atibs86

I know, I know.... the only stereo you need is the orchestra in the back at 8,000+ rpm, but you can’t always drive it like you stole it. And the radio and infotainment in these cars is about as sophisticated as a 1998 Ford Taurus.

So, I decided to fix that on my car. I added an integrated radar / laser system, front and rear dash cam, new touch screen head unit, replacement speakers and amp, and added subwoofers behind the front seat.

For the radar / laser controller, I custom designed and 3D printed a mounting interface that filled the bottom pocket of the center stack. No screws required. Fully reversible. I used a vinyl paint on the faceplate to try and blend well with the silver dash, but if anyone has a lead on that silver paint, I’m all ears to get a bit of that and make it look even better.

For the subwoofer boxes, they were custom made from wood and fiberglass to fit like a glove in the seat pocket openings behind each seat. They came out really nice. There’s now two 10” subs back there with plenty of boom when it’s needed.

For the speakers, I replaced both speakers in the doors and the tweeters in the dash. A custom box was made in the frunk for securing the amps for the speakers and subwoofers. It decreased my cargo depth in that frunk by about 3”, but you’d otherwise never know they were there. The tool kit in the frunk is still fully accessible as well.

All in all, everything came out great. Below are a few pics showing the finished product.

andrewgt3

Clean install. Nice work.

flsupraguy

Looks great!

BG

Very clean, what speakers did you use for the doors/dash? Did you change the rears?

atibs86

I went with Audison Prima AP8 and AP4 in the doors and AP1 in the right and left tweeters. Another option I was looking at was the Audison Voce line, but their tweeter was too big to fit in the stock opening. And then I also considered the Focal Flax Evo line, but their biggest driver was 6.5”. Getting that 8” driver in the Prima line while also saving a little bit of money was why I went with them over Focal. I went with the Audison AP F8.9 bit for the amp to drive the speakers. And then there is a separate 2 channel amp for the subwoofers added in the back which is driving two JL Audio 10TW3-D4 10” subs.

The rear speakers and the center tweeter are no longer being used. Trust me, they’re not needed. Those Prima speakers alone sound fantastic, and then the subs are available if that extra bass is needed.

BG

Thanks, very well done.

BartN (TX)

That's a beautifully integrated system. I think your head unit and console looks way better than OEM. Did you do all this work yourself?

chiffonade

awesome install, hope you enjoy it. never understood the people who don't want decent audio/music in their cars... you can always turn a stereo off but you can't turn an exhaust note into a stereo lol.

ngng

can you even hear anything in the car? i had 3-way focals and an aftermarket HU a while ago but the engine/road noise was too loud

HarmonyJim

I have done a very similar upgrade to my 997.1 RS. I went with two 8" sub woofers set down in the foot well behind the front seats in custom boxes that are nearly unnoticeable. My amp is in the frunk, but I used a single five channel unit to avoid a second amp. Hertz speakers in the doors and dash. No radar goodies, but I went with the rear speakers (Focal) as it really made a big difference in filling the car with sound. Changed out the head unit for a modern top-line Pioneer unit. The Pioneer NAV system is a world better than the Porsche NAV unit, so I don't get lost nearly as much, either. Very satisfied with the sound quality and volume - now I just need to add a rear view camera. I have heard the same complaints regarding the additional weight - maybe 20-30 pounds total (mostly the rear sub boxes) - but I drive my RS (nearly 40k miles so far) so I want quality sounds when I'm not screaming the engine. This video was completed by Audio Innovations in Sacramento, CA, early on before the rear speakers or the new amp:

atibs86

I did not do the work myself. I had an installer in the DFW area, Earmark Car Audio, do all the work. My only hand in it all was designing, 3D printing, and sanding / painting the mount and bezel that fit in the pocket of the center stack which I then gave them to install. They did all the rest. Probably the trickiest part for them was custom making those boxes to fit inside that roll cage. Their installer did a really good job with those and was very much a perfectionist when it came to getting that done right. It ended up taking them 3 extra days beyond their original plan because he went back to the drawing board a couple times with those boxes.

With respect to audio quality, as long as the volume is turned up loud enough to compensate for the road noise, then it is perfectly clear. Audio is also clear even up to very high levels - loud enough to drown out everything else, including the engine, if I want it to be. It is also still very clear even at those extreme levels. And the way they tuned the speakers, it sounds very nice, as if all the audio is coming directly from those tweeters and fills the cabin all-around, even without the rear speakers.

And then in terms of added weight, in total the install added 20ish pounds to the car and some minor sound insulation in the door panels around the 8” speakers. There’s really no difference in road noise though, which was important to me as I still want that GT3 rawness when I’ve got the audio turned down. And then to compensate for the weight increase, that’s simply motivation for a winter diet by the driver (me!) to offset the added weight, haha.

atibs86

Very nice!

Bxstr

Thanks for sharing the upgrade. Great looking car too.

Looks like you went with the Randenso RCM and integrated the ALP jammers into that? If so, great choice on the jammers. They are the best. Have had mine for 6 years, but on my daily driver not on my GT3. Don't drive it on highways enough to justify the cost or modification.

atibs86

You are correct: Radenso RCM Radar w/ ALP parking sensors (jammers are not legal in my state). It’s so easy to quickly be going speeds much greater than the speed limit, so I added this system for peace of mind more than anything else.

pissedpuppy

amazing install - well done, bet it sounds amazing

is that cobalt?