Project Scion FR-S Gets a Pioneer AVH-X5700BHS Head Unit

Aftermarket car audio, in particular head units, has come a long way from its roots. Today, it seems companies are trying to cram as much technology as they can into "stereos," like they were cell phones. This includes everything from GPS navigation, to Bluetooth, to rear view camera integration, and you can't overlook iPhone/Android compatibility. The brand new Pioneer AVH-X5700BHS has all of these features plus more. Among the main features are a huge 7-inch LCD touchscreen display and a beautifully redesigned interface that is very user friendly. To help us with the head unit install in the Super Street project Scion FR-S, we contacted our friend Young Tea at Auto Tuned, who made the deck a seamless part of the car.

The Pioneer AVH-X5700BHS will need a dash kit and a wiring harness for a flush and clean look. For this specific install we used the Toyota/Scion dash kit and harness from Metra. Instead of using the crimped plastic metal piece butt connectors, Young soldered each wire for a stronger connection and to maximize current transfer.

Every single colored wire has its own function; for example, the dark green, purple, grey, and white wires are for the speakers, the dark blue wire is for the amplifier, the light green is for the parking brake, red is power, and black is ground.

When Young finished soldering the provided harness and the wiring harness plug he used electrical tape to cover the exposed wires. The merged harness is plugged into the rear of the AVH-X5700HS.

For the Scion FR-S we needed to pry out the carbon fiber piece covering the factory head unit. We removed the two 10mm bolts on each side and unplugged the factory harness. We then removed the factory stereo and unbolted four 8mm fasteners holding the factory brackets on each side.

We disconnected all wires that were connected to the factory stereo. Next we transferred the factory brackets and bolts on the Pioneer head unit and installed the dash kit. Depending on the dash kit, you'll need to trim it to fit the factory brackets.

Before popping the AVH-X5700BHS unit in the car, we installed the microphone that was included. It is simply plugged into the USB port in the back and wired to the location where you want to mount the mic. We chose to mount the microphone on the A-pillar. Pioneer also includes a USB extension cable so you can connect and charge your iPhone or Android device.

We plugged the wiring harness back together and gently placed the AVH-X5700BHS in place. We reinstalled the four 10mm bolts and snapped the carbon fiber trim back into place. We finished by fiddling with the settings to get them to our liking. The MSRP for the Pioneer AVH-X5700BHS is $480 and you can order it at www.pioneerelectronics.com.