Nunga_08

I bet my Rainbows are better than any splits Alpine make. Which brings me to my first point; why stick with one brand? It's ludicrous. And dude, seriously, if you're that worried about weight, maybe you should get a single-din source unit to save another 150g. :P If you want DVD then yeah, double-din is the way to go for sure. Buy the source, then the sound deadening, then splits and an amp. Front stage is the most important; the rest can come later when you save more money.

You'd be an idiot to go with one manufacturer for absolutely everything. The only reason you'd stick with one brand is if they're sponsoring you in some way, shape or form. Companies excel in different areas, and very rarely in all areas. For example; Decks: Eclipse, Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion Components Speakers: Rainbow, Dynaudio, Diamond, Morel, Eton, Boston, Focal Amplifiers: Zapco, ARC Audio, Audison, JL Audio, Alpine, Phoenix Gold, Digital Designs Subwoofers: Digital Designs, Rainbow, Alpine, MTX, JL Audio. In no way am I saying you should avoid other brands, it's just when I think of a brand making a good *insert product*, I think of the above. I've got no idea on RRP's for any of the stuff you could look at; use the internet and shop around. I've got a fairly diverse sort of system, but my *** it hammers. You just have to do yoru research. CAA is a good start. You might think I'm being hypocritical by getting Alpine subs and amps, but the Alpine mono and subs came in a package which was really too good to refuse. The splits were bought off a mate who raved on and on about them. Continuing on from Superthai above, quality installation is vital. And the first thing you really should do is sound deaden your doors and boot. There are many products available, from sheets to tar-based paint, and different companies, too. My front doors were first done in Sound-Off, which was fine. Then I did the whole boot, rear doors with Dynamat (arguably the best in the business). I had heaps left over (from 40sq ft) and got another layer over the front doors put on. If you want a full-on psycho system, you'll probably be budgeting more than $3,000. BigBum isn't lying when he says half your budget went with the source unit (and is that unit really necessary???) However, corners can be cut to a point. For corner cutting, go to www.jaycar.com.au and look at their splits and amplifiers. Cheap, reliable, brilliant. I had the 6.5" Kevlar cone splits for about a year running off an Alpine T220 amp, and they were awesome. Drop me (or anyone else I guess) a PM if you want to have a more indepth chat. I'm by no means a professional (I can hook you up with a mate who is even more knowledgable) but I know enough to get me by.

Range of dimensions ;)

Are you a fibreglasser by trade? Or just a general handyman? If none of the above, I'd spend the $300-$400 you reckon it'll cost to get the sub box made professionally. People don't become Car Audio experts for nothing; young guys spend years in the business honing their skills. Fibreglass is pretty hard to work with, too, and it might take a few attempts to achieve the best result. With the volumes you've given, I'd probably aim for something smack bang in the middle; that way you're using the optimum box volume for tight and punchy bass, and some decent SPL at the same time. If you move either way from that figure, you'll sacrifice one or the other (as has been said previously).

Well, I don't think anybody said they'd actually purchased the product themselves; they're just going on what the seller has said. And, from reading his advertisment, I'd say it would fit. So you can't blame these guys for swaying you. Email the seller and tell them it doesn't fit. I mean it's a lot of mucking around having to send it back to the US, but you'll get your money back if they've sold a product that doesn't do its job.

Jaycar's Response gear is very very good value for money. It's the first place I'd look if running on a tight budget. Don't waste your money on a capacitor; you're better off getting a good Dry-cell battery like an Optima Yellowtop. With a good battery like that, you won't get any of the power loss you get from an average car battery. And when it does go flat, you can recharge it, good as new. If this amp is purely for the sub, why would you buy a 2 or 4ch amp when you're just going to brdge the channels? It makes much more sense (and will be the better option) to get a monoblock amp for your sub. That's the biggest waste of 11 words I've read today. Beer, like any other beer, is an alcoholic beverage. A car, like any other car, is a mode of transport.

Bull sh*t it's an SQ system. I can't imagine a 15" being the epitome for great-sounding, tight bass. It'd crank for SPL, though. And it's a clever installation. Kudos to the seller.

And mate I'm not knocking that decision. Toyotas are brilliant. You can thrash it until the cows come home with sick Falcons and Commodores, because it won't die. As long as you're happy with it, that's all that matters. I'm merely posting my experiences against competitors cars. :)

I drive a 3.0L Camry, mechanically the same but for a power deficit of a whole 5kw, and similar weights. It gets owned by Commodores.

I don't know what the big deal is with LPG now, just because petrol has gone up about 30% in the last 18 months. If you do the maths, it isn't a huge increase in the weekly budget. LPG is less efficient than ULP. The new Camry's ADR is what? 10L/100km? That's sweet FA for a car that is pretty big, and I bet with sensible driving you can get under 8L quite comfortably. I get 9L/100km in my Gen4 Camry V6, and that's still not with a very light foot. The cost of a conversion is somewhat negated by the Gummint subsidy, or so it seems. However, the Gummint readily admits this subsidy is to balance out the fact the bastards are going to be putting an excise on LPG (to 12.5c/L by 2008). Lastly, I was reading in the paper that delays of up to 20 weeks are commonplace (Edit: that is, for the installation of an LPG tank etc). If you want real long-term savings and don't do heaps of city driving (the only drivability trade-off), get a diesel.

The plastic work you've done to make it fit is very very good. But, due to the size of the screen, it doesn't look factory. I wouldn't go as far to say cheap and nasty, but I don't know if I'd do it. Still, kudos to you. I'd be working hard to make it look as good as that if I did it.

Haha, mate, you're fuc*ing kidding. An Avalon (and V6 Camry for that matter) has NO CHANCE against any Ecotec Commodore. It might have something to do with the fact there's nearly a litre more capacity, and at least 30Nm more torque compared to the Toyota's 3.0L mill. So, in summary, compared to the two cars you've mentioned, the Avalon is SLOW.

So, when you say an offset that is "higher", you mean 42, 45? The higher the positive offset, the further out the inside of the wheel will be from the car. So I would think an offset of say +30 like I mentioned above would be too low if you're on an offset of +40 and had some scrubbing. Most sets of rims I've looked at have an offset between +40 and +45, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem with 8" wheels. Thanks for the info too, un4given.

I'd steer well clear of this stuff. I've heard feedback about American Boss, but it hasn't all been positive. And yes, on eBay some of the stuff is imitated (a fair bit of fake Alpine stuff a while back, among others), so that's something to take into account. But like Bigbum said, companies wouldn't bother imitating a brand like this; they'd go for high-profile brands like Focal, Rainbow, Alpine, DD, Boston, Morel etc. Do yourself a massive favour; avoid sh*t like Boss Audio, Avalanche etc, and spend the extra money on reputable gear like Response if you're not going to spend many many hundreds. I dare anyone to challenge my claim that Jaycar's Response gear is the best value gear sold in Australia. Their 4x50 amps are $199 for a single buy, and 4x100's are $299. The digital amps are another $100, but I don't think it's necessary for your application (which I'm assuming is a basic upgrade of your stereo). http://www.jaycar.com.au/productResults.asp?FORM=CAT

So, that would be a resounding no? Ah well, I tried. I'll post up when I do eventually get wheels and which wasy I went.

First pic's deck is also in the Gen2 Rav4's if that helps you out. But I didn't think it had any auxillary ports in it.

Well, mate, when you sit in the car, more weight's on the RHS of it. Of course it'll have an effect, but it'll be so miniscule you'd never notice it. It couldn't possibly weigh more than 30kg in any case. For practicallity's sake I'd probably put it to the side if it's small enough to do so.

OK, I have a few questions to ask, mainly because most topics on here are about Corrolas and not much else. Firstly, what sort of offset would be necessary for an 18" rim? After much reading I think anywhere between +30 and +40 would be suitable, but can anyone confirm this? And what sort of tyre would one be looking at? I read on here a 7.5" rim would be the way to go, as an 8" rim will rub pretty badly. So with that in mind, a tyre from 195 to 235 could be used, and obviously with a 195 you limit the possibility of rubbing quite considerably. But 195 is blooy tight and I'd rather a 215. Again, anyone with experience? Suspension work will coincide with the fitment of the rims, so any thoughts on this are welcome. Thanks in advance.

I can't say I'd get either myself, but if pressed for a hard decision and you had to get one of those models, probably the Pioneer speakers.

I'd lose the stock deck as well. I mean, head units are so cheap nowadays, you can get very very good ones for as little as $350, and they're much more tunable than one you get with the car. You'll have at least 6 EQ bands as opposed to 3, 2 or 3 RCA preouts, the ability to play most audio file formats, the list goes on.

The first thing I'd probably do to it (and what I've done to my Gen 4 wagon) is toss out the crappy stereo. I mean, you're always going to be driving it, not looking at it, so I reckon getting some decent speakers and a good deck is the way to go. It sounds like it'll have the stock front speakers. They canbe replaced with a set of Jaycar's 6.5" Response Splits (RRP $150). You'll hear a massive improvment in sound quality. Then when you're ready you can lose the 6x9's and get a sub and amp, and that should do it if you're not an audio freak like some. Otherwise the above ideas sound good (bigger wheels etc), but if you're into blue neons and blue dashboards and extra guages go for it.