One of the great challenges with an old, ahem, I mean classic car is the need for somewhere to mount your mobile. Even though I don’t like using a phone at all when I’m driving the F355, I find it indispensable to have access to things like Waze to show me my route and any hazards along the way.
One of the challenges I’ve always had when using a phone in the F355 is mounting it. I’ve tried various locations (door side and mid mounted) as well as various mounts and can’t say that I’ve really been happy with any of them.
The problem with mounting the phone on the door side of the wheel is that firstly, there is not a lot of space there to install the mount and then to insert the phone into the holder. The other challenge with the mount in that location is that it is a long way from the lighter for power, meaning you need to have a long cord to reach the charging point. That makes the cabin messy and leaves wires dangling when you remove the phone if you get out of the car. Having the phone here also blocks the small air vent.
A similar problem with blocking the air vents occurs if you place the mount in the middle of the in line with the centre console. However, here it blocks at least one of the two larger vents in the centre of the console. During hot Australian summers you need as much directed cool air as you can get inside the cabin of the F355 at times. I will however admit that I rarely wind up the windows and rely solely on the air conditioning, but still a phone in this location does block the direct air flow to your face.
The other issue that annoys me with using a centre mounted phone is having the power connections dangling across the gear stick. Not only is it messy it can potentially interfere with your driving. The problem can be rectified with the correct length power cable from the lighter. One that is not too long and one that is not too short. You want one that is just right right, and finding that is a pain.
Having lived with a clip style mount on the door side of the steering wheel and having to wedge an ever growing iPhone size into this I have been in the market for a better option for a while now. The good news is that I reckon I have found one! I will say here that I have not received anything to endorse this product but here is a referral link of mind that will give you a ‘standard’ 10% off:
http://quadlock.refr.cc/directorcia
You can find the Quad Lock YouTube channel here:
Here is the video on the car mount;
Quad Lock – Car Mount – YouTube
I went with a kit that included the mount, wireless charging head and screen protector (as I needed a new one anyway) for around AUD$150. You can probably get cheaper but I liked the look of the ‘twist-style’ locking mechanism and having the wireless charging head meant I didn’t need to be pulling a cable out of the phone every time I needed it outside the car. Likewise, when you get back in the car, you twist it back onto the mount and you are good to go. That is really what appealed to me when I saw the ad pop up on my YouTube feed.
It all arrived in a few short days (tick) and what impressed me the most when I got hands on was the simplicity and quality of the mount (tick).
It is a smooth arm with a large locking mechanism as well as an adjustable lock for the head connection to the phone (tick). I changed out the standard head for the wireless charging head and then mounted in the centre of the windscreen in the F355. The locking mechanism for the mount is extremely strong (tick) and all you need to do is turn it 90 degrees and you are done. Make sure you remove the plastic cover from the base of the screen locking area first or it won’t really ‘stick’ to your windscreen.
With the base now positioned in the middle of the screen I locked my phone into the head, which does take a little doing to align the mounting point on the phone case with the head but the more I used it the better I found it. I then adjusted the head to the face more toward me (tick) and locked that in place with the head lock. I also connected the wireless charging head to the lighter with the cable provided. As always, this leaves an exposed cable running across the gear stick, but there is no real way to avoid this unless you hard wire that power connection in. However, it wasn’t too bad. Certainly better than other phone charging solutions I’ve tried over the years.
Getting the best position of the mount with the phone in your car is always the challenge. As I said previously, I’d prefer not to cover my vents and I certainly don’t want to obstruct my vision while driving but having it mounted in the centre of the windscreen using the Quad Lock has worked well so far. That’s why I thought I’d share my experiences with this product as you’ll find lots of review out there, good and bad. It does cover the direct flow of the vent to my face still but the phone is a distance away from the vent at least allowing cool air into the cabin if needed.
In summary, I’d give the Quad Lock car mount two thumbs up. It does what it says. It has a quality look and feel. It is well designed and allows for adjustments on the viewing angle, which I found really nice. The mount onto the windshield is very strong and getting the phone on and off the mount is pretty easy after some initial practice.
If you are keen to also give this a try don’t forget to grab my discount link for 10% off:
http://quadlock.refr.cc/directorcia
and head over to:
Car – Quad Lock® Australia – Official Store (quadlockcase.com.au)
to select the mount for your phone.
Like I said, I didn’t get anything special for this review and I only get 5% of any purchase that uses my link to be totally transparent. However, I’d still recommend it even without that as it has proved to be exactly what I’ve been looking for to manage my phone easily in the F355.
Love the F355 