Plot twist: we installed the Fender speakers (actually made by Panasonic) that we removed from my GTI into my buddy's 2013 Tiguan with a small 4-channel Alpine amp and a powered Blaupunkt sub. After running some RCA's and a few power wires, and coding the head unit to output the right signal...
I went into Car Toys to listen to some Focal and a few other brands side by side. The salesman showed me the specs on the VW kit that Focal makes and said he could order them, they sound very similar to the 165AS, and were the same price. They are in a housing that is designed to install right...
The sound deadening is Kilmat. I bought a 36 sqft box of 80 mil and a 50 sqft box of 50 mil. We did the entire car with the 80 mil and didn't use the entire box or even open the box of 50 mil.
Thanks! The amps are class D, which generate very little heat. Even so, there's about 2" of space between the MDF amp rack and the top panel, so they're getting some air.
The old class A & B amps had to be mounted horizontal so the heatsinks would work, and you had to allow for plenty of air...
The pins came in for the MIB2 connector, and they were a perfect fit! (original post updated with part number from Mouser). I made a harness and fished it up the kick panel to the back of the slot where the head unit installs. I crimped the pins on each wire, soldered the connection, heat shrink...
Holy cow, this is more work than I remember. And laying on the floorboard of a car, soldering wires hurts a lot more than it did 20 years ago! We got most of the tedious stuff done this weekend, and we're in the home stretch. If the pins for the head unit connector show up today, we might get to...
I've had my GTI for about 4 years now, and while I don't hate the Fender system, it's time to upgrade. I used to do a little custom car audio back in the day, so I hope I remember how to do some of it! My buddy (also a former car audio installer) and I started on this build a few days ago, but...
VMR v701 18x8.5 et45, Michelin PSS 245/40r18, stock suspension. I removed the fender screw, but I'm not sure I needed to. It doesn't rub anywhere so far. I may lower it later, but I kind of like this stance.
Perfectly flush with et45 and no spacers.