papacueball's 2009 Carbon GT

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Mon May 16, 2011 9:12 pm

I'm long overdue starting this thread, but better late than never, I guess. I got the car in June of 2009 brand new. I think it had 6 miles on it when I did the test drive. After driving a couple of automatics and then the manual, I knew I had to get the manual. Way more fun to drive. All mods so far are audio related. I'll add more pics as time allows.The first step was to change the factory headunit for a Clarion DXZ785USB and the Metra single din dash kit. This unit has active crossover and time alignment. Then some Dayton RS150's in the front doors. Sealing up the big holes in the doors helps a lot with midbass. Highly recommended, even if you want to stick with stock speakers.

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Mon May 16, 2011 10:01 pm

After a few months, I stepped up to the RS180's.The stock tweeters are ok, but they had to go, too. First up were some Dayton large format tweets in some ugly pods I threw together. They sounded pretty good, but were huge. Since they weren't secured in any way, they rattled around on the dash, and were generally annoying unless the car was sitting still. An audio buddy of mine in Austin came up with a way to make some pods out of PVC pipe caps, so I copied his idea, using 2" caps and some Vifa XT25 tweeters.

piscatorial_phd · Post by **piscatorial_phd** » Mon May 16, 2011 11:34 pm

Oooohhhhh

Beer Belly · Post by **Beer Belly** » Tue May 17, 2011 1:42 am

Nice, all I changed was the head unit so far. They are a horrible stock item, sound like ****.

CAMOGIRL · Post by **CAMOGIRL** » Tue May 17, 2011 3:52 am

Very pretty! What on earth is that medieval looking thing you posed it with? Along with the black stuff in the background, it looks very elemental, goes well with the color of your car

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Tue May 17, 2011 4:04 am

Sweet setup!!!

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Tue May 17, 2011 4:24 am

Thanks, Camogirl. That is the mixing drum for the asphalt plant I work at. It does look kind of sinister. I figured it would make an interesting backdrop. The big pile in the back ground is 1/2" limestone.Thank you, SD. I have lots more pics of stuff done since then. Stay tuned.

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Tue May 17, 2011 8:54 pm

Here's the 2 channel amp I had under the driver's seat for a while. I modified the bracket for the yaw sensor by cutting out the middle part so the bracket could be flipped over and still keep the sensor in its proper orientation. This let me slide the amp right under there. There was a 4 channel just like the 2 channel under the passenger seat, but I never got any pics of it. There was plenty of room for it, once the M&T amp was out of the way.When I got the car, I noticed right away that there was little or no output from the sub. I figured it was just a poorly designed system. After looking at the wire color thread here, it turns out that one coil of the sub was wired incorrectly. Basically, the signals were cancelling each other out. I wound up swapping the factory sub for a JBL GTO 8" sub. I ran it sealed for a while, but the enclosure was a little bigger than the sub needed. Turns out it was just about the right size for a ported enclosure, so I added a port made from 2" pvc pipe and fittings.The JBL was deeper than the factory sub, so I added a spacer ring, made from 3/4" plywood. I also had to trim some of the ribs inside the enclosue.

joshuaeb09 · Post by **joshuaeb09** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:30 am

We have them same toolbag lol

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Wed May 18, 2011 4:24 am

Very nice work so far I recognized the equipment for your background shoot as I've worked on a few Rock Quarries myself. Also, hats off to the only other 09-10 Vibe GT with a manual .............. at least on this forum anyways. Here I thought mine was the only one here. It's a blast to drive, isn't it. Keep the mods coming and the photos help us all out if/when we decide to do the same. Question. Did you keep Onstar? Are the steering wheel controls still active? I may upgrade some YEAR but would like to keep both of those active if/when that time comes. Keep up the great work

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Wed May 18, 2011 5:37 am

I don't have Onstar or steering wheel controls. I might grab one of the PAC units or the Metra Axxess , one day. I used the gmos-lan-02 for a little while, but I had some alternator whine with it. Yeah, manual is the way to go, IMO. The Vibe doesn't have a ton of power, and I'd hate to give up any to an automatic transmission.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Wed May 18, 2011 7:37 am

Very nice looking GT Jason ! I still kick myself sometimes for not getting that color . Looking forward to seeing more pictures and more modifications!

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Wed May 18, 2011 5:58 pm

Thanks, Carrie. I used to be a sucker for black vehicles. Glad I didn't go that route again. Here's a teaser pic for now. I'll get some more up tonight.

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Thu May 19, 2011 10:03 am

(Double D) · Post by **(Double D)** » Fri May 27, 2011 3:33 pm

Very nice built in box.

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:45 am

It's all back to stock now. I traded the Vibe in on a new Charger.

joshuaeb09 · Post by **joshuaeb09** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:59 am

Very nice !

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 8:14 am

Nice NEW ride ................. But what made you get rid of the Vibe only after a couple years of ownership? Hopefully your new ride gives you just as much enjoyment as the Vibe did .... minus a few MPG's

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 8:54 am

I guess I just got the itch for something new, with a little more room. We went to town for ice cream and came back with a new car! Mileage is supposed to be 18/27, so not that big of a difference, as I usually got 29-30 in the Vibe. There are also lots of options in the Charger, such as Garmin nav, dual zone climate control, heated seats, Alpine 7.1 surround sound, Bluetooth with voice activation, all controlled through the same touch screen. Plus, they gave me 13,900 for the Vibe, and a couple thousand off the new car.

DressedInBlack · Post by **DressedInBlack** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 12:35 pm

nice new ride!what did you do with the custom sub setup?

papacueball · Post by **papacueball** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 12:46 pm

Still have it. The box is sitting out in the shop. I would offer it up to anyone that wants it, but shipping is gonna be rough. I'll most likely put the sub to use in the Camaro, if not in the Charger.

papacueball's 2009 Carbon GT

papacueball's 2009 Carbon GT

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