Hello Stan,
Excellent question as I see this as a potentially necessary upgrade in the next few years. I’ve been considering this kind of upgrade the last 3 years but so far I’ve not found a solution without clunky operation when switching from RNS-E mode to CarPC/Android Auto/CarPlay mode via the required Video multimedia module.
The idea behind this is awesome though and goes to show how dedicated some people are by trying to solve the RNS-Es lack of recent features as it get older.
There are quite a few DIY solutions of CarPC available out there in various states of usability but regarding the Navinc; there is a decent write up from a user on the TT Forum:
www.ttforum.co.uk
The Navinc solution looks good with its touch screen but at £450 without the Multimedia module is rather pricey for an antiquated head unit that can still demand up to £300 on the reasonably priced A3 Infotainment thread. If you’re starting out from a Symphony unit in a Double DIN dashboard then expect to be £1000 lighter to first obtain the RNS-E PU, video multimedia module and of course the Navinc kit. Installing yourself will keep costs down but installation fees have to be considered as this could turn out to be a very expensive venture, even more so if you’ve still running a Single DIN dashboard. Depending on installation fees then this could quickly spiral to more than I paid for Project EUD which is crazy.
That said, as all the fleet have a RNS-E PU plus carrying a spare then I’ll no doubt have a go at making my own version of this in the next 12 months but won’t be able to start until late July/early August due to current work commitments.
Conduct a thorough search for as much as you can using terms like RNS-E CarPC, RNS-E CarPlay, RNS-E Android Auto, RNS-E Touchscreen. From searching the above terms should see you armed with as much information as I’m sitting on right now.
I do propose to make my own CarPC when the current RNS-E maps (2020/2021) become too far out of date and cause issue. The smart phone is always on standby but there have been occasions when there has been absolutely no mobile service and had to rely on the RNS-E for navigation.
Everything I find out will be on its own thread where I’ll share all the details on how to build such a unit and of course how to integrate it into the A2. My personal venture on this subject won’t start immediately as I’m waiting for the day job to ease off along with waiting for someone to stumble across the best possible smooth setup for an acceptably smooth operation.
It won’t be a cheap enhancement but nice things are expensive I suppose. The easier option would be to install an aftermarket RNS-E lookalike which which comes packed with the latest features, but I do like the look of the RNS-E and I wouldn’t want to loose the infotainment information in DIS.
More to follow from me towards summer period but for now we look forward to the reviews of the off the shelf Navinc solution from both the installer and end user.
Kind regards,
Tom