sfprankster's (mis)adventures modding a 2014 Prius Model Three

Creature comfort (mis)adventures in audio...

Audio Upgrade Stage II:

With a lot of help from my friends at Pro Audio in Santa Clara, CA, a Pioneer AVIC-6000NEX head unit and a JL Audio JX360/4 amp was installed into my Faux Five Prius today.


Toyota Head Unit:


Pioneer AVIC-6000NEX:


Pioneer AVIC-6000NEX external microphone mounted at the top of the front window, near the driver's visor:


JL Audio JZ360/4 Amp:


I immediately noticed a dramatic increase in sound quality and spatial imaging over the stock head unit and rear speakers. The sound stage has opened into a much larger area, surrounding the driver/passenger seats. At this point, I am using a pair of JL Audio TR650-CSi speakers in the rear doors and the stock speakers in the front doors, with the dash tweeter/squaker disconnected from the circuit. The front door and squaker speakers are connected into a circuit, that by disconnecting the tweeter/squaker also disables the front door speaker, so you must connect the tweeter wires together for the front door speakers to remain active. I am going to be replacing the front door speakers with JL Audio C2-650 component speakers soon.

All of the steering wheel controls(volume, mode, phone calls and voice activation) are active with the addition of a PAC SWI-RC programmable interface.

Calls are now made using an external microphone that comes with the Pioneer head unit, making calls sound much clearer to the person you are calling.

The navigation features are much more intuitive and interactive. There is no need to have a phone connected to use the GPS and receive live traffic updates. This is built in feature of this head unit. The "over the speed limit" warnings, both visual and audio, are quite annoying and have been disabled.

A 224 page manual comes with the head unit, explaining the features. This is a bit overwhelming, to say the least.


As I explore the new features of the Pioneer AVIC-6000NEX, I'll update this post.

 

The interior (mis)adventures continues...


Added a TRD leather shift knob with a Rude person's adapter.


The TRD shift knob and the Rude person's adapter lowers the shifter knob between 3/8"-1/2" from the stock height, allowing easier, more direct access to the 4-way flasher, Park, ECO, PWR and EV buttons. The leather on the TRD knob is supple and soft to the touch, unlike the plastic of the original. You do lose the ergonomic shape of the original, but as little as I shift my Prius, that is something I can do without. Overall, the TRD knob does feel smaller in your hand.

The black leather, with the TRD logo on the carbon fiber effect cap, matches well with the Bisque interior's grays and blacks.

Installation is as simple as unscrewing the Prius shift knob and replacing it with the TRD knob. No tools are required.


So simple, even a caveman can do it.

 

The creature comfort (mis)adventures continues...


Audio Upgrade Stage III:

I will be going from the high quality Toyota speakers:


To JL Audio C2-650 component speakers:


This is the final stage of my audio upgrade, the front speaker installation. This is much more involved and time consuming mod to accomplish than I anticipated. Having to mount two pairs of speakers, a crossover and the corresponding wires to make all the connections. Routing the wires from the front door into the dash/A pillar area, has been a (mis)adventure of unknown proportions. I planned on allocating 2-3 hours time to complete the front speaker installation, but now, I see it as being another 3-4 hours to finish this mod. It will be all worthwhile in the end.

I am still contemplating where to mount the tweeter, either in the stock dash location, with a custom bracket, or flush mounted into the A pillar panel. With the ability to change tweeter attenuation in the crossover, either location can be advantageous. In the stock location, the sound is being bounced off the windshield into the driver/passenger area, offering a stealth mounting location and requiring fabrication of a custom mount. Using the lower A pillar location, the sound is going directly into the driver/passenger area without any obstruction. The A pillar location would be the easier of the two mounting locations. Making a small hole in the soft plastic interior panels takes a few minutes at most.

Ahhhhh the decisions...


On to the (mis)adventure...


As with the rear door speakers, you need to remove the door panel to gain access to the front speakers(see post #80 of this thread for door panel removal ). After drilling the rivets, a panel removal tool easily removes the speaker from the door. At this point, I installed the Metra 82-8147 speaker bracket to change from the original 6" x 9" speaker to a 6.5" speaker.




Now that the easy part is done...the fun begins.


Running the speaker wires with the JL Audio C2-650 speakers and crossover, requires much more thought than the speakers I used in the rear. Coming from the amp into the crossover, then splitting into the mid-woofer and tweeters, I had to find possible locations to mount the crossover, before I could begin to run any speaker wires. To get the speaker wires from the door to the dash is an involved project alone. I found the routing used by Toyota through a rubber boot, from the door into the dash. To access this boot, you need to remove a pair of 10mm bolts from the door's front edge. You will also need to remove several loops of black tape from the plastic/metal sleeve and unclip the plastic from the metal to open the sleeve to make running the speaker wire much easier. Reach into the area between the door and the door post and wiggle the rubber boot to pull it away from the door post. This will allow you to run the speaker wire in an very short length, without sharp bends and into the lower passenger foot area. After removing the interior panel covering the wire channel next to the passenger seat and the lower kick panel, you can easily pull the speaker wire into the passenger foot area. Along the edge of the dash, is a flexible rubber edge where I ran the speaker wire into the A pillar area. Again, there are two interior panels, the A pillar and the small panel inserted into the area near the farthest forward window, that will be needed to be removed to run the speaker wire into the A pillar area. This allows easy access to mounting the tweeter in either the stock location or into the A pillar panel.



So that is how I ran the speaker wire from here:


To here:



Darkness put an end to my progress for today...


More audio upgrade (mis)adventures to be continued on Sunday...

No comment.

 

You can sound dampen anywhere on the car...

rear hatch...
roof...
spare tire area...
under all the kick panels...
remove the carpets/seats and cover the floor...
firewall...


...well maybe anywhere but the windows.

One of the most effective areas to dampen is the inside the of doors, on the exterior metal behind the window mechanism. This area is a relatively thin metal skin that resonates/vibrates, inducing much of the road noise inside the vehicle.

Just be careful around any area containing electrical wires or connections, the material I'm using is foam backed with aluminum and aluminum tape.

If all goes well with the speaker/crossover installation today, I'll have pics up, later tonight, of the front doors w/sound dampening material installed.

 

On my road trip yesterday to Paso Robles, I keep noticing the black of the HU dash kit against the charcoal/light gray of the center console...



... and my OCD has begun acting up because of it....

Not a good sign...

 

Bad enough playing with all the buttons/features on the new HU...

...feeling around the console panels to see how easy they are to remove...

...considering to cover them with vinyl or a dash kit...

...or falling into @BurnaJ's obvious bait and jumping into the carbon fiber fetish arena...





...all while rolling down the highway.

 

Actually thinking of the other direction with the colors...more black, less gray.

Only wish it were that easy...

 

The creature comfort (mis)adventures continues...


Sunny and warm, upper 60's-70's, in the Santa Cruz Mountains today. Great day to finish a couple of mods on the wish list...

Audio Upgrade Stage III:

Finally finished upgrading the stock Prius Model Three audio system today, by installing a pair of JL Audio C2-650 component speakers into the front doors and dash. The total audio system upgrade took the better part of 10 hours of my time and another 5-6 hours at Pro Audio in Santa Clara. Was it worth it? Three letters describe the difference...OMFG...OK, maybe four letters. The Pioneer/JL Audio system I installed sounds amazing, from the clear, crisp highs from the silk dome tweeters, to the added presence and tight bass from the pair of 6.5" mid-woofers, this has been well worth the investment of time and money.

I'm still learning all the features of the Pioneer AVIC-6000NEX, but from what I have experienced, it is worlds ahead of the stock HU's navigation. The amount of information available in the Pioneer navigation display, without a connection to a phone, is more than I can find with Google Maps. The display shows current speed, travel direction, road/highway names and numbers, scrolling map with upcoming street names, scrolling house numbers(with arrows indicating which side of the street they are on), gas stations, hotels, live traffic info, live weather updates, audio and visual speeding warnings and more I haven't discovered yet.

The Pioneer HU has the ability to play several audio and video file formats unavailable in with stock HU. For me, the most important and a deciding factor in purchasing this particular HU, is the ability to play FLAC audio files.

I will update this thread with a full review of the Pioneer AVIC-6000NEX in the future, time willing.


Continued from post #85:

I left off last Friday, after 2-3 hours of work, with four unmounted speakers and two crossovers. The only item I actually accomplished was learning how and where to run the speaker wires from the door into the upper dash. This morning, I was still contemplating the location to mount the tweeters and crossovers...


Armed with the knowledge gained on Friday, a couple of strong cups of coffee in hand, I proceeded into the installation with new ideas and a sense of accomplishment.

Accessing the Tweeters:
Today, the first step was to remove the interior panels to access the area to mount the tweeters in the dash. My original idea was to mount the tweeters into the A pillar panel, facing directly towards the driver/passenger. Working from the top tug the A pillar panel towards the seat to remove the clips holding it in place. There is a black plastic "key" that must be turned 90 degrees to release the A pillar panel before removal(pictured in the first thumbnail below). Using a panel tool, begin prying out the panel next to the dash leading to the speaker grill. Lastly, use the panel tool from the window side, to release the front of the speaker grill. Lift and pull towards you, releasing the last pair of tabs and exposing the dash tweeter. Simply unbolt and remove the tweeter. Since I wouldn't be using the tweeter's wiring, I used a pair of wire taps to complete the circuit. Without doing this step, an open circuit would be the result and you would lose output to the front door speakers as well.


Tweeter Mounting:
After measuring, I decided to do a hybrid mount into the stock tweeter's grill, with the surface mount cups provided with the tweeters. I drilled a few starter holes and cut out the grill to fit the mounts with a sharp hobby knife. A spring clip and screw hold the mount in place, while the tweeter has a keyed notch to hold it into the mount. An easy clean installation that fit my purposes. After mounting the tweeter, I attached it to the speaker wire I ran on Friday and began replacing the interior panels.


Crossover Mounting:
With the size of the JL Audio C2-650 crossovers, I decided to mount the crossovers in the interior portion of the door. I won't need daily access to the crossovers, since the tweeter attenuation is very simple to change, I decided this was my best option. Attaching the input/tweeter/mid-woofer wires is easy. All of the connections are clearly marked on the crossover. Remove the smoked plastic cover to access the connections and secure the speaker wires with the screw/plate connections. Replace the cover and clean the back of the cover and the area to mount the crossover with denatured alcohol and let thoroughly dry. I use a high quality double sided tape to mount the crossover inside the door, making sure I have clearance for the window to open/close fully. I mounted the crossover to the area just to the right of the speaker bracket in the last thumbnail below.


Mid Woofer Mounting:
Ahhhh....the easiest part of this entire process...
After making the speaker connection, I used four screws to mount the mid woofer into the speaker bracket to complete the first side of the front speaker installation.


Sound Dampening:
The same as with the rear doors, I decided to remove the moisture seal, since I was going to be covering the majority of the door and the material sticks better to the metal than the flexible plastic barrier material. Remove the switch/panel bracket and clean the area with denatured alcohol. Let dry thoroughly and begin the process of applying the sound dampening material of your choice. I use foam backed with aluminum and aluminum tape to seal the edges and seams of the layers. It's like a puzzle, just use the largest size pieces you can and be creative cutting around the cables and wiring harness. Make sure you mark the holes for the switch/panel bracket bolts. It is a PIA to locate them through 1/8" foam without destroying all of your work.


To re-install the door panel, attach the door latch and lock cables, plug in the window and door lock plugs and lastly snap in the door light and you have completed the first side of this mod.

Then rinse and repeat for the driver side door and dash...


Another speaker install with only the dash mounted tweeter visible...

...and with some minor fabrication, this could be easily avoided.



TLDR: Wheeeeeeeeeee!

 

More (mis)adventures with Plastidip...


PlastiDip Antenna Base:
I used the white and the pearlizer to paint the base of the antenna on my Prius. Now I have a matching base and a white, aluminum, stubby antenna.

Since I didn't use a lighter base coat to prime the black antenna base, I applied eight thin coats of white to achieve an even coverage. Then two wet, shiny coats of the pearlizer to finish the mod. This time, I used a toothpick to cut a clean edge around the antenna base, after each coat. The excess material came off with the masking tape in one simple tug.