XSSIVE's "some assembly required" thread...

Wow it's been a looooong time since I updated this thread. I'd say roughly 4 1/2 years is a bit too long for an update lol. I still have my R, it's still a low mileage garage queen and is currently in winter hibernation, hence the garage only pics. Figured I'd post a few updates as I pray for spring to get here soon.

I went through 3 different headunits, RCD330 which does not work well with Dynaudio despite me trying to fix it with a hardware mod. Then one of the random no name 9" screen android Chinese headunits which looked cool, sounded better than the RCD330, but was too buggy and I grew tired of it. At that point I was a bit stuck since I wanted android auto but had limited choices. I considered going to an MIB2 but it would have been a lateral move in sound quality from the RNS315 and cost a whole lot more than aftermarket choices. I hate the way double dins look in the MK6 dash since they're surrounded by a ton of plastic and look tiny. So the obvious choice was to go with the now modern "Tesla" style of slapping a big ass screen on the dash and it actually works in the R hiding all the plastic behind it, yet blocking nothing like the vents or A/C controls. I was determined to have android auto and ditch the horrid RNS315, so the Alpine Halo9 seemed like the best choice. Since these pics I also added a Double Apex USB port in front of the shifter for connecting my phone to the headunit for android auto. This thing sounds way better than stock since I have far better EQ controls and I think it looks better than a tiny double din screen in a sea plastic too. I also considered getting one of the Alpine Euro headunits that are made to fit the MK6 dash, but those look even more like and after thought, add on after market bulky looking thing bulging from the dash than the cleaner floating screen Halo9 does to me. At least the Halo9 follows the current automotive design trend of big ass screens slapped on the dash lol, not that I love it, but I don't hate it either.

I changed out my Helix sub for a Pioneer TS-SW2002D2 and it might hit a little harder and lower, or might be a placebo effect and was a lateral move lol. No complaints from it, not sure it was necessary though but it was on sale and I decided to try it.

I decided to ditch the MDI since I never used it (although it would work with the Halo9 since I installed it with an idatalink maestro to retain steering wheel controls and all that) and replaced it with an empty din pocket that I flocked to keep anything inside from rattling around.

Next up will be some suspension changes. I want to stiffen the car up a bit more. Thinking of changing out my current H&R progressive springs on my coilovers for some linear rate ones with slightly stiffer rates. Either that or going with some different coilovers with linear springs. I have the ride height exactly where I want it, so that won't change. Now I just want things a bit more "sporty" feeling for lack of a better word, and a little less comfort minded as my H&R street coilovers currently are.

I also added some 6mm rear spacers and 5mm front spacers to push the wheels out a hair making it ET42 rear and ET43 front. Still no rub with that setup thankfully. I tried running 10mms front and rear (would be ET38) and that would cause me to rub on the rear bumper to quarter attachment point when I'd hit any real big bumps or dips. Up front even with rolled front fenders and pulling out the liners, heating them and re-molding them to curve up more near the outer edge where they normally curve down towards the tire it would just slightly rub up there on big dips and bumps. I'm thinking when I go to stiffer springs I can probably get away with the 10mm spacers front and rear since during normal driving I never rubbed and only would under extreme cases.







Double Apex USB port was added after I took these pics...

Decided on what I'm doing to stiffen up the suspension a bit more. Went with ST XTA coilovers to get linear springs and dampening adjustment to better dial in the ride I want. They use 400lb (~7K) linear springs with helpers up front like their more pricey big brother KW Clubsports but in the rear they use a progressive spring. So I'll be swapping out the progressive rears for 170mm linear springs paired with helper springs to essentially make the ST version of the KW Clubsports for quite a bit less cost. Still waiting to hear back from the ST/KW rep I contacted about what rear spring rates the ST adjustable dampers are capable of handling. Not sure if I'll be going 6K, 7K or 8K out back. 7K front and 6K rear is popular among some brands of coilovers and others use a stiffer rear rate and softer front. Been reading up on spring rates on the MK6 chassis and my head is spinning haha. Also considering moving the 7K that are currently on the front to the rear and running 6K up front. That's all easy stuff to swap out once I know what rates the rears can handle. I'm a bit concerned that 8K out back would be too aggressive on a street car, so as of now I think i'm leaning towards the stock 7K fronts and 6K rears, but swapping them for 6K front and 7K rear is also on the table too. I found a crazy deal on the XTAs so I jumped on it and decided to figure out the rest as I go.

Figured it was about time for some random updates since I've owned the car for 7 years as of the 18th.

New suspension went in and I originally tried 6K rear springs and found them too soft. Ended up going to 8K rear springs and it worked out great. Real happy with the new suspension setup now.

I also added an H&R 26mm rear sway bar along with front and rear subframe locking collars and had the car aligned after dialing in the ride height.

Pic of how it's sitting now, pretty much the same as before really, it just rides way better.



After years of watching the AWD sticker under the hood slowly shift upwards on its own due to engine heat I decided to just remove all the ugly core support stickers. Funny how much this sticker moved over time compared to my earlier pics I posted.



Much cleaner look now...



In my ever evolving stereo upgrades I finally decided to ditch the Dynaudio front speakers and tweeters in favor of some 7" (yeah we can cram 7" drivers in our doors, very cool) Kenwood eXcelon XR-1800Ps from their Reference series and I'm real happy with them. The 7" drivers can handle a good amount of low end to fill out the front stage. That was my hope going into this, smoother sounding tweeters and getting the doors to thump a bit and not rely only on the sub alone to fill out the sound. I bought some factory non-Dynaudio tweeter pods and installed the tweeters in them so I didn't have to mess with the Dynaudio ones or keep the logos there with different speakers behind the grills. The big 1 3/16" tweeters fit in as if they were made to go there. Perfect fit with a single included screw through the foam holding them in place. I used some heat shrink/solder connectors to add on the factory plugs and everything installed as easy as can be. The 7" speakers come with spacers but they're not quite thick enough to work on their own so I made some 1/4" plexiglass spacers to stack with them and then the speakers went in no problem.














Up next, I think it might be time to change up the looks with some new wheels. Haven't decided on that yet though.