Are they coming with Sirius radio? Is the head unit at least compliant with it? If anyone already has theirs please let me know.

 

No.

There are talks now about resurecting Sirius back into the stock head units. I think a lot of it has to do with switching to Delphi head units, which has a huge part in XM hardware for GM. The 'old' style stereo from last year is still in use in the SUV's, and still Sirius ready for 05. I would think the marketing in the SUV world is very hotly contested for coming satelite ready, and Ford stayed with the 'old stuff' for that reason. Most likely all head units will go to the Delphi ones by next year WITH Sirius.

Old style units are still in:
Escape/Explorer/Expedition/Sport-trac/Crown Vic

New Delphi units are now in:
Mustang/Ranger/F-150/Superduty/500/Freestyle/Focus

Taurus still has the integrated stereo system.

 

Perhaps a change we'll see for the Mustange SE or the 06??

 

Possibly. Detroit news has put a couple stories up about Ford and Delphi saying Sirius-capeability is 'in the works'.

 

Thanks for bringing this up.

What other choices do we have? If we replace the head unit with another one will it kill the volume and any other controls on the steering wheel?

 

Thanks, good to know. Not a huge deal though, I think there is still a way of getting sirius by using a modulator and then putting the radio to a set station.

 

Hey guys,

I worked for SIRIUS this summer as an Intern. The Sirius compatable radios will EVENTUALLY be offered in ALL Ford cars & trucks. From what I've heard... they'll be available as an option on the Mustangs starting in around 2007. It will be available in ALL MODELS (not just SEs) because SIRIUS wants as many subscribers as possible!

--- Tom

 

Yeah Frank, you can get a PnP (Plug and Play) unit... or look for FM modulated unit (but i thin that your stereo has to be "Sirius Ready" to use the latter of the two options.

---Tom

 

I didn't think there was volume control on the steering wheel!?

 

Having had a direct line in XM unit for several years, I have no interest in going back to an FM modulator solution.

There'd been some talk about there being an auxiliary input of some type on the back of the head unit. Is there such an input? If so, is it a proprietary bus or some sort of generic input?

If I can't have Sirius or XM integrated into the HU itself, at the very least I'd like to be able to pipe an XM signal from a SkyFi or similar directly into the car's amp.

 

Is there an actual Input for the AUX button?

 

I'll be going XM in my 2000 simply because Sirius doesn't have a NASCAR channel....