full tuner studio.

 

Second this. I started my Pi setup a few months back and have been sidetracked by my turbo install, but look forward to getting everything installed soon!

 

Mine is similar to this one, although I can't find the exact one since it was over a year ago and cost $140
https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-2Din-And...oAAOSwiHFdIqlI

 

Wow have those things come down in cost... had I seen the cheap ones were sub-$100 these days, I might have thought twice about my rpi setup. Glutton for punishment, so probably not

 

I recently purchased and installed this specific unit into my car today and so far it works great. I actually was able to bluetooth my phone and the MS3 at the same time. It takes a bit of time to set up. The WiFi doesn't detect the WiFi in my house even though my phone was still on it meaning it's wireless card isn't that strong. However once I turned on my phones hot spot I was able to download/update all the apps. I am still working on getting the GPS working as of right now it just has a cursor with no streets or cities showing. I probably need to download those maps for it to work.

I also had to modify my OE mounting plates. My car is a RHD 90 so it already had the JDM double DIN tombstone and my previous aftermarket unit was a double DIN. In order to get it mounted center I had to remove the locating tab on the inside of the bracket which the unit bolts up to. Then drill a hole above one of the lower holes. Once again that's the area of the plate which mounts the plate to the unit, not the area that the plates bolt to the dash.

For 66 dollars on ebay it is a cheap buy. We'll see how long it lasts.

 

Got everything installed and connected, and it's working! It's doing everything I had hoped for. All I need now is to configure Android to launch MSDroid on boot so I don't have to open it every time, and we're good!


MSDroid works!