Hardwire radar detector
 

Hey guys,

I have recently acquired a '14 S8, I am looking to hardwire my V1. I have tapped into homelink wiring in sunroof console in past audis, just wondering what the D4 guys are doing. This car has much more electronics than I am used to and I don't want to melt anything, thanks.

I can't speak for the model you have. I'm sure others will have some advice on the matter. I'm not sure of location where your trying to mount it
Mine came with a passport 9500 built in and I can tell you it's not something o would have tried. There's a lot of parts and wires to it though. Display, control panel , GPS , sensors, jammers, etc. all discreetly hidden wires.

BTDT. Can give you a very specific answer. V1 in 2015 S8 for me.

Get their "Savvy" add on unit from the web site, which plugs into the OBDII port under the dash by hood release. Plus, that filters more of the in town annoyance stuff. Then no more hacking into wiring anywhere and full removal when/if you sell car. Then you carefully push wire in from the detector, along the windshield top driver's edge, down the A pillar up agains the glass (tight fit!), around the dash area (very tight), and down toward footwell. All do-able with no more than simple auto trim plastic tools and nothing gets removed, cut or spliced. Store plastic (not metal) putty knife is essentially the trim tool to help push the flat wire in. Run wire from top down so you can bury any extra underneath instead of having to tuck into roof trim somehow. Just leave enough slack on top to start to be able to get detector an suction cup mount in and out.

Having hardwired V1 to D3 A8, C5 A6 and 2013 Q5 as well as a Mini, this is as clean or cleaner, no more work, no hacking, and completely removable. All the others I abandoned the wiring when I got rid of car. Only contra would be if you have some other OBDII port device that would always be plugged in--one of those ins. co. monitoring things, a P3 gauge set up (not available for D3 or D4 anyway :( ), etc.

BTW, be sure you know where you are putting detector. Downside to D4 design relative to D3 is the big clunky mirror, sensors and plastic make that center area a lot more crowded if you study it. I just barely shoehorned it in using the section cup mount right at the right hand edge of driver's visor. More or less can co exist w/ visor, but it is tight. Saw that issue when I first got a 2012 A8 dealer loaner for a week and got to know its smaller pluses and minuses too.

Thanks guys. I looked into the savvy, it says it uses a small amount of power while the car is turned off, has this ever been an issue MP4.2?

I only use the car for long trips, so it sits for a couple weeks at a time. I guess I could just unplug it.

No effect on my 2015 S8 AFAIK. Only have seen standing power issues when parked after the usual using VCDS too much with ignition on, or some other operator error. Car can sit sometimes 5 days or more and no difference. Power management system may know enough to shut down feed to that port anyway. I use a P3 gauge set up on Q5 Hybrid that also plugs into OBDII port. That car has sat for weeks w/ some vacations, and same non issue. If they had that P3 set up for D4 I would get it and wire detector the older hardwire way, but as usual D3/4 is nowhere on many aftermarket support radar screens.

S8 does have the training wheels small boy battery of all things among all D4's for some goofball reason, so is a rational question to ask. The battery crosses over to many a assisted scooter down at 75Ah, so it really is an old geezer's car! ;/ First non warranty battery change on mine and it is getting sized up. But again, no Savvy related issues and it does eliminate another layer of falsing crap alerts that I like. I have mine set at 30mph IIRC.

I just reinstalled my Escort Max2 into my current S8 today using a Blendmount mirror bracket and a Mirrortap hard wire kit.

This is the third time that i've done this ('11 A8L -> '13 S8 -> '14 S8) installation and it is quite simple. In fact it is so easy to do that when I was picking up my '14 S8 at the dealer on Saturday I uninstalled the Blendmount and the Mirrortap from my '13 S8 right there in the dealer service drive with the salesman watching.

You need to detach the ceiling console and then pull off the plastic panel that sits between the rear view mirror and the ceiling console. There is a wiring harness inside there that provides power to the mirror and Lane Keeping camera. The Mirrortap leads simply push into the end of the existing mirror harness connector. No cutting, splicing, or soldering is necessary. The power to the mirror is switched on with the ignition so it is perfect for the radar detector.

I took some photos of the process today so I'll try to put together a DIY Tutorial.

I'd be really interested in seeing your writeup. I used the Mirrortap on my wife's car, and it made installation an absolute breeze. But knowing exactly which leads to tap into is extremely helpful.

yeah i'd like to see the tutorial, so i don't jack my mirror up trying to get it apart :)

I would also like to see the tutorial. I'm not sure how to get the housing apart to access the wires.

docs
 

Here are the docs I found... going to try and hardwire my escort this weekend. I think all I'll really need are these instructions, my multimeter and the power cord with taps, but until I do it I won't know for sure :)