# 01 New Beetle - 2 15s IB, “budget” SQ build



## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Just acquired a New Beetle, 1.8t 5-speed this last weekend.

I have a GLI Jetta parts donor that I’m taking the 18” wheels, coilovers, brakes and 6-speed transmission from. It will get a larger turbo, exhaust, etc - all the fun boy racer stuff.

I said I wouldn’t do a stereo build on this one, but who am I kidding? I pulled the dash panels to access the ecu and my mind started racing! That having been said, I’m keeping this one “simple”. Loving the active 3-way + sub I built in my van but I’m thinking two small subwoofers in the dash and two wide band driver in pods. That’s it. Everything on the dash.

My taste for massive bass has diminished dramatically. I keep the level in the van turned down to a whisper. I’m sure there will be days that I miss bassing out, but the Tang Band 5.25” subs model nicely in vented enclosures that I can fit in the dash. Pushing 110db at 40Hz (before cabin gain) without exceeding xmax. I may melt the coils if I ever actually sustain those levels but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

I’m running the Dayton RS line 4” as my mids in the van. The times I’ve deactived the tweeters for tuning and forgot to low pass the mids, I’ve been impressed with the performance of the lowly Daytons. They lack the shimmer of a dedicated tweeter but I may stash some dramatically attenuated tweeters in the factory dash location to compensate (if I care).

Anyway, stay tuned. Probably won’t be much movement for a bit but my previous builds for the last ten years or so have found their way on here so I might as well get the ball rolling.

Thanks for stopping by.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Gear:
-No headunit(!)
-iPhone to a Dayton DSP-408 to a Pioneer four channel amp
-Dayton RS 4” wide band drivers, crossed ~250Hz active
-Tang Band 5.25” neodymium subwoofers in 0.3 ft^3 ported enclosures tuned to 36Hz

Should be under $600, all in, reusing cables and wiring I’ve accumulated over the years.

So much room for activities!!!









One potential obstacle will be moving the ecu. Hoping I don’t have to hack the factory harness to get it out of the way.










The car:









I will be respraying it Olive Drab Green, lowered slightly on those BBS wheels you see in the picture there.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

I swear, you guys gonna make me break out my Dayton DSP-408 before I put in my future truck.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

BP1Fanatic said:


> I swear, you guys gonna make me break out my Dayton DSP-408 before I put in my future truck.


Do it! I run one in my van. 3-way active with a sub. Damn fine piece of gear at any price, save for the 10 or so second initialization when it powers up. I can't believe I paid like $150 for all that tech. I was going to run an 80PRS but the beetle has a terrible chasm where the headunit goes that won't allow you to fold the faceplate down! It works out though. I rarely use FM or cds anymore. Saves me some money. Just pipe 'er straight to the DSP and see if she blows smoke!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

I NEVER use FM or CD's unless there's anti-streaming BLACK out.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

So, I ordered my gear today - this is pretty much everything:

-2x Dayton RS100-4 wide band drivers for dash pods (~250+Hz)
-4x Tang Band W5-1138SM 5-1/4" Neodymium Subwoofer (one pair in ported enclosures in the dash @30~250Hz, one pair in near identical enclosures in the rear side panels @30~100Hz, tuning will determine where the low passes land but the rears will run sub duty only)
-Dayton DSP-408 with a bluetooth dongle
-Alpine PDR-75 (4x"75w" RMS for mains, 1x"350w" for the subs. "Quotes" because the Alpine dyno sheets I've received in the past are usually 50% higher than listed. Hoping to run 100 watts to the front channels and meter the gain to approximate the same from the subs in the rear panels.)

That's it. I have wiring and fuses, etc and will just stream to the bluetooth dongle, unless the quality is straight garbage, then I'll have to invest in a dac and hard-wire that to the dsp input. Volume control with the phone LOL.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Well, that escalated quickly. Trying a cheap android 10" tablet as a command center, since I'm otherwise dependent on an apple DAC in the lightning to 3.5mm to RCA cable, or whatever is in the Dayton bluetooth dongle. This should allow me a dedicated screen and better DAC. Just wifi hotspot to my phone. I don't have a coolant temp gauge either (just a dummy light) so running an obdII bluetooth dongle and the tablet will allow me to set up a "torque pro" gauge cluster to display various parameters - and costs about the same as a matching coolant temp gauge and sending unit/adapters/etc. 

Looking forward to it! I've never run anything like this before. Stay tuned!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Got a Facebook reminder today of some sweet tweeter pods I built eight years ago! Don’t be jealous!










Here are the pods in the van, running the same Dayton RS100-4 wide-band drivers. I’m going to build identical pods for the Beetle, just without tweeters.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

And the budget blew up. Up to a grand in gear now BUT that SHOULD be everything. LOL. I’ve been here before! Dammit! Still probably want a subwoofer.

Ordered an Alpine PDR-75V 5-channel yesterday. I had great results with their (much) older PDX line so I’m hoping this keeps pace with those.

I decided for the sake of ease (and midbass) to run the four 5.25” subwoofers sealed in the dash. I’ll figure out a proper sub later. With cabin gain, they should be dead flat all the way down but will exceed xmax by 50Hz with any power so I’m back to looking at proper subwoofer implementations again.

18” IB in the spare tire? Sensitive 6x9s in vented enclosures in the side panels? I can’t know which way I’ll go until I do some soul searching and take the rear panels off the have a look at the space. Still need to pull the dash apart and see where/if I can move the engine computer.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Damn. Rear panel locations are a non starter for subwoofer installs. There’s no space. I built some gnarly bass into my Mini Cooper but they had rather large cavities to work with. Check it out :-(


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Lots of planning updates recently. Not much of substance. Maybe someone someday will find it interesting... Anyway! Look what I found!!! 










I had forgotten about them. Bought them years ago for a HT IB project that never got off the ground. So, caution has been thrown to the wind. Cutting the spare tire well!!! Just run one. If the weather eats it up in a year, I have a spare, and they only cost like $100 for the pair years ago. Without spending any more money, I can expect this response (no cabin gain, no crossovers in the first model)... 

Red line: 1x Pyle 15" IB in the spare tire well (sub duty, duh)
Green line: 4x Tang Band 5.25" subs sealed in the dash (midbass)
Blue line: 2x Dayton 4" wide-band drivers in dash pods









And with some conservative cabin gain (The little Tang Bands can hang with some cabin gain! Though they explode under 50Hz)


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## glockcoma (Dec 22, 2015)

Nice!!! I’ve been running theses for awhile in a trunk baffle. Mmmmm dem waves


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Love it! Go team Blue Wave!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Sooooo, not really keeping it simple anymore. A thing showed up today...










Dash subs showed up too! Planning continues!


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## SiW80 (Mar 13, 2019)

Heterosapian said:


> Damn. Rear panel locations are a non starter for subwoofer installs. There’s no space. I built some gnarly bass into my Mini Cooper but they had rather large cavities to work with. Check it out :-(
> View attachment 296819


Take out the metal mounting and fibreglass a tub enclosure 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

SiW80 said:


> Take out the metal mounting and fibreglass a tub enclosure
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks. I thought about it but it’s still really shallow in there. With the subs/midbasses on the dash and the potential to IB a 15” in the spare tire well (I’ve always wanted to do that) I think I’m just pulling the rear speaker paraphernalia and deadening behind those panels. Between the spare tire and removing all the other stereo gear, the car should actually loose a few pounds.

Not going HAAM on the deadening either. Just mlv in the doors and rear panels and a little CLD on thin panels and the roof.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Equipment keeps on arriving. Amplifier came in. DSP came in (they showed it back-ordered until May so that was cool). So I pretty much have everything in hand to get started now.

Alpine birth sheet shows 126 watts x4 and 439 x1 at 2 ohms. More than enough for my purposes! She’s a beauty too. Leaving the alpine badge off it. Build a rack in what’s left of the spare tire enclosure so nothing but the dash pods can be seen.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

The Alpine matches the Pyle's.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

BP1Fanatic said:


> The Alpine matches the Pyle's.


Hahaha. And yet neither will be seen. It’s almost a shame. They do their job well but are literally the ugliest woofers ever made. Mine are the old ones with chrome flame baskets. Part of me wants to show them off. Put lights and **** around them and troll the VW scene that has deteriorated so dramatically in the last ten years.









EDIT: just discovered these are the 4ohm units. It didn’t make any sense running two before, as I thought they were the dvc units and would take less power in a pair - it was like a 1db benefit v a single on more power. But now! You ever seen two 15s IB in a Beetle!?

Holy Lord, this got out of hand quickly. These suckers have a higher qes and qts too. With the pair I can run no subsonic filter and they won’t ever see xmax with the power I’m giving them! Hold onto your hearing aides people! We doin this!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Do it!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Doing it! I need to raise the floor 2 inches to accommodate both subs. Doing so gives me about 4 ft^3, which is actually plenty to just seal them. I mean, for a qtc of .707 I need like 40 ft^3 but 1.1-1.2 gives me a little 2db rise from 40-60 Hz and does a good job of controlling things.

Test fitting:


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

That'll work!

A little inspiration.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

No movement on the stereo. Need to get the mechanicals sorted out first as my wife is not happy with two cars on jack stand at the moment. 20th/GLI/GTI brake swap, Bilstein coilover install, K04-001 turbo swap, software, injectors, vacuum hose clean up, timing belt, maintenance - all the things going down presently. Stereo install will resume once she’s driving again.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

That's funny....my wife has a 2001 S60 sitting in the driveway with rod knock. I'm waiting on her to figure out what she wants to do with the car. I installed a bunch of new and junkyard parts last year. We paid for new tires too. If I had a new truck, then I would get a junkyard engine.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Just test fitting. This is the final configuration though. Go big or go home. Both will run in a “restricted-infinite” baffle configuration (probably 1/3 of total sd in vent). Grabbing some more mdf, making baffle cuts and cutting up the spare tire well this weekend. Trunk floor will be elevated 1.5” and everything will be carpeted. Woofers recessed 3/4” with sturdy grills, often concealed/protected under the factory trunk cover. I’ll pull it for shows. Plan is for it to be invisible and grocery friendly with the cover on.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Grills, carpet and cloth came in. Mdf acquired. Start cutting and fitting this week...

Got side tracked though, in a good way!!! Inherited some Pioneer speakers from 1959! And they work! The L-pads need a good cleaning and one of the woofers is shot, the cabinets are cat scratched to hell but I’m pleased.

























I love their shape but in needing to replace the fabric anyway, I’m changing the look. I am not married to the 1950s color scheme - though I’m sure someone will yell at me for my plans to alter anything  Ordered some black textured tolex, fender silver/black/white grill cloth, and tapered stainless legs for it. Should look like a 70s fender speaker when it’s done.

A buddy of mine has some 18x1” oak planks he’s going to just give me (!) as well. I’ll reproduce the top and bottom using that wood and stain it ebony. The factory panels are all laminated particle board that has seen better days, and are missing some of their edging.

Also ordered some GRS 8FR-8 “Pioneer type” woofers. These cabinets are about 2.5 cubic feet and those GRS woofers have an f3 around 30Hz in a vented enclosure of that size! Who needs a sub!? Two-way baby!

Rather than clutter this build thread with those beauties, I may find a spot on here to show them off. Just gushing for now!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Ended up doing a little something today 



















Should be just over 50% of total cone area, assuming the grate only flows ~70% through it. More if more. The hole in the floor accounts for 80% total sd. I can now never resell this vehicle. Lol.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Dayum!!!!!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

BP1Fanatic said:


> Dayum!!!!!


Playin no games!!! I’ve had this in mind for years and the stars aligned for this build. Going big. I know it’s been done before but I’ve never seen it in person, and even on the internet it seems pretty rare. Probably a good reason for that!

Everyone is concerned with chassis rigidity. I feel like a 1-1/2” mdf baffle probably makes up for the hole in the floor but just the same, I do plan on welding a 1/4” frame to the body around and across the hole.

Should be epic though. I can only imagine what this will sound like!









Started the baffle today. Got the lower done on lunch. Everything fits nicely. Doing the upper half this afternoon, then work on reinforcing it and maybe screw and glue it together tomorrow.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

U sholl ain't!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)




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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Nice and stealthy!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Worked on the baffle on lunch. It’s just a 1.5” floating baffle, which will be bolted down at the corners but probably vibrate like mad with any kind of output. So I reinforced it - probably excessively so. Screwed and glued. Top and bottom baffle sheets successfully laminated. Test fit this evening.


















Trying to seal the bottom as best I can. Experimented with some crap I had on hand - made a 2:1 mix of some exterior primer and wood glue. It immediately turned into spackle. We’ll see if it ever dries. If it does, that’s a massive win cause it’s THICK! Follow that up with some bedliner spray and cross my fingers I don’t have to replace the baffle in a year.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Actually got a lot done today! Even started the dash baffles while the sub is drying. Four Tang Band 5.25” subs in hand. Let’s hope they do midbass...


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

They will!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Rainy day. Worked on the ‘59 Pioneers in the garage. New woofers and wiring, terminal cups to accept banana plugs and converted the strange open baffle cavities to a port, tuned to 44Hz. 









The primer and glue mix on the sub baffle is about dry already. It’s a mess and I’d never want anyone to see it but damn, she should be well sealed against moisture now!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Why 44hz?


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

BP1Fanatic said:


> Why 44hz?


Flattest response with fixed cabinet dimensions - I didn't want to have to modify anything on these cabinets since they're 60 years old. The port section is held in place with two small screws and butyl tape so I can reverse it. They model flat at 100db down to 50Hz on 10 watts. Probably 40Hz in a pretty normal sized living room.

I'm thinking about making reproduction cabinets out of mdf and hardwood and running a 3-way in those. Then I don't have to feel bad about molesting some antiques.

EDIT: I ran the Pioneers today and they did great! Plenty loud on barely any wattage. Flat bass response, tunable highs, but the mids "honk" a bit. I'm going to try stuffing the cabinets after I cover them. There's some 60 year old batting on the walls but it's probably not enough to keep midrange reflections from coming back through the cone and port.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Cool!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Wow. Digging through my old MINI build thread. I got 130 on the dash from 30-60Hz out of two 6x9s in that thing and lost no cabin space doing it (humble brag). This is straight eerie though. Eight year almost to the day (tomorrow)








And today I test fitted the reinforced baffle for two fifteens in a beetle. Had to trim one section of reinforcement but now that contacts the spare tire well and I can secure it there as well.

Rough cut the baffles for the dash today as well. They need some trimming before they’ll drop in but they should be in tomorrow. Also pulled the rain tray hardware for fresh air. I’m completely sealing the tray to build vented enclosures for the midbasses. Recirc only AC. Once I cut the floor pan, all bets were off. Should be bonkers with those four subs up there, tuned around 50Hz and high passed about 40. 









Side note: measured the Pioneers in my garage. I think the subs that live in there are resonating. I shouldn’t have that much room gain, especially starting at 90Hz. I see the midrange issues I’m hearing. Big bump from 500-1500Hz. That’s the bulk of my damn midrange! I’ll take them outside and measure this weekend. Stuffing the cabs should help. I think it’s reflections coming through the port and cone that are causing it.
















You can see my 15” floorstanders on top of my pair of ported 15” subs. Four fifteens in the garage. I’m sure they’re resonating.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Fitting the baffles today. Try to sort out the entire enclosure today, actually. Still need to incorporate the vents into the baffles. It’s a shame it will all be covered when the dash goes back together. Well, the “mids” will show. Looks pretty damn tough.

Models to an f3 of 37Hz, 6db ripple at 55Hz. High pass them at 40Hz. Should be good for 115db at 55Hz without the subs or cabin gain. Talk about some up-front bass!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Are you adding a center channel? If not, 6 is better than 4!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

BP1Fanatic said:


> Are you adding a center channel? If not, 6 is better than 4!


Hahaha! Yes, Indeed! However, that void in the center is occupied by the defroster ducting and while I'm going hard on this thing, I don't want to go THAT hard. Cutting the floor pan and eliminating the fresh-air functionality was probably hard enough for a while.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Yeah it is!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Little movement on the project lately. Been dealing with some heavy personal stuff and am happy to have it as a distraction though. Got the subwoofer baffle set in place.

Reinforced the midbass baffles. They look mad ghetto but they’ll be about as dead as I can get 1/2” plywood - and they’ll be covered so I’m not worried about their appearance. Ran 3/4” mdf on the bottom and 1/2” ply patches on top in sections. Some sections are as thick as 2-1/4, while others are still 1/2”. Probably tack some “duct seal” in place where I can once it’s in. The enclosures are more generous than I’d estimated so I’m getting less ripple and lower extension but a bit more cone movement than I’d estimated. 12mm peak-to-peak excursion will get these little baffles jumping if I don’t deaden the hell out of them!
















Try to fit the ports today. Getting my first vaccine dose this afternoon so I’ll see how that goes first.

I modeled the midbasses against a nice off-the-shelf Alpine 12” subwoofer you’d pick up at Best Buy or something, in a 5ft^3 PORTED enclosure. Alpine at 450 watts (green line), midbasses at 250w total RMS (red line). My DASH beats the pants off that thing until 40Hz where they’ll get cut and the fifteens take over anyway 😎 Of course, the alpine can take more power but that’s shown with the amp channels I am using, and the Alpine would need to run 1000w+ to keep up over 50Hz anyway! These are supposed to be midbasses after all.


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## Jreindel (Aug 4, 2018)

This is such a cool build to me. I actually saw your thread over on Vwvortex the other day too! 

Im a long time vw and stereo dabbler, I got a 5 speed ALH beetle that im driving now since we upgraded the wife to a new Tiguan. It's been tough to design, as I need what little trunk space we have to remain, Your build has sparked some out of the box thought and inspiration for me! 

Everyone hates on the beetles but I've never had a vehicle that was so easy to get to sound decent right off the bat with just a very basic 2 way + sub and a minute of half-assed tape measure t/a. I can't wait to get some time to actually sit down and tune.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Hell yeah man. Thank you. Life came at me hard recently but I’m hoping to put some hours in on it this week. If I were sane, I would’ve settled for a sealed/IB configuration in the dash but I’m going for broke. No one but this odd little niche corner of the internet here has any idea what it means but yeah, 3” port tuned to 35Hz in your dash!? Wtf other vehicle can pull that off!? Nevermind the bad azz path lengths we have to work with on the dash too! I’m certain this will be a masterpiece - if not of legit SQ, certainly of “up front bass”!

And yeah, after some measuring and test fitting I settled on one 3” ported chamber for the midbasses, rather than two isolated chambers with smaller ports. Probably means the midbasses will have to stay time aligned equally left-to-right to avoid cancellation issues with the port. I’m good with that though. Running a single large chamber with that port, some eq and a STEEP high pass at fb should net dead flat response to 40Hz and an f3 around 35Hz - without cabin gain... in my dash. 
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Took one last pic before I pull the sub baffle (again) for the last time, bed line it and install the grate and screen this week. Them flames tho.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Bling Bling!


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

You'll definitely still get quite a bit of cabin gain/boundary-loading with the midbass drivers up on your dash. It's just a question of where the peak & null modes will end up relative to your listening position.

But you'll have the advantage of being able to play a bit more with your midbass vs IB subwoofer XOs and integration to help fill in any nulls and smooth the response.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Exactly! Reminds me of the 4 x 6.5" BP4 in my 96 Ford Ranger SuperCab. I had the port firing at the front. The box is still going strong in my son's apartment. The enclosure was built in 2004.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Coated the register and body lines where I cut the tire cavity with POR15 last night. Mount that and the screen today. Should keep bugs, critters and water out but still allow for drainage if any moisture accumulates. 

















Ugly, but effective.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Things started to feel really real in the hatch today. I was able to steal a few hours, mount the vent and screen, finish and carpet the baffle, and test fit one last time. Came out super clean, I think. Very German. Hahaha. 









Underneath, the barrier is not pretty but should do its job. 









Waiting on a port section for the dash and then I’ll finish that up. Still probably a few weeks with everything else going on before it’s live, but today felt like a big step.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Got to messing with the midbass port today. Epoxied the 90 section through a half inch ring and routed with a 3/4” round-over bit. Not my best work without anything to rest the router face against. Certainly not pretty, but should be effective.








There’s not enough room in the dash cavity for a proper flare on the other end so I cut a 3” coupling (3.5” ID) at an angle and chamfered the edges of that and the port inside. Should cut down on chuffing nearly as well as a proper velocity stack. I may yet run a small bead of body filler to bridge the gap and smooth the transition on the long side there. 








Thats probably it for a while. Life is hectic. Next order of business is running cables for the amplifier and sealing the dash cavity. Cables will have to run through there and it’s going to be a PITA to open it back up when I’m done!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Need to pull the extended port section, run some body filler in there and smooth it out. Move some dash harnesses around too! Looking wild in there though!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

[email protected], ported mid basses in the dash


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

BP1Fanatic said:


> [email protected], ported mid basses in the dash


Yeah buddy! What I lack in resources, I'm trying to compensate for with ingenuity and balls! Bass should be alright in this thing. Lol. 

Had I only known these beetles had this potential, I'd have owned one years ago. @Jreindel will back me up. The dash is so deep on these things, you've got great (relative) path length equality on the dash as well. I'm actually planning on making this a two-seat car (GASP!!!) which my passengers have noted would be cool my last few builds. That poses its own set of challenges. Should be fun.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

So the FWD Beetles got just as much upfront space as the RWD Beetles?


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

BP1Fanatic said:


> So the FWD Beetles got just as much upfront space as the RWD Beetles?


Well, not really. The way they're built though, to achieve that look, the "rain tray" is almost entirely in the car and the cowl extends over 1/3 of the engine. I'm sealing that rain tray for the midbass enclosure. Anyway, the dash is super long and there's loads of room before you hit the windshield. Path lengths to my full range drivers differ by a foot, and the left pod will be about 4 feet away!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

What's the term Chrysler called that look??? I remember it was used on the wife's ex 1995 Dodge Neon Sport Sedan. It was about pushing the wheels to the corners of the body and having sloping front and rear glass. That's 1 of the reasons why no car could beat the Neon in it's class in autocross and scca run offs.


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## ejeffrey (Oct 8, 2015)

Cab-forward!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

That's it! Thanks guy!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

No updates, but I’m back! Life is calm for about a month before our daughter is born and I’m going to get this system running before then or die trying!


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## Jreindel (Aug 4, 2018)

Heterosapian said:


> No updates, but I’m back! Life is calm for about a month before our daughter is born and I’m going to get this system running before then or die trying!


Congrats! LOL our daughter is due in in 2-3 weeks! (realistically could be any day now)

you haven't, uh, tried to put a car seat in there yet have you? 😅 It's pretty tight, plus the stroller, leaves really room for almost nothing, Im considering a quick box re-build on mine just to clear up some space. The beetle's a temporary situation for me till the wifes done school so hopefully i can get something a little bigger, and dedicate it to a full build. I'd love to stay in the mk4 platform though.

Finally got a rough tune, for how little i have into mine it still sounds great. The cabin gain is ridiculous, and should really work out in your favor. i had a hard time smoothing it out, it's still not perfect, but for cobbling together leftover stuff, im alright with it.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Hahaha. I don’t see the baby riding in this one. My other “stereo project” from last year was a 2019 Pacifica. That’s the family car. This one is for me to commute/have a blast in. 
———
Spent today in the mechanicals. Finished installing a larger turbocharger. I had removed the old one like six weeks ago and have just been too busy to put the time I needed into installing and reassembling everything. Have to revamp the vacuum system, install larger injectors and finish the brake swap this week. Once it’s running, my wife will be a lot cooler with me playing with the stereo 

Progress of some sort though!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

More mechanical stuff going down recently. My apologies to anyone who was eagerly watching this build (everyone, am I right!?) but I need her down and driving very soon.

-Finished the GLI front and rear brake swap
-New control arms
-Turbo is in
-Turbo-back 3” exhaust installed
-Massive vacuum deletes and pvc/catch can mods
-AWP (VW 1.8t variant code) intake manifold swap
-Water/methanol injection system build in progress (!)
——Parts acquired, no kit, two stage
—--Building a housing for the pump and solenoids in the wheel well from an old kitchen sink I had in the yard! Welding that this weekend.
—--Still need to route the lines. Install the jets, wire the relays, sensors and solenoids. Basically everything.
-Also, still need to install larger injectors

Anyway, I’m sure that was a fascinating run down of what’s been distracting me from the stereo recently. Stereo is next on the list to finish once the car is driving. Then transmission swap following that work, and paint/wrap in the fall.

Stay tuned!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Pics????


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Yes photos please..


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## Jheitt142 (Dec 7, 2011)

must have had the baby! good bye time for anything! hahaha. The build is amazing and it will neat to see updates when the time comes


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## few35t (Dec 10, 2014)

Ugh, need updates!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

2021 was rough y’all. Mom got sick and had to move in with her sister right around my last post. Moving her, parsing stuff, repairing, cleaning, selling her house. Managed the purchase of a new house for her as well, without a realtor. Then fixing up that place. Had a baby. Favors for friends in the meantime. Storm damaged roof at home. Coworker quit increasing my (our) workload - then 2021 deadlines. THEN my grandmother fell and I had to go through the whole home selling process again.

2022 started with a blizzard, then we got Covid. All the things. Fortunately, my other obligations are satisfied and I’m back to the beetle!!!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

And I will unfortunately be abandoning the IB subwoofer configuration. I got a deal on the back half and driveline from an Audi TT so I’m cutting out the rear floor pan to “swap” to all wheel drive.

Which means this will be the most simple build I’ve done in a while, after all that. The dash midbasses theoretically have good, flat extension down to 40Hz before falling off. With cabin gain, they should suffice. So, four baby subs and two wide-band drivers will constitute the entirety of the system going forwards.

I think I will get the IB subs running just to hear them for a little bit though. I mean, I came this far… why not?


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Pics of random mechanical shenanigans:

2.5->3” downpipe and exhaust tubing:









Stealth exhaust muffler/tip:









Big GLI brake swap barely fit under the beetle 16 inch wheels. I tried the GLI 18” BBS wheels but they looked kinda teenaged tuner and wet 8-9 pounds heavier EACH:









Bilstein SP9 coilovers, set juuuuust a touch below oem ride height:









All the GLI seats (constructing two clean front seats, not running rear seats, and accumulating lots of recaro fabric for door panel inserts and accents):

















And finally…. Half an Audi TT to be grafted in for all wheel drive  









Also, new baby!


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Congratulations on becoming a father as to me that is the most rewarding feeling. Also all I can say is WOW about what you are about to attempt. This Beetle will be insane after you are done..


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Well [email protected]!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Started taking the TT running gear apart. I’ll be damned if I’m drilling out hundreds of spot welds in this cold so just packing the rear diff and knuckles and all for a later (warmer) day. 

I ordered a clutch for the existing five speed to hopefully hold the power it’s making for a while. Fixing a Honda Fit for financing other mechanical machinations (built bottom end and ~350 hp/tq). Maybe Smyth Ute it too? I can’t be trusted not to if the budget allows. Always a another distraction. Always another dream…

Anyway, I should have it driving soon. I’m definitely going to get this system going long before I pull the floor pan out of the beetle so check back periodically for updates - though it may be a month before I can really get it in gear (did I mention it’s been cold AF around here!?)

SO! she’ll probably see a year or more flexing some subwoofer surface area that exceeds the cooking surface of a Weber kettle grill  Never mind the four ported dash subs with flat extension to 40Hz.


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## Sleeves (Oct 22, 2010)

I've got a Beetle with an '04 R32 drivetrain swapped in (3.2 VR6 & the AWD). Save your stuff for when it warms up then git 'r done!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Sleeves said:


> I've got a Beetle with an '04 R32 drivetrain swapped in (3.2 VR6 & the AWD). Save your stuff for when it warms up then git 'r done!


Hell yeah! I may pick your brain re how you got the haldex to play nice!


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Raining and cold. Not much doing. Caught a tv on stupid sale so I upgraded the “theater” area of our home. Took the opportunity to rearrange the subs and components.

Need to sort out a new center channel arrangement. It was five matching floor-standers previously but the console interferes so I hacked one and have the cabinet running the woofers and the mid/tweeter section of the crossover network wired directly to the drivers in a matching bookshelf. It works but it’s unsightly.










Picked up a flip car to finance the beetle project. If it sells for what I hope, I mighteven pick up a Smyth Ute kit! Honda Fit, buffed, MINI wheels, cleaned, clean, cleaned. Some minor repairs and might practice a vinyl wrap as the paint is wild faded.

Coming Along Nicely!!!










And yet somehow I always find myself here:


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## Sleeves (Oct 22, 2010)

Heterosapian said:


> Hell yeah! I may pick your brain re how you got the haldex to play nice!


I wish I could take credit for the mechanicals of my Beetle, but its an old (2004) HPA build that I bought from someone else. All I've done is work on the stereo, replace a damaged silicone boost hose, and replace a dry-rotted fuel line. Needs a tune up now which I'm not terribly qualified for nor particularly motivated to attack.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Any photos of this vehicle ?


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## Sleeves (Oct 22, 2010)

Coppertone said:


> Any photos of this vehicle ?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Not a ton, but here's a few.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Woah now I’m even more impressed considering what you are working with .


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## pwnt by pat (Mar 13, 2006)

The easiest way to get the haldex to integrate is the "yourhadlexworks" power track module. 









YHW Powertrack Insert for Haldex First Generation - 50/50


Powertrack Insert for Haldex First Generation - 50/50




www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk





Then just tie the haldex activation signal into a Hobbs switch wired in parallel with a manual on/off switch.

If you want to go with oem style haldex integration you have to swap the entire body harness, bcm, and abs system over to the new car. It's not really worth the work.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

@pwnt by pat I assumed I’d have to grab the ECM, IMMO and abs from a wide band TT with a haldex and run a home run to the diff but I’d rather have it on a switch. It would rarely be engaged. I like this solution better


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

@Sleeves, it looks like I’m not the first person to recognize the potential of the dash cavity for components! Mine is (will be) a ported midbass configuration but yeah, I’m surprised more of these aren’t kicking around the sq circuit.


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## Sleeves (Oct 22, 2010)

Yeah, I remember seeing someone with a 6.5" component set installed in the dash of a Beetle when they were new and thought how crazy that was. Years later I take one apart and look and its kind of a "Duh, why wouldn't I do that?" kind of thing lol.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

pwnt by pat said:


> The easiest way to get the haldex to integrate is the "yourhadlexworks" power track module.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Boom. Ordered one last night. Kinda stung dropping $150 on essentially a machined plug, but it’s gotta be done. I hadn’t seen a decent manual integration that would quickly and fully engage the haldex. So, Thank You for that!

EDIT: Figure I’ll run a Hobbes switch to come on as boost ramps up and a time-delay-off relay so it stays engaged for 30 seconds or so after boost drops below the threshold. Wire a switch to bypass the Hobbes for full-time “on” as well (like, winter).


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## pwnt by pat (Mar 13, 2006)

Yeah it's a bit of cash for a brass plug, but when the other option is about 40 hours worth of wiring integration or $900 for a standlone controller, it's worth it. Even if it's temporary.

Here's two options for standalones if you decide to go that route later on as well





Haldex Controller Gen1 (Stand ALone)


Haldex Controller Gen1 (Stand ALone) "This module is intended for use in cars that did NOT come from the factory equipped with AWD. If your car already has AWD you would want to purchase the Plug and Play version of this module." Haldex Controller H




www.shopdap.com






The controller actually comes from a guy in the Netherlands who I've worked with personally. Awesome dude.


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## Heterosapian (Dec 31, 2011)

Damn. 2021 was a capital-B and this year has begun much the same. Lots of work around the house. We had our roof and driveway replaced (more room for activities!!!) so I got the beetle running and driving, but have had zero time to work on the stereo install. 

Kind of in a perpetual holding pattern with this thing, it seems. I’m hoping to take a break and get er going here this summer. This project is my me-time and I’ve unfortunately had next to none of that for a year now.

I’ll update as soon as there’s anything worth reporting! Thank you all for your initial interest. It WILL happen, I promise!


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