Alpine NAV in upper dash console?
 

Has anyone fit an aftermarket double din NAV into the upper portion of the dash? I have a base model car, so I'd need to remove the little door and storage pocket. It looks like it would be fairly easy to fabricate a trim panel to mount the head unit into. But is there enough room in the dash to fit a unit like that? Having a NAV down by the shift knob is not a good location for it.

I would like to know as well!

What would you do with the stock stereo below your Alpine unit. That would look interesting...

may I ask why an alpine unit? if its a stand alone nav id jsut get a cpl hundred dollar garmiN. Any decent shop could fab up a fiberglass pod for it. Ill psot a pic in a cpl days of something similar Im working on for an RX8. The guy wanted to keep the factory radio becasue the ac controls are integrated so im glassing a up a pod at teh top of the dash for a flip out HU.

R 8 project
 

Please post pics of the rx8 mod. That sounds like a good project if done properly.

As for the alpine nav, i like the head unit and if I can mount it high, I can use the lower area for two half din signal processors and a small coin pocket. My alpine should arrive today. I will open the dash and get some measuerments this weekends to get some useful information on here about the possibility of mounting a big double din unit like that up top. If I need to use the lower space, I will. Crutchfield supplies the dash kit free of charge. They also supply the wiring harness adaptor and the antenna adaptor free. Plus, no tax and free shipping. : ) I feel sorry for guys that paid for a Bose OEM system. In my experience, anything with the Bose name on it sounded amazing. I have Bose in my home system. Believe me, I love 'em. But the Bose OEM system in the Z, is flat and weak. Drop a nice Alpine HU, a good amp, some components & a 10er for bottom end and you'll get WAY better sound.

upper mounting
 

I removed the upper dash trim panel and took measurements. A double din unit will not fit in the upper portion of the dash. The depth is only 3 to 3.5 inches at the top. I think a half din processor will fit in the bottom of the of cubby if you're not afraid to cut the bottom out. There's more room at the bottom of the cubby. I installed the Alpine in the factory location using the factory brackets from the base model stereo and it worked perfectly. No dash kit required.