Thread: 2009 Pontiac G8 GT Build- The Shiz-Nit

Drool....I love the G8 so much....very jealous! The G8 will be the next car I own, after my car dies. I don't care if it may be old by then...I just love the styling...

Good luck on the project!

I could not wait for everything to get here and I am still hung-up on the power supply. Here is the new Infinity Kappa 32.9cf center speaker that I installed today. I will have to put a 6ohm or so resistor on it because it is just to over powering of the other speakers. I also installed Infinity Kappa 6.5" in both front doors but did not take any pics. I will take pics when I do the back ones. I also got my Touch Screen overlay in the mail today. This will go over my stock screen.

What's VIM? It's a nav/video hack?

Maybe you can hack yourself and save some $$$. Most likely you'd have to add a switch to cut the speed wire, ground the parking brake and, as with my Sequoia, I also had to add a switch to the OEM gps antenna wire (because without speed info, the computer tried to guess speed from the gps). Most Toyota/Lexus solutions also involved cut the gps positioning, so I didn't spend much (around $15.00 at Radio Shack), while people were asking $300+ for the same thing.

Now a permanent solution, that keeps everything working, I haven't seen yet for Toyota/Lexus. Is that what this VIM does? If so, totally worth it. Does it add VGA input to the stock monitor too?

Yes sort of the "VIM" stands for Video In Motion. It is a safety feature GM built in. You can play video through the rear Aux port while in park or up to 3-5mph then it shuts off. The VIM mod allows the video to stay on no matter what speed. No one has figured out how to do it except a company called JHP.
Here is a link
http://jhp.com.au/g8partsdirect/VideoInMotion.htm

My car does not come with OEM GPS, the screen is just for the stock radio an HVAC controls.

Until myself or someone else finds out a different way it is the only option I have. They are also the only company that sells it.

You can't just cut a wire to disable the VIM safety feature. It pulls that information from the GMLAN interface. You have to reflash the radio to "not care," about the higher speeds. That's what JHP is offering... it's VERY expensive, but they have a monopoly on the market right now.

It just sucks that we (I drive an 09.5 G8GT,) have to suffer with composite video signals... I am desperately trying to find another solution. I have heard of A/C controls being relocated... basically, everything in the car works off GMLAN, and right now, the stock headunit simply communicates to those modules. All it would take is adding a secondary controller somewhere.

Do you really want to keep your stock HU?

I'd much rather replace my headunit with something different... a nice hi-res screen would be great.

I'm thinking I might be able to replace the screen, and still have it hook up to the stock stereo, but ALSO have VGA input... no more VIM necessary at that point...

-tripzero
In order for the HVAC controls to function I must keep my stock head unit.

-ScrapMaker
I have been looking into a replacement screen but have not found one yet. I was thinking along the same path as you. If I could swap out the screen and replace it with a screen that has a VGA input then I do not see a reason why it would not work.

Update: Just waiting on my motherboard and a few other parts to come in. I hope I will get to install next 2 weeks.

Originally Posted by SeanO

-tripzero
In order for the HVAC controls to function I must keep my stock head unit.

The hvac is controlled by the hu's interface? that's lame . I must say that slightly lessens my love for the g8 gt. Well, good news is that a lot of effort is going into hacking the GMLAN, so sometime in the future you should be able to control the hvac from your carpc.