aftermarket stereo concerns

[mentaluproar]

I'm considering the imiev again. Tomorrow, I'm going to take a test drive from the dealership to my college campus, the longest trip I would need this car to do, to see how the range is.

But should it pass the real world test, that stereo must go.

In the past, I have had the best result with factory speakers and pioneers headunits. Strangely, pioneers sound great with factory speakers, but nothing else. But the unit I am looking at explicitly states to use 4-8 ohm speakers. I cannot find the size of any of the miev speakers. For the ES, I would need to add the rear speakers. The front speakers would be a bigger problem, as they are supposedly 2 ohms and with the tweeters wired in parallel (I assume) resistance would be even lower. My limited understanding is that this is not a good thing for the headunit.

What are the dimensions of the factory speakers? Am I right in assuming use of stock speakers would either sound like crap or damage the headunit? Where do people order the double din fascia anymore? Assuming I don't use an amp (I never saw the point in a car amp) would this upgrade put a significant additional strain on the battery?

I'm looking at a pioneer appradio 4 if that matters.

 

[JoeS]

mentaluproar, glad to see you considering the i-MiEV again. Sorry, can't answer your questions as I'm quite happy with the radios in my SEs.

Have you listened to the stereo in both the ES and SE? How do you compare the two? So, how much time, money, and effort are you planning on putting into the upgrade? Perhaps an SE or SE Premium i-MiEV with a small difference in price with an ES would suffice?

 

[mentaluproar]

There are plenty of ES's up here around here, some only $7k. I wanted iphone integration and the factory radio wont cut it for me.

edit: is it only the SE that has heated mirrors?

 

[Don]

The speakers are a bit unique - I had thought about changing them (my experience is the opposite of yours . . . . nearly any head unit sounds better with better speakers) but when I took the door apart and saw the clever mounting system Mitsu employed, I gave up on changing them as it would be . . . . . difficult

I'm like Joe - I really don't see anything which needs improvement with the stock radio. We have a standard SE which has the upgraded radio from the ES and then we have an SE Premium which has the Nav unit and the stereo with the hard drive. It does everything you could hope for with your phone - Bluetooth, hands-free, push a button on the steering wheel to answer (or make a call) and another to hang up. The back-up camera is also very handy. We used the Nav function for the first time today. I could take or leave that part but I really like the rest of the Mitsubishi Multi-Communications System

If you look around, there are some smokin' deals out there on SE Premium cars - We found ours with 3,900 miles for $8700

Don

 

[mentaluproar]

I guess I can check out the SE then, but I really wanted CarPlay. What is so special about the speakers in the miev?

Are the heated mirrors unique to the SE? I only found two SE in the area.

 

[PV1]

The heated mirrors are part of the cold-weather package (2012 ES and 2012 SE), quick-charge package (2012 ES), and the premium package (2012 SE). All 2014 and 2016 have the heated mirrors standard.

I've played around with a Pioneer headunit as both a standalone radio and as an amplifier for an Android tablet that I mounted on the dash, completely replacing the stock radio (I have 2012 ES i-MiEVs). Honestly, I couldn't beat the ease of use and sound quality of the stock radio. The only improvement I could make to the stock system is to add a small subwoofer in the back of the car.

If you do go for the aftermarket head unit, it's not easy to install aftermarket speakers and does require some trickery, at least with the included hardware. It's entirely doable, though. With that, I'd probably try to get an ES, as there is no separate amplifier to mess with. There is wiring for all four door speakers.

Check out some of these pictures. Even though this is mainly for my LED lighting upgrade, I added rear speakers at the same time:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zvvksa0yosmvstk/AADitwavCux4JjShfEW2gDIsa?dl=0

 

[mentaluproar]

I don't see anything special for the speaker install other than the missing spacers on the back. Are there spacers on factory installs? While I would prefer to use factory speakers, 2 ohms will kill the headunit. I am a bit worried about putting foam behind the speaker. Wouldn't that muffle the speaker by adding a slight pressure behind it during rarefaction?

How do I know which packages a miev has? Can I just run the vin through something?

 

[PV1]

You could, and there are some VIN tools listed on the forum in other posts, but if you're looking for a used 2012, the pictures are easily identifiable. The 2012 ES has black interior with a silver center stack (radio and climate controls), the 2012 SE has brown interior with a black center stack with silver accents on the steering wheel, and the 2012 SE Premium has brown interior with the black center stack, silver accents and controls on the steering wheel, and a nav system.

2014 and 2016 i-MiEVs are only available as an ES, and have an all black interior with silver steering wheel accents.

If you're talking about my insulation, I didn't put any foam behind the speaker, just under the lip to secure the foam. The foam was added to help reduce heat loss in the winter and has nothing to do with the audio. The inside of the door still has enough openings to prevent pressure buildup (weep holes in the bottom plus openings in the door handle).

The factory speakers have plastic molded into the housing that twist-locks into the openings in the door. A simple turn locks the speakers in.

 

[mentaluproar]

I went to do my test drive today but someone else beat me to the car and drained it. the others left on the lot (these sell fast) were dead too. So they now have to charge all of them, and will have one ready for me Monday morning. While I was there, I tried out the audio built into the ES.

It's actually quite good. It's awkward with no rear speakers, but I'd imagine that can be fixed by ordering more from mitsubishi or installing my own. That still leaves me with the issue of impedance. The headunit on the ES lacks bluetooth, so it's not enough for me. There is one SE left in the area, but it is at a dealership that has treated me like crap and makes a point that God is a big part of their corporate values. I'm not not buying from the latter.

I'm thinking about only using the front speakers on headunit wiring, but wiring everything in series. Each channel would equal 6 ohms then, and the stereo would be just fine with that. Would a "fake" rear channel really change how anything sounds?

Sitting in there today, I felt excited. I really hope it does well on the range test. It's not as luxurious as the volt or leaf, but I can still see being very happy owning one.

Do any of these have amps? How are the tweeters wires, series or parallel with the door speakers? If I get the miev, I want to be sure this is something I can work with.

 

[markweatherill]

I fitted an aftermarket head unit in my 'i' with no ill effects.
I fitted a pair of right-sized speakers into the rear too and the mounting holes mostly line up with the door slots.
But impedance was not something I even thought about!

 

[PV1]

Same here. Impedance wasn't even a thought when putting in my Pioneer, but it seemed to work pretty good.

When I put speakers in the back doors, I purchased 4-ohm speakers. When driving, I have to set the fader to R2 to notice the rear speakers on the stock radio, and R3 if I want surround sound, but at the cost of bass.

 

[mentaluproar]

Looking into it, parrot makes a system that would adapt the stock radio to do what I want it to do. That would be an acceptable solution for me.

 

[cberquist]

Hi - I recently purchased a 2016 i-Miev and am looking to upgrade the stereo as well since I need Bluetooth and a few other features and the sound from the stock radio is not what I would like. I would have preferred the nav package, but the dealer didn't have any at the time of purchase. I understand upgrading the head unit should improve the sound from the stock speakers, but I'd really like to upgrade the speakers too. I am just a bit concerned about taking too big a range hit by doing so. I'm planning to avoid amps or subwoofers, but if I install 4 x 150w speakers coming from a new head unit, would that have a big impact on my range (I'm willing to trade a bit of range for better stereo)?

Thanks!

 

[JoeS]

cberquist, congratulations on your new i-MiEV!

In addition to this thread, there are other discussions on aftermarket stereos on this forum that may be of help to you. Here's one:
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=509

The amount of power drawn by the audio system is negligible compared to the power drawn by the vehicle's propulsion system, so I wouldn't worry about affecting range. The only time you need to pay attention is when you are parked and have the stereo running; you need to ensure you do not run the 12v battery down (as it is not recharged from the main battery when the key is in ACC). If the 12v battery dies, the car won't run. To get it going again, simply jumper the 12v battery from another car.