NC Venture factory fitted sat nav

Just seen a 12 plate 2.0 Venture with factory fitted double din radio & sat nav. Just wondering what people thought of it? Is it ok or is it worth considering replacing with a more current model? Would this be a similar process to replacing a Bose head unit?

Been doing a little searching on these head units myself and found they are Sanyo units. If you use the search function on the forum it brings up loads of info re these units. Apparently the later model, maybe 13 plate going forward but definitely from 14 plate models had the Alpine navigation head unit. The Alpine is s better unit after reading all that info.
My choice would have been (if the older unit) to swap it out for an aftermarket head unit, I already have one to swap that does navigation via Android Auto, Google maps or Waze.

And to add, you would need the necessary facia adapter to swap out the head unit and trace back the wiring loom for it, itā€™s tucked away so slightly different (the loom) to a bog standard head unit or Bose wiring but very doable.

I have a 13 plate Venture. As above it is a Sanyo unit. Personally I thought it was awful, incredibly slow, poor quality sound not great when paired to my phone and obviously no CarPlay etc. One of the first upgrades I did was swapped it out for a pioneer unit and a new set of speaker. Big advantage I found over the standard Bose unit was that I didnā€™t need to swap the facia and the kit I got was a simple plug in (once I found the adaptor for the Sanyo and unplugged that), even the steering wheel controls still work.

So if you have the Sanyo unit you donā€™t need to swap the facia when fitting an aftermarket unit.:+1: Bonus good to know, those facia kits are expensive for what they are.

I asked several places and spoke to the guys i bought it from at Dynamic sounds and was told you did need to swap it out and I bought the new one (so if anyone wants a double din facia Ive one for sale) but I didnā€™t. See photo, apology for the reflection of me. I went for the SPH-DA160DAB, I use my phone for satnav so didnā€™t bother getting one with it on. Particularly easy to fit as itā€™s not a deep as the original, so lots of space behind. I did replace my aerial with a DAB one (didnā€™t want the stick on your windscreen one). Really impressed with it, can even use hands free with the roof down

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Hi, Iā€™ve just replaced the Sanyo in my 12 plate Venture with a Kenwood DMX5020 DAB, so far very pleased but as the carā€™s not moved off the drive, the real test will be a trip down south over this coming weekend. I did buy the double din facia kit and steering wheel controls from Dynamic Sounds (Ā£100), as originally Iā€™d bought a Xtrons android unit, but I really struggled to get that to fit nice so sent it back. In contrast the Kenwood fitted a treat and looks very ā€˜factoryā€™ (as does Jonhikgriffā€™s picture above to be honest).
The Sanyo has Tomtom maps, but even with the latest free updates applied it doesnā€™t know about the ā€˜newā€™ section of the A14 and doesnā€™t play nice with my phone.

Dumped mine from my 2013 Sport Tech as it was rubbish in sound quality and performance.
Fitted a Kenwood DMX 8019DABS, (best for Apple CarPlay). Or for the Android user the 8020 has been upgraded.
Or whatever you desire. I would recommend buying one that connects wire free as an opinion.
Can send some pictures/help/instructions to you if that is what you buy. There are some wires/plugs that are a bit of a mystery. :slightly_smiling_face::+1:

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Really appreciate this guys. Just one thing on Apple CarPlay, does that replicate all your apps from your phone or only certain compatible ones? I take it you can stream music from Deezer/Spotify/Amazon etc? Does WhatsApp work?

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Being Apple only certain apps are replicated across to the CarPlay screen, but the common ones should be available (Iā€™ve tested Deezer and Waze), think WhatsApp is included
These are mine, yours will be different:

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As above, Settings, General, CarPlay. Then when set up select the unit, go to Customise. It will show which ones can be used with driving etc. WhatsApp works but obviously limited what you can and canā€™t do when moving. Music and maps all good to go. :+1:

I like the look of this, was it a straight swap or did you need extra harnesses for the steering wheel controls (a la the Bose set up)?

Did you upgrade speakers as well?

Hi Timmy,

The stereo looks neat when fitted, but I did order the harness for the steering wheel controls and Aerial from dynamic sounds (see below).

Iā€™d read elsewhere that the speakers werenā€™t great, but to be honest they seem fine to me with the Kenwood fitted, especially considering all the other noises in the car (Wind and BBR 200!!). So as things stand I donā€™t see the need to change mine.
Iā€™d change your head unit first and then see what you think to the sound afterwards.

Cheers
Paul

Relatively easy once you have worked out which wires go where.
A couple of them you will need to cut/unsolder from the original loom to use again.
Yes, speakers upgraded JVC CS-J6820 ones.
I did notice that once the new unit was working the rear small speakers also worked.
Mine replaced the NVA-SD8110 which was actually lets say ā€œAdaptedā€ to fit in by Mazda and was never really a good system.
I guess yours is the NVA-SD8110 (which is obviously non Bose).
Bits fitted and the unit was on offer at the time mind.

  1. KENWOOD DMX8019DABS. (CAR AUDIO CENTRE) Ā£444.99
  2. CONNECTS 2 FACIA CT24MZ20 (DYNAMIC SOUNDS) Ā£32.95
  3. CONNECTS 2 WIRING LOOM- CTSMZ002.2 (CONNECTS THE STEERING WHEEL FUNCTIONS ETC). CAR AUDIOCENTRE Ā£44.99
  4. KENWOOD PATCH LEAD- (THAT PLUGS INTO THE BRAIN BOX OF 3). Ā£4.99
  5. CONNECTS 2 ANTENNA ADAPTER- CT27AA36. FROM DYNAMIC SOUNDS (eBay FORGOT IT ON THE FIRST ORDER). Ā£8.99
  6. DAB ANTENNA -WENT WITH THE KENWOOD DAB-A1 DYNAMIC SOUNDS Ā£12.95
  7. KENWOOD CMOS-230 REVERSING CAMERA. CAR AUDIO CENTRE Ā£65.00 (Very well worth doing).
    Not the cheapest, but life has taught me you get what you pay for.
    Always happy to assist if you get stuck. :slightly_smiling_face: :+1:
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Hey just fitted the same Pioneer unit. I was expecting it to be flush like it is with the aftermarket fascia, but having put it together with the Mazda original it kind of looks ok. Did you put the rear mounting plates back on? I mean the bits with the infamous 10mm bolt. I didnā€™t bother as my thinking was I needed another fascia, so it was a temp job, but it all works so well now Iā€™m reluctant to pull everything apart. Does the rear mount fit with the original fascia and the Pioneer?

which pioneeer unit did you buy ?

Mine still has its original unit. Generally Iā€™m quite happy with it but map updates and LIVE subscriptions are not cheap. I never listen to the stereo as it is not a quiet car.