SEMA 2021

 

The SEMA Show

The Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) offered a new Friday Experience where they sold a limited number of tickets to the public to attend SEMA Friday.  I bought one of those tickets and attended.  I have wanted to attend SEMA ever since I first heard about it from Hot Rod magazine writeups back in the 1970's.  This years event was the largest convention in Las Vegas for 2021.  I have been to MINExpo in 2021, and CONEXPO in 2020, both at the Las Vegas Convention Center as well and SEMA is a bigger show using all of the convention center halls as well as most of the parking lots.  My Garmin watch reported over 19,000 steps and almost 11 miles of walking for the day.  It's nice the LVCC Loop helps get you between some of it without as much walking. I did not get to most of the stuff in the parking lots which took up all of the Central Hall lots, and likely more. It is a huge show to cover in one day.  

SEMA is about more than just aftermarket vehicles and equipment.  It also focuses on shops that service or modify vehicles.  SEMA has many vendors of tools, shop equipment, training, software, and pretty much everything a shop would need to service or modify vehicles.  

SEMA had an area they called SEMA Electrified.  This area showcased mostly BEV performance.  

At the end of the show they have an event called SEMA Ignite where a parade of vehicles from the show drive through the parking lot of the West Hall past a bunch of bleachers.  They have live music and beer too.  They block off Convention Center Drive from the LVCC Central Hall to the parking lot of the West Hall where SEMA Ignite is.  They also block off Paradise Road for a block in each direction.  This made it a challenge to get an Uber home.    

Cat had some products there, in 2 different areas.

There were of course plenty of press there so you can find many great photos, articles, and videos online from SEMA.  The pro's obviously have far better equipment and skill than me with my 2.5 year old smartphone.  Below are some videos I captured.

Here is a playlist of 360-degree videos I took. 

Aftermarket Performance Future

Another thing that attracted me to SEMA was to see where industry was with electrification.  I wrote this article earlier about what I see as a likely path for future aftermarket performance.  While full battery electric (BEV) conversions are happening, I have only found Vonnen doing hybrid conversions so far.  There are retailers selling Tesla motors and systems.  GM and Ford have both advertised "crate" electric motors. Ford did show off their Eluminator truck built on their e-crate motor that does have a part number and the article claims you can order it now. 

There were other companies offering BEV components at SEMA such as Blacmotor and Torque Trends. 

I can see a real future for full BEV conversions, but I also see a market for hybrids conversions which appears pretty much unserved except for Vonnen.

Many look at the trends and see the bigger leap direct to BEV in all cases.  I see it a bit differently.  I agree there is a market for BEV conversions and they are compelling in many ways but I also see a market for enhancements to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.  This market is larger than some think in my opinion.  There is something about hearing the sound of an engine that really matters to some.  I am one of those it matters to.  Maybe that desire runs stronger in older folks. I wrote an article about this earlier in this blog.  For those people (which includes me), hybrid really makes sense.  The use case for performance hybrid is very different than hybrid focused on fuel economy, as all the mainstream hybrids are.  Hybrid has been in racing for years now.  Look at F1 KERS for instance, or recent LeMans race cars.  Hybrid powertains are everywhere.  Sports cars often look to racing to adopt those approaches to enhance the performance of street/track sports cars.  Supercars are already well down this path too.  Some of the first were the Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari, and the McLaren P1 which came out years ago.  Many more have followed.

The other issue to consider is the increasing focus and regulation around emissions. The California Bureau of Auto Repair (BAR) has increased focus on going after modified vehicles.  The days of modifying flash files and tunes are nearing an end. Other aftermarket equipment that negatively impacts emissions will face increased scrutiny and eventual ban going forward as well.  Hybrid retrofits do not suffer these risks since they will result in neutral or decreased emissions, and they do not negatively impact emissions control or OBD. 

The performance benefits of electric and hybrid are clear.  Electric motors give a very different powerband than ICE engines.  Their performance peaks in the RPM range are opposites. Combining the 2 together give a much flatter performance curve and really fill in the low end power gaps that ICE engines have, particularly naturally aspirated ICE engines.  Adding hybrid has no effect on the engine sound, other than to allow it to rev even quicker.  The driver experience is enhanced with no downside.  

Some may look at the hybrid retrofit and claim the extra weight will be a bug downside.  That would be true if the net weight gain was significant, or worse, poorly placed in the vehicle.  They would also look at BEV and plug-in hybrids and claim those batteries are heavy and expensive, which is true.  However, the battery capacity needed for performance enhancement is much smaller than what you need for BEV and plug-in hybrid where you are trying to save fuel.  Vonnen's system uses a 1kWh battery.  Most BEVs require more like 80kWh or larger.  Vonnen's system also adds a total of 170lbs but places is lower in the chassis.  The only real downside of Vonnen's system I can see if the cost.  I believe as BEV and hybrids go more mainstream, we will see these costs go down.  I really like what Vonnen has done here and I think they are only the first of many to come.  

I believe that hybrid and electric offer many benefits over an ICE powertain.  Those include:

• The energy storage (batteries, ultra-caps) can be more strategically placed around the vehicle in more optimum places for the weight.  You can also have multiple smaller battery packs to optimize weight location.
• Energy storage can use a combination of batteries and ultra-capacitors based on optimizing for the use cases of the vehicle. Other future energy storage devices can also be used.
• Multiple motor/generators can be used.  This allows for better active torque vectoring without the use of the brakes.
• Electric motor/generators are not only used for propulsion, but also play a part in braking. I like track days and brakes take a real beating on track days.  Absorbing some of that braking energy with the electric system can be a real advantage.
• Multiple motor/generators can be placed to drive each wheel independently.  This will allow for torque vectoring to optimize deceleration in and acceleration out of corners on the track.  It is also a better way to manage traction control overall.
• Electric motor/generator control is very fast.  There is very little time lag between a command and the actual torque application.  This response is far better than any ICE powertrain and give a new level of control.
• When using multiple motor/generators, a single failure will not leave the vehicle incapacitated.  It is like having multiple engines on a airplane.  You can limp home even if one or more fail as long as you have enough for the job.
• You can enhance a hybrid system to also drive an electric supercharger.  When used with a Roots or screw supercharger, a motor/generator driving the supercharger can be used in place of the traditional throttle.  This can recover some otherwise wasted energy from the Otto-cycle engines during light loads.  You can also create custom tuned boost curves to optimize for the ICE engine.   
• You can dispense with all the ICE belt driven accessories like alternator, HVAC, and power steering.  Even the water pump can go electric drive.  This can also eliminate most or all of the related hoses from those systems.  The HVAC can be all hard lines instead of hoses since the compressor can now be body mounted.  Electric assist power steering already exists.  Eliminating all this belt driven stuff lets the engine rev quicker too.
• Engine attached motor/generators like the Vonnen system allows for the removal of the alternator and starter.  No longer do you have that noisy starter to start the engine.  This can also be used for anti-stall and stall recovery where the motor/generator are used to maintain idle speed even if the engine dies.
• In the case of highly modified engines, the engine attached motor/generator can by used to stabilize the idle.  The Aston Martin Valkyrie is a great example of this where the hybrid system is used to make the car more drivable. 
• It is possible, especially in off-road vehicles, to recover energy from the suspension using electro-magnetic suspension dampers (shocks).  These can be used to actively control vehicle ride.  Electro-magnetic suspension control can be used to eliminate the sway bars and instead have the ride height actively controlled.  This will allow the off-road vehicle to rock climb and keep all the wheels in contact with the ground while also preventing body roll at high speeds.  Body roll can be actively eliminated completely improving performance of all vehicles.  In fact, negative body roll can be implemented.  Since some of the energy is being recovered rather than generating waste heat, the devices would not have as much of a heat problem as shocks do in off-road racing.  Their performance can be temperature compensated too, whereas tradition shocks change performance when hot versus cold. 
• Optionally, auto start/stop could be implemented for street cars.  When combined with moving the belt driven accessories to electric drive, you can sit in comfort with the HVAC ON and engine off for some time.  This would be great for a daily driver in town.  Like many hybrids today, the motors can both start the engine and start the vehicle moving at the same time giving good response to accelerate from a stop (unlike non-hybrid start/stop systems).  
• The ICE can be electrically warmed up.  ICE engine wear is much higher on a cold engine.  The less cold operation the better.  Using the hybrid generator to drive an electric engine heater will both worm the engine faster, and heat the coolant faster.  
• An electric heater can be used for cab heat and windshield defrosting until the engine warms up. This is safer as well as more comfortable.
• Trailers can also be equipped with motor/generators.  This can allow for all the wheels to be driven in poor traction conditions so you don't get stuck.  It also allows for regenerative braking.  The trailer can have its own battery, or connect into the vehicles electrical system.
• Electric winches can be smaller and much more powerful using the high-voltage electrical system.  
• Electric PTO accessories can by used to drive various things that tradition PTO systems did.
• The list goes on and on.

The main point is to not think of electric drive as a replacement for a traditional powertrain but rather a whole new way of managing energy and power.  Think of solving the various use case challenges from scratch, rather than just evolving from traditional approaches.  

I would really like a BEV for my daily driver but I want a hybrid for my sports car.  BEV just makes so much more sense for a daily driver as I discussed in this blog post.  Longer term I do hope the ICE can live on in a carbon free fuel form using future fuels.  It will be a niche though as BEV really makes the most sense for the vast majority of people in most use cases. Getting the vast majority of people out of ICE vehicles will leave the remaining niche with little overall emissions impact even if we keep using petroleum to power them.

I am an optimist and I do believe the future of performance vehicles and vehicle customization is bright, even in the face of BEV and autonomous revolution.  I still remember the 1970's, the dark ages of the automobile in many way.  Many predicted the end of high-performance vehicles completely.  They said performance is just not possible with all the new emissions regulations.  I have to laugh at that now as todays performance cars are far better then the old muscle cars prior to the 1970's when it comes to performance.  Things got far better, not worse during the 1980's once the OEMs changed their mindset.  Aftermarket performance will of course remain a niche market, not the mainstream.  But that is really the point anyway.  SEMA is a fantastic display of this niche market, and just how big it really is.  Most of the folks in this business are passionate about performance first, and running a profitable business comes after that.  

Cayman S Water Pump

 I did a dumb thing but it turned out OK.  When I took the Cayman out of winter storage this spring and warmed it up for the first time in a while, I smelled coolant, although none leaked to the ground.  I have seen water pump seals do this before.  On most older cars the water pump has a simple bushing that runs in coolant so a small seep that quits is not necessarily a big deal.  My F250 would do this on severe cold weather but never had a pump failure.  However, the Cayman water pump is not like that.  It has a sealed roller bearing instead, which is far better and should last for life.  However, if you get coolant seeping through the bearing, the bearing will die pretty fast.  The grease will get washed out, the bearing will run dry, and fail.  Well, that is what happened to me.  I had noticed a growling noise from the engine when I started it that morning.  My first thought was far worse than a water pump.  I feared my IMS bearing was going out.  After recalling that I did see dry evidence of coolant from the water pump I sorta convinced myself it could just be some coolant on the belt, which can make all sorts of weird noises.  Honestly I was not that convinced, I was just lazy and in a hurry to meet with some friends.  

On my way back from breakfast where I was meeting with friends I heard a pop and immediately my steering assist was gone and the charging system warning came ON.  Right away I knew I had lost the belt.  I carefully drove the rest of the way home, accelerating moderately up to speed, shutting OFF the engine, and coasting between lights.  By the time I got home the coolant temp was a bit over 200F based on the gauge.  Still safe but I would not want to get it too much hotter.  With no belt, the coolant does not circulate.  You can't go very far like that.  In the video below you can hear the pop right at the beginning.

It is not real loud and I did have the stereo going.  I quickly turned OFF the AC and opened the windows too.  

Once I was home, I removed the panel behind the seats to expose the front of the engine where the belt and water pump are.  I saw the slack belt but upon further inspection I found the water pump shaft had completely sheared off and the pulley was just laying there.

Glad to see it was just a water pump, I quickly ordered parts through the local dealers online website. 

  

Mid-engine cars have a much trickier cooling system since the engine is in the middle, and the radiators are in the front fenders ahead of the wheels.  This makes it an air pocket nightmare.  A vacuum system is needed to pull a vacuum on the cooling system and suck the coolant in.  I found this one on Amazon for $39.99.

Having the engine behind the driver and not even visible without removing bolt-in panels and carpet sounds like jobs like this would be much harder.  However, it is not too bad really.  It takes about 15 minutes to remove the carpet section and both the top engine panel, and the front engine access panel. Once you have these panels off, access is pretty good for most things.  I will say charging the water pump on this car is far easier than most front-wheel-drive cars.  

I positioned the car on a ramp on the drivers side, and jacked up the passengers side as high as my jack stand would allow.  This positioned the coolant reservoir as high as possible relative to the car. I did this to keep the radiators and heater core full of coolant making it easier to ensure all the air was out when I was done.   

I started by clamping the radiator hose and one of the heater hoses.  

I loosened the hose connected to the water pump at the bottom and stuck an Allen wrench in it to allow the coolant to drain in a more controlled fashion.  In this position, and with the clamps in place, about 2 gallons of coolant drained into the pan I had to catch it.  I then removed the water pump.  It is basically just a set of small bolts.  The nice thing is the gasket is metal and does not stick to the block so it left a clean surface.  Here is a photo with the pump removed.

  When installing the new pump, make sure the longer bolts are in the correct holes, with the alignment dowels.  Here you can see the new and old pumps, both showing the alignment dowels.

Here is a photo with the new pump installed.

Before removing the hose clamps, I drew a vacuum on the cooling system and pulled in the coolant.  

I was able to pull in almost 2 gallons right away.  Remember to open the air bleed valve in the top of the reservoir to allow the air to escape the block while doing this.  I then released the clamps, installed the belt, and ran the engine.  With the engine running I could feel more air purging through the air bleed hose that connects from the oil cooler to the reservoir.  I added about a quart more coolant at this point. I ran the engine some more until I could feel the heater hose warm up, indicating I was getting coolant flow.  I ran the engine until the thermostat opened and I could feel the radiator hose at the radiator warm up, indicating flow to the radiators. I did all of this while the car was still raised.  I took it for a good road test, hitting 7,000rpm at times to create high coolant flow and purge any remaining air.  

The whole job took me about 3 hours.  Not too bad.  

The future of aftermarket performance

I have been modifying cars since I was a teenager.  My first was a 1972 Ford Bronco where I rebuilt a 351W engine, upgrading the camshaft, installing a larger carburetor, and headers, to replace the 302.  I installed nitrous oxide on my 1968 Mustang, along with many other mods.  I helped a friend develop a custom turbo system for his Fox mustang.  I installed many superchargers at the Ford Dealer I worked at for 15 years.  I also was a dealer/installer for Allen Engine Development and Explorer Express superchargers.  I developed a low budget custom turbo system for my BMW 318i.  I have also done engine performance tuning on many cars.  I have worked with most types performance enhancements over the years.  I know the pros and cons of the various aftermarket power adders.

I am becoming more and more convinced that the future is in aftermarket hybrid systems.  I am not talking about plug-in hybrid focused at fuel economy here.  I am talking about performance focused hybrid performance enhancements.  Think F1 KERS for the street or track.  This is by no means a new concept.  Think back to the Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari, and McLaren P1.  All three were hybrids.  In the supercar space, more hybrids are coming too.  There is even a company, Vonnen, that has developed the first aftermarket hybrid system for Porsche sports cars now.  While that system has a huge price tag, I expect this approach to eventually go mainstream and the prices to come down quickly.

There are many opportunities once you have a high-voltage electric system in the car.  The Vonnen system eliminates the old heavy starter motor, and replaces the heavy lead-acid 12V battery to reduce the weight penalty down to about 100lbs.  While the Vonnen system puts the motor/generator between the engine and transmission, the motor/generator could instead (or also) be placed at each of the axles which would allow for torque vectoring.  You can also electric drive superchargers to boost the engine performance as well with no back work of traditional supercharging or turbocharging (more net power with less boost).  Unlike superchargers or turbochargers, hybrid drive will not affect the engine durability, tuning, emissions, or sound either.  Performance focused hybrid systems do not require a large heavy battery pack.  Instead, the Vonnen system uses a 1kWh battery pack (versus the 100kWh battery pack of a Tesla Model S 100). Ultra-capacitors can also be used to augment these performance oriented hybrid systems with a low weight penalty and very high power rates in and out.  The battery and/or capacitor weight can be strategically placed in the vehicle too, optimizing balance and handling. Other features can be added such as silent drive for short distances (depending on battery capacity) so you don't wake everyone up in your neighborhood when you start your performance car.  Large capacity electric heaters can augment the HVAC in cold climates to give instant heat before the engine warms up, also making the defrost work better.  Speaking of HVAC, the belt driven AC compressor can be replaced with an electric compressor and be more strategically placed in the vehicle. Hydraulic power steering can be replace with efficient electric power steering, which can include advanced features such as Porsche's advanced electric power steering.

Motors are getting better all the time too.  Equipmake for instance, recently developed a 295HP motor that weights only 22lbs. With all kinds of advanced motor technology, higher voltages, and advanced manufacturing techniques, motors will continue to become lighter, more powerful, and once they show up in volumes, less costly.  Leveraging this development from mainstream manufacturers, the aftermarket can adapt these motors to the aftermarket performance sector to make a cost effective performance enhancement system. Most of these modern motors can also generate electricity to charge the propulsion batteries and/or capacitors.

Motors can be placed in many different areas to provide power where desired and to enable enhanced stability and traction control strategies such as torque vectoring, stop/start, anti-stall, and more.  A motor that drives the engine crank can also be used to stabilize very high performance engines with large aggressive cams to make the car more drive-able.  A great example of that is the Aston Martin Valkyrie.  Hybrid assist is used to make this 1000HP naturally aspirated engine street drive-able.  Motors that are connected to the engine can also assist in changing engine speeds, making the engine rev much quicker.  Motors used in generating mode can be used as retarders for descending hills and decelerating, saving brake heat and wear.

Looking at trucks and off-road vehicles the advantages grow even more.  Drive motors can be placed to drive each wheel independently (or assist) to allow precise torque control for rock climbing and advanced traction control.  High-voltage electric winches will be far more compact, light, and powerful than their 12V counterparts. Trailers can also be equipped with drive motors so an off-road vehicle can tow a trailer and still have all wheels driven to get through very poor traction conditions.

One of the challenges facing aftermarket performance systems and kits is dealing with the implications to emissions and associated regulations.  Hybrid systems would be far easier to deal with here as most would not impact emissions, or would favorably impact emissions, especially in grams/mile impact.  The Vonnen system for instance does not change any engine or powertrain tuning. 

Hybrid and battery electric vehicles have now been around in volumes for over a decade.  More vehicles will go hybrid and full battery electric going forward.  As hybrid and electric drive go mainstream, the cost of this technology will drop substantially.  In some cases, the factory components could be incorporated into aftermarket hybrid systems which will really help reduce cost while also using proven, validated components.  Hybrid drive is not the doom of performance cars but rather the next level.  The future of performance vehicles and aftermarket performance enhancements has never been brighter.

Porsche Cayman S Car Stereo Head Unit Upgrade

As I discussed in my Car Stereo Head Unit Wish List post a while back, I wanted to upgrade my stereo to add some features such as navigation and backup camera. I finally did it.  Here is a summary of that installation.

Head Unit Selection

I finally chose the Pumpkin AE0273B-08A. I liked this one because it had:

• A volume knob (a must have)
• Android 8.0
• 4GB RAM (so multiple apps can run smoothly)
• 32GB internal memory (because apps and app data does best here)
• Google Play store (so I can install any apps I want like Waze, Google Maps, etc.)
• Capacitive tough screen (versus resistive or other)
• Backup camera support
• External GPS and WiFi antennas (for better GPS accuracy)

The way I will use this when I am on the road is just hotspot my phone and let the unit connect to it via WiFi (for internet) and Bluetooth (for hands free calling).  This way the head unit does all the heavy lifting for navigation,Waze, etc. I can also run Spotify, Amazon Music, Play Music, etc., right in this unit and control it without having to mess with my phone.

I purchased this from Amazon for $299.  However you can also buy it directly from Pumpkin for that same price.  By the time you read this it will likely be even less as things like this often drop fast.  When I first saw this unit it was $349.

Electronics Integration

My 2006 Cayman S has the Bose system which makes this upgrade much more complicated and expensive.  The Bose system uses a MOST fiber optic network to communicate between the head unit, CD changer, and amplifier.  The car has a 10 speaker system which uses very low impedance speakers as well. There are several paths you can take when making upgrades to this system but here are the most likely:

1. Replace pretty much everything. Since the speakers are non-standard you would really need to replace all of them except the sub woofer.  The Sub woofer has its own amp and you can connect a standard low-level output to it with some modification.  Everything else though would need to go.  
2. Get a MOST gateway to connect into the factory amplifier and retain the amp and speakers. This way you can just replace the head unit and not have to change the rest.

  I chose option 2.  This sounds like the simpler and cheaper way to go until you see the cost of these gateways.  I found some as cheap as $99 and others over $600.  There is another complication: the factory stereo only has battery power and ground.  Pretty much everything else is handled with data link messages over CAN or MOST.  You could work around the CAN stuff by just running wires to the signals you need (key power, park brake, illumination, reverse gear, etc).  I chose a $300 kit that included both the MOST and CAN gateway modules. One of the differences between the lower priced kits and the most expensive ones is the support of fader.  The Axxess kit I chose only has 2 channel (stereo) inputs so you lose the ability to fade front to back.  In the Cayman this is not a big issue as there are only 2 seats and a very small cabin.  In a larger 4-door vehicle you may want to choose differently.

I used a terminal strip to connect the Axxess kit to the Pumpkin wiring as shown in the photos below.

I got the system installed in the car to find that the CAN module (labelled STK760) did not work.  That module is responsible for energizing the key switch input to the system and it was not being energized.  I called Axxess who makes this kit.  They had me measure voltage in the CAN wires.  Both wires were at 2.5V.  They said this means this CAN network is a slow/symmetric network and so the module in the PO904 kit would not work and I needed the PO90052 instead which has a CAN module labelled STK758.  These modules look the same but support the different CAN types.

I received the PO90052 and installed it.  Now the CAN module worked.  The unit would power up and it supplied the park brake and reverse inputs I needed.  Great, except there was still no sound.  The MOST module did not work.  Rats.  I connected my factory stereo to confirm everything else was still working and it was.  I messaged Axxess tech support with my problem.  He had me send a photo of the wire connection at the MOST module.  From that he determined that they had made the wiring incorrectly and that the amp power ON wire (blue/white) needed to be moved over 2 places.

I figured out how to release the terminal and move it over and it worked! Finally. The terminals are released using a small pin from the front (the side that plugs into the module).  I pushed the pin into each side of the terminal carefully bending the retaining tabs in to release the terminal.  Once you get the terminal out, bend the tabs back out so they will catch when the terminal is placed in the correct spot.

One other thing.  The AXXESS adapter did not include the power antenna power wire in the connector for some reason. Since I did not use any of the speaker wires, I just used one of them (green/black) to go into position A5 of the ISO10847 main power connector and wired it to key ON power coming from the AXXESS CAN module.  Without this the radio reception is poor.

These modules don't have mounts so you need to wrap them in foam before placing them in the dash or else they will rattle around. These modules do not produce much heat. I happened to have some Alcantara headliner material from a few weeks ago when I replaced the headliner in this car. It's perfect for this as it has foam and the Alcantara is actually a durable covering.

Fitting all of this into the dash in a way that will not rattle around and where you can also fit the stereo is a challenge. I put the CAN module into a opening on the left (US drivers) side.  I fit snugly and tucked away clear of the head unit.  I put the MOST module directly behind the head unit towards the left.  It's important to not king the MOST fiber optic leads as they sharp bends can cause problems and these can break.  The bulky ISO connectors also need to be wrapped and tucked out of the way of the head unit.  Unfortunately I ended up with 2 ISO connectors: one from the Axxess integration kit that is used for power and ground, and the other from the Pumpkin wiring that has all the speaker level outputs (which I am not currently using).

Installation into dash

Dash Bezel

This was the biggest challenge.  I purchased a American International POR911S kit.  This kit is actually not good.  The plastic side mounts are too thick to fit the Pumpkin head unit.  They have little mounting tabs that won't compress to fit the opening because they hit the stereo.  If you ever did manage to get a head unit installed, removing it again would be a bear.  The only part I used was the dash bezel itself and even that required significant modifications.  The opening was too small to fit the Pumpkin properly so I had to trim it, a bunch. I used a router with a very small bit to carefully trim the opening.

Trimming the bezel with a router

I did the trimming by carefully setting the depth and trimming the back side of the opening.  Then I finished with a file.  I had to trim in many places to make this fit correctly.  I think I spend about 4 hours just on the bezel.

Bezel trimmed and set in place

Now I needed a way to retain the bezel.  The bezel kit was set up to have the side mounts also hold the bezel but this will not work in my installation with custom mounts. I needed to make clips that had some spring to them that would fit into the slots in the bezel and behind the side panels that fit on either side of the center console.  These side panels clip and screw in place well so these clips would hold the bezel firmly in place once the side panels were installed.  I bought some 90 degree speed nuts from the hardware store and began modifying them into retention clips.

These will fit in the bezel slots in the sides and then catch behind the center stack trim panels of the Cayman to retain the bezel.  I also attached felt pads like the ones you use on kitchen cabinets to create for constant pressure to hold the bezel tight.

Head Unit Mounts

Now I needed to fabricate mounts for the Pumpkin since the ones in the kit were not going to work.  I started with raw sheet metal from the hardware store.  I used the plastic mounts from the POR911S kit as patterns.  I used a sheet metal cutting blade on the table saw to carefully cut the metal for the mounts.

Significant drilling, bending, and shaping ensued.  I also had to add screws and nut to fit into the slides to hold the back of the head unit.  Of course this made it too thick to fit so I had to grind them down.  I then set the unit in place in the dash with the bezel in place to find the right depth.

I marked it in the image above.  I then removed the mounts and carefully bent this front edge.  This limits how deep the stereo goes into the dash to meet the bezel properly.  I also had to trim the bent edge to eliminate interference with the bezel.  I trimmed the back of the bezel to also allow proper clearance.  Once I got everything to fit, I cleaned, primed, and painted these new mounts so they would not rust. Obviously I was not going for pretty here.

Next I needed to figure out how to actually retain the radio and the bezel.  The factory mount had a set screw on the passengers side.  I noticed the drivers side also had a spot for a set screw so I installed one.  Now I had set screws on both sides.  I set the head unit in place and ran the screws in until they left marks on the mounts.  I then drilled small holes right where these screws contacted so the screw would not lock into the holes.  

Great, now the head unit mounts firmly in place.  I do track days and solid mounts are very important.

Backup Camera

When I first got the Pumpkin I powered it up on the table and set it up, installing the apps I wanted and configuring it.  I connected an old camcorder to it to test the backup camera and video inputs.  The Pumkin did not recognize the signal.  I also noticed that Pumpkin says to use their backup camera to ensure compatibility.  So fine, I bought their camera for $15.  When it showed up I immediately noticed how huge it was.  

I went ahead and mounted this one in the front for a front facing parking camera.  It fit in the pocket under the front license plate.  Since this and the pocket are all black, it blends right in.

The Pumpkin has a video in you can connect this to.  I put a quick link to this video in on the bottom row of the main UI screen.  Tap that button and the camera pops right up.

Then I started searching for a better place to mount this and route the wires.  It was looking very grim.  There is really not a good place on this car for a camera and even if I could find a spot, how would I route the wires?  It was looking like I would have to remove the whole bumper cover or something to route the wires.  The exhaust system spans the whole back of this car so running wires from underneath was not going to work.  Then I found this thread on Planet 9.  I also found a better and much smaller backup camera on Amazon from TOPTIERPRO.  This had a mounting bracket that went behind the license plate instead of in top and the camera was much smaller.

I removed the taillight assembly on the right side and the right side license plate assembly.  Now you can actually see right through from the taillight opening to the license plate light opening.  Nice.

I used a coat hanger, cut it and bent it straight with a hook on the end and pulled the wires right though.  I used a small round file to make a notch in the back inner corner of the license light opening for the wires and snapped the license light back in place.

I connected the camera power and ground wires to the backup light wire and taillight ground as shown below using a terminal block. Note that this connector is inside the car, protected from weather.

I tucked the camera wires under the taillight seal which is a thick foam.  I also taped the wires in place and tapes the connectors which are outside the interior and not fully protected from weather.

It works very well.  This camera has very bright white LED lights to assist the backup lights.

The backup camera function does not require that Android be booted up to work.  When reverse is selected the unit directly feeds the camera to the screen.  

Parts and Tools Needed

Parts List

• Pumpkin AE0273B-08A Android stereo head unit if found on Amazon.
• American International POR911S dash kit.
• Axxess  PO90052 or PO904 head unit replacement kit. There are other options and this is only needed if you plan to retain the Bose amp (and that you have the Bose sound system).
• Sheet metal stock.  I used 22 gauge steel.  
• 90 degree angle speed nuts to be modified to retain the bezel.
• Screw to retain head unit similar to the one on the right side.
• Small screws and nuts for mounts to slide into opening.
• Terminal strip to connect Pumpkin wiring to the Axxess integration kit.
• Primer and paint to paint the fabricated mounts so they don't rust.
• Antenna adapter for the AM/FM antenna lead. 
• TOPTIERPRO backup camera if found on Amazon. Others will also work.

Tools List

• Screwdrivers.
• Torx drivers.
• 7mm wrench.
• wire cutters and strippers.
• Router with 3/16" straight bit.
• Table saw with sheet metal cutting blade.
• Hammers and chisels to make mounts and bezel clips.
• Plastic prying tool to remove trim.

Using the System

Sound

At low to mid volume the sound seems very similar to before, as expected.  From about 3/4 volume to max it seems like it may not get quite as loud as before.  It still gets plenty loud for me.  I would guess it is maybe 15% less loud at max.  As I mentioned, I can't fade the sound since the Axxess kit has only 2 channels for input.  

I could easily wire the subwoofer output from the Pumpkin to the Bose subwoofer since this has its own amplifier with line inputs.  This would enable the subwoofer control from the Pumkin so you could adjust the subwoofer level.  I did not bother with this as it seems fine running the subwoofer through the factory Bose system. I doubt this would improve sound quality but it would give the user a bit more control.

9/7/2018 update:  I installed an AXXESS AX-LDBK Universal Line Output Converter Power Converter between the head unit and the MOST adapter.  This gives the ability to add some gain to the line level signal going to the MOST box.  I was able to completely restore the sound level and quality to match the factory head unit. This little $35 unit is well worth it. 

UI

The UI is good.  It seems very responsive.  The launcher they provided seems good too.  This has less system apps than most Android devices and this makes sense.  The use cases for a car stereo head unit are of course different. The apps they provided are simple and functional.  You can of course install different launchers, some focused on car stereos like this.  I have VLC Player installed and it gives a bit better experience for navigating a large music and video library than their apps.  The great thing about having Android in the dash is flexibility.

The screen resolution is 1024x600.  Apps with a light theme, such as Google Maps, look a bit washed out.  Dark theme apps look great.  There is no contrast adjustment in the UI either but it can be done by disassembling the unit.  It has a dash illumination input that will dim the dash a predetermined amount (could not find any adjustment for this) when the dash lights are turned ON.  This can also be used to turn ON the button illumination but you can also configure it to illuminate the button with key power too.

The Android 8.0 OS is very bare bones and focused on being a car stereo head unit.  It reports as a Rockchip PX5 tablet.  It lacks several common Android settings such as developer settings.  You can put it in developer mode but still no developer settings are shown.  It seems the only widgets that work are the ones that are pre-installed.  I installed several apps that generally have widgets yet none are available.  Some apps like Google Contacts will load but when you open them and it asks for an account it will not log in to the same account the connected phone has.  After I tried this though I realized there is not really a use case where I want to use the contact app.  If you go to the Phone app in the Pumpkin it does sync your phone contacts there.  I am not able to get any apps to start at boot.  I have Tasker installed and set up to start at boot but it never does.

Unlike many, I really don't like a touchscreen while driving.  I actually really like the Mercedes Benz Command UI where it has buttons to get to things like radio, navigation, etc., and a center console knob as well as dedicated volume knob, next/last buttons and more.  You can feel and control them without taking your eyes off the road.  This Pumpkin can be controlled with Bluetooth or USB input devices such as a mouse, trackball, or media controllers.  I connected a standard PC USB mouse and it worked fine.  I found many simple Bluetooth media controllers that should also work giving physical buttons for play/pause, previous/next, and more.  There is this thread on XDA Developers though which indicates this may not work. Ideally I would like to make a controller that is similar to the Command control and this should be very doable. Besides USB and Bluetooth, I could also set up dedicated buttons using the steering wheel control inputs.  This can be done with simple switches and resistors and the Pumpkin has a mapping utility in it already.

System

Powering up from completely OFF takes about 15s to 20s.  It has a mode where it suspends instead of completely shutting down and waking from that mode is pretty much instant.  The downside of that instant mode is it will use more of your cars battery.  You can set how long the key is OFF before it fully shuts down.  I found that the Axxess MOST module takes several seconds to power up and start delivering sound anyway, something like 8s.

This unit has 32GB on-board which is more than enough space for all the apps and their main data.  It has 2 micro-SD card slots as well as 2 USB ports.  The documentation says "Support SD card/ USB drive up to 128GB".  I presume this means each can have 128GB?  Not sure but it is more than enough anyway.  I have one 8GB and one 16GB micro-SD cards in it now.  I also had a 64GB USB drive connected.  All worked fine.

I set up my phone as a WiFi hotspot that the Pumpkin connects to for a network connection when driving.  I used Tasker to automate this so that when my phone connects to the Pumpkin for hands-free calling, it also enables the WiFi hotspot on my phone.  When my phone Bluetooth disconnects from the Pumpkin at key OFF the hotspot is returned to its previous state (OFF in my case). 

Tasker profile to see the car connected and turn ON hotspot

It is interesting how focused Android is on battery powered mobile devices.  I guess I didn't think about it much until I got this device.  Unlike phones or tablets, this device has infinite power available (the cars charging system).  Things like battery optimization features are not useful here.  

Final Thoughts

This installation was more difficult than I expected but I would do it again.  I just got it done so I have not used it much yet.  I may add a follow-up in a few months.

I noticed deep in the "factory settings" menu that there are CAN (car data link) settings for many manufacturers including Porsche.  I asked on the Pumpkin support site about this and hope to get some info from them.  

Short demonstration after the installation 

(if the video does not play click "YouTube" to open it in YouTube app or separate browser tab)

Update 9-2020

Using a touch screen in a Porsche sports car on Illinois roads does not work well at all.  Even when bracing your hand with your thumb to try a touch gesture, it is too easy for your finger to slide and the OS think you are giving a slide gesture instead of touch.  I much prefer the knob my Mercedes Command systems have.  My Porsche does not have steering wheel controls.  I decided I would add a few switches to allow for some more controls and depend less on the touch screen.  After looked at many options I settled on a membrane switch in the ash tray (which I never use anyway).  I bought the switch on Amazon for under $10.

I used a simple terminal strip and 4, 100 Ohm resistors.

The head unit has the key-mapping tool build in.  You just open the tool, press a button, and then select the short and long press responses you want.