Gus
ClioSport Moderator
182Turbo,DCi90
EDIT title above is meant to say perfect fitting underseat sub....
I bought my 3rd clio 182 a couple of months ago and in previous cars I had an Alpine stereo with Bluetooth hands free integrated. I was now back to the standard crappy cabasse stereo and sorely missed having a decent stereo but more so not being able to use my phone in the car as I drive around a lot in my job.
I thought Id treat myself and spend a bit more than usual to get a nice audio system. I had been keeping an eye on @chaski and his thread: http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?749188-Headunit . This inspired me to partly copy what he had done but make a few changes to the speaker choices.
These are the bits I chose after doing a hell of a lot of investigating. I needed to make sure everything would fit together and install without any modification to my clio, wanted an as OEM install as possible. Everything was from caraudiodirect.com
Alpine CDE -178BT head unit - this is Alpines flagship model, its quite cheap though at only £179 .
Alpine KTP -445A power pack - inline amplifier that plugs between the headunit and renault iso loom. plug and play !
Alpine Type-R SPR50C component front speakers. - this comes with tweeters and a crossover for just the tweeters.
Alpine Type-R SPR50 rear speakers. These have the tweeters built in to the speaker.
Apline SWE 1200 underseat sub.
Connects2 CTSRN003 Stalk adapter + alpine lead - this was a pile of poo and didnt work, more on this later.
Connects2 CT27AA01 aerial adapter
Connects2 Renault speaker connector wires x 4
I had originally bought the Pioneer TS Q131C speakers as a lot of people on here had said they are easy to install and a direct replacement for Clios. When they turned up the box was so light and small. I was really worried as they are lighter than the standard speakers. I sent them straight back without even opening the box.
I spent The whole of Saturday just gone and half of Sunday fitting all of this. I went slowly and double checked everything as I went. It was all fairly straight forward. There is a s**t load of cables from the headunit aswell as the powerpack to hide but managed to hide the cables to the left of the stereo. The power pack was located behind the climate control (thanks chaski) using numberplate stickypads and cable ties.
Had troubles with the Connects2 stalk adapter. The instructions are rubbish and the unit I had didnt work. I spent a good 2 -3 hours trying everything I could and searching the net high and low and it just wouldnt work - I didnt even get the renault message on the display. So off I went to my local oxford car audio shop and they sold me a different brand stalk adapter for just over £60 which I felt done over paying but, was in a pinch and didnt want to wait for a replacement from caraudiodirect.
The other pain the ass was the sub power cable , this has to go through the bulk head through the TIGHTEST bung. Was contorted on my back for a good 45 minutes with countless tools but used the cut up biro method @chaski told me about. If I ever have to do this again would drill through the bulkhead for sure.
The tweeters were a bit of a pain as they dont just slot in and I had to araldite them to the platform the old ones were on. They have a cross over which mean you have to hide this and chose to hide the right one behind the dash clocks - there is loads of space here. This is also where I hid the sub amp.
The front SPR50 speakers are an amazing fit. They fit really well and use the existing screw holes. I was worried about the fit and was relieved when they went in so easily. Same with the rear SPR50 speakers , they fit really easily but if im honest the plastic rear doorcard you screw them into isnt as sturdy as I had hoped and will be reinforcing this later.
Now.. the best part of this project was the underseat sub. Its as if Alpine made this especially for a clio !! The amp fits perfectly behind the dash clocks. The adjustment box with the knobs for adjusting the mass level and something else ive forgotten sits perfectly (cant stress how good the fit it is)in the cubby hole under the traction control buttons. you have to drill a small hole for the cable but that is minor. Now the sub itself..... It slots into the little gap under the seat like a glove the measurements are so perfect. Under the passenger seat there is 2 raised parts (guess this is the chassis) with a gap between. The sub lowers itself into this and barely protrudes. Because of the fit on all sides of the sub it doesnt move at all it doesnt foul on the seats movement, rear passengers wont be kicking it with their feet etc. have a look at this pic:
Im really impressed with this setup. The sound is amazing and goes much much louder than the standard stereo without distorting at all. Im tempted to get another SWE1200 underseat sub for the drivers seat as the fit is perfect there too.
Got to give thanks to @chaski and @Steven103 for their input and ideas.
I bought my 3rd clio 182 a couple of months ago and in previous cars I had an Alpine stereo with Bluetooth hands free integrated. I was now back to the standard crappy cabasse stereo and sorely missed having a decent stereo but more so not being able to use my phone in the car as I drive around a lot in my job.
I thought Id treat myself and spend a bit more than usual to get a nice audio system. I had been keeping an eye on @chaski and his thread: http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?749188-Headunit . This inspired me to partly copy what he had done but make a few changes to the speaker choices.
These are the bits I chose after doing a hell of a lot of investigating. I needed to make sure everything would fit together and install without any modification to my clio, wanted an as OEM install as possible. Everything was from caraudiodirect.com
Alpine CDE -178BT head unit - this is Alpines flagship model, its quite cheap though at only £179 .
Alpine KTP -445A power pack - inline amplifier that plugs between the headunit and renault iso loom. plug and play !
Alpine Type-R SPR50C component front speakers. - this comes with tweeters and a crossover for just the tweeters.
Alpine Type-R SPR50 rear speakers. These have the tweeters built in to the speaker.
Apline SWE 1200 underseat sub.
Connects2 CTSRN003 Stalk adapter + alpine lead - this was a pile of poo and didnt work, more on this later.
Connects2 CT27AA01 aerial adapter
Connects2 Renault speaker connector wires x 4
I had originally bought the Pioneer TS Q131C speakers as a lot of people on here had said they are easy to install and a direct replacement for Clios. When they turned up the box was so light and small. I was really worried as they are lighter than the standard speakers. I sent them straight back without even opening the box.
I spent The whole of Saturday just gone and half of Sunday fitting all of this. I went slowly and double checked everything as I went. It was all fairly straight forward. There is a s**t load of cables from the headunit aswell as the powerpack to hide but managed to hide the cables to the left of the stereo. The power pack was located behind the climate control (thanks chaski) using numberplate stickypads and cable ties.
Had troubles with the Connects2 stalk adapter. The instructions are rubbish and the unit I had didnt work. I spent a good 2 -3 hours trying everything I could and searching the net high and low and it just wouldnt work - I didnt even get the renault message on the display. So off I went to my local oxford car audio shop and they sold me a different brand stalk adapter for just over £60 which I felt done over paying but, was in a pinch and didnt want to wait for a replacement from caraudiodirect.
The other pain the ass was the sub power cable , this has to go through the bulk head through the TIGHTEST bung. Was contorted on my back for a good 45 minutes with countless tools but used the cut up biro method @chaski told me about. If I ever have to do this again would drill through the bulkhead for sure.
The tweeters were a bit of a pain as they dont just slot in and I had to araldite them to the platform the old ones were on. They have a cross over which mean you have to hide this and chose to hide the right one behind the dash clocks - there is loads of space here. This is also where I hid the sub amp.
The front SPR50 speakers are an amazing fit. They fit really well and use the existing screw holes. I was worried about the fit and was relieved when they went in so easily. Same with the rear SPR50 speakers , they fit really easily but if im honest the plastic rear doorcard you screw them into isnt as sturdy as I had hoped and will be reinforcing this later.
Now.. the best part of this project was the underseat sub. Its as if Alpine made this especially for a clio !! The amp fits perfectly behind the dash clocks. The adjustment box with the knobs for adjusting the mass level and something else ive forgotten sits perfectly (cant stress how good the fit it is)in the cubby hole under the traction control buttons. you have to drill a small hole for the cable but that is minor. Now the sub itself..... It slots into the little gap under the seat like a glove the measurements are so perfect. Under the passenger seat there is 2 raised parts (guess this is the chassis) with a gap between. The sub lowers itself into this and barely protrudes. Because of the fit on all sides of the sub it doesnt move at all it doesnt foul on the seats movement, rear passengers wont be kicking it with their feet etc. have a look at this pic:
Im really impressed with this setup. The sound is amazing and goes much much louder than the standard stereo without distorting at all. Im tempted to get another SWE1200 underseat sub for the drivers seat as the fit is perfect there too.
Got to give thanks to @chaski and @Steven103 for their input and ideas.
