No matter what you think of Chrysler's Crossfire SRT6-a hairdresser's dream, a serious street machine or something in between-if you have even a trace of a 12-volt pulse in your veins, you'll get a big charge out of what Kicker did to this Euro-American hybrid. The boys from Stillwater, OK, made sure to add sufficient audio firepower so that the car can't be ignored when it struts its stuff at shows. Plus, they layered on plenty of eye-candy mods to ensure it's seen as well as heard and tossed in some hardcore performance upgrades to make it plain fun to drive.
"We wanted to build a system that was crystal clear and loud," says Toby Lewis, Kicker's project vehicle manager, regarding the overall game plan for the installation. "We wanted good sound quality, but we also needed it to be loud for shows and to demo well on the show floor. We also wanted it to be something that blows you away when you sit in it, so we overpowered everything," Lewis adds. "We have two Kicker SX1250.1 amplifiers strapped together to run a single Kicker SoloX S12X 12" subwoofer; we got 2,500 watts running just the 12. And we have an amp running just the tweeters, and another just for the mids."
Likewise, the Kicker team sought the same show of force for the exterior of the vehicle. "The idea was to show off that the car was an SRT-6, not just a regular Crossfire," Lewis says. "We wanted the most aggressive wheels and tires, the most aggressive brakes, the most aggressive look and feel."
Size Doesn't Matter
The tight confines of the hatch hold an amazing amount of gear considering the small size. "There wasn't a lot of space under the stock hatch floor for stuff, but there was a lot of depth," Lewis explains. "That's what we were able to use for the sub box and the components under there." The only thing visible on the surface is the Kicker SoloX 12" subwoofer, solidly planted in the middle of the hatch floor.
The sub is rooted in a massive 3 1/2ft3 ported enclosure lurking just below the rebuilt hatch floor. Four separate pieces that bolt into place actually comprise the intricate box. "There's no way it could fit in as just one piece," notes Kicker installation and technical trainer, Randy Botts, who handled the sub box portion of the project. "The first and second pieces went, and then third and fourth, sort of like a jigsaw puzzle."
The two final pieces were the 4" x 6" ports, which Botts estimates are each about 21" long. "We needed to get a good-sized port in there, but there wasn't enough room to do just one," Botts adds. "So we had to do one on each side." The outlets of the ports can be spied on each side of the hatch, where they're covered by metal mesh. In addition to the big sub box, two Stinger SP1000 batteries and two power supplies that keep the power-hungry system topped off with juice also squeeze into the space beneath the hatch floor.
Sub Claws
Because the sub box is made out of doubled and tripled 3/4" MDF, it provides a more-than-substantial base for the two Kicker SX1250.1 mono-block amps that flank the subwoofer. Ultrasuede softens the exposed areas around the sub, with a raised "rib" in the center that mimics other design elements of the car. But, by far, the most eye-catching aspect of the hatch is the "Freddy Krueger-style claws," as Botts calls them. They serve as a sort of oversized grille for the subwoofer. "That's the one sub Kicker makes that doesn't come with a grille, and we don't produce one for it," Lewis explains. "So we wanted to do something that looked really aggressive and fit with the cosmetic theme of the car." The heavy-metal appendages are made out of 1" aluminum stock, although they swell to 2" to 3" at the thickest points, Lewis notes.
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
StopTech 355mm front and 332mm rear Big Brake KitEibach Pro-Kit springsDavin Speed SP-1 3-piece forged wheels, 19" x 8 1/2" front, 20" x 9" rear
Toyo Proxes 4 tires, 225/35R19 front, 255/35R20 rearCustom paint by Iron Cross Customs of Tulsa, OK
Upholstery by Ron Mangus at CustomAuto Interiors of Bloomington, CA