How-To: iPodding the Celica, Part I

Introduction

Two years ago, I decided that I really wanted a GPS installed in my car. After much research, I ended up with a choice between two options: A permanently mounted GPS system with display, or a removable handheld PDA-like unit. I went with the permanent mount, replacing my car's stock stereo with the Pioneer AVH-6500 DVD Player/LCD Screen and the Pioneer AVIC-9 GPS.

Now I've decided that I want to be able to listen to my iPod in the car. There are a plethora of options for installing an iPod in vehicles, but the main ones that I see everyone use is:

• FM Transmitter
  
  I've heard the sound quality is pretty bad on these, and since I live in the Bay Area, there's not a lot of free radio frequencies that stays usable throughout my 30 mile commute.
  
• Cassette Adapter
  
  Since I replaced my stock stereo, I've lost the ability to use cassettes within the car. This is not a big deal, although it does mean the cheapest, quickest and most universal option isn't available to me.
  

Aftermarket stereo manufacturers have been slow to include iPod support, but after BMW started including the option, many other car manufacturers and aftermarket stereo companies have followed the trend. There are a couple of advantages:

• iPod is powered by the car's battery.
  
  Most iPod adapters run off either the cigarette lighter power or from the iPod's internal battery. You can also buy an external battery pack.
  
• Cables aren't all over the car interior.
  
  My other option was to simply wire RCA audio cables to headphone jack and go through the DVD Player Breakout box. This is something I may do if I ever wire in an iPod Photo. However, since I need to pull apart the interior anyways to get to the breakout box, why not do it the professional way? I already have a bunch of cables littering the car due to the radar detector (I'll clean it up one of these days).
  
• Audio quality is better.
  
  There's probably a difference. Not sure if my ears can discern the difference. I can test this pretty easily by plugging in RCAs to the breakout box.
  

There are a couple of drawbacks:

• A more time consuming install.
  
  It would definitely be quicker to simply buy a couple of adapters and plug it in.
  
• A little bit more expensive.
  
  The Pioneer iPod adapter cost me $120. FM Transmitters and Cigarette Lighter adapters are much cheaper. I've seen some ligher adapters under 20 bucks.
  
• It's without a doubt faster to use iPod navigation than it is to use the adapter's interface. Since essentially what these car auto kits do is trick the stereo into thinking there's a CD changer hooked up into it, the interface doesn't have the capability to display a list of tracks and only displays one at a time.