Pioneer AVIC Z1

[Iron Man]

Those of you who have the Pioneer AVIC Z1, how did you get it in your rig? Was it Newmar or you dealer that installed it? I get conflicting answers from those I talk to at Newmar. No we don't install it, yes we can install it,no we don't isntall it but you can get service to install it. Does anybody know if the plugs for the Z1 and the D2 are the same? Can you just swap the head units or is there more to it.

[Iron Man]

Those of you who have the Pioneer AVIC Z1, how did you get it in your rig? Was it Newmar or you dealer that installed it? I get conflicting answers from those I talk to at Newmar. No we don't install it, yes we can install it,no we don't isntall it but you can get service to install it. Does anybody know if the plugs for the Z1 and the D2 are the same? Can you just swap the head units or is there more to it.

[rebelsbeach]

John, Peter and I were "victims" of the "sales guys versus the bean counters" as the sales guys first put out the information that the Z1 would be the "radio of choice" in the Essex...
Apparently the bean counters saw the cost and put the kabotz on that idea,but there was the issue of the sales guys having told the dealers (and thus their ordering customers...) that they could expect the Z1.
When I heard this was going on, I had my dealer call Newmar and since the "early orderers" were told Z1 and not D2, those that asked about it were "grandfathered in" and received the Z1.

What I recommend you do is call Ken Williamson, the high line sales director for Newmar and ASK HIM PERSONALLY what the deal is....No disrespect to ANY dealer, but you can call Ken and get the story right from the horse's mouth.

I have his number back at the coach and will PM it to you later this afternoon.

Again I reiterate.....CALL KEN and no one else..
He is in charge of high line and can tell you whether you need to order it without a nav radio and then YOU add the Z1, or whether they're allowing you to pay for an upgrade,which I would not imagine to be the case...

Did I say ya oughta call Ken?

[RVDude]

Please chime in!

Here's what I know which may be different than what others may have experienced.

1) Howard RV has tried to order a Z1 on every stock coach and several ordered units over the past year and has been always been denied by the order takers in Nappanee.

2) Howard RV arranged the Z1 install on 2 of the marketing snafu units rebelsbeach (Bob) speaks of. The first unit (I think Bob's old EX) was identified after it came offline and hence Howard had to do the retro install as it was too late for production to do it. The second of these units was identified *before* it came off line at Newmar but Newmar chose to ship Howard the Z1 and have them do the swap and send the D2 back. Apparently, production did not want to touch it.

3) Howard RV tells me the Z1 and D2 are *not* plug compatible and the Z1 requires a fair amount of rewiring apparently for the power supply. Not sure I follow that logic - the units have roughly the same functionality - but not having actually opened the box on both units I can't say what the plug/wiring/power differences are.

4) I talked with Ken at the Raleigh RV show and he was clear to say that "engineering did not like the way the Z1 fits in the dash cutout" and hence that is why they (engineering) refuse to do the install in production. Between us folks, I think the retro installs proves this is very lame, very, very lame.

5) I failed to press the point with Ken in Raleigh to see if he'd OK a Z1. Me bad.

Hence, the mystery of EX Z1's remains. Has anyone had a *production* install?

Of course, by now, the Z1 is really "old technology" but I'd still like to get one!

[rebelsbeach]

You might as well start looking at the Z2 as it has replaced the Z1 for 2008 in the Pioneer line...I will have a Z2 installed in my Hummer H3 next week in Wilmington by Soundtronics.

[Lug_Nut]

Mine was installed at the factory prior to delivery, however not on the production line but swapped after. It is possible that certain wiring may be different between the D2 and Z1 as the Z1 includes a 30 Gig. hard drive therefore probably does have larger power supply lines. The Bluetooth option however is a plug and play and only works on the Z1 not the D2.

Peter

[rebelsbeach]

Here's a recent review I found...

Having collected the laurels for Car Tech's Best of CES last year with its Avic-Z1 in-dash navigation and multimedia system, Pioneer is using this year's show to launch the Avic-Z2. The Z2 builds on the basic design of the Z1 and offers a range of upgraded features: a learning capability, which remembers roads frequently traveled by the driver and incorporates these preferences into suggested routes when applicable; a smart routing algorithm that takes into account factors such as posted speed limits and the number of turns to reach the destination, to give a more accurate estimate of journey time; and lane information for 50 areas of the country, which advises drivers of the correct driving lane they should be in for passage through interchanges and exits.

Like that in the Avic-Z1, the Z2's hard drive-based navigation system also integrates XM NavTraffic (a separate XM subscription is required), which provides real-time information on traffic flow and accidents. The Z2 also features advanced voice recognition, brand icons for retail stores, 3D icons for points of interest, and text-to-voice technology, which reads aloud road names as well as turn directions and distances.

On the digital media front, the Z2 allocates the same 10GB of hard drive space to drivers to create their own media libraries, and retains the the ability to play DVDs, CDs, MP3 discs, and iPod input. The Avic-Z2 will appear in stores in April with a price tag of $2,200.