Thread: Stealth OEM install in MR2 Spyder - Magazine coverage!

one thing i never saw mentioned was the fact that this car is a convertible! how does the screen do in the daytime with the top down? still readable? is yours a touch or did you get/make a non-touch lili? i'm about to put a touch lili in my mazda miata (mx5 for those outside the US), and sunlight washing out the screen is my biggest concern. i'm gonna put it back as far in the dash as feasible for shade, but i worry about not being able to see the sides of the screen, or feeling like i'm reaching down into a bucket to click stuff on screen, ya know? not enough room behind my radio to mount my mobo or an optical drive in there... my heater core is directly behind the HU and it's a TIGHT fit.

you're kinda lucky you had that door thingy on top of the dash as a place to mount it. it's funny... every time i get in a car at work (toyota dealership) i try and figure out where i'd hide a screen in it.

Gibson,

Yeah, that's a good point. To be honest, I'm not sure how the screen performs w/ the top down since I've still got the hardtop on for the winter (although here in LA its basically summer already). I'll probably store the hardtop again in a few weeks and I'll let you know how it turns out.

I'm willing to bet though, that there's gonna tons of glare. Right now, the monitor shroud (the door thingy replacement peice) does a pretty good job w/ keeping the glare out, but there are still instances where the sun will strike it at precisely an angle to wash everything out. To be honest though, I drive mostly when the sun is starting to set or has already set. When daylight savings time comes up, I'll have a better idea of how it performs in daylight.

While mouting the lilli in that position helps visibility, it makes it nearly impossible to use the touch function while driving, at least not safely. I normally have to lean forward by about 6 inches just to reach it. Thats the reason I decided the modify the stock knobs and buttons to act as inputs; this way I don't have to worry about using the touchscreen when its inappropriate.

The JDM shroud thing is pretty cool, it opens up from the screen to a wider area, so it doesn't feel like you're confined when looking at it or using the touchscreen. I'll take more detailed pix later today to show you what I mean.

Awesome car BTW, miatas are a ton of fun

ok, since you mentioned leaning forward to touch the screen, i guess yours actually is a touch. i only brought that up since the touch panel overlay decreases screen brightness and clarity. mine's one of the "newision" lili's with touch. haven't played with it much, but it's a little brighter than my dell laptop, which i think has like 150 nits brightness (drops lower when on battery)... and with the top down and the sun shining on the laptop screen, you can't hardly read it at all (on battery). i think i'll probably be ok as long as i can make some shade for the lili in the dash. i bet toyota probably uses a 300+nit screen (w/ autodim for night) in their jdm mr-s nav screen so that it's visible w/ the top down. they use a pretty good screen in their other indash apps like the sequoia, avalon, camry, etc, and i have yet to see them wash out in sunlight, but then again all those cars have solid roofs. i like how toyota seems to put actual THOUGHT and long-term testing into their products, unlike some american manufacturers.

thanks for the props on my car... it's my little street legal go-kart

before i bought the miata, i looked at getting an mr2 or mr-s as well when i was originally shopping for a 2-seater. i had a big problem with the original mr2 - the dead pedal is too close to the clutch, and i just can't shift fast in there - my foot always catches the edge of the dead pedal and my brain registers the stop so i move my hand to shift but it always grinds since i didn't have the clutch all the way in. then for the mr-s - it just doesn't have enough storage space to be practical as an ONLY car, plus i didn't like the way it handled, and i can't adjust much in the alignment department on the mr-s. the miata has an actual trunk (though admittedly it isn't huge, but it is possible to fit 2 golf bags (with clubs) into the trunk... try that in a '2! granted, i don't golf, but it gives you a good idea of the size. also, the miata has so much adjustment possibility for alignment, i can set it EXACTLY where i want it for my autocrossing. anyway, the insurance cost was the biggest deciding factor for me. insurance on an mr2 turbo is the same as a CORVETTE, and the mr-s was only a couple bucks lower than that... whereas the miata was less than half what a vette costs to insure. funny thing is, the 97 miata is cheaper to insure than my previous car - a 95 v6 camry coupe!

anyway, please keep me updated on how the screen does once the HT comes off. funny thing, those hardtops... i don't plan on ever getting one - it only gets cold about a month out of the year, and i'd have nowhere to store it for the other 11 months. just not worth the $1000+ and hassle.

Yeah, my screen is a TS lilliput.

haha, yup the storage space is a big issue for most people. I thought it was crazy too until I realized that I'm driving by myself most of the time anyways, so I just use the passenger compartment for most of my storage needs. Some of the more hardcore guys just take out their passenger seats to move stuff around.

If I ever need space, I just borrow a friend's or my gf's car.

I actually love the way the mr-s handles, but the miata is an excellent handling car in its own right as well; the weight balance is quite good. Add that to the fantastic aftermarket support, and you have an exceptional roadster My friend just bought a used turbo kit for $500 off some guy a while back for his 93 miata!

Interestingly, mr-s insurance costs for me are quite low. With the exception of the guys w/ poor driving records and the high school kids, people on the spyder forum report that they generally pay reasonable rates. Here in my area, i get billed about 750 for the year which I understand is pretty reasonable for full coverage+ in Southern California. I think part of the reason is since the HP rating is so low.

Of course, that doesn't take away any of the fun for me

The reason I actually bought the hardtop was cuz someone slashed the softtop to try and break in a while back. The lame thing was all they stole was my change @@!)!@(!)!)!) Ugh. The benefits of it on an mr-s are pretty apparent once you have it on though. I dunno if its the same for miatas, but the chassis stiffens up quite a bit and the rear visibility is MUCH better (the poor excuse of a window in the back doesn't do much for visibility). I don't have chassis braces yet so when it comes time to take off the hardtop, I'm always a bit hesitant.

Once daylight saving time hits here in so cal, I'm sure visibility on my lilli is gonna go to **** Like I said before, the shroud helps, but direct sunlight is still a killer. I'll be sure to keep ya posted.

edited with updates...

silencery that looks so good. Great monitor positioning. I also really love you stealth install. Now interfacing the buttons and knob! Very nice work. Do you have any pics of how you rigged the knobs? I'm having trouble visualizing the mouse wheel and rotary parts behind the knob.

Originally Posted by ppgt94

silencery that looks so good. Great monitor positioning. I also really love you stealth install. Now interfacing the buttons and knob! Very nice work. Do you have any pics of how you rigged the knobs? I'm having trouble visualizing the mouse wheel and rotary parts behind the knob.

They aren't mouse knobs. They are knobs from phidgets.