The biggest car news and reviews, no BS
Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday.
Part of the magic in the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto (GTA) video games is how well they pack pop-culture parodies into their virtual worlds. Like, between normal songs, the in-game radio stations have talk shows and ads that sound like they could be real until you pay attention. A gaming and tech enthusiast in Germany has taken that meta aspect to another level, building a Raspberry Pi-based device that lets him use the in-game radio in his car in real life.
This little 12-volt-socket-powered dongle has a surprisingly polished appearance with a tiny display for each game radio station and a handy knob to cycle between them. The audio and icon files are stored within the device.
@ZeugUndKram/YouTube
A Raspberry Pi is just a tiny computer with no screen, body, or peripherals. Tech hobbyists like them because they’re small and inexpensive, but powerful enough to do computer processing.
The GTA radio stations have themes just like real ones—there’s a pop channel, a country channel, an angry-screaming-pundit channel, and many more. But the DJ interludes and commercials are the funny part—they mostly sound like normal radio chatter, then veer into wacky/raunchy/unsubtle culture-mocking.
As for listening to the game radio stations in a real car, the cheapest and fastest way to do it would probably be to simply cue up a YouTube video about the game station you want to hear (there are a bunch on YT) and beam it to your car through Bluetooth like Spotify or Netflix or whatever app you normally listen to.
@ZeugUndKram/YouTube
However, the custom-made solution we found today is far cooler. As outlined on the YouTube channel Zeug und Kram (which means “stuff and junk” in German), the setup here is essentially a 12-volt charger and Bluetooth radio transmitter mated to a Raspberry Pi with a tiny circular screen on top, all neatly integrated together in a rather elegant 3D-printed housing.
The video we’ll embed below explains how it came together. It’s also outlined on Instructables if you want to try and replicate the project yourself. Objectively speaking, it’s not particularly useful per se, but it’s a great execution of a creative idea.
If you don’t speak German, YouTube does a good job of auto-translating with closed captions (hit the gear button to find that menu).
Made any other cool car mods with a Raspberry Pi? Tell me about it! I’m at andrew.collins@thedrive.com.
Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.
