New mod: speakers! Total spend on speakers + installation accessories, around $500 (not inlcuding the previously purchased headunit, which is a necessity). The previous installation of a decent head unit helped the sound of the factory base speakers, but they still just fell flat. Lack of usable bass range, lack of definition, no need to go on about how mediocre they were.
Front: Polk Audio DB6501 components. 5 stars. These have separate 6.5" woofers, tweeters, and crossovers. These speakers have been out for a while, and get great reviews, and for good reason. The definition and clarity is outstanding. I am hearing things in songs I've never heard before. The definition of drum hits (take the intro on Foreplay / Long Time by Boston) is amazing. Can hear guitar strings accidentally buzzing on fingers kind of clarity. Very little tweaking needed from the equalizer on the head unit. I did have to go with the -3db setting for the tweeters on the crossovers. And I should have pointed them more toward the seats instead of straight across like the stock tweeters. If I roll the windows all the way down I lose a little bit of the highs because they are bouncing off the windows. Still sound good, but I notice it. Love these!
Rear: Polk Audio DB651 coaxials. 4 stars. These are a woofer and tweeter in one, with built in filters. I'm a little disappointed in them. Guitars in some rock are too warm and almost drone a little. Personally, I went with these in the rear so there wouldn't be tweeters right at my kids' faces, and I'm still glad I did for that reason. The stock location in a two-door is chest level, and the kids would have complained when I turned up the volume. With these, they can actually talk to each other and I can still hear the music over them.
Subwoofer: I went with a Rockford Fosgate Punch P300-10 for $200. WOW. 5 stars for sure. I wanted something that (1) didn't take up a lot of room (roughly 18" wide by 9" deep) and (2) was easy to remove for autocross. I need to add a pic to show how little room this takes up. It has two easy-disconnect connectors that take care of the power/ground/remote and the RCA inputs. I was worried that this wouldn't produce enough bass, but on the contrary, I only have it turned up just past 2/5ths of the way. Inside the car it will produce enough bass to run you out. It has plenty of power for the casual listener or audiophile. Now, it won't rattle the plates in your neighbor's kitchen, but that wasn't what I was looking for. It also has a remote knob so I can adjust on the fly. I didn't get fancy, I just ran that cord up through the little tray where the 12V outlet is under the radio, and the remote sits in it. I may eventually pull the remote apart and have the knob mounted through one of the spare buttons right in front of it, but I may not. This works and is easy to remove down the road.
I will say, be careful adding aftermarket speakers that require higher power to stock head units; you need a head unit that supplies enough power to drive them or you'll have no bass (if you don't add a sub). My Pioneer puts out 14watt RMS, enough to drive the 10-100watt db6501. I don't know what the base head unit puts out, but I'd always start with replacing it so you get a good signal to base any additional pieces from.
Last thing, I added Dynamat to the doors, rear seat area, rear panel area, spare tire area, etc. Not full coverage, but large enough pieces to dampen road noise and vibrations introduced with the speakers. I was worried about not having enough so I ordered 9 sheets; 3 was all I used. It did quieten the road noise a little, nothing crazy but I can tell. Oh, and a Boss 8ga wiring kit from Amazon, it was cheap and exactly what I needed to power the amp and get the RCA back there. I like how the GTI has a positive terminal block with open slots on the front of the fuse box in the hood! That is awesome!
This project took a while. At least 16 hours total. It's not incredibly difficult, it just takes time to get everything pulled apart when you're trying to make sure you don't break anything. I removed 4 panels and only had to replace 3 clips. Going through the molex clip to the front doors was a challenge until I figured out what I was doing wrong; then it was pretty simple. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I leave the speakers in there if I traded it in? Heck yeah!
