TOPIC:

Hi folks

I bought a 66 plate Kadjar recently, and so far I really like it. There are a couple of wee niggles and I hope that there are ways to overcome some of them. Questions below
The first thing I did was upgrade R-Link to version 3.whatever and enable Android Auto - I felt like a hacking god when it popped up on my screen. So thanks to everyone involved in the thread about enabling it! This leads me to my first question, I guess...

Q1: Twice recently Android Auto stopped working - it lost contact with my phone. After a bit of reading, I cleared the AA cache on my phone and this allowed my phone to reconnect. After the 2nd time I changed the cable and went into Developer Mode to check AA was enabled etc. then did a hard reboot of R-Link. So far so good. So the question is this: is this a known problem with this version of R-Link's AA capability? Is there anything I can do to try to stop it from happening in the future?

Q2: Is there any way to make AA the default so that my own music will play each time I start the car? I am sick to my back teeth (already) of an overly loud radio station being chosen by default.

Q3: Has anyone successfully used magnetic USB cables to simplify phone connection in the car? I fancy trying it but I don't want to throw money at it and find it is useless. My vision/dream is having the cable lying there and it snakes over to the phone when I drop it in to the wee space in front of the gearstick and it all just works. Am I on crack?

Q4: The armrest storage is a bit of an abyss, isn't it? I see many other models of car have a tray available on Amazon that sits over the top of the abyss and effectively gives you a 2nd, more organised layer to use. I can't find this for the Kadjar. Does anyone know of something I can buy? Commercial or 3d printed, I'm easy.

Q5: The biggest disappointment of my Kadjar is the lack of oomph. It drives very nicely, but wee kids on bikes with stabilisers overtake me on the motorway during the acceleration phase! I have read something about a 'stage 1 remap'. Can anyone with a car-shaped brain talk me through this? Specifically - does this actually offer a real-world tangible benefit? Will I keep pace with the kiddies on bikes? What sort of price would I expect to be charged? Are there any downsides? Would I need to have this removed/disabled/undone before an MoT?

Q6: Any easy non-tech mods that I should consider to personalise or improve my car? I Added some footwell lighting and I am very pleased with it. It doesn't look anywhere as tacky as I was scared it might! I also had aftermarket parking sensors fitted. They're too loud but they work and I am happy   

Q7: I'd love to find a storage bag or box that fitted under the 'false floor' in the boot so I could keep tools/cleaning stuff etc. Has anyone found anything wonderful that they can link or suggest?

Q8: Other than Spotify and Google Maps, are there any other Android Auto apps worth downloading?

Thank you to anyone who can answer any of these and who is happy to take the time to do so. There will be more questions in the future I am sure   Specifically I am interested in the powerful software but I need to get my head around what I even want to ask about it!

Steph

A1: A good quality cable is always necessary, preferably one from the phone manufacturer 

A2: If i plug my phone in before i start the engine, it always defaults to AA

A3: The magnetic ones have only ever be known for charging and not for data transfer

A4: Does yours not have a tray already and then the abyss?

A5: Not had experience of this, in non-eco mode, the 1.5 dci flies....

A6: I added a rear camera courtesy of Fixer 

Q7: Again, not seen anything 

Q8: Simple Radio (to listen to any worldwide station) and Waze 
 

Cheers for the replies, Imran, I appreciate it. Mine is a 1.5 DCi but the one with 110 bhp. I believe there's a more powerful version of this engine and I guess it would fly

Steph