2012 Polo 6R - RCD 310 to RCD / RNS 510

[Ibbysquared]

Hey all,

Ive had a bit of browse through the net and the forums for a thread with the information im after, but for the life of me I cant manage to find majority of the answers im looking for, so I thought i would ask them here in one spot.

So I recently bought a MY12.5 Polo 77tsi and so far the experience ive had with the bluetooth audio is nothing short of terrible. As far as i can tell, the phone connects to the Touch Adaptor through bluetooth, which then connects to the RCD310 through the same process. Problem is, it sounds like complete rubbish.
I have an AUX in line right there, but Id rather my car not be a mess of cables from the aux + charger.
I have the touch adaptor with the RCD 310 Headunit.

What i want to do is install either the RCD or RNS 510 headunits instead.
My questions are:

1) So far, the only difference I can find between the RCD and RNS 510 are RNS having sat nav. Is that the only difference? Also, how is the map quality on the RNS 510 and are they quick to find your location ? Im finding it a bit hard to justify spending an extra $300-$450 for just navigational extras, but if the quality is exceptional it would sway me a bit.

2) Will I need a GPS module for the RNS 510 ? Ive read that if you have a shark fin antenna it isn't required, but there's my problem: My antenna looks like a shark fin, but still ends with about 15cm of antenna.

3) After changing them, will I need to also install a bluetooth module for either HU (Headunit) ? Some people are saying its needed for only the RCD but that the RNS already has bluetooth integrated, but Id rather not buy the headunit then realise my bluetooth doesn't work and having to pull it out all over again.

4) In the end, I want to install a mono amp running a decent sub; I havent seen any RCA inputs in the headunits but Ive seen people running subs off of the stock HUs. Is there an adaptor out there for them?


Thanks in advance,
Ibby

[LukePolo]

Hey all,

Ive had a bit of browse through the net and the forums for a thread with the information im after, but for the life of me I cant manage to find majority of the answers im looking for, so I thought i would ask them here in one spot.

So I recently bought a MY12.5 Polo 77tsi and so far the experience ive had with the bluetooth audio is nothing short of terrible. As far as i can tell, the phone connects to the Touch Adaptor through bluetooth, which then connects to the RCD310 through the same process. Problem is, it sounds like complete rubbish.
I have an AUX in line right there, but Id rather my car not be a mess of cables from the aux + charger.
I have the touch adaptor with the RCD 310 Headunit.

What i want to do is install either the RCD or RNS 510 headunits instead.
My questions are:

1) So far, the only difference I can find between the RCD and RNS 510 are RNS having sat nav. Is that the only difference? Also, how is the map quality on the RNS 510 and are they quick to find your location ? Im finding it a bit hard to justify spending an extra $300-$450 for just navigational extras, but if the quality is exceptional it would sway me a bit.

2) Will I need a GPS module for the RNS 510 ? Ive read that if you have a shark fin antenna it isn't required, but there's my problem: My antenna looks like a shark fin, but still ends with about 15cm of antenna.

3) After changing them, will I need to also install a bluetooth module for either HU (Headunit) ? Some people are saying its needed for only the RCD but that the RNS already has bluetooth integrated, but Id rather not buy the headunit then realise my bluetooth doesn't work and having to pull it out all over again.

4) In the end, I want to install a mono amp running a decent sub; I havent seen any RCA inputs in the headunits but Ive seen people running subs off of the stock HUs. Is there an adaptor out there for them?


Thanks in advance,
Ibby

1. Also has an inbuilt hard drive to store music locally, nothing overly special if you ask me.

2. I believe you will also need an external GPS aerial.

3. If you have an RCD310 with touch adapter, you will have a 9W7 unit underneath your driver seat, this is plug and play with the RCD510. The touch adapter will need to be coded out, and basically you throw it in the garbo because the RCD510 will handle all the phone functions. Your car also has a built in microphone above your head in the light cavity.

4. No there is no adapter out for them, which means no highand low pass filter, therefore upgraded speakers and amp for those speakers will be nessecary UNLESS you want to just add bass, and still have same quality audio out of the speakers. You will need to run a high end line converter from one of rear speakers (because the front speakers are split, they will be no good to run off) which runs to the mono block.

[The_Hawk]

Headunit
The RCD510 has a pretty colour screen and can support a reverse camera (if you get the right model).
The RNS510 adds navigation and a HDD to store music (and the maps). Usually when you buy the RNS510 it comes with the GPS antenna which essentially sits on top of the unit inside the dash.
In my use the RNS510 has always known where I was. I've never had to wait for a "fix". Boot times can be a little slow though but by no means a deal breaker.

Connection wise they have the same plugs so adding an amp later has the same issues with either headunit.

Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a completely separate module so stays in place. The touch adaptor in the Polo is there to allow you connect a phone since you don't have any other screen/buttons to do that. If you upgrade to the RCD510/RNS510 (ie something with a touch screen) you can then control the bluetooth connection from the headunit. This means you can code out the adaptor and replace it with a far more useful phone dock, read here for more details:
All your MY12.5+ Bluetooth Touch Adaptor Answers

If you don't already have it, audio streaming can be enabled via VCDS, there is also talk that the audio quality is better when you remove the touch adaptor from the equation.

What should you get??
The colour touch screen is a nice upgrade and will let you re-purpose the dock to your phone. This would allow you to use your phone for navigation in the powered dock...
Either way you can have a reverse camera if that's what you want.

Having built in GPS is nice and all, doesn't use phone data and then anyone who happens to be in your can can use it. It also means you don't have to worry about how charged your phone battery is. (If you have a dock for the phone with permanent power this is obviously not an issue).

So should you get GPS... it's much harder to justify these days with smart phones than is ever used to be. That said I've got it in both my cars and would get it again.



One alternative to consider is the Android head units, something which has always intrigued me. If you get a decent one they will support RVC, their own on board bluetooth, Nav, DAB+ as well as the ability to run all the android apps which in turn means a choice of NAV software, stuff like TorquePro and anything else you can think of. If I didn't already have the nav units I have in my cars I'd be seriously tempted to give one of them a bash.