Replacing the standard Subaru Outback radio with Pioneer SPH-DA240BT (CarPlay/AndroidAuto)

Subaru Outback owners often had to refuse when they asked to replace the factory radio. The reason was that there were no transition frames. Two frame options from two leading manufacturers Connects2 and CARAV are suitable only for cars with manual air conditioning. But almost all Subaru Outbacks in Ukraine have climate control.

Recently we wrote in the article SUBARU OUTBACK — REPLACEMENT OF STANDARD RADIO WITH PIONEER AVH-A200VBT about how the owner of the car bought an adapter frame for his configuration in Vladivostok and came to us for installation. Apparently, someone was inspired by this work, because the owner of the car I am writing about here was ready to do anything to have a new radio in his car.

We suggested a radical measure as an experiment – to saw off part of the dashboard, saw off the transition frame that is available (for the complete set with manual air conditioning), assemble the two parts into a single whole, install it in the car and see what happens. The client decided to try this experiment!  

This is how it was before:

This is what the adapter frame looks like, which can be purchased without any problems, but which does not fit Subaru Outback cars with climate control:

Let’s get started – measure seven times, cut once)))

There is no way back!

It was this part that was left to “live” in the car:

If you pay attention, you can see a small groove on the top line of this part. We offered the client to process this part, putty it and cover it with a high-quality film in the same color as the dashboard (or, in a good way, paint it). But the client decided to drive it like this for now. In the end, we covered the square groove with a hand-made plastic plug.

We connected the upper part of the Connects2 CT24SU03 transition frame and the climate control part from the car:

The final result is that the Pioneer SPH-DA240BT car radio looks perfect in the transition frame and in the dashboard as a whole. The level of functionality in the car has increased significantly!

The steering wheel buttons were connected using a universal adapter Connects2 UNI-Jack.2

To make things even better, we installed and connected a rear view camera:

Want to qualitatively change the factory radio in your car – CALL (066) 607-45-19