# 2011 WRX Build



## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

So I just picked up a 2011 WRX monday and got started on the build this week. The stock stereo is just terrible. Subaru should be ashamed.

Goals for this car are to keep the weight gain to a minimum or at least keep most of the weight somewhat easily removable. As this car will also see autocross and track time. Keep the car looking stock. 


Source-JBL MS8
Front Stage-HAT Imagine 6 1/2s
Subs-2 DIYMA 12s
Front stage amp-Massive Audio CA50.4
Sub Amp-US Amps Merlin MD-2D

Couple pics at the dealership.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

So I got started by just getting the MS8 and the HATS in the car and just using MS8 power for now.
Ended up mounting the MS8 under the drivers seat. 








Just cut a piece of mdf and put it between the carpet and the foam under the carpet.








After pic of everything wired up.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Next moved on to the doors. Doors have a good amount of space and depth with a spacer.








Had to run some 12 guage through the doors. This is what I like to use.








Just run it through the rubber thingy.








Tape the wire to it.








Done


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

I had some Rammat left over from a build and used some around the speaker location and in back of it. I know I need to do a *LOT* more, but this will have to do for now.








I cut down a baffle for a previous build and fit it to the door, installed the woofer and done for now.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

I just ended up putting the tweets in the kicks for now because it was easy. These will probably be moved to the pillars. Depends how they sound when I get them amped.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

After a few hiccups with the ms8, I got it up and running this morning. No tuning at all yet. The Stage is on center of course, but it still has some rainbow effect. Like I said after the amps get in and I get the doors done I may try to move the tweets up to the pillars. Might try to put some small tweets in the stock location sail pods and run them off the MS8. Might raise the stage high enough for me. Ill try it with the stock tweets first to see. Who knows.

Next step will be to build a box for the trunk and a amp rack to go in the spare tires place. Need to get some 1/0 guage wire and some sound deadening. Will be a couple weeks before I get back to it.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

my buddy has the 2011 impreza hatch, and i really dig it. he got the weathertech floor mats that are stellar and mould real well to the floor. kinda spendy, but they are awesome and will keep the carpet real nice.

looking cool on the install, just take your time its a sweet car so dont rush it.


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## kunstmilch (Aug 1, 2009)

subscribed


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## JediMentality (May 7, 2008)

This new sti sedan definitely looks better without the wing. Good choice. Looking forward to the rest of the build


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

It is not and sti. Just a wrx.


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## ohiodish (Jul 6, 2010)

Tweets in the kicks? How does that sound? Looks like a fun car!


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## tibug (Jan 22, 2011)

I definitely like that car, but I preferred the older WRX's that were more unassuming. 

Anyways, congratulations on the purchase, and your build is off to a great start. I'm jealous of your ms-8.


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## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

subiemax said:


> After a few hiccups with the ms8, I got it up and running this morning. No tuning at all yet. The Stage is on center of course, but it still has some rainbow effect. Like I said after the amps get in and I get the doors done I may try to move the tweets up to the pillars. Might try to put some small tweets in the stock location sail pods and run them off the MS8. Might raise the stage high enough for me. Ill try it with the stock tweets first to see. Who knows.
> 
> Next step will be to build a box for the trunk and a amp rack to go in the spare tires place. Need to get some 1/0 guage wire and some sound deadening. Will be a couple weeks before I get back to it.


So... Did you have time to play with more settings on the MS-8? Did you manage to overcome the rainbox effect? Really interested in trying the MS-8 with tweets in the kicks. 

Kelvin


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

if get your subs fired up before next wednesday...let us know... i wanna find out how well the bass gets into the cabin with the sealed trunk lid...as i am working on the same car right now...and the build is kickin my butt lol...definitely not a car designed to accomodate fake floor very well...


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## lucas569 (Apr 17, 2007)

how do u like the imagines?


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

subwoofery said:


> So... Did you have time to play with more settings on the MS-8? Did you manage to overcome the rainbox effect? Really interested in trying the MS-8 with tweets in the kicks.
> 
> Kelvin


No, I really have not touched it yet. Been working nights and just busy besides. Some song you can tell, others not so much and its mostly the passenger side that seems low. Overall the stage is not as high as I would like. There are very small factory tweets in the sails that I might try when I get everything in. See what that does. See if its worth trying to find some tweets that would fit in there.



simplicityinsound said:


> if get your subs fired up before next wednesday...let us know... i wanna find out how well the bass gets into the cabin with the sealed trunk lid...as i am working on the same car right now...and the build is kickin my butt lol...definitely not a car designed to accomodate fake floor very well...


Subs will be a few weeks away. It definately has a weird trunk set-up. I'll be looking forward to you build up!



lucas569 said:


> how do u like the imagines?


I loved them in my old setup, with sealed and damped doors, and lots of power. Good midbass, clear, imaged well. Right now though, with MS8 power and no sealed doors, its just not the same. Way better than the Subaru crap though.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Here's me breaking the car in this past weekend.


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## coyote-1 (Nov 2, 2010)

I'm definitely gonna follow this, as I have a 2010 Impreza hatch that's gonna get a build. I'm waiting til spring (here in NY) so I don't have to work in the snow... and my CLD tiles stick to the metal lol

You put the tweets in the kick panels. Do you think there's enough room in there for 3.5" coax speakers?


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## JediMentality (May 7, 2008)

subiemax said:


> It is not and sti. Just a wrx.


Oops! I went by the pictures. I forgot that the 2011s now come with the sti fenders. Still prefer wingless.


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## brocken (Apr 26, 2010)

Let me know how you like the tweets in the kicks. I'm waiting on my new speakers and debating kicks vs a-pillar.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

holy crap man! nice off roading pics. i bet that was a fuc*in blast! hopefully my buddy nick takes me off roading like that in his '11 impreza sti! lol.


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## Chayse (Nov 23, 2010)

RallyCross...Sweet. Lots of Subies in here recently. Got to throw mine in as well soon.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

coyote-1 said:


> I'm definitely gonna follow this, as I have a 2010 Impreza hatch that's gonna get a build. I'm waiting til spring (here in NY) so I don't have to work in the snow... and my CLD tiles stick to the metal lol
> 
> You put the tweets in the kick panels. Do you think there's enough room in there for 3.5" coax speakers?


Depends on the mounting depth and how much work you want to do. If your going to make custom kicks you should have no problem. If you just plan on screwing them to the kicks, you have more problems than just space.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

brocken said:


> Let me know how you like the tweets in the kicks. I'm waiting on my new speakers and debating kicks vs a-pillar.


I'm sure the pillars will bring the stage up quite a bit. I'm just seeing if I can get around that with the MS8. Going to Play with it this weekend and see what I can do.


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## trojan fan (Nov 4, 2007)

Does the tape around the wheel wells help out with rock chips, what about a clear bra


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

trojan fan said:


> Does the tape around the wheel wells help out with rock chips, what about a clear bra


That was the plan. But the surface ended up being mostly clay and mud. It would have helped if it was more of a gravel surface. But it doesn't hurt either. I've had clear bra on my last 3 cars, but I just don't think I care all that much any more. There was a time when I washed my car 2 times a week and it was always spotless. Now, screw it, I'll toss it in the mud and just have fun with it.


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## tedward88 (Jan 27, 2011)

nicee car! I have a 05 WRX, I really do want a 11 WRX too, maybe later in the future. I agree, the stock stereo is absolute crap (along with the speakers too) love the build!


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## coyote-1 (Nov 2, 2010)

Actually, it's a step above that at least. Click on the 'surround' function and plug an iPod into the aux jack. It's pretty loud and it's clear and well-defined. Not perfect by a long shot, but for a cheapskate like me it's tempting to not spend the $1K or so required to upgrade.

Problem is that radio reception never approaches that level of quality, and CD output is something less-than-wonderful. 


tedward88 said:


> I agree, the stock stereo is absolute crap (along with the speakers too)


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## Chayse (Nov 23, 2010)

My first step was to replace the factory head unit. It sounds a lot better now, but it still isn't great. I'm using HD radio and iPod as my primary sources.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

Pretty sweet man, you need to post this on NASIOC..


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> Pretty sweet man, you need to post this on NASIOC..


Already there!


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

I had a chance to do quite a bit of tuning yesterday, and I have to say it's a lot better. Started off with the stage seeming to come from the hu and the right side being drug down to the tweeter. So I started from scratch again and recalibrated the MS8. This time it came out a little better. Stage a little higher than the dash, drivers side stayed high, but passenger side was still down. So I aimed the passenger side tweet as far off axis as the swivel mount will let me and it helped a good bit. Aimed driver tweeter as close to on axis as I could and recalibrated again. Now we're a good foot off the dash and no rainbow effect that I can detect. This was all done with the EQ flat. So I start playing with the EQ. Basically brightening it up a bit and toning down midrange some. It's kind of a pita to mess with the EQ, but the results are worth it. 
Ended up with a nice clean sound, stage pretty solid and about a foot off the dash. Midbass is still not there, but that will come when I finish the doors and get some power running to them. Happy ith the progress so far.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

On a side note, I got to try out an ap on my IPhone 4. RTA lite. Used this in the tuning with some pink noise. Seems to work pretty well above 200hz. Below that it does nothing. Went into it not expecting much, but was surprised and you can't beat the price.


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## coyote-1 (Nov 2, 2010)

The alternative 3.5" location would be somewhere in the doors. Depending of course on such things as the location of the window motor... I'm not taking off my door trim til spring. But from looking at the available pics, I'm guessing it could be mounted a couple inches due south of the door handle.


subiemax said:


> Depends on the mounting depth and how much work you want to do. If your going to make custom kicks you should have no problem. If you just plan on screwing them to the kicks, you have more problems than just space.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

coyote-1 said:


> The alternative 3.5" location would be somewhere in the doors. Depending of course on such things as the location of the window motor... I'm not taking off my door trim til spring. But from looking at the available pics, I'm guessing it could be mounted a couple inches due south of the door handle.


I'm curious as to what your set up will be. And what 3 1/2" coaxials you are willing to cut up your door to mount.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

subiemax said:


> Already there!



Lol.. Sorry man, you prolly are, I'm all over the place, one forum runs into another..


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

well its a very practical install lol im not very impressed. im more impressed that you dove right into a new car like that lol but hey i think we use the same speaker wire  









scored a deal on it last year, coudln't resist, 500 feet of 14\2, i'm set for life


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Not trying to impress anyone. Just the opposite actually, trying to keep it low key. The trunk will be no different. It will be designed to be easily taken out to race. Nothing impressive. Except the sound hopefully

I've had my share of garage queens and I'm just over it.


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## coyote-1 (Nov 2, 2010)

Not sure yet on those. But I'll have 17 watts/ch or so going to waste from the HU; I'd like to find a way to utilize it.


subiemax said:


> I'm curious as to what your set up will be. And what 3 1/2" coaxials you are willing to cut up your door to mount.


I have Polk db6501s to replace the stock system, along with db651s for the rear and a Kicker 8" sub. I'm thinking the Polk db351s, or something similar, in the doors as an additional supplement. Hipass the 351s, and it could work like a 3-way system. Lopass the Kicker at 160hz, hipass the db6501s at 120hz, hipass the db351s at 350hz or so.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

I got some time to work on the car a bit today. Started on the trunk. The trunk in the new WRXs is kinda weird.









So the object for the trunk is to make a simple amp rack that can be removed easily when its time to race. So i decided to use the spare tire area to mount the amps, using the stock spare tire mount to holds the rack in place. Pretty staightforward. 
















The gound and power distribution blocks will go in between the amps. The amp rack will get carpet when I do the speaker box. Other than carpet thats it.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

The stock foam that supports the trunk floor and goes over the spare fits with the amps in place, but I can see them overheating quickly with it in. So I will have to make something to support the false floor. 









As far as losing the spare tire? I havent had one for 4 years, last car I had didn't even come with one. Or runflats, just a can of fix-a-flat and a air pump. So this means that I'll probably get a flat within the next week 










So I tried test fitting my old sub box with one 12 and its looking pretty tight to fit 2. The problem is the seat belt mechanism for the center passenger hangs down and gets in the way. If I can make the box thin enough to get behind it, it will be a PITA to get out. So i'm thinking about going inverted with the DIYMAs. I would only have to make the box 6" high.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

So now I am waiting on an amp kit to come in so I can run some new 2 gauge wire. Also need to sell something so I can buy some Second Skin and CCF to finish up the doors. In the meantime, I will start woking on the "Big Three."


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Got around to building the sub box last night.


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Where's the pics of this thing finished up?


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Wow. I kinda just need to start a new thread, as the only thing I am still using is the sub box. And I will make a new one shortly. 
I will do something soon.


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