Enjoy your iPod® on your factory stereo

Having an iPod is good — playing your iPod through your car stereo is even better. If your car still has a factory stereo system you've got several ways you can make this happen. Wired and wireless FM modulators are inexpensive and can be adapted to any car. But they're susceptible to radio interference and don't offer the same level of sound quality you'll get from a direct connection.

Vehicle-specific auxiliary input adapters and iPod adapters that connect directly to your factory stereo offer the best sound quality. Auxiliary input adapters are relatively inexpensive and accommodate a variety of portable music devices, but they don't have iPod specific features, like track or playlist control and charging capabilities. If you want a higher level of integration with your car stereo, you'll need a vehicle-specific iPod adapter.

The Peripheral Electronics iPod2car adapter is designed to fill this need. The iPod2car works in many different vehicle makes, provides a direct audio connection, and controls some of your iPod functions through your factory radio and steering wheel controls.

The Peripheral iPod adapter will work in almost any car with CD-changer controls — the vehicle-specific adapter cable (pictured in the lower right hand box) is the key.

I gave the iPod2car a test drive for CrutchfieldAdvisor by installing it in the family 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Let's take a look at what was involved in the installation and how well the iPod2car performed.

Getting connected

The iPod2car works with a variety of vehicles, including many models from Ford, Chrysler, GM, Honda, and Toyota. One thing all the vehicles it works with have in common is a factory CD changer or connections for one. The iPod2car appropriates the CD changer connection to the radio and uses it for your iPod. It's important to note that you'll lose the use of your factory CD changer if you add on the iPod2car. But if you've got a lot of music on your iPod you're probably not going to be too worried about that.

To set up the iPod2car for your vehicle you'll need to do two things — first, set a row of switches on the side of the adapter. These configure the adapter to your specific vehicle's electronics. Second, be sure to purchase the vehicle-specific connector cable that matches your car — that ensures you'll be able to plug the iPod2car adapter into your vehicle. Don't worry about picking the right cable — the "Find What Fits My Car" page at crutchfield.com will ensure that the correct adapter is recommended as an accessory when you purchase the adapter. There are also reports that Peripheral will begin including the correct cable in the next generation of models.

Depending on your vehicle, you may need to connect the cable to the back of the radio, or to the factory CD changer cable at the changer end, often in the trunk. The iPod2car manual clearly explains how to set the switches and which location you'll connect the cable at.

In my Cherokee, the vehicle-specific cable was connected to the back of the factory radio. With the aid of a Crutchfield MasterSheet and a few simple tools, I had the radio out, the cable connected, and the iPod2car hooked up in less than 30 minutes.

The iPod2car connects to the back of the factory radio in a 2004 Jeep Cherokee. Here's the radio, still in the dash, after the surrounding trim panel has been removed.

The iPod2car is fairly small (about 3" x 5" x 1") and fit neatly behind the dash, next to the receiver. The cable that connects your iPod to the adapter is over 11 feet long, so I had plenty of cable to work with. I fished the cable behind the dash and slipped the iPod connector end out to rest on the Cherokee's center console.

The iPod2car is compact enough to slip right into the dash, next to the Cherokee's radio. A connector on the left side of the black cable plugs into the back of the radio.

Putting it to the test

Once the iPod2car was installed, it was time to give it a spin. I plugged my iPod into the connector cable, turned on the radio, pressed the "Mode" button (you may use a different button, depending on your car stereo) and I was ready to go. I've had plenty of experience listening to music through FM modulators and AUX-IN adapters over the years, and I was impressed with the sound quality of the iPod2car. Playback was loud and clear, virtually indistinguishable from the factory stereo's CD playback. If you like the sound of your iPod and your car stereo, you'll like what you hear with the iPod2car.

The iPod2car has several useful features that integrated my iPod into my car's audio system. When connected, my iPod automatically turned on and off with the car, and the iPod was charged at the same time — no worries about battery life. All iPod functions were fully-enabled while it was connected to the iPod2car, so accessing a different playlist or searching for a song was as simple as picking up my iPod and giving the click wheel a spin. The iPod2car allowed my radio or steering wheel controls to switch tracks up/down, and fast forward or rewind within a track — a nice feature when my attention needed to be on the road.

What didn't the iPod2car do? First of all, it didn't display any track or playlist information on the radio's display. In addition, the radio controls wouldn't access playlists or perform any other functions except those I mentioned previously. While it would be nice to have those features, designing a device that would allow them would undoubtedly increase the price greatly, and that probably wasn't Peripheral's goal when they designed the iPod2car.

But if you're like me, and can do without a lot of bells-and-whistles, the iPod2car might be just what you're looking for. It's a relatively inexpensive, easy way to add an iPod into your car audio system. Installation for my vehicle was easy, the sound quality was excellent, and the only evidence that I've upgraded the car's capabilities is the simple white connector resting on the center console. If that sounds good to you, the iPod2car is well worth the investment.

iPod ready — the iPod2car's connector is an unobtrusive addition to my car's stereo system.