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'04 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart - First Build Log

218K views 1K replies 112 participants last post by  strakele 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm now on the 4th and best iteration of my 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart build, and I figured I'd share it with you guys. It's nothing fancy, just a solid build with good equipment that I think will sound really good when it's done.

Quick info about the car:

The Ralliart is the step down from the Evo. It's got a bigger motor, better suspension, better transmission, and some cosmetic upgrades as compared to a normal Lancer. No turbo, no AWD. It's got a 110a alternator, and came with an Infinity system with speakers in the doors and rear deck, tweeters in the A-pillars, and an 8 inch sub in the trunk all powered by a small amp under the drivers seat. I started last year with a pair of Alpine Type R 10's, a Kenwood amp, and an Alpine deck. I later changed out the front and rear speakers with Alpine Type S components and coax's, and then finally added a 4 channel amp. I also ran a set of bi-wired Boston SPZ60's for a while.

This semester at college, I decided it was time for a revamp, so here goes:

One of the only things staying is the Alpine CDA-9884 head unit. I chose this deck because of Alpine's great iPod interface, good price, features I wanted, and it almost looks like it SHOULD be there. I like to keep things low key - I didn't want it to be painfully obvious I have any kind of stereo mods. The 9884 matches the color of my interior almost perfectly, and the ability to make the blue buttons light up red matches the rest of the gauges in my car as well.



iPod cable runs to the glove box:



In the daylight, the red LED behind the blue buttons makes them a little purple, but whatever.



The 9884 is also one of the first series to support Alpine IMPRINT, so I picked up one of these processors for EQ, time alignment, and active crossovers. I haven't bought the tuning kit to run Audyssey's MultEQ, but I may at some point. After trying a couple different spots, Ryan (slade1274) helped me pull the head unit and install the processor behind the glove box. (And by helped, I mean I basically watched him do it, then went to wire and install the subs.) I had never pulled my dash before, so it was a great learning experience for me, especially since I had to pull the deck myself a few hours later to flip the 3 little switches on the bottom of the head unit that allow it to do important things like PRODUCE SOUND when the processor is added. Alpine just forgot to tell anyone about them.



 
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#87 ·
Well damn, I guess I didn't hear Ryan mention he was moving. I'd better think of all the stuff I'll need for the next few months and get some last minute stuff!
 
#89 ·
Hah yeah I hadn't heard you say that before. Planning to do the same thing down there? I have a lot of family in Tampa. My uncle is starting to do some custom stuff on his 997. Not sure if stereo mods are in the plans, but we'll see.
 
#95 ·
Today I refinished my shift knob again. Mounted it to a drill and sanded it down and just left it bare metal, no more paint to get scratched. It looks really nice.

Then I painted the metal bracket that holds the sub box in place black. Forgot to take pictures, so I'll do that tomorrow.

Also in the process of painting the brake calipers red. Will have pics of this and the whole car after a good detail.

System sounds awesome right now. Can't wait to get my hands on an MS-8.
 
#97 ·
Couple updates:

Quick pic of new red brake calipers vs old:






Black painted sub mount bracket:



But later decided that it looked better with a piece of carpet covering it running all the way across the opening. Agree?




But also... bad news. After I did that, I turned on some music and kept the back seats down to watch the subs move. However, I noticed they seemed to be firing out of sync with each other. As I got closer, I noticed the one on the right side of the car was making a kind of scratching noise. I pulled it out of the box and found that it wasn't working at all - it was only moving because of the pressure from the other one, acting like a passive radiator. I haven't really pounded on them very hard... trying to let them break in first. So I now have a dead sub and only 2 weeks till Erin's GTG. I sent it back to PE today, so hopefully I'll be able to get a replacement by then.

Bleh.
 
#100 ·
the ho 10s are only rated for 600 watts, but even with the 1550 watts it shouldnt have been able to do any damage as long as u were smart.

did u have a SSF on?

i love the box, and the fact that u made them fit and look like an IB setup yet its ported!

plus u gained trunk space, no need for grills, etc.

i hope u get the replacement in before Erin's gtg, i wanna hear this setup!
 
#101 ·
Yeah that's right, the 10's are rated for 600. But still, the way the Imprint does gain/level matching, I don't think there should have been enough power to hurt them.

I run a 15Hz subsonic filter. Nothing I listen to comes anywhere close to that low though... it's all rock/metal.

And yeah, I love the way the new enclosure setup looks. Soooo much better than before.
 
#102 ·
Any more feedback on going to the SLS6 from the AR6K?
I love my AR3K's too and wouldn't think of replacing them but I do find myself looking for more midbass punch.
The SLS doesn't look too much deeper... just that button on the magnet.
Hows the kick response and low end detail? What power are they getting in your final build?
Do they blend well with the AR3K?

p.s. seeing your progress is getting me motivated to finish up some details on my car. Got side tracked fixing my old terd Bronco.
 
#103 ·
With the sub being blown, I haven't spent a whole lot of time tuning. However, it did give me an opportunity to listen to the system with just speakers and no subs playing.

There really is a substantial difference in midbass/bass response between the AR6K and the SLS. The SLS has huge excursion and woven tinsel leads, so they don't make any mechanical noise no matter what I throw at them. With the AR3K's playing such a wide range, the SLS's only have to worry about bass, and they do it well.

With the bumped back plate, they are quite a bit deeper than the AR's but if you can fit them, then cool. Kick response is very good (and is one of the most important things to me). With the Imprint tuning, the kick is well centered and punchy. You'd probably think I had a nice sealed 10" subwoofer. Bass guitars sound good and there is clear separation between a bass slap and a kick drum. Drums in general are great. The toms in the beginning of Down with the Sickness by Disturbed or Trust by Megadeth are very impressive. The SLS's are getting 125W from my MB Quart DSC 4125.

I do think they blend well with the AR3K. I think one of the virtues of the AR3K playing such a wide range is that it makes it pretty easy to blend. I currently have somewhat funky crossover settings - the 3K's are highpassed at 250Hz with a steep slope, and the SLS's are lowpassed at 500 or 615Hz (if I remember right, I just upped it to 615 to test) in order to get some more of the drum attack from the larger cone, while still staying within the SLS's usable range.

I spent a while a day or two ago just listening to Dream Theater's Systematic Chaos album with no subs, and was very impressed. Image was nice and centered, stage was high, and the sound was very open and clear. This is a very dynamic album. Several songs have slow, soft intros where you can really hear the detail in cymbal taps and the guitars. Drums and bass guitar are very punchy and aggressive and sound highly realistic. Vocals also sound very real thanks to the 3Ks and image well too.

Really hoping I get my sub back by next week. And glad I could be some motivation! It's been pretty easy to make good progress on this stuff, mostly with having the fabrication work done while I was on spring break, but my girlfriend is awesome and into car audio and cars in general as well, so we basically spend every weekend working on our vehicles.
 
#104 ·
You're lucky you have a gf that shares your interest. My wife is really supportive about my hobbies and helps me when my daughter is sleeping.

Thanks for the feedback on the SLS and the comparison. The AR6K sound great but they don't have enough 'feel' for me. Kick is super important to me too. Followed closely by a good bass guitar.

I'm just wondering if the 90watts per channel from my Rainbow amp will be enough to get the same 'feel'. That, and I'm scared to see if they'll fit in my doors. The Impreza doors aren't roomy either. 2.75" mounting depth is about as deep as they go without doing a bunch of modding.
 
#106 ·
The Impreza doors aren't roomy either. 2.75" mounting depth is about as deep as they go without doing a bunch of modding.
I think you're shooting low with that figure... you have room for ~1.5" of baffle ring on top of the inner door skin without risk of the door card. You may need to trim the plastic on the door card a bit, but that's easy enough to do....
 
#105 ·
Sounds like we have similar tastes. I think 90 watts should be good to get them moving, then I suppose you could add more if you really wanted it. Going from 90 to their rated 150 wouldn't give you a whole lot of gain.

I had to space these so the magnet is like 1mm away from the window when it's rolled down and trim every last bit of unnecessary plastic from the door card to get them to fit and not hit the window or the door. It works with how it is right now. They are, to the mm, the deepest speakers I can fit. And if I really maxed out their excursion the surround may still be able to touch the door panel since it's quite tall.
 
#114 ·
Cool, I'm interested to hear the XR's compared to the AR's.

Some stuff for this weekend...

I added hinges to my 2 piece trunk floor so it's not just 2 boards sitting there, and painted them black with paint I had laying around. Lighting does kinda funny things and shows spray lines, but it looks a lot better than the bare wood, and for something that's not visible basically 100% of the time, it's fine.





Also, I found an MS-8 for a great price, so I had to pick it up. I mounted it next to the mono amp in the trunk under the floor. With the width of the tire well and leaving room for wires, it JUST BARELY fits. But just barely is all I need.





Still need some short RCAs. I'll borrow some long ones for the GTG, but hopefully I'll be able to find some short ones for a reasonable price.

Also, the replacement Dayton HO got here today, so I'll be rockin' a full sub system this Saturday as well.
 
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