Parrot RK8200 Head unit into Roomster Scout - A brief guide

[Fluffmeister]

Well, tonight after flying back from Hamburg I got stuck into swapping the head unit out of the Roomster for the Parrot RK8200. A more detailed review of the RK8200 will follow but so far, all seems well.

Anyway, to business.

Courtesy of youngsyd and The Skoda Shop - Genuine Skoda Parts and Accessories, I ordered the genuine Skoda single din adapter and wiring converter. Steve had them delivered to me in record time and with a bit of discount, so top marks for that one

The part's you will require are;

AZO 700 001 - Single Din kit - £30
AZA 700 001 - Cable adapter - £20
ISO Aeriel converter - £2.99 (Halfords)
10 amp mini blade fuse

Tools required are
Mk1 Hands
Flat blade screwdriver
Trim removal tool or carefull use of screwdriver
T15 and T25 Torx screwdriver
Medium point philips screwdriver
6 cable ties (4-6" long)
Insulating tape

Time approx 1 Hour. Usual safety precautions regarding removal of battery lead apply

Firstly, let's take a look at the skoda DIN adapter and the parrot unit;





The skoda adapter needed a little trimming at the rear to allow clearance for the exahust from the parrots cooling fan, you can see the small section trimmed out here. Before fitting the head unit, the supplied aerial adapter has a blue wire, with the correct terminal fitted, placing into pin 6 of the grey Iso connector (this is explained "sort of" in the skoda instructions) this is for the aerial booster.



This is the Parrot installed in the DIN adapter ready for fitting to the car, the leads you can see poking out are for Ipod/Iphone connections and for USB. It works perfectly with my Iphone, synching via bluetooth, then charging and playing MP3's through the connector, out of site in the "cubby".



Now it's time to remove the dance from the Roomster, this is best done with a trim removal tool or with care, a flat blade screwdriver. I used a trim parter from a brodit mount.

Insert the tool, and gently lever the facia plate out






And your are left with this



Remove the 4 T15 screws, these can be saved for refitting the Dance and are not needed now as the DIN kit comes with it's own philips screws for securing it.

Whilst the dance was out, I thought I would take a quick snap of the wiring diagram for anyone who need's it



The Skoda wiring kit is great, but the wires are incredibly long. It's not problem as it comes with a foam sleeve to prevent rattles, and all just tucks nicely in below the Single DIN adapter. (Appologies for blurry photo)



it's now time to remove the fuse box, and insert the terminal from the black and white wire into the back of the fuse box into fuse 16 of the fuse box. From what I can decipher on the instructions, it supplies an ignition switched live. The pictures show the fuse box removal, and the location of fuse 16. You need to pliug a 10amp fuse into fuse 16, the skoda kist comes with a full size 10amp fuse, but you actually need a mini blade fuse.

Onto the pics.

remove the fuse box cover by pulling it from the bottom edge, unscrew the fuse box with the T25 screwdriver.



Under the steering column is a large peice of rubberised foam with cut outs for the heater vents etc, gently remove this by bending it inwards at the corners and pulling it down (it is not secured with any screws). It's slightly fiddly, but gently twist and pull the fusebox out of the dash.



once the fuse box is out, remove the rear cover to the fuse box, be CAREFULL, the cover is quite thin and brittle.



Once you have done this, locate "fuse 16" and making sure the "jaws" of the connector are running vertical, push it into the fuse box until you feel a click. You may need to push something into the fuse box to get the terminal all the way "home". I used a straw from a WD40 can as I did not want to poke a screwdriver around in there as it would be to easy to damage the wire.



The next picture indicates were the wire has connected and of course were the mini 10amp fuse needs inserting.



Refit the fuse box and replace the rubberised foam cover under the steering column and the fuse box cover. It's just the reverse of removing it.

At this point, I remembered to swap the ISO power leads over, disconnect the bullet connectors on your head unit's loom from the red and yellow wires and recconet them red to yellow and yellow to red. Then before fitting the Adapter containing the unit, it was time for a quick power up and test. The Iphone is inside the parrot on this picture.



It's now time to secure the headunit, mounted in the DIN adapter into the dash, and secure it with the philips self tappers supplied in the DIN mounting kit.



Then, pop on the facia, plug in the parrot's removeable facia and take a few pictures of it in the dash.







First impressions, I quite like the unit, for the price there is nothing out there that matches it on features. I have only tested the voice clarity at town speeds, but it was on a par with my previous OEM bluetooth kit. The build quality is ok, not as sturdy as OEM but on a par with most other head units and the operation seems quite easy.

My unit has firmware 1.01 installed, and I just upgraded to 1.01a, I need to do some better testing before I can give a full and complete review of the RK8200, but so far I'm liking it, am not experiencing any of the problems that some people have over on AV Forums.

Good points
Features - It does everything, SD Cards, USB, BT, Aux front and rear, has pre-outs etc. It even powered and played MP3's from my 100GB USB external laptop drive.

Bad points
Build qaulity could be more "heavy weight", it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but the whole thing weighs the same as a wet fag packet.

Styling is Marmite, but personally, I love it.

I will tidy this up over the next few days and maybe start a new thread regarding the review and performance of the RK8200 and post up some better pictures of the unit installed and operating.

Cheers

Fluff'

[Decron]

Nice bit of kit them.

Would have had one myself if not using a company sponsored kit

[Fluffmeister]

Originally Posted by Decron

Nice bit of kit them.

Would have had one myself if not using a company sponsored kit

it seems pretty good so far mate, and I dropped lucky, a mate of mine is an auto leccy, and I swapped him a garmin quest bike satnav for this boxed up and sealed. I ust have to do a write up on it for his site

[Decron]

Originally Posted by Fluffmeister

it seems pretty good so far mate, and I dropped lucky, a mate of mine is an auto leccy, and I swapped him a garmin quest bike satnav for this boxed up and sealed. I ust have to do a write up on it for his site

Sweet!

[mdk1]

look interesting, may have a read up about the unit.

[Parsko]

Nice post on how to fit, but that is the ugliest unit i have ever seen, I don't like marmite either.......

[Fluffmeister]

Originally Posted by PAArsko

Nice post on how to fit, but that is the ugliest unit i have ever seen, I don't like marmite either.......

I'm trying to keep the same theme running with the head unit that skoda have with the design

I can live with the looks, providing it does whats on the tin, and it supports SD Cards, USB connections, Aux input (front and rear), Ipod, Iphone (and charge's them).

It found the iphone straight away, synched the phone book, supports voice dialing etc all without any messing around, it auto mutes of course, sound is clear and you get sound from the car speakers. The display also tells me signal strength, battery life etc from the iphone.

Subject to a better test at speed, rough roads etc then it's a winner so far, in everything other than looks, and can be had for £149.

[steffo]

great spec,but i've got to agree the looks are not to my taste, even the outside of the car don't look that bad
It would look better if the main control knob was Black instead of Silver.

[Fluffmeister]

Originally Posted by steffo

great spec,but i've got to agree the looks are not to my taste, even the outside of the car don't look that bad
It would look better if the main control knob was Black instead of Silver.

Oh well, regardless of the head unit, someone may find the guide usefull for reference if they plan to change the theirs and fit the skoda adapter

[Johnwg]

I like it, looks good mate - helps bring the dash/centre consol area to life

[Parsko]

Tiz a bargain it has to be said !

[steffo]

Originally Posted by Fluffmeister

Oh well, regardless of the head unit, someone may find the guide usefull for reference if they plan to change the theirs and fit the skoda adapter

Sorry i didn't mean to offend with my comments,am i forgiven?

[Decron]

Originally Posted by steffo

Sorry i didn't mean to offend with my comments,am i forgiven?

Lol

I don't think a fence was taken but Fluff did put a lot of work into this thread...

[VRSPhil]

I like it

[Fluffmeister]

Originally Posted by steffo

Sorry i didn't mean to offend with my comments,am i forgiven?

PMSL, it's going to take more than telling me I've got a fugly head unit to upset me especially as I've got a fugly head to match it

[Decron]

Originally Posted by Fluffmeister

PMSL, it's going to take more than telling me I've got a fugly head unit to upset me especially as I've got a fugly head to match it

Fugly head with a bump!

[G-slave]

can't wait for the detailed user review!