[Anu2g]

Hey folks,

I was recently lucky enough to land my dream car: a Guards Red 991.2 GT3 in manual. Though this car will live half its life on the track, the other half will be lived on the street. So, of course my mind went towards the audio system. I had met Vanguard's Nick Apicella and Matt Kim at the SVR SQ competition in Q4 '22, and Nick and I stayed in touch / became friends. We decided to work together on a sub enclosure, with the aesthetic intent of blending it into the interior of the car without standing out. I'm planning to keep this car for the rest of my life, so I didn't want to cut any corners, and I knew I could trust Nick and Matt to achieve that.

First, the car:

And, the area where we intend to place a sub enclosure (rear deck, right above the engine):

 

[Anu2g]

Nick and I had thrown some ideas around prior to the 3 days my car would be in his shop, but he knew the bulk of the planning would need to occur with the car in hand. So, immediately upon arrival, the bucket seats were pulled, and the planning began:

Nick, Chris, and Matt all in my car at once:

Matt and my (bald) self:

We agreed that box would mount down to the studs under the child seat hooks on the rear deck. Nick was able to source OE Alcantara, so we decided to use that for the top portion of the enclosure to match the C pillar, and the bottom portion would be some kind of laser-cut acrylic grill TBD.

 

[Anu2g]

I should also note that, prior to arrival, I had installed the following items with my good friend @naiku :

1) NavTV MOST interface for a clean signal from my OEM Bose head unit (from Musicar NW)
2) Mosconi One 90.8 DSP Amp (85x4 + 250x2) under the passenger seat (from Musicar NW)
3) Morel MT350 / Morel MM3 / Morel Elate Carbon MW9 (from Musicar NW)
4) Mosconi Pico 1 (500x1 @ 4 ohms) from my good friend @toneloc2 , under the driver's seat

 

[Anu2g]

Matt began work on the "core" enclosure (shoutout to Matt for not getting annoyed that I was watching/learning):

 

[Anu2g]

Test fit (literally fit perfectly on the first try; Matt was very happy):

Note: I was also installing a GMG rollbar during all this. Yes, it was a big curveball to this project. No, don't ask about that. Thanks Vanguard guys for not murdering me for throwing that wrench into this project.

The trim piece design was done in parallel. I don't have any pictures of the computer design process, but Nick, Matt, and Chris all had heavy input into the design, and they were very keen on involving my input, which was an awesome experience. I had mentioned that I liked how some Porsche owners option the center armrest with PORSCHE embossed in the Alcantara; and Nick said "we can do that!". He also had the bright idea to use Guards Red acrylic that he had on hand, paint it matte black to match the interior, and then laser cut the speaker grill holes into the acrylic, leaving a guards red cross-section. Magnificent design idea! We used hexagons, which are what the OE speaker grills use.

 

[RickWilson]

Subbed. Can’t wait to do with my pillars in a couple of weeks. Loving the build log.

 

[Anu2g]

Upholstering and driver placement. I'd like to shout out another good friend @bertholomey for sending me his BNIB Stereo Integrity BM MkV to use for this project. Perfect driver for the space and power we have available. And the CF is a nice touch! This box was .75 cubes, deadened with Resonix CLD tiles (2 large squares) and filled with polyfill. The Resonix CLD tiles made a massive difference when knocking on the box.

 

[Muu]

Looks amazing!

 

[Anu2g]

Before mounting the enclosure behind the rollbar (yes, it fit through the rear portion of the rollbar; no it did not fit through the front hoop of the rollbar), we laid down 2 Resonix CLD tiles under where the enclosure would go. We also laid a half tile plus Resonix Fibermat along each wheel arch. This made a massive difference re: tire noise. Yes, I still hear the engine in all it's glory (and I have valved side muffler bypasses, so the engine/exhaust is plenty loud when I want it to be).

Then we got to mounting the enclosure:

 

[Sam b]

I absolutely love that car. Always been my dream ride.
What is that red and black exotic in the background
Awesome stuff from the vanguard guys once again

 

[Anu2g]

We also replaced the Smoker's Package area in the center console with a custom sub volume knob mount that Matt Kim built in ~4 hours from start to finish. Wow, they are quick! Also installed a couple heated seat switches, as I intend to add heating elements into the lightweight bucket seat center inserts (not an available option from the factory):

 

[RickWilson]

I absolutely love that car. Always been my dream ride.
What is that red and black exotic in the background
Awesome stuff from the vanguard guys once again

I believe that’s a Ferrari SF90.

 

[Anu2g]

And then once it was all said and done, Nick tuned it! Not much to say here other than that it sounds awesome, especially considering that all the speakers are in the factory locations and the mids are low in the doors. Nick used my driving position to tune for (keeping in mind that this will not be a competition/demo car), and he took my feedback on my personal listening preferences (softened top end; heightened bottom end

 

[Anu2g]

A big thank you to Nick Apicella, Matt Kim, and Chris from Vanguard Automotive for making a dream come true! I couldn't be more excited about the build!

And I think I'm a pretty picky guy

 

[Turb0Yoda]

I still think this would have worked in a camry despite what Nick said 🤣

 

[you asked]

What is that red and black exotic in the background

A fully optioned Ferrari SF90

 

[Rich.E.Rich]

Beautiful vehicle! Great work by the team at Vanguard!

 

[bertholomey]

Wow Anu! I couldn’t be more stoked for you my friend. It was a huge privilege to have been a part of the planning stages when you were considering options. I’m so glad you decided to go this route.

I have been extremely impressed with Nick’s creation of a top shelf shop and Matt’s install chops (was awesome to meet him at SVR last year - fantastic dude). This install - not just the final product, but the entire process - has elevated my evaluation of Vanguard’s quality and customer focus.

I’m so happy for you! I know that this project needed to be a home run - you have very high standards, and anything less than stellar would bother you every time you got in the car. You work hard, you wanted this car, and you wanted the system to be complimentary and enjoyable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[SNCTMPL]

@Anu2g it looks like “you asked” for the best and you got the best.

 

[you asked]

@Anu2g it looks like “you asked” for the best and you got the best.

He asked for something relatively simple lol