[OneFastCanuck]

Hello fellow car audio enthusiasts,

Wanted to share my latest build - been out of the car audio scene for a few years, as the stock Fender system on the golf R was pretty acceptable with a simple sub upgrade, and I had other priorities going on. Now I am back with the bug!

2018 golf R in Lapiz blue - bought new in 2018, waited almost 4 months to get it. Really love the car as it does everything so well for a daily - not a huge fan of Volkswagen however. Just got my car back after 8 weeks at the dealership to repair some electrical issues causing many codes.

Anyways, it started as a 'oh let me just use up the old car audio equipment I have leftover from previous builds' to 'oh I need this - I need that - I NEED MOAR!'

This will be a Stealth build, and so all equipment will fit into trunk floor - I like clean and I need the space in the trunk!

Parts list for the build;
Front stage (for now): JBL C508 GTI - 5-1/4inch component set from previous build - will run passive for the time being but would like to eventually go active.
Rear fill: Kenwood KFC-1696PS coaxials (purchased new for this build)
Subs: Pioneer low-profile TSZ10LS4 10-inch subs (400w RMS each)
Mono amp: Clarion DPX11551 - 850 watts RMS x 1 at 4 ohms (1,550 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms)
4-channel amp: Pioneer GM-D8604 - 150W x 4 at 2ohm, 100w x 4 at 4ohm, bridgeable.
DSP: Zapco DSP Z8 IV - purchased new in box from another member on here - my first DSP so very excited!
Wire: 0-gauge kit from Crutchfield
Other: fast rings for speakers, two Knukonceptz BASSIK distribution blocks.

Head unit will remain stock - will be using the inputs behind OEM radio to go to the DSP's high-level inputs, I will have to recode the radio to bypass the Fender amplifier.

Here is a recent photo of my ride:

Started working on the audio build yesterday - first step was removing trunk panels, vacuum and sound deadening;

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Next, I made a template for my false floor - used cardboard along with a marker and washer to copy the profile of each side of the wall, after a few iterations it came out pretty much perfect. taped together and now I have a rough template to copy onto a thin piece of MDF to make the actual template;

That's it for last weekend - also juggling home renos so hopefully things on the car will continue to progress. Only missing a few items to finalize the build, just need the time to work on it!

 

[Jroo]

did i miss what sound deadner you used?

 

[OneFastCanuck]

did i miss what sound deadner you used?

Went with Noico - did much research, the only slightly better option would have probably been SecondSkin and it is literally 8 times the price to get it here - there is no way it is close to 8x the performance. I liked working with the Noico. Also did not notice any smell. Went on easy enough and cut nicely. I remember 10+ years ago using Fatmat - that stuff was not a treat! smelly as hell too since they used an asphalt base.

Used 4 sheets in the trunk and have 5 left - probably will order another half pack (4-5 more sheets) since I would like to go heavy on the front doors, and light on rear doors. Also not sure if I will do the rear hatch yet, but probably do one piece in there.

 

[Jheitt142]

Unless you have a local dealer of a product line Noico is really our best option here.

Much jealous of the R sir!

 

[OneFastCanuck]

Unless you have a local dealer of a product line Noico is really our best option here.

Much jealous of the R sir!

Thank you! absolutely love the car but have had many issues with it during my almost-3-year ownership. I think I got really unlucky, since I know quite a few people with R's and they have not had nearly as many issues as I have had. I think mine was built during Oktoberfest. I also really hate dealing with Volkswagen - it's always a fight/challenge and they really don't seem to care about their customers.

Anyways, my DSP should arrive today so I am excited for that - next thing will be to continue building the sub box, make bracket for the DSP up on the side nook of the trunk. Also need to order some ABS to make a clean bracket in the engine bay for the fuse off the battery.

 

[Jroo]

Went with Noico - did much research, the only slightly better option would have probably been SecondSkin and it is literally 8 times the price to get it here - there is no way it is close to 8x the performance. I liked working with the Noico. Also did not notice any smell. Went on easy enough and cut nicely. I remember 10+ years ago using Fatmat - that stuff was not a treat! smelly as hell too since they used an asphalt base.

Used 4 sheets in the trunk and have 5 left - probably will order another half pack (4-5 more sheets) since I would like to go heavy on the front doors, and light on rear doors. Also not sure if I will do the rear hatch yet, but probably do one piece in there.

more than likely will go the same route. My neighbors both did their trucks over a year ago and they were super happy with the price and results.

 

[Jheitt142]

Thank you! absolutely love the car but have had many issues with it during my almost-3-year ownership. I think I got really unlucky, since I know quite a few people with R's and they have not had nearly as many issues as I have had. I think mine was built during Oktoberfest. I also really hate dealing with Volkswagen - it's always a fight/challenge and they really don't seem to care about their customers.

hopefully its more of a dealer issue then VW themselves! Look forward to the updates!

 

[Adurm]

Sub for updates

 

[OneFastCanuck]

hopefully its more of a dealer issue then VW themselves! Look forward to the updates!

Unfortunately it is both dealerships and VW Canada. They really don’t value their customers. Will be the last VW I ever buy.

 

[OneFastCanuck]

small update - DSP came in today and I’m very excited 🤤

 

[Adurm]

The dealer here in Daytona likes to argue until i show them the TSB about the roof leaking or the waterpump/thermostat issues. Like they don't know... All they gotta do is run the vin. VwoA reimburses them. Jerks.

 

[Jheitt142]

Unfortunately it is both dealerships and VW Canada. They really don’t value their customers. Will be the last VW I ever buy.

As a person with the VW emblem tattooed on them, that's a shame. Good thing I like my old junk! hahaha

ok, MOAR AUDIO! Its funny that my 2003 Jetta has the EXACT same tie down D rings in the hatch

 

[OneFastCanuck]

So went downstairs to fool around with the equipment layout, there will be a two level amp rack made of 3/8 inch thick HPDE sheets. Total height is 5.25 inches, enough to fit under the new trunk false floor I am building.

here are the two options I’m looking at for the layers (the wood is where I have to cut the HPDE):

 

[James_H]

The bottom picture seems to better separate power and signal cables probably.

 

[Jroo]

Used to be a vw apologist but moved away
From the brand several years back. Vw always seemed to do the r correctly but several I knew spent more time trying to get service and issues fixed.

 

[OneFastCanuck]

Used to be a vw apologist but moved away
From the brand several years back. Vw always seemed to do the r correctly but several I knew spent more time trying to get service and issues fixed.

yeah, it is very frustrating. I guess I got more unlucky than others, but the worst part is that each issues is super expensive, so far the minimum repair has been around $1200 and it goes up from there. Thank god it was almost all warrantied, but still, out of warranty scares me - shopping a VW extended warranty currently for another 3 years since my bumper-bumper finishes next Feb. Hell, I had way less problems with my 2011 Subaru STI in my 5.5 years of ownership. I think my old friend who bought it off me still kicking it around.

 

[OneFastCanuck]

The bottom picture seems to better separate power and signal cables probably.

yes, my only concern is I would rather have the distribution blocks on the bottom so that I could remove top layer without having to unplug the main 0-gauge power and ground. This would mean the mono amp and distro blocks would go on the bottom, but that leaves less room for adjustments on the mono amp. If I put both amps on the top, then I will have less access to the Zapco to plug in the USB when required to do some tuning or updates. What I might do is go with option 2 (picture 2) and just leave enough wire slack so that I could easily slide back the top level onto the rear seats (folded down) and access all equipment for setting gains, tuning, adjustments.

 

[dmb1650]

I think picture 2 is a better layout for routing purposes. But also you have the DSP, why not just skip the passive crossovers and go active from the start? Then you can remove them from the amp rack. Also, I like the build! Keep it up!

 

[OneFastCanuck]

I think picture 2 is a better layout for routing purposes. But also you have the DSP, why not just skip the passive crossovers and go active from the start? Then you can remove them from the amp rack. Also, I like the build! Keep it up!

so I have been debating doing that but as this is my first DSP, I am hesitant. I am worried about ruining the components. I know I have to take the time to set up the DSP before connecting the speaker outputs from the amp, but how will I ensure no bad signals get to the tweets? I would like to add some in-line resistors on the tweeters when I install them but no clue what size would suffice to protect them if ever my DSP fails and sends a bad signal to that channel - should I also be setting a high pass on the 4-channel amp for tweeter channel to add some protection, or would that just cause tuning issues?

Also, the main constraint to going active would be the 4-channel amp. I would need another small 2-channel amp to have 6 channels of amplification (tweets, mids, rear fill). The idea was to start with the passive crossover then upgrade and go active once everything was in and working and I had time to play around with it all.

 

[OneFastCanuck]

so what I COULD do... is get a cost effective Pioneer 2-ch amp for the tweeters - see below, can get for around $110 CAD plus tax;

Pioneer GM-A3702

2-channel car amplifier — 60 watts RMS x 2

www.crutchfield.ca

this would replace the two crossovers and allow me to run full active. Not sure if it would make a night and day difference or not, or if the quality of the cheap Pioneer amp on the tweets would come into play...

Small note: this build started as a 'oh let's just re-use your old equipment - shouldn't be more than a few hundred $' to full blown 'ok what are we missing to go full active' and quite a bit more budget LOL but hey - can always re-use the equipment down the line in future vehicles!