Alpine ILX-F309 Installed

[Paragon1]

Couple shots of the new addition. Why did i do it? Probably because I spend so much time traveling and driving vehicles with much better infotainment systems. (get with the times toyota)

Additionally I wanted to display more vehicle information. Overall I'm really happy with it, relocated it to the lower slot using the DIN mounts that came with the dash kit as you can see in the second image.

The sound quality (especially with the R series speakers) is incredible. Amp was installed under the drivers seat though, wasn't too keen on that but its a clean setup regardless. Took a bit to learn the system but overall its fairly intuitive, and the interface is as responsive as any of the good cell phones out there. The only thing I wish it had was pitch and roll indicators.

Cheers.

 

[4runr4eva]

Couple shots of the new addition. Why did i do it? Probably because I spend so much time traveling and driving vehicles with much better infotainment systems. (get with the times toyota)

Additionally I wanted to display more vehicle information. Overall I'm really happy with it, relocated it to the lower slot using the DIN mounts that came with the dash kit. The sound quality (especially with the R series speakers) is incredible. Amp was installed under the drivers seat though, wasn't too keen on that but its a clean setup regardless. Took a bit to learn the system but overall its fairly intuitive, and the interface is as responsive as any of the good cell phones out there. The only thing I wish it had was pitch and roll indicators.

Cheers.

Sweet. I am looking at getting the same unit. Some have complained on a start up delay issues after 2-3 start-ups, can you confirm the unit doesn't have the issue. How was the install? With the amp, which amp did you use? an alpine in-line amp or another after market? Anything else you can share would be appreciated. Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Paragon1]

Used all alpine components. Can’t remember which amp it is, think it’s the upper mid-level one they make. Haven’t had any issues with startup delays. Usually takes about 10 seconds for the system to load, during which time it displays the blue alpine opening screen.

 

[WindyCity4Runner]

Can you do a favor for me? Can you store a few XM presets in memory and see if you can use your steering wheel controls to move through the presets?

I just upgraded to a Kenwood unit and it won't let you scroll through the presets using the steering wheel. I know it sounds petty but it's a big deal to me.

 

[Tejas]

I love the interface and looks of this unit but I can't get past how it partially blocks the center AC vents. We live in south Texas and that AC on blast is an absolute must May through September and impeding that direct flow seems like a major fault.

 

[tjnptel1]

Very nice! Trim piece matches very well, what is that trim kit #? did you have to have it colored or did it come like that?

 

[Paragon1]

Can you do a favor for me? Can you store a few XM presets in memory and see if you can use your steering wheel controls to move through the presets?

I just upgraded to a Kenwood unit and it won't let you scroll through the presets using the steering wheel. I know it sounds petty but it's a big deal to me.

I have the steering wheel control adapter installed, pushing up/down scrolls thru the channels. right left scrolls thru the mode options. Center button to access your phones recent call list. I havent figured out how to do presets yet, but will update as soon as i do.

Here's a quick clip... YouTube

 

[Paragon1]

I love the interface and looks of this unit but I can't get past how it partially blocks the center AC vents. We live in south Texas and that AC on blast is an absolute must May through September and impeding that direct flow seems like a major fault.

Take a look at the second pic, just uploaded it to show the difference between mounting in the upper and lower DIN slots. The Metra kit comes with brackets that let you mount it on the lower one. makes a HUGE difference, I'm currently living in central GA, we get all the heat you guys do.

 

[Paragon1]

Very nice! Trim piece matches very well, what is that trim kit #? did you have to have it colored or did it come like that?

The kit is made by Metra, comes matching the black as best it can. Looks great.

 

[Paragon1]

Can you take a side profile pic with it installed in the lower slot. Just looking at the Alpine plug and play and it appears to not be in the lower position...so does your unit include everything as this one but just using a black metra trim?

Any idea on the amp wiring side of things...assume rca inputs to the amp and then speaker leads back to the main harness...did the use a patch harness, tap the leads or extract the pins out of the harness?

Cant speak to the amp wiring, recommend you go to the alpine homepage for that info, i didnt do the install.

Metra makes both dash kits, silver and black. The kit has two rectangular pieces that are double-din mounts. The intent is for the system to be mounted in the top portion, but those mounts let you place it in the lower slot. you can kind of see it in the first picture, all the way on the far side of the radio you can see the black piece with two obling holes in it, thats one of the pieces. Only down side of doing it this way is there's a gap in the upper din slot now as they didnt create a piece of trim to cover it. you can see it from either of the front seats though so im good with it.

 

[WindyCity4Runner]

I have the steering wheel control adapter installed, pushing up/down scrolls thru the channels. right left scrolls thru the mode options. Center button to access your phones recent call list. I havent figured out how to do presets yet, but will update as soon as i do.

Here's a quick clip... YouTube

Thanks - I appreciate it.

 

[WhiteRunner10]

Funny I almost bought this from Crutchfield today.

I dont have steering wheel controls so I was trying to figure out how to keep my aux and get a usb without buying maestro equipment.

Question- all reviews I read said google maps sucks and is almost impossible to see due to horrible contrast/screen resolution. Have you tested that out yet?

Also would be curious how the usb works. Is it a separate cord you can just plu into the back and route someplace or even to a punchout?

Last question- Do you u feel an amp was necessary to power the speakers (no sub)? I want to get oemaudio's setup w/ sub in the future so that amp will be in the pkg bought.

Looks nice congrats.

 

[Paragon1]

Funny I almost bought this from Crutchfield today.

I dont have steering wheel controls so I was trying to figure out how to keep my aux and get a usb without buying maestro equipment.

Question- all reviews I read said google maps sucks and is almost impossible to see due to horrible contrast/screen resolution. Have you tested that out yet?

Also would be curious how the usb works. Is it a separate cord you can just plu into the back and route someplace or even to a punchout?

Last question- Do you u feel an amp was necessary to power the speakers (no sub)? I want to get oemaudio's setup w/ sub in the future so that amp will be in the pkg bought.

Looks nice congrats.

The screen resolution could’ve been better, but the contrast is just fine, and I default it to the night time mode. Anyone who doesn’t like it is probably just spoiled by their cell phone. It does the job well. I just had them route to the factory USB port. Easy peasy

I went with the high end speakers and figured it’d be a travesty to not have an amp, however doing so added three hours to the install. No sub.

 

[Paragon1]

Can you do a favor for me? Can you store a few XM presets in memory and see if you can use your steering wheel controls to move through the presets?

I just upgraded to a Kenwood unit and it won't let you scroll through the presets using the steering wheel. I know it sounds petty but it's a big deal to me.

Now that I finally figured out how to store presets on XM, the answer to your question is yes. You can scroll thru them w/ steering wheel controls. You have to hold down then up/down selection on the wheel for slightly longer than a normal selection. May work on Your current system as well.

 

[WhiteRunner10]

Now that I finally figured out how to store presets on XM, the answer to your question is yes. You can scroll thru them w/ steering wheel controls. You have to hold down then up/down selection on the wheel for slightly longer than a normal selection. May work on Your current system as well.

Thoughts after living with it for a few weeks?

 

[Paragon1]

Thoughts after living with it for a few weeks?

100% satisfied, only thing missing is a subwoofer but I don’t wanna lose the storage space. And I really wish the apple CarPlay was via Bluetooth, but the upside to it being via usb is the phone doesn’t die on me. It’s a great system, especially if you get the components to display the vehicle info.

 

[Bayou_Pro]

Man I think that unit looks great!! Been seriously thinking about that unit since that T8 thing has failed so bad. Do you Waze? If so does it have it's own app on the HU or do you use it through Apple Car Play? Any problem multitasking while using Waze and say Pandora together? Had a Pioneer in my other car and it was like a stupid orchestrated process to make it all work together and switch back and forth. Thanks and congrats.

 

[CLO T4R]

Installed mine earlier this year and never looked back. Taking it all apart tmrw to install a slimline alpine sub under my seat [emoji16]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Paragon1]

Man I think that unit looks great!! Been seriously thinking about that unit since that T8 thing has failed so bad. Do you Waze? If so does it have it's own app on the HU or do you use it through Apple Car Play? Any problem multitasking while using Waze and say Pandora together? Had a Pioneer in my other car and it was like a stupid orchestrated process to make it all work together and switch back and forth. Thanks and congrats.

Thanks! I never really use waze, and i believe they were recently bought by google anyway so i reckon google maps will be slowly incorporate their inputs. Haven't used pandora, but generally stream youtube and had no trouble with that while following google maps.

That being said i believe waze is only accessible through CarPlay.

 

[Paragon1]

Installed mine earlier this year and never looked back. Taking it all apart tmrw to install a slimline alpine sub under my seat [emoji16]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Still waffling over getting a sub, definitely wanna see how your install goes. If you don't mind could you post some pics when its installed?