nightfire - 1996 MX-3 GS

[v6powered]

nice car bro!
more pics please from the whole car

i love that front bumper

[nightfire]

nice car bro!
more pics please from the whole car

i love that front bumper

Dude thanks

I'll take some more pics as soon as I get my new CF hood installed. But here's some from inside:

[v6powered]

what is that little thing that glows so blue?

[nightfire]

what is that little thing that glows so blue?

It's a Logitech 3D-Connexion space navigator:



I just removed the steel base and mounted it on the dash. I wrote the carputer software so over a weekend hacked in support for the thing. Basically left/right controls track selection and fastforward/rewind, up/down navigates through albums, playlists, etc. Turning it controls the volume, pressing it mutes or selects, and the buttons control music selection, GPS, etc.

Kinda like the BMW iDrive.

[Nd4SpdSe]

I just removed the steel base and mounted it on the dash. I wrote the carputer software so over a weekend hacked in support for the thing. Basically left/right controls track selection and fastforward/rewind, up/down navigates through albums, playlists, etc. Turning it controls the volume, pressing it mutes or selects, and the buttons control music selection, GPS, etc.

Kinda like the BMW iDrive.

You have any more pics of your CarPC?

[nightfire]

I'll take some next time I'm down in the garage.

I just got back from regreasing my control arm bushings, installing (yet another) modified strut brace (this one is SOLID), and installing my shiny new aluminum crossmember from Blazn'low. That's one solid piece of metal.

God I love this car. I just took it for a quick spin after the work and it's just incredible. Virtually no body roll, no pitching, straight-line acceleration, solid braking, probably 1g of grip around corners. It's just too much fun.

[nightfire]

CF hood installed! Thanks to Oscar (EZ_4_FUN) for all his help getting it locked in so I could drive back to Montreal. We had a hell of a time since my latch mechanism was deflected from its factory position a good 1/2 inch (fixed now).

I still haven't painted and installed my new fenders, but already it's looking better. I used washers as spacers to correct the bumper angle (where there was crash damage and deformation) so it lines up pretty well. Not perfect, but hey.. it's just looks. The subframe is in perfect alignment (verified professionally).

[marcdh]

very nice! Good to see another CarPC mx3 too. I'm still undecided on a knob! The 3dconnexion is quite a beast.

[Daninski]

Those CF hoods are over the top. With all the work you've been putting into your car do you find time for anything else (chicks). lol Great Job.

Edit; I heard CF hoods don't hurt as much when they land on your head.

[nightfire]

very nice! Good to see another CarPC mx3 too. I'm still undecided on a knob! The 3dconnexion is quite a beast.

It is, but it does look very natural (almost stock) in the vent like I've got it. I'm very happy with it there.

The only downside is that it can be tricky to control when you're on bumpy roads, but if you brace your fingers on the dash you can do it without too much trouble.

Those CF hoods are over the top. With all the work you've been putting into your car do you find time for anything else (chicks). lol Great Job.

Edit; I heard CF hoods don't hurt as much when they land on your head.

Damn you Dan. Good memory...hahaha.

Ah, man... the situations I get myself into with women... it's probably best I don't have any more time.

[dinux]

Which Linux distribution ?
Navigator works like mouse or you can configure and bind commands?

My setup (archlinux):

[onlytrueromeo]

What screen did you go with? Nice to see the 3d controller...I still haven't decided if I want to use one of those, or just use a touchscreen and get the fusion brain from mp3car and rig up buttons on the bezel and steering wheel (assuming I can modify an RX8 or Mazda6 steering wheel)

Any more pics of you setup? I'm interested to see how you molded it. I want to put an 8" in, I'm still stuck as to which one to buy because I don't want to be hindered too much by sunlight, but dont want to pay ridic. money for a transflective one!

[nightfire]

Which Linux distribution ?
Navigator works like mouse or you can configure and bind commands?

My setup (archlinux):

Oh, wow... cool! I'm not alone!

I'm running straight Debian/sid, with KDE 3.

For the spacenav, actually I only use it for my application, Carputer::Console. I wrote the interface software from scratch because I wanted it to work a certain way. It handles the software crossover stuff graphically, integrates VMware for GPS, and has a really nice track/album selection system. Basically I just opened the /dev/spacenav device (iirc) in binary mode and catch the events. It wasn't much work to decode what they meant. Then in the application I just perform whatever actions are relevant at the time.

For mouse integration I just use the standard touchscreen interface. 95% of the time I'm only shuffling music or changing the volume / muting, so I don't even touch the screen.

What kind of hardware are you running? Do you have any screen caps or anything?

What screen did you go with? Nice to see the 3d controller...I still haven't decided if I want to use one of those, or just use a touchscreen and get the fusion brain from mp3car and rig up buttons on the bezel and steering wheel (assuming I can modify an RX8 or Mazda6 steering wheel)

Any more pics of you setup? I'm interested to see how you molded it. I want to put an 8" in, I'm still stuck as to which one to buy because I don't want to be hindered too much by sunlight, but dont want to pay ridic. money for a transflective one!

I got the cheap ebay special. I can't remember what it was called, but it was like $300. Actually I'm very happy with it. The brightness is acceptable, even in bright sunlight. Only thing I could ask for would be DVI as VGA isn't quite as clear and more susceptable to interference.

I highly recommend an external controller if you can do it. It's a pain to have to touch a particular place on the screen while driving, and you can't quickly set the volume up or down. It also sucks to have to leave the screen on all the time. I normally leave mine off unless I'm switching albums or whatever. Steering wheel buttons would work well too though, yeah.

Honestly the brightness is totally acceptable if you have tinted windows. I wouldn't even bother with a transreflective screen. Spend that money on a bigger processor and storage.

I'll go take some more pics of it. Basically for the install I dremel'ed out the double din slot to make a tight form fit around the screen, then sunk the screen in such that the top is flush, and the bottom sticks out about 10mm. That way it's angled up making it easier to see. People have told me it looks stock, but of course I see all the imperfections I made installing it... lol.

[onlytrueromeo]

I definitely like it. I hear ya on seeing imperfections, I wish I was perfect when I installed things!

The only thing different I would do about your setup would be get a bigger screen and remove the surround. You would have to relocate the buttons, but I plan on doing that anyway. Good tip on tinted windows and angling the screen up! I will hafta do that if I ever get my carputer off the ground. My goal is 1.3k w/ megasquirt and a wideband included.

[nightfire]

I definitely like it. I hear ya on seeing imperfections, I wish I was perfect when I installed things!

The only thing different I would do about your setup would be get a bigger screen and remove the surround. You would have to relocate the buttons, but I plan on doing that anyway. Good tip on tinted windows and angling the screen up! I will hafta do that if I ever get my carputer off the ground. My goal is 1.3k w/ megasquirt and a wideband included.

Ya a bigger screen would be nice. Probably the next one I buy will be more like 1400x900, 9".

If you can do a full setup with a carputer, MS and wideband O2 controller, with all the wiring and such... for $1.3k.. that's impressive.

Because I'm doing software crossover filtering I needed to go core2 duo 3.2ghz... which of course loaded down the power supply and cooling, requiring more upgrades. Then I went for a 64gb SSD. My carputer box alone ended up setting me back over $2k.