I have had a little bit of a brainwave over the Zunsport lower grille that I have for fitment - to fit it or not?

I do look the Zunsport grille but I also don't want to go too far away visually from the standard car.

My previous S202 with the Zunsport grille installed.





My current S202 as it stands now.





If it is going to be used then the Zunsport badge will be removed, any thoughts welcomed.

 

I also made my mind up over the single / double din idea and ended up ordering a Pioneer AVH-X2600BT head unit, it does pretty much everything you could ever want in a car head unit.

There are far more expensive head units available but having had head units with motorised screens fail before now that was the last thing that I wanted.



http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/A...0BT/print.html

Plus whilst I was in a spending mood I also bought a Kenwood KSC-SW11 underseat subwoofer as the performance from the recently installed speakers is a far bit lacking on the bass side of things. Pretty understandable really as you are never going to get a good bass sound through 4" and 5.25" 3 way speakers.



http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk...nent/KSC-SW11/

This will of course be hidden out of sight under the passengers seat and won't impact on the inside of the car, as with the door speakers I want to keep everything looking standard on the inside.

 

Get a black grill and it will blend in.

 

Coming along nicely ty.

I too Silent coated my doors and replaced the speakers with kenwood units, this made a massive difference as the stock ones are shocking.

I also have the same under seat sub. It's less intrusive over the boot mounted subs but adds that extra bass to the cabin. It's a very nice bit of kit and very well made. once under the seat there is still loads of room for a rear passenger to put there feet, in fact you would know it was there.

I went for a double din kenwood unit with bluetooth, Like you it does pretty much everything I need. I've also stopped buying the motorised head units. They seem to last a couple of years and then the ribbon breaks or the motor fails and then there junk (trapping a decent CD in there)

 

Danny, I lost your number. Give Matt or Daz a bell about a bit of a run out in September.

You should still have a few quid left on your top up from 2010.

 

Hi Ty,

I don't get into scoobynet as often as I would like and last time I read your thread you were selling up. Am I right in thinking you have had a change of heart now? I haven't read the whole thread, I don't have that much spare time in my life these days !

As for the grill....

I would go with it, it doesn't look out of place or too after market and does a genuine job of protecting your rads. I wish I had fitted one as planned when I first had my car but never got around to it. If I had fitted one I wouldn't have a hole in my aircon rad where the car tried to swallow half a concrete block kicked up by the car in front of me!!

 

Thanks Ian, I'll just remove the Zunsport badge to keep it looking OE.

Yes I'm keeping it, had a change of mind after taking it out for a drive.

As for protection yes I agree totally, although I'm more concerned with protecting the oil cooler which is set just behind the front bumper.

 

Thanks Danny, yes I agree that sound deadening the doors is a very worthwhile thing in itself plus some half decent speakers and the sound is a lot better, it'll improve even more when the subwoofer is installed.

I've had head units fail the same as you, the ribbon leads break and essentially the head unit is junk given it's value against the cost of repair.

 

Seeing the two cars together I much prefer the latest one in WR blue.

It's a stunning bit of kit

 

Good thinking a genuine STi oil cooler is ££££'s to replace!

Regards,

Subaru Collector 555.

 

Thanks Kev, the black one was very nice when it was clean, but even an OCD detailer would have problems keeping it looking it's best.

The car looks far better in WR blue, I think that all newages look good in WR blue and my other favourite white.

Very true, I wouldn't like to have to replace it - if it's like anything else from the STi aftermarket catalogue it will cost an arm and leg to replace.

 

Glad to hear you are sticking with it and it doesnt suprise me that a drive of the beast got you interested again

 

Yes one drive was enough to remind me about why I bought it, the closer it gets though the more impatient I'm becoming.

 

Id keep it as is myself ty, but dont take much notice of me cos ive gone against the purists anyway with a bunch of carbon fibre goodies on mine.

About time you stopped faffing about now anyway, got the car on the road for good, and more importantly conclude this 50 million page thread and stop being a attention ***** :-p

 

Well the front lower grille is going on Rob albeit without the Zunsport badge.

I'm just as keen to get it on the road ASAP Rob, I've promised you a drive of it and I intend to keep that promise - my plans have shifted slightly partly down to delays and some down to myself changing my mind on certain things.

Hopefully it's all ahead full steam from now on in, and it'll make my now revised / expected date for a mapping session with Bob Rawle.

 

Grill looks good minus badge ,i put one on my spec c to protect oil cooler

 

You changed your mind..............really...............no!

 

Thanks Glenn.

Not so much change my mind, more of a case of reevaluating and adapting.

 

Evaluate, adapt and overcome.

 

Panic, react and muddle through are more like it.

 

These little beauties turned up today, unfortunately I had to cop for the import duty and custom clearance fees.



They still end up cheaper than buying from the limited UK suppliers that I could find.

 

Very nice bit of kit there Tyron

 

Not as lucky as 53 then Ty

 

Thanks Dave, I should never have seen how well yours fitted or I'd have been happy with just boggo standard flaps.

Not as lucky you're right there Kev, I put Stu onto the same US eBay seller, I ordered mine before his and got them 3 days later plus I had to pay the duty and customs clearance fees.

 

Well I got the underseat subwoofer installed today, this meant pulling out the passenger seat, removing the passenger side plastic lower side trims (the ones in the door aperture and the lower B pillar), partially pulling up the carpet and then routing the wiring down the channelling.

Then routing it under the dashboard, around into the radio aperture area which meant removing the centre console trim and head unit again, once it was tested and making sure it's all working properly I had to refit all the removed parts.

They really give you an excess of wiring which I tidied up and it now resides out of sight under the passenger seat, to say it's made a massive difference to the sound quality is an understatement. I'd advise anyone who likes good quality sound reproduction to get one of these underseat subwoofers as it's a worthwhile addition.

It's a pity that my new head unit hasn't arrived yet but all good things comes to those who wait...

 

A little more progress with some steps backwards thrown in for good measure.

Today hasn't been the best of days if I am honest, first I took out the rear seats in order to gain access to the top of the rear strut towers in order to fit the Ultra Racing rear strut brace. All was going well until I actually attempted to fit the brackets which are held onto the top of the rear struts, it was only then I thought 'the access is a little tight' or words to that effect.

After trying various different methods, scratching my head, coming away from the car, going back to it, checking that the brackets weren't handed that the problem finally dawned on me. All the newage Spec C models have reinforced rear strut towers, these have considerably more metalwork to them in order to stiffen and reinforce the rigidity of the car.

There was no way that unless I cut and chopped out lumps of metal out of the strut towers would the strut brace fit so it's now been scrubbed off the list, and is now up for sale.

It's quite lucky that a while back it was found that my car has a Cusco rear lower chassis brace in place meaning that I can leave off the rear strut brace as it's not essential.

The offending article.



The Cusco lower rear chassis brace.



There were two good things to come out of attempting to fit the rear strut brace in that was that the metal top caps had surface rust on them so they were rubbed back to bare metal and painted matt black, and also that at least when the RCM fuel pump is installed I won't have to take the seats out again.

The KS3 knock sensor and loom have been installed into the engine bay, the exact location of the KS3 display is yet to be finalised but looking likely to be to just below the dash centre heater vents.

The Zunsport grille has now been installed but unless I cut the badge off it's not going anywhere as it is welded onto the grille, the front upper grille panel has also been installed so the car looks a lot better than it did before.

Also the replacement mirrors that I sourced to replace the Blobeye mirror which is somehow fitted to the S202 have now been painted, they aren't fitted yet as they weren't ready when I left.

 

The grille looks a lot cleaner than I thought it would mate

 

The lower one Stu? I should hope so it had only just come out of the wrapper.

They don't look too bad on the car, I think the black grille contrasts well with the WR blue body colour.

 

Yeah I thought the lower grille might look strange without a splitter. It's more subtle on your old car so you get away with it, but it actually looks really nice on the blue

 

Have you removed the Hellas ?