Strong Finnish - :Finland

True to that, nothing in Finland's FASCA (Finnish Auto Sound Competition Association) has beaten the super-trick Mazda 323 for six years. In 2000 Timo set his sights on European National titles, which landed him third and fourth place finishes in the Pro 600-watt class. Strong.

A lot of do-it-yourselfers know that to do it right, the cost and time involved can be many times what is required of a professional. Material waste, learning curves and keeping your day job can turn a professional's month long project into the weekend warrior's seven-year itch. Most would be lucky to ever complete their project, let alone place top five in a national level competition.

But for Timo, a Tampere University research assistant, it was hard not to explore the boundaries of fine car audio. Thoughts of isolating signal cable with copper tubes to eliminate the risk of noise induction may seem like overkill, but it shows the kind of detail that went into this Finnish install. Indeed, a shop would never go so far simply because they have a business to run. As a curious and bright fellow, Timo counted on years of trial and error and his ability to research a subject and get something out of it.

Dipped, stripped, & polishedThere was really only one source unit that interested Timo for competition use, but it didn't completely satisfy the visual aspect of the system. Not discouraged, and not willing to put cosmetics before performance, Timo opted to disassemble the unit and strip the face it of its painted finish. A custom aluminum frame for the unit was fabricated to conceal the edges. The remote control was chrome plated to match its counterpart. Though very time consuming, the result is a unique piece, customized to suit.

Since this budget car was manufactured sans radio, speakers or luxury devices, it was necessary to create an entirely new dash out of fiberglass. While this may seem like a pain in the arse, it allowed installation of the source unit to be completely specific. Not only was the placement called out, the mount is truly one-of-a-kind. You won't find pipe tape holding the Pioneer ODR RS-D2 into place. For the truest, most solid mount a pair of 12-mm thick, 50-mm wide and 150-mm long aluminum rails secure the unit with stainless steel hex screws. When the judges see the added effort put forth you can bet it will be duly noted.

Apparently, however, a totally stripped face-plate, billet aluminum mount and custom made dash weren't enough for the fierce Fin. Ergonomics go to new levels in this installation with Formula One inspired steering wheel controls. A Momo steering wheel was reworked and fitted with levers for volume and track controls. As with F1 paddle shifters, the person behind the wheel can shift tracks or adjust volume with a small wrist action (no clutch necessary). Additional audio functions are controlled through sunken buttons within the steering wheel.

Simple Sound
Timo didn't waste too much time when it came to audio processing. Knowing that the best sound could be reached through correct speaker placement and carefully selected crossover frequencies, only minimal signal processing is necessary. In fact, the Pioneer ODR RS-P1 1/3-octave EQ is not even used for sound quality competition. It is reserved for frequency response and SPL competition when an added push is necessary.

Pioneer's ODR RS-P50 4-way active crossover with time alignment traffics signal from the amplifiers to the speakers. Since each speaker has its own dedicated channel, Timo is able to tune each specifically through the P50 by optimizing crossover frequency and time alignment. Tuned specifically for the driver's seat, time alignment comes in extra handy to compensate for unequal speaker distances.