Radio Upgrade to Pioneer DMH-WT3800NEX

My car is a 2015 Prius Two with the basic touchscreen radio and backup camera. No Apps/GPS/Navigation/JBL/etc.

Finally pulled the trigger a few weeks ago when there was a sale on the Pioneer DMH-WT3800NEX radio at Crutchfield. Installation was super easy, everything was plug and play except for 1 wire I had to crimp between the Antenna adapter harness amplifier (blue) to the iDatalink harness Amp turn on (blue/white). Technically different type of amp but it works for this purpose. None of the cars stock wiring was cut or modified.

Install probably took 20 minutes to undo the dash, remove the old radio, and plug in the new one enough to test. Then spent another 1-2 hours doing cable management and making it look nice. Radio's GPS antenna and microphone were routed down behind the dash then back up the A pillar (same path as my dashcam wires) to get it up to the roof above the map light area.

All of the car settings that you can change from the stock radio (light timeouts, lock settings, Smart Key enable/disable, etc) are retained with the module. The only thing you don't have is the fancy Energy Flow diagram (but still have the basic one on the instrument cluster) and the last 30 min MPG. But if you do plug in the OBD2 cable with the Maestro harness you can get stuff like RPM, Coolant Temp, Intake Air Temp, and other OBD2 stuff on a dashboard screen. However I don't think you can do custom PIDs or whatever like Torque to get the hybrid specific stuff.

Stock backup camera also works and was plug and play into the iDatalink harness. Quality wasn't really improved. It's just the same stock camera signal but on a bigger and better resolution screen. There is the option to add in the parking guidelines but need to find a sufficient flat space and time with a tape measure to calibrate it.

List of everything used:

• Pioneer DMH-WT3800NEX:
  • https://www.crutchfield.com/p_130DMT3800/Pioneer-DMH-WT3800NEX.html
• iDatalink Maestro RR2 Interface Module:
  • https://www.crutchfield.com/p_794ADSMRR2/iDatalink-Maestro-RR2-Interface-Module.html
• iDatalink HRN-HRR-TO1 Vehicle-specific Harness:
  • https://www.crutchfield.com/p_794HRRTO1C/iDatalink-HRN-HRR-TO1-Vehicle-specific-Harness-ADS-MRR-or-ADS-MRR2-module-also-required.html
• iDatalink ACC-HU-PIO1 Brand-specific Harness:
  • https://www.crutchfield.com/p_794HUPIO1/iDatalink-ACC-HU-PIO1-Brand-specific-Harness.html
• Metra 40-LX11 Antenna Adapter:
  • https://www.crutchfield.com/p_12040LX11/Metra-40-LX11-Antenna-Adapter.html
• Metra AX-TOYUSB USB Port Adapter:
  • https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120TOYUSB/Metra-AX-TOYUSB-USB-Port-Adapter.html
• Scosche TA2105B Dash Kit:
  • https://www.crutchfield.com/p_142TA2105B/Scosche-TA2105B-Dash-Kit-Black.html

Some notes:
Crutchfield bundles all the installation harness and steering wheel control module (iDatalink Maestro), but they only included the older Maestro RR on the website. I wanted to RR2 that lets you use Bluetooth to reprogram the steering wheel controls. For that I had to call into Crutchfield and they were able to send me a link to a custom cart with the RR2 module in a bundle to save the $50. Otherwise with the RR module if you want to change the steering wheel controls you have to plug it into a computer, which is hard to do when it is installed behind the dash.

Another thing about the steering wheel controls that caught me off guard at first was they seemed backwards. On the Prius stock radio you're used to navigating Up and Down on the presets. But on the Pioneer radio at least the Radio presets are numbered 1 - 6. So if you want to go from preset 1 > 2, you would think it would be Down, but actually have to hit Up on the steering wheel. But thanks to the Maestro RR2 it was easy to re-program with Bluetooth from my phone and now it works as expected.

Also another nice thing about the Maestro RR2 (and RR) is that you can have them totally custom mapped, and every button has a secondary function for holding the button. For example my Prius doesn't have the Voice Command button on the steering wheel, but I just mapped the new radio's Voice Control to when you hold the the Phone answer button on the steering wheel. Here is a sample of what that programming looks like from the initial setup on the computer:

2024-10-20_220429 by amarino posted Oct 20, 2024 at 10:25 PM

Some pictures of the install:

PXL_20241018_233153376 by amarino posted Oct 20, 2024 at 9:23 PM

PXL_20241004_025731103 by amarino posted Oct 20, 2024 at 9:23 PM

PXL_20241012_235911376 by amarino posted Oct 20, 2024 at 9:23 PM

PXL_20241013_000419778 by amarino posted Oct 20, 2024 at 9:23 PM

I also went a bit more custom install for the microphone, instead of having the black mic clipped to the sun visor. I got a 2.5mm mono 12ft extension cable and ran that from the radio up to the map light location. Then I took out the stock prius mic and just wrapped the radio's one in there. For the radio's mic cable I just wrapped it up and shoved it in the space between the light and sunglasses holder in the picture below. The reason for getting an extension cable is so I can remove the map light panel and unplug the mic without it having to hang by the cable. I also left the stock Prius microphone plugged in just in case there were any errors or messages that would pop up.

PXL_20241013_030400313 by amarino posted Oct 20, 2024 at 9:23 PM

PXL_20241013_030324802 by amarino posted Oct 20, 2024 at 9:23 PM

PXL_20241013_025550981 by amarino posted Oct 20, 2024 at 9:23 PM

 

The top/middle vents are not blocked to blow air up to your face / upper body. But may be blocked when angled down. I also mounted this one as low as possible to not block the vents. And also why I went with the 9" version instead of the 10" version.

Sorry my picture was a bit angled down low. I will try to get one from eye level that shows it better.

 

@tweedle99 I tried to take these pictures from eye level. The top vents are not blocked.

PXL_20241026_174836310 by amarino posted Oct 26, 2024 at 4:45 PM

PXL_20241026_174849007 by amarino posted Oct 26, 2024 at 4:45 PM

 

No video guides from Crutchfield, they just provided a PDF of how to remove the trim panels and original radio, but you can find videos for how to do that online. When I did call Crutchfield support for a question they were quick to answer and help out, even on a weekend. I only bought from Crutchfield because it is easy and they bundle everything together. You can buy the same stuff from other places and piece it together as well.

It is a bit complicated but if you break it down into smaller steps / components it's easy to manage.

1. Programming the iDatalink Maestro RR2 module: This is where you configure the steering wheel controls and program the module to your specific radio. Need to do this at a computer. You can install their software to program called Weblink and play with it in a Demo Mode to see what it's like: Weblink Desktop
-- If you do order from Crutchfield I recommend to call them and get a "custom cart" with the RR2 module instead of the RR module. Yes it costs a bit more but the RR2 module has Bluetooth and is easier to reprogram from your phone/tablet once installed in the car. Other option is to drag your laptop out to your car and disassemble the dash to access the USB port on the RR module if you need to reprogram it, see my notes above about the steering wheel controls for why that was good to have for me.)

2. iDatalink wiring diagrams. You can find them here for the radio specific and they even give you a shopping list: iDatalink Maestro
-- For my 2015 Two with basic radio (no JBL) it starts on page 212 here: https://images.idatalink.com/corporate/Content/Manuals/RR-TOY/ADS-HRR(SR)-TOY01-DS-IG-EN_20230331.pdf

Their harness really does make it 99% plug and play. Like I mentioned above I only needed to make 1 crimp connection for the blue wire to antenna signal amplifier. Everything else was plugging in connectors. The "iDatalink HRN-HRR-TO1 Vehicle-specific Harness" on the Crutchfield website shows an example picture of what it looks like:


And on the iDatalink wiring diagram PDF it tells you what to plug in for your specific car:

Idatalink-wiring-prius-2012-2015 by amarino posted Nov 5, 2024 at 11:17 AM

3. Backup camera selection and wiring, this might be the hardest part. My car came with a original backup camera, so I didn't have to do any wiring to the rear hatch or installing a camera to the outside. Example from YouTube: