Know anything about Car Audio and Rims?

X_ANKILLA

X_ANKILLA

Active member
I just got a 97 Honda Civic Hatchback. It only has 100,000 on it, and I copped it for 1500$ (including repairs.) Since I got it so cheap I have reasoned that I can put a little bit of money into the car to make it a little nicer. The sounds system in the car works, but to be frank it sucks. Also the rims are just nasty stock ones with hubcaps. Personally I hate the look of hubcaps. So my question is:

1. What do I need to make the audio better? New speakers? an amp? A new head unit? or can I get away with high quality sounds and only get 1 or 2 of those things?

2. The tires are 185/65R14. The mounting dimensions are 4x100. I'm not trying to break the bank here. But what are good quality/ looking rims for under 100 each? And where can you get them?

Please tell me anything and everything you guys know. +k for good responses!

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the limiting component for sound quality right now is your speakers. stock car speakers sound brutal. Nice speakers is really all you need.
 
You need a spoiler, turbo whistle, and lots of fake air intakes, gt badges, and a fart can. Then you're set.

But seriously try plasti dipping the rims. It costs like 15 bucks, is easy, can be removed, and can make shitty rims look a lot better.
 
you want to look at frequency response in your speakers and if you're going to get subs, those as well.

true sub is below 80 hertz. but realistically you'd want a sub that could go up to 120 hertz, and a speaker that could go down to 80 or 100. Why? This is so you dont loose any frequency response when setting the cross over point in the amp. look up cross overs in amps if you want to know why.

If you want to go all out, you'd get a 5 channel amp: Left/Right for front and back, and mono for sub. totally 5.

You might also want to look at your head unit, or purchasing a new one. Read the specs, and see what they can handle.

next thing you need to think about is power. How many watts/amps you're going to pull.

If you're system is going to pull 1200 watts, you're going to want an amp that runs 1500 to 1800 watts. Why? because think of it this way.. if you're pulling 1200 watts, and only have a 1200 watt amp, that amp is going to be pushing at 100% all the time, that will stress the amp and push it to clipping and going to safe mode... essentially blowing it.. Instead, if you're running at 1200 watts, and have an amp that runs 1500 or 1800, that amp is only running at 70% and has room for power surges or signal surges. and isnt stressed every time its running.

you can read specs all you want, but the only way you're going to know is if you go listen to the speaker and see what kind of image they put out. find the speakers with the specs you want, then go to a best buy and play around with them. see which speaker puts out the best sound image quality.. which ones represent the music best in your opinion. bring a 1/8th inch cable to plug in your own music and play tracks you listen to..

see which subs punch, and seem powerful, and see which ones are kind of just blahhh and just kind of roll off..

if you have any other questions, feel free to pm me.

source. i do concert audio for a living.
 
I made both of those modifications on my car. Unless you want to buy new tires, too, you'll need to match your rims to your tire size. That's not a huge deal. In fact, what might be a better idea is to go get the tires checked out - if they're fucked, why buy rims to fit them? Buy new rims and tires together. I got my rims from Town Fair Tire in CT; I hate that store, but the employees know me and they did my snow tire changeovers for free. They matched the lowest price I could find for the rims I wanted.

tirerack.com is a decent resource, at least to identify what style you might want.

As for audio, I eventually upgraded everything for relatively cheap. I don't need to be the guy whose car rattles the fuck outta the people next to it at stoplights - I just wanted some better audio and a sub to round out the bottom. I started by replacing the head unit (need dat AUX jack doe) and the 4 speakers. It was on sale, and they had a package where two of the speakers came free. Standard speakers are usually pretty weak - they have paper cones, which don't last too long and can't bump so well. Pretty much any aftermarket speaker you get will have some sort of synthetic cone to improve performance.

I also decided to get a sub, but again, I didn't need to be the loudest. I got my amp and sub for relatively cheap, and because I have very little experience working on stuff like this, I went to a car audio shop to have it installed. They installed the amp/sub, tuned it all up for me (once you tune the head unit, you don't usually change it), and even installed a little dial on the dash that controls the sub power - I can turn it all the way off or blast it without touching the head unit. That's probably my favorite part about the whole arrangement, because I can adjust the sub's power with every song.
 
For decent audio that doesnt bump the whole neighborhood but still bumps, just get nice front door speakers and a head unit. I would worry about the rears later if you even want to get nice rears.
 
Audio: get a new head unit, door speakers AND WIRING FOR AN AMP in the trunk to start out. all of this is relatively easy to install yourself armed with some basic tools and videos found on Youtube. (i did all of this on my 2000 accord +amp and sub with zero knowledge of car audio) decent head unit and speakers should come in at right around $200 i'd guess; maybe even a bit better if you are smart and buy online. also Amp wiring will cost you $20-$30 and then all you have to do is throw your sub/amp box in and mount in your trunk.

Wheels: don't waste money on a new set of wheels. that size and pattern are incredibly common and i guauntee you could find a decent set of wheels on Craislist, facebook group or other car forum. for your budget i would honestly pick up some stretched steelies and put your remaining $250 +/- into some coilovers since it seems like you're going for looks but that's just me.
 
For wheels I would check out tirerack.com you can enter your vehicle then just look for something you like. When buying tires for them remember that if the diameter of the tire is different it will throw your speedometer off. Which is a pretty simple fix or you can just live with it. Lastly I would suggest not going super cheap on tires.
 
If I were you I would just plasti dip the rims and get some better speakers installed. Don't drop more than like $150 on it because in the end it's still gonna be a honda...
 
13454370:.Fry said:
If I were you I would just plasti dip the rims and get some better speakers installed. Don't drop more than like $150 on it because in the end it's still gonna be a honda...
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Do you even have a license?
 
Before you do anything..... Is it manual? Because if you're going to be a ricer, there's nothing worse than a ricer with an automatic
 
topic:NELT said:
1. What do I need to make the audio better? New speakers? an amp? A new head unit? or can I get away with high quality sounds and only get 1 or 2 of those
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Just installed a new audio system (amp, sub and head unit) I'm my 98 monte carlo. Saved myself about $300 by installing it myself, so I would recommend doing that if you have time...it took me about 12 hours. Honestly a head unit and amplifier will make your car sound a million times better. You can't do much with a factory radio so that's a given you would need a new headunit. I got the cheapest one at best buy for about $50 and it works wonderful. A amp is a must to a good sound. My amp is a Rockford Fosgate P200, and is amazing. Basically with no sub only about 15 watts are supplied from your car battery to your speakers. With my sub, I get 200 watts supplied to my speakers so really you don't need any new speakers. Hope that helped!
 
for wheels check out companies like rota and xxr. your wheels will be pretty cheap based on the size. If you do an exhaust get something quality.
 
If you can't afford a car that's nice then why the fuck would you spend as much as the car is worth to make it marginally less shitty and infinitely more douche-baggy? Just own it and be the guy with the sweet shitty car who embraces it and thinks it's awesome. That's way better than the guy with a gold painted terd. Rims and a system? Give me a break.
 
13453692:Steezy_IN_KC said:
You should talk to my friend Bubb Rubb.


Whistle tips are straight Gucci, ya dig?
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The "woowoo" guy just ruined my life considering I'm gonna be inheriting my grandpa's mk3 supra. Thankfully I won't make mine like his.
 
13455352:Titus69 said:
The "woowoo" guy just ruined my life considering I'm gonna be inheriting my grandpa's mk3 supra. Thankfully I won't make mine like his.
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Downvoted until you post proof of whistle tips on the supra
 
For stereo research all the different components you need to replace/upgrade and search around on craigslist for items that are cheap but obviously not broken already, do some more googling to teach yourself to wire it all up.

For wheels simply take off the stupid hubcaps and do a quick google search on how to nicely paint the stock steelies to a fresh gloss black. That will cost you like $20. Just spend a weekend with a few buddies and some brews and get the wheels painted and really clean the car well inside and out, hit the paint with at least a clay bar and wax and maybe some polishing compound. Get a headlight restoration kit, one of the ones with the different grits of sandpaper and polishes. And finally either polish, plasti-dip, or paint all the faded plastic trim back to a nice black.
 
Crutchfield.com is an awesome place to go for speakers and all that jazz. Definitely get a new deck, get some new speakers. Work your way up to subwoofers, as the open trunk you have will make them sound amazing. Though your ceiling will probably rattle quite a bit like my 96 Subaru did with subs. Buy really high quality wiring because THAT SHIT WILL SMELL AWFUL WHEN YOU'RE BUMPING REAL HARD like mine do right now. I have two JL 12's which were like $430 and the wiring kit was only 30 but you should be spending a lot more on the wiring kit than I did.

Crutchfield will have everything that you need. Do not go to Best Buy to have everything installed because you will be paying an arm and a leg for it. Find a nice local place that will do it for less. Also, make sure you buy a deck that has a USB and Aux hook up because it's just really nice to have that stuff.

I don't know shit about the other stuff but good luck.

I'll have subwoofers until the day that I die.
 
13454632:milk_man said:
Before you do anything..... Is it manual? Because if you're going to be a ricer, there's nothing worse than a ricer with an automatic
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Just cuz it's automatic doesn't make you a ricer. My forester xt is an automatic and it runs fine and with my mods it's faster than any cars in my town that were purchased for 4grand
 
13455611:Lonely said:
Just cuz it's automatic doesn't make you a ricer. My forester xt is an automatic and it runs fine and with my mods it's faster than any cars in my town that were purchased for 4grand
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I really doubt you found a xt for 4 grand and if you did either got a steal or its a huge pile.
 
13455621:crotchvent said:
I really doubt you found a xt for 4 grand and if you did either got a steal or its a huge pile.
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It was quite a pile. Dinged up body, replaced the turbo, throttle body and probably now the transmision. Redid the catback and am waiting for my intercooler to come. I also had to replace 2 sidpanels. Other than that and lots of dipping it looks good and runs really nice. Plus it will still kick most cars add around rural michigan
 
yea go crazy on the stereo if you want, but its a fucking civic, putting rims on it isn't going to make it better. id almost argue it would be worse. you can't polish a turd.
 
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