Phone Holder for FR-S Middle Console

[mweidner311]

AWESOME!

Originally Posted by extrashaky

I agree. That looks like it would put my phone right in the way when shifting.

I was also having trouble finding a good place for my phone, so I made this:









I am NOT making these or selling them, but I wouldn't object at all to someone using my design or improving on it.

What a great idea! How long did it take you? I will be doing this tomorrow!
-Nate

[extrashaky]

I apologize for hijacking krt72012's thread, but since we're this far along now...

Originally Posted by nwolsky

What a great idea! How long did it take you?

To be honest I'm not even sure. I got into it one Friday afternoon and messed up my first attempt while learning how to work the metal. I had to do a lot of trial and error. The aluminum will only fold once, so if you accidentally bend it the wrong direction it will snap when you bend it back. I started up again the next day and had time to let two coats of paint dry before mounting it on the car that Saturday night.

If you're going to try it, here are a few notes:

1. As I said I used 18 gauge aluminum that came in a small sheet from Home Depot. You can cut it to shape with regular tin snips. I didn't try it with steel, but you could if you wanted.

2. This is the seamer I bought at Harbor Freight, but it was on sale at the time for $8.99. I had to look at three pairs in the store before finding one where the jaws lined up. (If the jaws don't line up, they can cause crooked bends.) You might be able to do this in a vise, but it was nice to work the metal while sitting in my car so that I could see immediately what I needed to do.

3. Paint will not stick to aluminum unless you prime it first with self-etching primer. I used Rustoleum primer and matte black automotive spray paint from Home Depot, and it still rubbed off wherever it made contact with parts of the car.

4. You will see a large hole cut in the flat area where the phone mounts. That is there to allow for a socket on an extension to reach the mounting bolt. Without that hole, there is almost no way to get to that bolt. You could accomplish that other ways, but I didn't realize it until I had already blocked off my access to the bolt and had to cut the hole to be able to reach it.

5. The actual phone cradle is from an [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007FH716W/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]iOttie One Touch[/ame] that I had sitting around, but you can adapt whatever cradle you have available. I mounted it with heavy duty velcro so that I could take it off if necessary. It's easier to get the dash bezel back on without the cradle attached.

Here are some more pictures:


You can see that the paint rubbed off where I had it on the car and took it back off to take pictures of it. The paint really doesn't like to stick to the aluminum, but the scuffed bits are all hidden.


That's the mounting bolt I used. If you look just to the left of the bolt, you'll see two right angle bends very close together to let it lay flat against the head unit. You won't be able to get the dash bezel back on if you don't do this, but it was the hardest part to get right. It looks like the metal is crimped there, but that's just where the paint rubbed off.



A bit closer shot of the final install. You can't tell it from the angle of the photo, but the last bend actually tilts the phone backward slightly so that it's facing up toward the driver. You will have to guestimate that angle. To get that angle on mine, I installed the half-finished mount before making that last bend and cutting it off, so that it was just a long strip of metal sticking straight out from the dash. I then used a small carpenter's level to make a vertical line on it with a sharpie and eyeballed the angle of the bend using the vertical line and the dash itself as a reference. The sharpie marks were all painted over.

Good luck!

[jpawl]

Does anyone know if a vendor in the marketplace has done a phone holder as what the OP created for the middle console in between the shifter and cup holder cubby?

[fridayfrs]

I thought this was clever but I just installed a ProClip. Most libraries have a 3d printer and just charge for materials.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:944312

[xuimod]

No.

Buy one of these. The phone mount plugs into the CD slot (which most people don't use since most people stream from their cellphones).

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by xuimod

Buy one of these.

Absolutely not.

Originally Posted by xuimod

The phone mount plugs into the CD slot (which most people don't use since most people stream from their cellphones).

... And blocks the screen on the head unit, which most people do still end up using. And also blocks the AC vents.

Besides that, I think you overestimate the percentage of people who stream from their cell phones. You have a percentage of people who use the USB jack instead. You have a percentage who just listen to the radio. You have a percentage of people who keep bluetooth off most of the time and don't bother to turn it on when they get in their cars or haven't bothered to mate their phones with their stereo at all. And I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who still do buy CDs. It may be right for a few people, but overall it seems like a poor solution.

[xuimod]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Absolutely not.



... And blocks the screen on the head unit, which most people do still end up using. And also blocks the AC vents.

Besides that, I think you overestimate the percentage of people who stream from their cell phones. You have a percentage of people who use the USB jack instead. You have a percentage who just listen to the radio. You have a percentage of people who keep bluetooth off most of the time and don't bother to turn it on when they get in their cars or haven't bothered to mate their phones with their stereo at all. And I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who still do buy CDs. It may be right for a few people, but overall it seems like a poor solution.

I would be shocked if a lot of people (say more than 25% of Twins drivers) still use CD's.

It doesn't block much of the display. I would say it blocks maybe 10-15% of the display and the mount is easily adjustable.... you can turn the phone from landscape to portrait in 1 second.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by xuimod

I would be shocked if a lot of people (say more than 25% of Twins drivers) still use CD's.

You should be shocked then. 2014 was the first year in history that digital music sold more than CDs, and only by a small margin. That was only nine months ago, so I doubt there's been a drastic change considering how long digital media has been around. As of the end of the year, still nearly half the sales were CDs. If you lump all physical media together (CDs, vinyl, etc.), digital media was still selling less than physical media.

I suspect that CDs will hit a level above 30% and stay there. New CDs from Amazon now come with the digital download as well, so that you can order the physical CD but also download it and start playing it immediately while waiting for the delivery of the CD. That appeals to a lot of us more aged people who like to have a license rooted in a physical medium that we can sell, trade or leave to our kids.

The car has a CD player for a reason. That reason is that Toyota and Subaru have market research suggesting that their target market for this car still use CDs. It wouldn't be there otherwise.

[xuimod]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

You should be shocked then. 2014 was the first year in history that digital music sold more than CDs, and only by a small margin. That was only nine months ago, so I doubt there's been a drastic change considering how long digital media has been around. As of the end of the year, still nearly half the sales were CDs. If you lump all physical media together (CDs, vinyl, etc.), digital media was still selling less than physical media.

I suspect that CDs will hit a level above 30% and stay there. New CDs from Amazon now come with the digital download as well, so that you can order the physical CD but also download it and start playing it immediately while waiting for the delivery of the CD. That appeals to a lot of us more aged people who like to have a license rooted in a physical medium that we can sell, trade or leave to our kids.

The car has a CD player for a reason. That reason is that Toyota and Subaru have market research suggesting that their target market for this car still use CDs. It wouldn't be there otherwise.

My 2008 Acura TL had a tape deck.... in 2008, when very very few people used tape cassettes anymore. Sometimes car companies are behind the curve as far as tech trends go.

Sales data of CD vs digital music doesn't tell you much. A huge number of people people who use digital music pirate it. I suspect way way way more people pirate digital music than actually pay for it. I wouldn't be surprised if it were a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio.

Btw, as far as sales goes. About 1/3rd are from physical sales and the other 2/3rds are from digital sales or streaming. And most people who stream music don't pay for it (they use the free option) and also that doesn't take into consideration all the illegal piracy that goes on (which is huge). So, when taking into consideration free streaming and music piracy, CD usage is most certainly less than 25%.

[ArgentoAtl]

This may not be the right place to ask this question, but …

What is the plastic item in the center of the attached image of my 2013 FRS? The picture is taken from the passenger seat, looking at the ceiling and the rearview mirror. It looks like a microphone, but I cannot think of a reason to have a mic in the car.

Thanks,

Brian in Atlanta

[ethan160222]

Originally Posted by ArgentoAtl

What is the plastic item in the center of the attached image of my 2013 FRS? The picture is taken from the passenger seat, looking at the ceiling and the rearview mirror. It looks like a microphone, but I cannot think of a reason to have a mic in the car.

On my BRZ, that is the microphone for both Bluetooth and head unit voice controls.

[RandomDeception]

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know any decent phone mounts that I can get at Staples or Canadian Tire for my large phone as a GPS that can attach to the somewhat flat dash area between the left wing mirror and steering wheel?

I saw this but I don't think they are sold in stores here and I prefer not to order something online.
http://www.rammount.com/products/phones/un10_learn

Edit: Just realized I wasn't in the Canada sub-forum.

[Packofcrows]

Originally Posted by RandomDeception

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know any decent phone mounts that I can get at Staples or Canadian Tire for my large phone as a GPS that can attach to the somewhat flat dash area between the left wing mirror and steering wheel?

I saw this but I don't think they are sold in stores here and I prefer not to order something online.
http://www.rammount.com/products/phones/un10_learn

Edit: Just realized I wasn't in the Canada sub-forum.

Try this

Can make your own. Only problem is rubber mounts that would hold phone down so it wont get scratched.