My 04 Thunder Grey SQ Competition Ralliart
 

Hey guys,

I've been lurking this forum for a long time now any time I needed some info about my car. This place has been great so I figured I'd post some pictures of my car. It just recently won the modified sound quality class at the MECA world finals in Nashville, so the vast majority of the mods are stereo related.

First, the car. Exterior mods include carbon fiber eyelids, red painted brake calipers, carbon fiber shorty antenna, 35% tint, and exhaust tip. (Taking recommendations for further subtle, classy exterior mods!)

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1745.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/M1280007.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/ralliart.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1833.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1743.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1724.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1733.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1711.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...014_202412.jpg

:)







That's all for exterior / cosmetic stuff.

Nothing much as far as performance mods goes. Here's the engine bay all cleaned up:

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1691.jpg

Also, I'm considering having the valve cover powder coated red. Here's a photoshopped version. Thoughts?

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/redvalve.jpg

Current battery with terminals for stereo stuff:

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...922_103552.jpg

Example of 1/0ga upgraded ground wires in the engine bay. I know this doesn't count as a performance mod - it's just for the stereo.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...922_103616.jpg

Original shocks/springs reached the end of their life, so all 4 corners got an upgrade from RRM in the form of KYB shocks, Progress lowering springs, and Progress rear sway bar.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1825.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1824.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1828.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1820.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1830.jpg

Interior mods:

Other than stereo, I refinished the dash trim with graphite carbon fiber:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCN1077.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCN1083.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCN1085.jpg

Some carbon fiber vinyl on the key fob too cause I had some extra...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCN1073.jpg

Brushed aluminum shift knob, and painted the ring around the shifter aluminum to match. Carbon fiber at the base of the knob as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCN1070.jpg

In addition to above mentioned stuff, you can also see the steering wheel cover with red stitching in this one:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCN1092.jpg

New floor mats too:

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1726.jpg




That's it for interior, non audio mods.

Now for the audio stuff. As I said in the first post, I compete in the modified class of the Mobile Electronics Competition Association Sound Quality League, and all of the mods here conform to the rules of that class.

To start things off, an Alpine CDA-9887 head unit is mounted in the factory location. It simply plays CD's and iPods, and provides a full range output signal.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...1-05122417.jpg

These are my main front speakers: Audible Physics Arian 6.5” midbass speaker mounted in the front doors, and Nz3A 3” wideband midrange speaker mounted in custom modified A-pillars. Each wire from the speakers (as well as every wire in the car pertaining to the stereo) is covered in TechFlex and terminated with quick disconnect fittings and heat shrink tubing. The wires are soldered directly to the speaker terminals.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/SAM_0421.jpg

Two of these tiny air motion transducers supplement the very highest frequencies in the audible spectrum. Each is about the size of your thumbnail.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/SAM_0314.jpg

Here is the 3” midrange speaker in the A-pillar, wrapped with interior matching black vinyl, and the small high frequency speaker mounted in the sail panel.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...823_193952.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/SAM_0340.jpg

Midbasses were mounted to a 1/2" MDF baffle in the doors which have been fully sound deadened with CLD mat and MLV. A deflex pad is mounted directly behind the speaker to break help break up rear waves.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/SAM_0449.jpg

Also mounted up front in the passenger footwell is a Dayton HO 10” subwoofer to help keep the bass sound up front in the car, rather than sound like it’s coming from the back like in so many other cars. It’s in a custom fiberglass enclosure of about .45 cubic feet. A grill keeps it protected from feet and out of sight.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2519.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...1-05115400.jpg

A small Arc Audio KS300.2 amplifier under the front passenger seat powers it.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...1-05115122.jpg

On to the trunk. Here it is in normal 'stealth' mode. Floor looks stock, and you see a wall with the Ralliart logo.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2666.jpg

Remove the carpet and you see an additional cutout with the Mitsubishi logo.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2668.jpg

Remove the panels, and here’s what you see. Behind the Ralliart grille, two Acoustic Elegance IB15 subwoofers on a 1.5” thick baffle. In the floor, two Mosconi One 120.4 four channel amplifiers flanking a custom painted Clarion DPX11551 mono amplifier. The ring around the subs and the panel around the amplifiers is trimmed with a contrasting silver carbon fiber vinyl.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2677.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2678.jpg

Between the carpet and carbon fiber trim is also a layer of ½” plexiglass cut to exactly the same shape. It has been frosted over and an RGB LED lighting strip has been affixed to the outside edge to diffuse light through. So it the dark, it looks like this:

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2680.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2686.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2689.jpg

It can produce dozens of colors, but red, white, and blue are my favorites.

Beneath the small right side panel, a Mosconi 6to8 digital signal processor does all of the equalization, time correction, level matching, and other tuning functions necessary to produce the best sound possible.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2702.jpg

Beneath the left side panel is the power distribution block and the LED control module.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN2699.jpg




That's it. I did 95% of the work shown here myself and have hundreds more higher resolution pictures, so if you’d like to know how I did something, feel free to ask. Otherwise, hope you enjoyed it.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

HOLY ****!!! that is some serious sound equipment...please tell me you have at least two 3.5mm or 1/4" patch cord inputs...:D

those speakers are ****ing ridiculous...you sure as hell deserved to win with all the work and money you put into it, but now you need a turbo to lug all that extra weight around :p

wow...seriously...love the trim in the trunk, looks super clean...

Haha thanks man. The DSP has 6 more channels of input, so I could add other sources if I wanted. 1/4" jack so my old high school buddies could plug in a guitar would be kinda neat. Haven't seen that in many cars.

No doubt there's been some extra weight added, but it might not be as much as you think. The 15's in the back only weigh 17lbs each, and the fact that they are infinite baffle without an enclosure saves a lot of space and weight. I'd certainly like to do a turbo upgrade. Maybe once the warranty is gone. At this point, it's been great and reliable for me. It's got barely over 60k miles.

that's what i was getting at...with all that kit it probably would sound as good as a tube amp...
Oh, wow...that's why it's so clean too...very nice car man, and welcome to the board. I'd blow your doors off at on the 1/4 mile, but mine is dirty, beat up and get's abused regularly...lol, and you have basically the same suspension setup as well, so she handles good, that's more importnat than speed...

Holy crap... Thats amazing. You have done some amazing work on your car. Im in love! :D

I though my tiny enclosed sub sounded good in my car you put anything Ive seen in person in a Mitsu to shame. haha

Car looks great. Suspension looks solid as well. Good (professional looking) work! Keep it up man you have an awesome RA as it is! {thumbup}

That is SICK!! I am coming to buy the Ralliart trunk cover from you. No, but seriously...that system is DOPE. I'm assuming nobody has ever sat in the backseat and lived to tell about it. :lol: Great job and way to be unique! Welcome, even though you actually joined 4 years ago :mitsu:

EDIT: As far as exterior mod reccomendations, if you want to continue the CF theme you could get the gas cover and rear license plate panel from carbonbydesign.com and wrap your front and rear mitsu emblems in CF vinyl and maybe tinited sidemakers and tails I think that would still be subtle. CF side mirrors might be pushing it though.

Thanks guys, glad you like it.

As far as other exterior mods, idk about more carbon fiber. I like it in the interior. Admittedly the only reason why the eyelids are CF is because I had some extra after doing some other pieces and wanted to see how it looked. Ideally, I'd like to get some color matched to the body. I've been slightly hesitant though. They look good in pictures, but I've never seen them in real life. I'd be worried they'd look too thick so the transfer between the headlight and the fender wouldn't be smooth.

Does anybody have a picture of a grey RA with the DEPO black or tinted tails? I've been through the whole thunder grey picture thread and there were very few if any. I'd like to see more before spending the money on that. My gf has been trying to convince me to just use a tint film or spray.



Also, if any of you guys are looking to get into audio, I have this subwoofer enclosure leftover from my previous install. It's built for a pair of Dayton HO 10's. .7 cubic feet each tuned to 29Hz. It was designed to save the max amount of trunk space possible, so it goes all the way across the trunk and is very shallow.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1595.jpg

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1247.jpg

This was the whole old install

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1633.jpg

Classy and beautiful. Love it all.

That's a awesome setup man, good job.

Hey I was just looking this over again. I was wondering if you did anything with the speakers in the rear deck. Did you replace them? Leave the stock ones? Or possibly gut them?

There are no speakers in the rear deck. The holes are covered with MDF. Since the rear subs are infinite baffle, all areas between the trunk and cabin must be closed off to seal the front wave from the back wave of the subs so there are no cancellations.

Very nice car man :D How many competitions have you won, an what class etc.?

To bad it took you so long to come out and show it off though. I hope other long time lurkers are more willing to post up and be be seen now.