Wheels or stereo ?

**cuzimoto** · 06-20-2009, 07:47 PM

My birthdays next week and my beautiful bride is getting me wheels and tires or stereo, which ever I want. I'm lost with all the wheel choices and think I'd get more use and pleasure from the new stereo.
I want a double din system with nav. etc,etc. I seen a bezel for our cars on this site and want to know if anyone knows how much cuttings required to fit the head unit..
Any reccomendations on a head unit
Rims are not out of the question, just got lost looking at all the choices. Plus I really love the sleeper look of my Formula.

**noxside** · 06-20-2009, 08:39 PM

Ive put in the ddx512 and love it. You can do alot with it, like change the color, background, use a usb drive or usb hard drive for music. I eventually added the bluetooth for my phone and got the pac swi-jack unit to use the steering wheel controls. The only cutting I had to do was a piece of plastic support where the old radio sat on, a cutting wheel made quick work of it. I reused the stock bezle, it worked without modifying. Ive got a boss amp that powers a 10" alpine type r in a stealth box where the old disc changer sat. Speakers were all replaced with kicker comps. Music sounds great, the bass isnt too much but sounds great for any hiphop/rap music. Def. a huge improvement over the stock system. Just my imput, if you have any questions, message me.

**korndawg** · 06-21-2009, 12:19 AM

Go with whatever would cost her more money.

**tnthub** · 06-21-2009, 04:55 AM

It is about what you want, the amount of enjoyment you think you will receive, and the cost/benefit.

Some wheel and tire combinations that look great may cost you fuel economy and performance. Some combinations can improve performance, handling, and miles per gallon.

As a drag racer I'm big on wheel tire combinations but they can be fairly time consuming to match perfectly to how someone actually uses their vehicle. I have been looking for some 15 inch lightweight rims for my beater Sable wagon but the lug spacing is an odd size so there isn't much selection.

I also really like music so a good car audio system is important (but I am too cheap to pay big bucks in a "beater") so I am considering one of those cheapie Walmart units with built in bluetooth that every audiophile simply hates for a variety of good reasons. Plus the speaker holes in the Sable are an odd size so over the last year I sourced six pioneer speakers to fit the smallish sizes and found there was no bass from the cheaspie head unit so I added a cheapie Walmart sub amp and two of those bass tubes which does fill out the low end but has no thump. However I have them mounted up like rocket launchers so they look ok on the inside of my beater wagon.

I think I will hit up a fabric store sometime over the next couple of weeks and do up the interior in tacky 1970s style fuzz just to complete the trailer trash look. Oh yea, I have suicide knob on the wheel as well.

**ronnie tadlock** · 06-21-2009, 07:24 AM

New wheels and tired are impressive 24-7. The stereo is only impressive when it is turned on. I'm jealous. I wish I had a wife that would do something like that for me. Mine can't even keep a freakin' job. That's part of the reason why she will be moved out in a few more weeks.

**The Project** · 06-21-2009, 04:22 PM

Gotta go with the tunes......

**TempleU_WS6** · 06-21-2009, 04:31 PM

Wheels are more of an improvement but Im biased because I wont even bother doing anything to the audio set up of my car just yet.

If you like the sleeper idea of your formula, you can keep that but at just that little extra with a nice wheel and tire set up.

**cuzimoto** · 06-21-2009, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by noxside

Ive put in the ddx512 and love it. You can do alot with it, like change the color, background, use a usb drive or usb hard drive for music. I eventually added the bluetooth for my phone and got the pac swi-jack unit to use the steering wheel controls. The only cutting I had to do was a piece of plastic support where the old radio sat on, a cutting wheel made quick work of it. I reused the stock bezle, it worked without modifying. Ive got a boss amp that powers a 10" alpine type r in a stealth box where the old disc changer sat. Speakers were all replaced with kicker comps. Music sounds great, the bass isnt too much but sounds great for any hiphop/rap music. Def. a huge improvement over the stock system. Just my imput, if you have any questions, message me.

Sounds like everything I want, got any pics? I'd like to see it

**Smkn_TA** · 06-21-2009, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by ronnie tadlock

New wheels and tired are impressive 24-7. The stereo is only impressive when it is turned on. I'm jealous. I wish I had a wife that would do something like that for me. Mine can't even keep a freakin' job. That's part of the reason why she will be moved out in a few more weeks.

If I didn't date unemployed chicks...I don't know what I'd do. Last chick I went on a date with was 18 and living at home. Unemployed.

**noxside** · 06-21-2009, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by cuzimoto

Sounds like everything I want, got any pics? I'd like to see it

Sure thing, you can browse my photobucket account for some pics that i didnt post. The quality of the pictures is sub-par since I just took this about 10 minutes ago per your request. The kicker comps screwed right in the stock locations and I reused the stock amp from the monsoon system for all the speakers except the sub. I installed those about a month before the sub, huge improvement over stock system.

This first one shows the amp and 10" stealth alpine type r. Sounds great, and i can still fit my ttops in the well.

This is a decent view on the fit and finish.

The point of this pic is to show that you can adjust the radios face lights to any color, in this case, to match the TransAms red ambiance. You can literally make any color, not just like 8 or 16.

Lid closed. If the top/trunk is down, you wouldn't know there is a pretty nice system down there. No rattle from sub unless its almost maxed out the volume.

Install of everything was straight forward. The only thing that was hard was the pac swi-jack unit in order to reuse the steering wheel controls. Not pictured but some pics in my photobucket account is a pic of the 160gb usb harddrive, the mic/bluetooth unit that just plugs right into the ddx512 for phone, kicker comp speakers. One thing I really like is that every few months kenwood releases updates for the unit to make it faster, fix any misc bugs, etc. If you have any generic/install questions pm me.

**Tobynine9** · 06-22-2009, 03:47 AM

If you can get her to swing for an amp, good full-range speakers, and a decent sub in addition to the head unit (we're talking around a $1k) go stereo.

**ls1blackbeauty98** · 06-22-2009, 05:24 AM

i would go with wheels

i love me some TTIIs but there are plenty of awesome wheels u could choose, i dont like "systems". I think they are kind of a waste of money. It doesnt add performance to the car, and it doesnt add anything special to its appearance, i'd rather be noticed driving down the road becuase of a loud obnoxious exhaust then a loud obnoxious stero system.... the only reason i replaced my speakers was becuase they were literally..all six were blown lol... and i replaced them with nice stock lookin with a little base speakers. if she's willing to drop the cash on wheels and tires, i'd go with that....does she have any idea how much she could be spending? my z06 wheels alone were 950, the tires were another 900.

**ibanez7** · 06-22-2009, 11:40 AM

CAM, EXHAUST AND WHEELS.

then you will never need a stereo.

I love music and play music, but once I installed a cam, I have not turned my stereo on since.

**ibanez7** · 06-22-2009, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by ls1blackbeauty98

i would go with wheels

i love me some TTIIs but there are plenty of awesome wheels u could choose, i dont like "systems". I think they are kind of a waste of money. It doesnt add performance to the car, and it doesnt add anything special to its appearance, i'd rather be noticed driving down the road becuase of a loud obnoxious exhaust then a loud obnoxious stero system.... the only reason i replaced my speakers was becuase they were literally..all six were blown lol... and i replaced them with nice stock lookin with a little base speakers. if she's willing to drop the cash on wheels and tires, i'd go with that....does she have any idea how much she could be spending? my z06 wheels alone were 950, the tires were another 900.

you paid too much for your z06 wheels, unless they are OEM. if so, should have bought replica and saved the money.....

My black TT2 M... where $600 for all four brand new from Discount Tire.
17"x11"
17"x8.5"

my tires where more than my wheels.... lol $660
nitto DR 315 in back
nitto extreme 555 in front

In regards to wheels... billet Specialitys, one of my customers has a new line of f-body wheels for the street that are not SFI certified. they are great looking wheels too. be on the watch!

**cuzimoto** · 06-22-2009, 08:26 PM

Originally Posted by ibanez7

CAM, EXHAUST AND WHEELS.

then you will never need a stereo.

I love music and play music, but once I installed a cam, I have not turned my stereo on since.

Already has cam exhaust NOS and then some

**cuzimoto** · 06-22-2009, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by noxside

Sure thing, you can browse my photobucket account for some pics that i didnt post. The quality of the pictures is sub-par since I just took this about 10 minutes ago per your request. The kicker comps screwed right in the stock locations and I reused the stock amp from the monsoon system for all the speakers except the sub. I installed those about a month before the sub, huge improvement over stock system.

This first one shows the amp and 10" stealth alpine type r. Sounds great, and i can still fit my ttops in the well.

This is a decent view on the fit and finish.

The point of this pic is to show that you can adjust the radios face lights to any color, in this case, to match the TransAms red ambiance. You can literally make any color, not just like 8 or 16.

Lid closed. If the top/trunk is down, you wouldn't know there is a pretty nice system down there. No rattle from sub unless its almost maxed out the volume.

Install of everything was straight forward. The only thing that was hard was the pac swi-jack unit in order to reuse the steering wheel controls. Not pictured but some pics in my photobucket account is a pic of the 160gb usb harddrive, the mic/bluetooth unit that just plugs right into the ddx512 for phone, kicker comp speakers. One thing I really like is that every few months kenwood releases updates for the unit to make it faster, fix any misc bugs, etc. If you have any generic/install questions pm me.

I'm liking it

**grouch0jr** · 06-22-2009, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by noxside

Sure thing, you can browse my photobucket account for some pics that i didnt post. The quality of the pictures is sub-par since I just took this about 10 minutes ago per your request. The kicker comps screwed right in the stock locations and I reused the stock amp from the monsoon system for all the speakers except the sub. I installed those about a month before the sub, huge improvement over stock system.

This first one shows the amp and 10" stealth alpine type r. Sounds great, and i can still fit my ttops in the well.

This is a decent view on the fit and finish.

The point of this pic is to show that you can adjust the radios face lights to any color, in this case, to match the TransAms red ambiance. You can literally make any color, not just like 8 or 16.

Lid closed. If the top/trunk is down, you wouldn't know there is a pretty nice system down there. No rattle from sub unless its almost maxed out the volume.

Install of everything was straight forward. The only thing that was hard was the pac swi-jack unit in order to reuse the steering wheel controls. Not pictured but some pics in my photobucket account is a pic of the 160gb usb harddrive, the mic/bluetooth unit that just plugs right into the ddx512 for phone, kicker comp speakers. One thing I really like is that every few months kenwood releases updates for the unit to make it faster, fix any misc bugs, etc. If you have any generic/install questions pm me.

wow, that looks real cool. is the back ground image customizable?

**KyleLs1** · 06-22-2009, 08:42 PM

Stereo all the way, you can't look at the wheels while you are driving the car... but you can enjoy the stereo. If your car is anything close to a daily driver, a nice stereo makes traffic jams and cruising alot more fun. Wheels are cool, but the novelty of blingin wheels wears off alot faster than the novelty of nice beats from the stereo.

Im having issues with my stereo right now and it sounds like crap.... trust me it makes driving the car alot less enjoyable once you are used to a kickin stereo. If my wheels got stolen tomorrow, I'd be alot less upset then if my stereo got stolen. I'd just throw the stockers on and move on.

**cuzimoto** · 06-22-2009, 09:17 PM

Looking real hard at Kenwood 5140, with parrot, voice recc., nav, sat, etc, etc. Just about to order, little reluctant to pull the trigger. Been researching like crazy. Getting excited. The wifes asking every day, did you order your stuff for your car? God I love her