Crossfire Crossover

The unique grille attaches to a two-tiered amprack just behind the seats that was designed and built by Kicker installation and technical trainer John Myers. It holds the SX700.4 that runs the tweeters and the SX900.4 for the mids. "It's obviously a pretty beefy rack to hold that grille at just one mounting point and have it not flex," notes Lewis. The claws are polished on the top and bead-blasted on the side surfaces to give them two distinct textures. In addition, LEDs flush-mounted into the bottom of the claws illuminate the sub below. And just to make sure everyone knows who created this rig, a lighted Kicker logo sits on the inner lip of the hatch lid. Lewis built the frame for it and then a local sign shop fabricated the acrylic logo, which is backlit with LEDs.

DOOR SPORTS

Each of the Crossfire's doors sport a complete set of Kicker SS65.2 component speakers, which translates into two 6 1/2" midranges and a pair of 1" tweeters per side, mounted coaxially. "They're in enclosures made out of 1/4" aluminum," Botts points out, "and it's a true cabinet that's totally sealed and runs the length of the door." Each mid/tweeter set is positioned in the bottom-front portion of the door, while a Clarion VMA7194 7-inch screen stakes out the bottom-rear part. Holding down the middle, three aluminum accents mirror the stock embellishments on the car's front quarter panels.

Further cosmetic trimmings on the interior of the portals include another LED-lit Kicker logo nestled in front of each door handle. "That was the stock tweeter location," says Lewis, "and we needed something there." A red felt armrest runs the length of the door panel, bisecting the top and bottom sections. "We built the door panels and then sent them out to be recovered by the same shop that did the rest of the interior," says Lewis.

The gray suede that encases the Clarion VS755 DVD player flush-mounted into the center console was also an outside job, though Myers fabricated the housing for the DVD out of fiberglass and reinforced body filler. The primary music source unit, a Clarion DRZ9255 CD receiver, with its black-and-silver color scheme, fits perfectly in the factory-radio location in the correspondingly color-coded dash. Also at hand is a Kicker SXRC remote control in the headliner above the driver's seat, allowing total control over the amplifiers.

CROSSOVER APPEAL

Dynamat Extreme sound deadening material thoroughly quiets the Crossfire's interior. "We put it everywhere," Lewis confirms, "the headliner, whole trunk, the entire dash." Kicker cabling was used to tie all the electronics together. And speaking of tying things together, the Kicker installation team, which also includes installation specialist, Sean Murphy and installation assistant, Tim Smith, did just that by blending American car audio ingenuity into the Crossfire's mlange of Euro styling and Detroit muscle. It's now a car-and a system-that could please everyone from a hairdresser to a backhoe operator.

TECH