A couple of months ago I posted expressing my frustration that the 2013 WRX premium I'd purchased, with sat nav, had no USB input and Subaru Australia offered no solution. The base model non-navi stereo, for those who don't know, is actually more capable and comes with USB and bluetooth streaming. A ridiculous situation.

Subaru Australia used to sell (for 2010-11 WRX with navi) a media hub that they would install - for an exorbitant amount of money - but I couldn't even get a straight answer about whether this would work with the 2012-13 WRX. And they certainly don't sell it. They were, in short, no help at all.

However, after doing a lot of reading on this and other (US) forums I became convinced the Kenwood model in the 10-11 Aussie WRX - which US WRXs used to come fitted with too, though they've since moved to a Fujitsu unit - is the same navi as the 12-13 WRX in Australia.

So I took a $330 punt and bought the part from this US based site Subaru Parts - Subaru Parts Depot (they are also on Ebay as vwsubaruparts) and a week or so later, the part turned up and I was ready to install it.

Here is, for anyone else frustrated by the lack of USB support on the Navi, a break down of how I installed it myself. Remember, the unit comes with instructions you should follow and this is only meant to offer additional assistance (see here) on how to do it yourself.

I have no great expertise, but a little under 2 hours later I was done and it works perfectly.

1. Unpack the Media hub and associated cables. Disconnect the battery.



2. Take face plate of the Navi unit (tilt the navi face to get it open easily) and disconnect the wires at the back (good instructions here, and another neat trick that lets you use the Nav while driving)


3. Remove the lining around the hand brake - unclip it carefully.



4. Take the screws out of the centre console.



5. Tilt the console back. Note the white plug and cable running into the RCA port pre-installed in the console. This will need to be disconnected.





6. Unscrew the knob on the gear stick. Note the aircon vents have been removed.



7. Attach the hub to the included bracket. Screw the bracket into place underneath the passenger seat and ensure that the two ports in the hub, that the cables will run into, are facing towards the front of the car. No drilling is required - the screws to connect the bracket are still part of the car, sticking up from the floor, even though Subaru Australia doesn't sell the unit.



8. Run the two cables from the Media Hub under the carpet (there is a hole right in front of the hub with plenty of space for the cables that you can pull through, it's easy) and up through to the centre console.





9. Disconnect the RCA hub (white cable), lever it out (gently - 4 clips keep it in place) and drop in the USB hub in its place. Connect the cable from the Media hub to the USB hub in the centre console (it's obvious which is the correct cable).



10. Run the second cable up (under the carpet as well) and behind the air con vents (which are not there) and up to where the navi unit connects (the instructions are pretty clear on this - it's hard to get wrong).

11. Tie the cables in place (ties supplied in the box) and out of the way of the handbrake. Put the console back together. (yes, that is an iPhone cable in the corner of the shot).



12. Success! Reconnect the battery. The navi unit recognises the media hub, no software updates required. Album, artist, track details from my iPhone 5 (it calls it a usb iPod) available on the centre console and the steering wheel controls work too.





Now, if only someone from Subaru Australia could explain why they can't sell the media hub and do this for their customers...!