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Old 08-23-2008, 02:22 PM   #1
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2007 Renault Megane...the OEM look

The car is a 2007 Renault Megane Sport Saloon.

It's a little different from a stock one especially on the inside, where the main attraction is the fully integrated carpc. The basic idea was to integrate almost everything so that in the end the car would have a stock look...

The computer consists of a 1.8Ghz Celeron CPU with 1GB DDRAM, a 260GB HDD and loads of USB devices. The computer is mounted in the glove box. For that I needed to modify the Travla C137 case a little bit so that it would fit in there. Everything is powered by an Opus 150W PSU.
The "cool" thing about mounting it in the glove box, is that the carpc is cooled by the AC at all times. Also in the glove box we can see the IR sensor from the cordless notebook size keyboard.



The screen for the computer is a 7" Hitachi custom mounted on top of the center console. The console is custom made, and it's based on the X3/Z4 OEM navi, custom modified to match the Megane's dashboard and it's a motorized fold in/out type of monitor.











The entire PC is controlled from one single point...everything from mouse movement to volume adjustment is made from the SpaceNavigator located just above the handbrake.
Some of the functions like volume control next/previous song or play list shuffle are also available on the modified steering wheel control, where a Griffin Powermate unit is integrated as well.





There are a lot of USB devices hooked up to the CarPC, like:
1. DVB TV Tuner with the antenna hidden away in the stock tweeter location.
2. FM Tuner
3. GPS BU 303 mouse also hidden in the same location
4. The 2.7" Mio H610 custom navigation located in the clocks is also permanently hook up to the PC through an USB port. It's antenna is also hidden in a stock tweeter location.
5. Griffin Powermate in the steering wheel controls
6. USB joystick for the actual steering wheel controls
7. USB DVD player - mounted just below the factory CD player
8. USB Wifi stick - also hidden in the dashboard
9. USB GSM modem for Internet connection
10.Bluetooth for phone connection and for a mini Bluetooth Keyboard.
Future plans:
11.USB Rear Parking sensors - coming soon with a little help from Dejan
12.USB Tyre Presure Monitoring Sensors - coming soon also with a little help from Dejan
13.USB Valetine One radar Detector - coming soon

Of course navigation could've easily been implemented on the carpc, but the fact is the pc is handling so many devices and it can do so many things, I just didn't want the screen to be always showing the navigation.
That's why I decided to have a separate navigation system. Custom mounted inside the clocks it's a 2.7" Touch screen Mio H610 navigation system. You can see in the first pic the factory clocks that come with the Megane. I also changed the background foil with a black one, sprayed with black the inner plastic rings, and added two chrome rings that really give the interior a premium touch.
The key and STOP warning lights have been also relocated in the left/right of the trip computer.











Hooked up to the front monitor is also a rear view camera mounted in the rear badge of the car.



One of the most interesting things the CarPC does is the DSP feature. I have no head unit, so the sound commes out of the PC directly into the 3 amplifiers mounted in the trunk.
So the sound is processed by the PC with the help of the Audiotrack Prodigy 7.1 HiFi Sound card (made by ESI) and a few very smart bits of software. It was a little tricky at first, but it works great, and it seems so easy now...

I really couldn't have pulled this off if it wasn't for Durwood who very kindly guided me into the right direction. So A BIG THANKS goes out to Durwood!

The sound system is a 4 way active system and it consists of the following:
- tweeters: Helix RS801 Competition custon mounted in the side mirror supports
- midrange: DLS Iridium 3" custom mounted in the front doors (the design is not yet finished)
- midbas: Focal Polyglass - will soon be changed with Helix RS806
- Subwoofer: Phase Thriller 15” in custom case inside the trunk
- amplifier for the mids and tweeters is a Helix DB4
- amplifier for the midbas is a Helix DB2
- amplifier for the subwoofer is a Phase Linear RS1 monoblock
Again, the sound install was ment to be as low profile as possible...that's why the subwoofer and amplifiers are hidden away for the untrained eye...

A few pics of the sound system:
















As for the car, the exterior is almost stock, only the bumpers and side protections have been painted to match the car and a window chrome strip has been added. Also the rear lights and the side repeaters have been smoked, an Eibach Pro kit has been fitted to lower the car just a bit, and the 17" Wolfrace wheels.
There also little details like the interior ambient light, LED mirror turn signals, mirror ambient lights, spray window washers borrowed from the Laguna or high beam HID lights (the low beam is HID from factory) were also fitted.
















Last edited by Cris; 08-23-2008 at 03:05 PM.
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Old 08-23-2008, 02:42 PM   #2
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That navigation in the cluster loooks awsome. Good work on the whole thing.
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Old 08-23-2008, 02:53 PM   #3
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misto masina. intrebare: poti controla gpsul de la carpc, sau functionalitatea e limitata la un exchange de fisiere intre el si pc?

for the international readers: great project, glad to see another romanian on the forum
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Old 08-23-2008, 04:59 PM   #4
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Wow....

The little LCD screen in the cluster look great.

How have you done?

Have you got a worklog?
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Old 08-23-2008, 07:14 PM   #5
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Thank you for the comments. I have a couple of pictures, but not on this PC.

P.S: nice to see a fellow romanian as well.
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Old 08-23-2008, 08:06 PM   #6
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The little screen in the cluster is a really nice idea. Is that a pocket PC?
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Old 08-23-2008, 08:16 PM   #7
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Excellent install! Kudos on some great work there. I particularly like the Mio in the instrument cluster. Since the Mio has a touchscreen to control it and enter addresses, how do you accomplish this with it mounted like so? Are you able to control it through the PC or SpaceNavigator control? You're not really reaching your arm through the steering wheel to enter a destination, are you?

@yaniv: No, it's a self-contained, portable unit that happens to run Windows CE but it isn't a Pocket PC. A review of the H610 can be viewed here.
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Old 08-24-2008, 01:16 AM   #8
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Thanks for the thanks. I love stealth installs and that mini screen in the cluster is a nice touch. Can you see it, that is tiny.

Do you worry about heat from the sun overheating that helix amp? I had a hard drive mounted underneath my rear deck and the summer sun was not nice to it.

Nice clean install.
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Old 08-24-2008, 06:44 AM   #9
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Quote: Originally Posted by Saab9-5 View Post
Excellent install! Kudos on some great work there. I particularly like the Mio in the instrument cluster. Since the Mio has a touchscreen to control it and enter addresses, how do you accomplish this with it mounted like so? Are you able to control it through the PC or SpaceNavigator control? You're not really reaching your arm through the steering wheel to enter a destination, are you?

@yaniv: No, it's a self-contained, portable unit that happens to run Windows CE but it isn't a Pocket PC. A review of the H610 can be viewed here.


Thank you Saab9-5 for your appreciation and details on the H610!
The Mio is controlled only by its own touchscreen...and it starts up when the car is started.
I always enter the destination before I set off (fact also recommended with any factory nav unit ) and not through the steering wheel, but beside it. There really is no discomfort to this whatsoever.


Quote: Originally Posted by durwood View Post
Thanks for the thanks. I love stealth installs and that mini screen in the cluster is a nice touch. Can you see it, that is tiny.

Do you worry about heat from the sun overheating that helix amp? I had a hard drive mounted underneath my rear deck and the summer sun was not nice to it.

Nice clean install.

Thanks Durwood!
The little screen is very well viewable. The fonts are a lot smaller on the factory board computer just above the Mio so you can imagine that it's very readable. Not only that, but being right in front of you between the clusters you always monitor, I can see it even if I don't want to.

The Helix and the Phase amp are on the rear deck (the other Helix is behind the false wall) and they do get pretty hot when the car stays in the sun, especially with it being black, but so far I didn't have any issues with them and they've been in there for about half a year...and it gets pretty hot over here...even up to 40dgrC=100F....

Last edited by Cris; 08-24-2008 at 06:46 AM.
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Old 08-24-2008, 04:00 PM   #10
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This is probably the best inpelamintation i have ever seen of any carputer.. i love how you made everything look stock! thats what makes this the most impressive.. i wish there was a way you can explain your setup more with pics, cause i would love to this on my car.

keep it up.. i cant wait to see what else you continue to do
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Old 08-24-2008, 07:00 PM   #11
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Nysaz, thank you very much for your appreciation.
More pics will follow as the car is scheduled for a little photo shoot two weeks from now.
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Old 08-25-2008, 05:06 AM   #12
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Dude,

Can you post a worklog of how you went about the DSP etc from the PC without a head unit?
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Old 08-25-2008, 01:37 PM   #13
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I will one I finish it. It's really not as hard as it seems actually...
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Old 08-25-2008, 05:09 PM   #14
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its sure seems hard.. lol
question.. did u have any issues runing the wiring the space naviagtor
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Old 08-26-2008, 03:54 AM   #15
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Actually the only issue I had was that the Space Navigator doesn't work with an USB extension...no matter how small it may be...directly into the USB HUB or USB port from the PC...otherwise, it doesn't work...or at least mine it didn't...
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