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Front & rear dashcam

Motorhead

PCGB Member
Member
I'll be interested too Tim. Offerings from Nextbase and Garmin are always well-recommended, although I'm not convinced that all the features are essential.

Video quality and good performance at very low light levels are probably the most important features of a dashcam and I suspect that both could be lacking at the bottom of the price range, along with said features.

Jeff

 
Hi, I have a 2019 718, does anyone have any experience or can recommend a good front and rear dashcam system for the 718, I asked Porsche Silverstone and they told me Porsche does not offer these and therefore they cannot offer anything that is not approved by Porsche, understandable, so I looked on Amazon and to be honest I couldn't really see any difference from the £23.99 jobs to the £100-200.00 systems.
The only thing I noticed is the better ones seem to have Sony lenses, what should I look for?

Thanks,
Tim
 
I have a Viofo A119S front dash cam and it works very well. The 129Duo is also very good and at £155 on Amazon not a bad price and will work using the 12v lighter socket under the dash. You'll need a card reader to read any files unless they come with an app. I'd recommend 'Dashcam viewer' (dashcamviewer.com) for this (I'm not associated with them but I do use the software).

I also wanted something discreet and this is perfect. I'll upload some photos in a min.

Installation is easy. Mine took around 30 mins.

Dan

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How do you get on with routing wires etc - are they concealed behind trim, loosely routed or secured in anyway? Sorry, can’t really see from the pics.

 
Routed towards the passenger side behind the roof lining then behind and down the A pillar and then into the footwell. excess wires are tucked under the glovebox.

I dont have the rear cam but it could be routed the same way down the A pillar where it would split front to rear under the door sill and up along the passenger trim to the rear.

 
Scrounger said:
Routed towards the passenger side behind the roof lining then behind and down the A pillar and then into the footwell. excess wires are tucked under the glovebox.

I dont have the rear cam but it could be routed the same way down the A pillar where it would split front to rear under the door sill and up along the passenger trim to the rear.
981 but followed the same process as this, aside from my excess cable is pushed up behind the glovebox / under the carpet at the top of the footwell. Cannot see anything visible & the 30mins active power after gives a nice 'park mode' when popping to the shops.

I have no skills & installed in 20 mins max. I have a black due as found the cheaper ones failed too often & the purpose of this is to have recorded when you need it to have. Got a factory refurb from Ebay for about 30% off new.

 
I have used various Apeman front/rear dashcams on my 981 Cayman and my wife’s BMWs with excellent results. I was really impressed with the discreet size and at this price it really was excellent value.

The most recent model I bought was:

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Full HD front and rear using the 12v socket in the glove compartment. The cable length is very long so don't worry about that. I positioned the rear cam at the top centre of the rear screen and this was hidden from the drivers mirror view,

I also added the GPS module that sits alongside it.

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Whichever you chose will be that added bonus when you need to 'prove' any fault etc.

 
mj2k said:
Scrounger said:
Routed towards the passenger side behind the roof lining then behind and down the A pillar and then into the footwell. excess wires are tucked under the glovebox.

I dont have the rear cam but it could be routed the same way down the A pillar where it would split front to rear under the door sill and up along the passenger trim to the rear.
981 but followed the same process as this, aside from my excess cable is pushed up behind the glovebox / under the carpet at the top of the footwell. Cannot see anything visible & the 30mins active power after gives a nice 'park mode' when popping to the shops.

I have no skills & installed in 20 mins max. I have a black due as found the cheaper ones failed too often & the purpose of this is to have recorded when you need it to have. Got a factory refurb from Ebay for about 30% off new.

Does the installation require any physical removal of the trim or is there enough flexibility at the edges of the roof lining and a pillar trim to route the cables? Mines a GTS so is alcantara - not sure if that makes any difference in terms of flexibility / ease of doing it? Also does the trim bulge after fitting?

 
Mine is a GTS also, no trim removal required, there is enough flex / gap to push the wire in with a trim tool / credit card. The a pillars are solid with alcantara covering, so there is no bulge at all visible.

Cable goes right down to the windscreen before tucked down the side of the dash & routes back towards the door & then under the rubber.

Nothing visible at all cable wise, and really easy to do.

 
mj2k said:
Mine is a GTS also, no trim removal required, there is enough flex / gap to push the wire in with a trim tool / credit card. The a pillars are solid with alcantara covering, so there is no bulge at all visible.

Cable goes right down to the windscreen before tucked down the side of the dash & routes back towards the door & then under the rubber.

Nothing visible at all cable wise, and really easy to do.
Thank you - could you suggest suitable trim tools please - appreciate any links etc as considering and want to make sure I have the right tools to do the job. Thank you

 
It's a bit confusing Ralph. Most forward-facing cameras I've seen fitted have been close to and to the left of the rear-view mirror which puts them well outside Zone A [otherwise the mirror could be classified as an obstruction!]. As for Zone B, the rest of the windscreen swept area, the statement Windscreen stickers, or other obstructions, shall not encroach more than 40mm would probably rule out the use of most cameras, but again the mirror itself is in that area. However, my screen-mounted TomTom satnav probably falls foul of the Zone B requirement.! [:(]

Jeff

 
PHB1969 said:
mj2k said:
Mine is a GTS also, no trim removal required, there is enough flex / gap to push the wire in with a trim tool / credit card. The a pillars are solid with alcantara covering, so there is no bulge at all visible.

Cable goes right down to the windscreen before tucked down the side of the dash & routes back towards the door & then under the rubber.

Nothing visible at all cable wise, and really easy to do.
Thank you - could you suggest suitable trim tools please - appreciate any links etc as considering and want to make sure I have the right tools to do the job. Thank you

The tool I used came with the Blackvue camera, however it looks like the 3rd from the left on these tools:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELZO-Removal-Center-Console-Installation/dp/B0888C1B5J/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=dash+trim+tool&qid=1598717584&sr=8-7

It really is much more simple than you are probably thinking it will be. Start at the top of the windscreen, leaving enough 'spare' to allow you to fix the camera & then can be tucked into the headlining, the cable will just slide up there really easily. Then between the A pillar and windscreen to the bottom corner.

Here is a link to another install, this is what I used as my inspiration but with the camera installed passenger side behind the mirror & cannot see it when driving. https://www.caymanoc.com/forums/topic/562-dash-cam-fitted-to-981/

 
ralphmusic said:
The mirror is a standard fit item and therefore is not an obstruction. [:)]

Oh dear! Looks as though the dashcam manufacturers could be out of business here ... expect some hefty lobbying along the lines of safety, insurance disputes, reporting footage of wayward drivers to the police, etc.

As long as the dashcam's removed for an MOT there shouldn't be a problem and since traffic police aren't interested in policing traffic these days you're unlikely to get pulled over. Even if you do you have the excuse that it's there to ... report footage of wayward drivers to the police..! [;)]

Jeff

 
Jeff,

Dorset police are asking for drivers to send in video so it might be difficult for them to stop cars for obstructing forward views as Surrey police have been doing.

 
If the part of the windscreen is obscured by the rear view mirror & that is where the camera is located, how on earth can that be wrong?

I cannot even look through that part of the screen from where I sit, my passenger can but is of no use to them & equally a pedestrian cannot react to something more easily through that part of the screen being 'obscured'.

Looking at the 2010 date of the document & having had cams in that location for 7/8yrs am sure it is fine. My only concern on cameras is the way people drive trying to create a 'close call' rather than change behaviours according to the situation & awareness.

 
The document is still in effect. When I take a Mercedes in for its annual dealer service and MOT they always ask me to remove various stickers to comply with the regulations.

 
Very strange, I have not had any mention from 4 MOT garages, one I used for the Z4M, one my wife chooses for her Boxster & the ones I have used for my M4 / Cayman / Smart 453, all very strange to have so much variance within 'the rules'. All with the same cameras mounted in the same place.

To be fair if the car fails from a windscreen wiper sweep that I cannot even see from where I sit, that is utter madness!

 

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