Best radio/navi for F355

Blaupunkt Dab SQR46 Digital Receiver. Recently came out about a year ago. Period correct look with Bluetooth and other features.

but if you are looking for a Navi. That Porsche one is pretty cool but the screen is so small.
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Your right foot……..

 

I never use my radio. Did not have that crap in 1995. Yeah, we are use to it these days and I have a badass Kendwood Apple play in my other lesser cars. But the Ferrari gets a Nakamichi for looks (1995 no factory radio) I never turn it on.

I pulled the radio in my 1996, put the vinyl plate back in and had a hidden blue tooth adapter and small alpine hidden amp. Put a magnet in cover and sat my phone there for Nav and CarPlay. I would go back to that….

Don’t muff it up with radio Crap. Save that for a Porsche or BMW. Ferrari just needs exhaust.


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This was what I did and love it.
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Here is a link as well
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/new-ferrari-genuine-f355-infotainment-system.463823/page-3

 

Here’s the article
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1398079

 

I just ordered the pioneer single din with pop out screen, with carplay. Will update once I try and install it.

 

When I bought my car it had an elaborate sound system in it that looked like it was installed when the car was new (late 90's tech). Someone spent a lot of money on it and thankfully it was professionally installed and there was no hacked up factory wiring, so I removed it all and you'd never know there was a custom built sub enclosure taking up half the trunk plus an equalizer the size of a briefcase and even a minidisc changer (got $80 for it all on craigslist...). Thankfully they didn't get rid of the stock head unit which is still in my car. For nav I use my cell phone. For music I bought a $120 JBL portable bluetooth speaker that sounds amazing. Battery lasts like 10 hours. I just bring it with me in the car if I have a longer drive and want to listen to something. So much easier than trying to rig up a 355 with modern equipment.

 

You can buy the best headunit in the world. Won’t help much without proper amp, speakers, tweeters, and a sub-woofer.

 

This is very true. Years ago I did a custom stereo install on my 993. The factory hi-fi option (which my car came with) was mediocre at best. New head unit, new amp, 8 new speakers. Really slick, looked totally stock, didn't cut a single factory wire. Probably threw $1K into the whole thing, did the install myself. And...the sound quality is about 20 percent better than it was before. Basically a total waste of time and money. I learned that small, loud, sports cars are just not good platforms for quality audio.

 

The key is tweeters and subwoofer, which the 355 naturally doesn’t have. My buddy hid tweeters behind the air vents and somehow had subs behind inside the headrests. To keep it all stock looking (or hidden) is probably more work than most care to put into it on a 355.

 

I have tweeters where the stock speakers go next to the air vents, mids in the doors, and 2 ways behind my head in boxes I made and had covered in matching leather; I shaped them to compliment the little glove box spiders have on the rear shelf. I have an amp and crossovers hidden under the frunk panel where the CD 6 pack goes. And I use a 430 Becker head unit so I have a line-in and CD, and so it says "Ferrari" on power up. Works out well for me.

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I have the Porsche Classic Navigation Radio in my 993 and asked essentially the same question as the OP. I even considered just getting another PCNR and removing the PORSCHE letter stenciling for the F355 but decided on the Blaupunkt instead. No XM/Sirius and no navigation/Carplay but I don't use the latter in the 993 anyway, so BT music streaming from the phone is perfectly fine. Most importantly, I can leave it turned off, listen to the engine and it doesn't look out of place (even at night since I have it set to green backlighting that matches the rest of the instruments.
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Would love to see pictures if you do the PCNR in your 355!

 

Continental head units look the best for the F355 in my opinion. The only issue is the colour of the LEDs are not changeable.

I was debating opening one up to see how hard it would be to change the LEDs to match the light green look of the rest of the car.

 

I also bought the Blaupunkt with the intention to install it in my F355 but decided it looked a bit too old for it. I have an 80s BMW and it looks like it would be a perfect fit in there. Very nice head unit regardless.

 

I'd stick with a factory correct unit to fill the hole and fit in one of the various hidden bluetooth options out there. Then just use your phone for source and nav. My car has an out of sight audio unit. My only complaint is that there is no physical volume knob. Call me old school but messing with phone volume all the time is a pain but minor in the grand scheme.

 

This was my plan with my old 355. I had bought all Focal speakers that fit factory locations, and a slim amp that would fit under the passenger seat. Then an auxiliary cable / bluetooth adapter.

Unfortunately my current 355 came with an aftermarket deck already though...and factory decks are nonsensically expensive, so I'm probably going to go the continental route.

 

I have the Porsche PCCM single DIN. I installed it myself in a 930 (‘86). Thoughts?A quick review? Hmmm…it has only been in the car for a few months. And I do not use it much because I would rather listen to the car. It looks period correct, it looks good. The screen is small, so the touchscreen concept is not that easy to use. In the 930, the radio is even more on the passenger side, so not something you want to be playing with a lot. I am happy with it, end of short review. Below are some more specific thoughts.

For those of you thinking of installing it in your Ferrari, just be aware, it not only has a Porsche logo when it is off. When it boots up, meaning when you power it up, the Porsche gold crest is displayed for some seconds, on the display screen, while the unit starts. YMMV but I probably would not want that in my Ferrari. OTOH, the screen disappears after a couple seconds, so maybe it doesn’t matter.

I am a little surprised the people at Porsche could not make it better. For example, when playing music or a book on tape. The pause/play button is very small. The apple iphone, which as most of us know, really started as an iPod, has this sorted. On the iPhone, when you are playing audio, and the phone is sleeping, and you wake the phone with your touch, the play/pause buttons are there on the screen, but much larger than normal. If you want to pause, or go back/forward those options are easy. If you need something else on your phone, it is easy to leave the audio controls. On the PCCM unit, the controls are very small, I am a little surprised, it is dangerous messing with the radio anyway, but Porsche have made it more difficult than I think it needs to be. I think they could have made play/pause controls super large, then press a button or somewhere else on screen to escape to normal control. Now, a thought just occurred to me. I sometimes use Siri to pause my phone, and that probably would work with the Porsche system. So that would obviate the need for better touch control.

With the navigation, I have only used it for a couple minutes. Just to make sure it was working. But I was not blown away by the system. I will leave it at that.

It maybe is a bit expensive? I think the unit was at least $1000, but then I got the navi option, which is a micro SD card you push in the front of the unit. I think that added at least $250. I forget. I am happy with it in the 930. But not thrilled. Visually, it is good.