Our customer recently acquired this rare 6 speed gated manual 2014 Audi R8. This car didn't have a backup camera or the B&O audio package so it left a lot to be desired for anyone used to newer cars. The factory Audi Concert radio did have navigation but this car is of the unfortunate era where Audi only offered their proprietary AMI connector to plug in your phone and featured an interface that feels dated even by 2014 standards.
For the dash cam, we installed a Thinkware F800 Pro 2-Channel dash cam and iVolt battery. As these cars don't always get driven, a battery pack is a good idea to prevent discharging the factory battery and will provide much longer recording times for parking mode. Parking surveillance is useful for a flashier vehicle like this as they tend to draw a lot of attention. We mounted the battery pack under the passenger seat and hardwired it with a fuse tap to the fuse box in the footwell. Be sure to check out the screenshot below to see what the view out the rear camera looks like!
Installing an aftermarket head unit in these cars is tricky but not impossible. As it was initially released in 2008, it's old enough that you don't have specialty displays and various high performance tech like adaptive suspension integrated into the factory screen. There is some cutting required to get the dash kit to mount and clear the aftermarket deck and because the brackets are engineered for such a low production volume vehicle, they are a bit more expensive than average. Different modules are available for B&O and non B&O cars, so make sure to get the correct one if you are planning on retaining the factory amplifier.
For the rear camera we used a license plate frame style camera which helped us avoid needing to drill into the bodywork of the vehicle. As previously mentioned, this car didn't have factory USB ports so we ran one behind the dash kit which is accessible from the passenger side but virtually invisible to either occupant. As you can see from the pictures below, the head unit gives the R8 Android Auto (as well as Apple CarPlay) connectivity.
Due to the slant of the dashboard, we couldn't mount the Halo 9 (Alpine ILX-F259) lower so it does block the center vents slightly. That being said, the head unit could be pushed further out but we thought this wouldn't look as good. The ILX-F259 is visually identical to the ILX-F309 but is priced significantly lower. The $500 MSRP difference is definitely worth your consideration as with either option you're getting the same great display and Android Auto as well as Apple CarPlay support. For an older vehicle like this, the lack of iDatalink Maestro RR compatibility is not a deal breaker with the F259 but newer cars may require Maestro to retain all functions. Other missing features include HDMI input and HD Radio playback. Additionally, we helped our customer install some carbon fiber mirror caps and newer style grille that he had purchased.
Contact us today if you have a vehicle that you feel is lacking in connectivity and convenience features! You may be pleasantly surprised at how affordable upgrading your car might be!
