Stinger heigh10 obd functions

Hi everyone. Im in a 2017 off road with JBL.

Im on the fence with replacing my stock JBL head unit. Im looking at a stinger heigh10, or alpine ilx-509.

I have Questions that are seemingly unanswered or hard to search for. Could someone point me in the correct direction?

1). What gets lost from the center screen display on the gage cluster? And what gets displayed on the heigh10 screen?

2). The heigh10 is not idata meistro compatible. So can buss features like oil pressure or amp meter/voltage is a no go. Does someone know of a way of getting these functions? Stinger tech says the unit is capable of it but is strictly unsupported, and zero future plans for upgrade thru firmware.

3). Apline ilx-509 floats and makes it look ugly. Im looking for a solution to make it more integrated like the stinger if necessary.

My comparison:
Alpine ilx-509/511-
Uses proprietary OS , Supported by idata meistro RR supports many canbus gages plus other features.
Supports 2 cameras, has 4volt outputs, plus all the standard radio babel fluff.

Stinger heigh10:
Has giant screen, integrated type bezel( no floating screen), and android OS. Apparently outputs are 1.5 volts, and no idata support (Seams to be the bastard cousin of the units for jeep and ram). Has 4 camera inputs. according to tech support, will not carry over anything from the center cluster display. Including gas mileage, TPMS, roll /pitch and other items typically carried and reported by the stock radio. Can anyone confirm exact items carried over or lost please.

So far, looking at this the stinger dosent have much going for it other than the flashy looks, but in the end its function over form. I would really like to have the same or mors functionality other than just the ability to reshape the sound spaghetti the stock unit causes. alpine has nice size screen, but will need a completely custom bezel created by hand to make a more integrated appearance.

 

This chick just posted a YouTube video about it yesterday. I think it answers all of your questions:

 

Thanks i like her videos. Ill check it out asap

 

Watching this video deterred me from buying it. I've been on the fence about getting one, but the features that I lose are not worth it. I have the 360 Surround camera, and I would lose that, there are also a few things that I like on the stock but aren't on the after market.

I found it to be more flashy than functional.

 

I am inclined to agree. I dont have the 2020+ features but the door lock settings and stuff are kinda nice. Esp in a high crime area . Its nice to set the locks to only open 1 door.
Other than that, her video diddnt address my initial concerns as to exactly what features you loose. Esp the ones that get reported through the center cluster screen. It would be nice to find someone in my area (north of seattle) to do side by side comparison.

 

She did mention in the video about door look/auto lock and a few other features. She said they are lost on the new head unit, but you can SAVE them on the old one before you setup the new one, then they carry over. But you cannot change them after the new unit is installed. Meaning whatever you saved is your setting for the duration of the new head unit.

 

My biggest issue is the tpms, pitch/roll indicators, and mileage stuff . I want to know just what is lost from the center cluster display.

 

I believe Chloe addressed the pitch/roll, mileage & TPMS. Iirc she said they are retained, however the Stinger website questions area says they are not retained.

She did mention that you have to set your lock preferences before you swap. I personally have never changed mine from factory and have no desire to do so but that is only me.

I am seriously considering the Stinger Heigh10, but not 100% sure yet.

 

I just bought one. I have a 2019. I’ll post something when I get it installed

 

Just installed today. I had to watch a video on Tacoma beast but it was easy to follow. Since I have a carbon fiber overlay on my dash trim, I had to sand down the plastic trim piece so it fit better. So far I like the sound. I think it sounds better than my stock jbl. To retain xm radio you have to buy a xm tuner sold separately. For now I’m just gonna use CarPlay to listen to whatever. You do lose the ability to change stations in the dash menu. So far it’s ok. Hopefully it will grow on me. I’ve only had it operating for about an hour.

 

@blam827, thanks so much for the info. If it's not too much trouble, would you be willing to be very specific on which center video display info you lost (e.g. compass, pitch/roll, TPMS, navigation, media, etc.)? This will determine whether or not I go this route or go with a unit that can interface with Maestro.

I really appreciate any feedback you can give.

 

Sure. I lost the media controls and the compass page. I don’t have pitch and roll on mine. I have a sport. The mode button on the steering wheel still changes from radio to xm to bt etc. the TPMS still works as well as the lane change menu. I’m still getting used to it. The town I live in is a dead zone. I have no cell service and hardly any FM service. Drive 5 miles in any direction…then your fine. If you want XM radio you have to buy a module to receive XM. You still use stock antenna though. I have xm on my phone so I’ll just use that in car play as well as Apple Music ( when I have service). I only drive 2 miles to work so I haven’t spent alot of time with it. Hope this helps.

 

The other huge con not mentioned anywhere here is the lack of wireless CarPlay. I feel like that should be a no-brainer in this price range

 

I agree I have been trying to get the same answers and no one who has installed this unit seems to give a straight answer. The only person who has said all the cluster information is retained is the chick who installed it in her truck. But she never showed that in her video. And the Tacoma Beast guys never show it in there installation video either

 

I had looked into the Stinger six months or so ago. I asked them about the maintenance reminders and they said it’s not supported. I had always kept up on fluid and filter changes on paper or spreadsheets and now I’m accustomed to the truck keeping track.

 

Entirely agree, after looking that's a big set back in this price range.

 

I’ve had the Stinger in my 2019 trd or for a few weeks.
-The TPMS info stays.
-The pitch/roll stays.
-The compass is gone.
-The mileage/mpg stays, but the fuel efficiency bar charts info on the original head unit screen goes.
-The volume and rev/ff steering functions stay. I don’t use XM or radio do I can’t say much about how the controls work there.
-CarPlay works well. The steering wheel voice command works well.
-I used the Stinger’s internal mike rather than install their external one. Works fine.
-I don’t have the 360 cameras of the newer models. I do have a front camera the works well with the unit. If I had the 360 camera feature, I’d stick with that and not get the Stinger.
-OEM camera resolution sucks. But it does on the stock headunit display too. So prolly just a camera issue and not the Stinger display.
-equalizer functions are better than stock.
-sound quality is fine. I have stock speakers, but no amps/subs or noise deadening so I’m not expecting great sound quality from the truck.
-the Nav works fine BUT you need to buy the $180 micro SD card to use it. This is bullshit considering the hefty price tag of the unit. Nav makes a lot of comments about speed limits and other warnings. It was annoying so I turned those features off. Offroad, the unit was getting spotty GPS Sat connections but it may be where I was rather than the stinger. It uses the OEM gps satellite antenna.
-the XM radio requires that you buy a new tuner to use it. This is also BS considering the cost of the unit.
-I bought it to get CarPlay functionality to run Gaia, OnX offroad when I’m in BFE without cell service. Been working good for that.
-it has more features and functions that I haven’t explored yet—- extra camera availability, hdmi, other AV inputs.
-you can’t change lock settings, beep alerts, maintenance reminders and other things the OEM headunit did. I never really changed those once I found what I liked. I bet you can change those in techstream.
-I am not blown away by the Stinger unit. I like it much better than the stock unit (I had the non-JBL unit). The Stinger unit has a nicer screen for nav use with Gaia. I use a Garmin Overlander unit and my iPhone with Gaia and OnX for offroad nav. The Garmin is a POS half the time. It says there are roads and connections that do not exist. So i always corroborate it’s info with Gaia or onX.

 

I had the front any time camera mod but it would only stay on for 30 seconds and the go back to the radio. With the Stinger you can put it on front or rear cam and it stays till you change it. That’s pretty cool. I still think it sounds better than stock jbl. But I’m sure there are others out there cheaper that sound just as good. I like mine. Would I do it again? Probably take that $1400 and go on a nice weekend vacation

 

Thank you for the info this is the most detailed info I've received. Will definitely purchase this now. Stinger also said they might be doing a update in the future for the rest of the features lost. But no date yet.