Becker Indianapolis

[Sam77]

Just like to canvass opinion on which colour display people have gone for. Yellow/orange would probably be best but wondering if I could get away with the green.

Ta very much.

Sam

 

[Mark Elder]

I went for the yellow/orange. Seemed to me to match the car best (eg most of the switch illumination etc)

I'll have a go at taking a picture tonight and post it here.

 

[Sam77]

Cheers, that would be appreciated. BTW whats the SAT NAV like, is it worth the £200 extra over the Grand Prix?

 

[Mark Elder]

Sam, Sorry, I took the picture but ran out of time and have not got them onto computer - will do tonight.

SatNav: Well, I did not buy it for the SatNav, I bought it to replace a dreadfull modern Sony the previous owner had installed. I wanted something with knobs on and that looked appropriate in the 993. So I then decided I may as well go for an integrated SatNav (the extra cost is about same cost as a TomTom but you don't get a horrible box on top of the dash that is likely to cause someone to smash a window to nick it)

Functionally I'm pleased with the sat nav - especially the TMC (Traffic Message Signal) system that replans route automatically to avoid jams. Saved me considerable delay on 2 occassions in past year - but you do have to obey it. Once I ignored it's request to leave the M6 on grounds that it must be wanting to give me a country route across the moors, only to end up in a 5 mile queue of stationary traffic. The down side is that it's only "AB12_3" postcodes (ie misses last 2 letters) - you then have to enter the road name - which is easy, but not as easy as TomTom. It also does not do speed cameras. On the up side, it totally matches the car. (I've got a TomTom I use in rental cars and my Rav4 so I can compare routes - I think the Becker gives better routes....more like the routes I use without it's help...but TomTom is definately easier to use - and of course has a map display - but the Beecker has a matrix display for each junction layout - which is all you really need. The TomTom does not replan routes - although it is easy to see traffic congenstion on the map, but when you are driving it's impossible to tell it to find a way to avoid them - the Becker just does it).

Also - the integrated bluetooth works very well - best I've ever had. (It was a surprise to get this - not looked recently but the web site did not say the Indianapolis came with bluetooth and a phone mic etc)

I also bought an iPod cable - and this works well except that I have too many albums and getting to ZZ-top takes a lot of knob turning.

Mark

 

[Stewart Rix]

I agree with the orange display - it suits the ambient dash lighting. I have a black interior so perhaps a different interior may go better with a different display. I can echo Mark's comments about the look of the unit being much more in keeping with the car and sat nav operation (although I actually have the Online Pro which has phone and internet connectivity built in). Something else in favour of the built in sat-nav is that you do not have that dreaded theft magnet stuck to the windscreen (although you do have to be disciplined enough to remove the security panel on the Becker.

 

[hanhams81]

Hi, Interesting question. Whilst I was watching the last round of the ALMS race on TV, which was run partly at night, a discussion covered this subject from the perspective of long distance racers. Most of the cars entered used the Bosch display which is red. By contrast Pescarolo, a team owned and run by an ex GP and Le Mans driver, uses green. The green was more easily visible to the in-car camera. The red was a fuzzy blur. The commentators, long distance and Le mans drivers themselves, preferred green because the red "bores holes in the eyes", as it were, and is very uncomfortable after a while. Maybe your stints in the dark will be short in which case it hardly matters. I chose green for the reasons above but well before I heard an experts view. Does that make me a clever clogs? I hope not. I just prefer green being a rural body. As it happens my wife's shopping trolley Skoda also uses green, very comfortable and easy to read. Previously she owned a Seat which uses red. Not so good at night though quite jazzy to the casual observer. Good luck.
Hanhams81

 

[Mark Elder]

The pictures are more difficult than I expected to see the colours because it needs to be dark and then, of course, the camera can't see much.

Here the the best picture I got, plus one with flash to see how well I think the Becker matches the car.

Now I've looked at it again (with the green fog light switch illumination) and read Hanhams81's comments, I wonder if green would be better. Really need to see it in the dark to know.

Also worth saying that you can adjust the brightness - since I took the pictures I remember I've done this - so in the picture it's down at about 2/3rds brightness (because I don't like bright light in the cabin when driving at night).

 

[Mark Elder]

Picture was taken with the fog lights and demister switched on (ie knob lights in bright mode)

Bulb must have gone in my cigar lighter...

 

[Sam77]

Thanks for your time doing this. Yellow is probably the safest option, but green would probably work aswell.

Cheers

 

[Porker993]

ORIGINAL: marke2
Bulb must have gone in my cigar lighter...

There isn't a bulb in the cigar lighter ! Don't ask me why - just one of those fascinating 911 facts.

 

[Sundeep]

Traffic Pro High Speed 7820 []

 

[cytefx]

on the subject on cigerette lighters, as i am new to the car, the lighter works but only if i hold it in, is this normal?

 

[ach]

In Porsche Techipment brochure there is the previous (to Indi) Becker model and it is in orange, so I assume Porsche also agrees that orange suits best. I can also just repeat Mark's comments about the sat - nav... I am very pleased with it and also... the audi quality of Becker is much better than standard units that were supplied by Porsche...

 

[poprock]

I have a Becker Grand Prix in my 944T, went for the red display as it seemed to sit best with the instruments etc in there. I've never managed to get the auto-dimmer for night driving to work, for some reason. Pretty certain I've wired it up correctly, but it's never worked. Other than that, I'm really, really happy with the unit. The Bluetooth is a fantastic bonus, works very well. The iPod integration is excellently done. Although it can be a tiny bit fiddly to select tracks on the move, I think it's a reasonable compromise to get a unit that looks good in the older car's dash. Hooking up an amp, crossover and subwoofer in the boot was dead simple too and all works seamlessly.

 

[Porker993]

ORIGINAL: cytefx

on the subject on cigerette lighters, as i am new to the car, the lighter works but only if i hold it in, is this normal?

John

In a word, "no". It should pop out when it has heated up. There are two possible answers to this

1. Give up smoking
2. Buy a new one from Porsche if yours is knadgered.

I've had ones that were so overused (e.g. on my 2.7) they lost their popping out ability. The design hasn't changed much in 20 years.

 

[cytefx]

ORIGINAL: Porker993

ORIGINAL: cytefx

on the subject on cigerette lighters, as i am new to the car, the lighter works but only if i hold it in, is this normal?

John

In a word, "no".  It should pop out when it has heated up.  There are two possible answers to this

1.  Give up smoking
2. Buy a new one from Porsche if yours is knadgered.

I've had ones that were so overused (e.g. on my 2.7) they lost their popping out ability.  The design hasn't changed much in 20 years.

thanks, the actual lighter looks like its never been used, and only just got the car, its never been smoked in as far as i can tell, ill keep looking for a new one