Every year Scott Webb, director of marketing and operations at the LA Auto Show, has to figure out what gets the folks of Los Angeles ticking. It's not that difficult to ascertain - Southern Californians love their beaches, their movies and, of course, their cars. You'll see every sort of ride on SoCal freeways, from the POS heap to the luxury exotic. And throughout that range customizing runs rampant. For the 2006 show, Webb decided to highlight the tuning trends so popular in LA with a Mark V Jetta from Volkswagen.
On the exterior, those trends are evident in a ground effects kit from VW, not to mention performance upgrades like a new suspension, muffler, air filter, racing software and new brakes. And don't neglect an Angeleno's favorite upgrade: shiny, new wheels. For the interior, the seats received new Wet Okolo covers, but the main draw is the ICE.
"We wanted to incorporate some of the latest mobile electronics trends (iPod integration, game system, satellite radio and navigation, etc.), while maintaining comfortable four-person seating, a usable trunk and an accessible tire," Webb reveals. To that end, he hooked up with some old friends at Al & Ed's Autosound, a popular chain of shops throughout southern California. Installers Kevin Birkley and Mikel Zimmerman, who have built six cars so far for the annual show, brainstormed and came up with the vehicle on these pages.
Quotidian Design
The LA Auto Show isn't where you go to see the wildest builds. It's where your average joe and jane check out what the OEs have to offer for that year. Then they check out what they can do to customize those rides. So the Jetta didn't venture too far away from the pack. "[W]e wanted a comprehensive entertainment system without compromising daily-driven utility," Webb says. "All of the speakers are invisible from the interior of the car, although the subwoofers make themselves obvious with an opening of the trunk," he continues. Everything that was done would work in any showgoer's daily driver.
Up front, Birkley and Zimmerman used a dash kit to fit the source unit into the dash. But they didn't leave it alone, modifying it and the bezel before coating it all in exterior-matching paint. In fact, Zimmerman painted all the trim pieces in the vehicle. "I thought it took the car to a little higher-end look," he explains of the cosmetic change. Below the source, an Alpine center-channel speaker fit without a hitch.
Keeping Your Options Open
The main story of the Jetta isn't the component speakers that fit with slight modification into the factory locations. What about the subwoofers installed free air into the rear deck? Not that either. Instead, what makes this Jetta stand out is the level of integration for media-savvy Angelenos. "iPods plug into the system in both the front and the rear, and rear seat passengers have the option of wireless headphones to enjoy their audio selections in private," Webb states. "An Xbox with wireless controllers satisfies the gaming need and feature films can be enjoyed with the benefit of Dolby surround sound."
Enabling occupants to enjoy music from their iPods, video from the DVD player, and television from the TV tuner, the install team stashed a lot of Alpine equipment under the seats. Not one, but two iPods can play through the system, so Zimmerman needed two KCA-420i iPod integration kits right there. "The concept of the iPod was really front and rear iPod access," Zimmerman iterates. The front kit hooks up to the head unit. Meanwhile, the rear iPod dock patches in through one of the Jetta's two Alpine V-Hubs, magical devices for the person with too many audio and video sources to keep track of.
Showing A Little Leg
Some of those sources, such as the navigation unit, DVD player and Xbox, combine forces in the trunk. While the cabin takes a more sedate turn (regardless of the freshly painted trim) the trunk shows off a little technological leg. The aforementioned sources glow in plain view behind sandblasted acrylic windows. Above, the magnets from the subs hang down over the amps submerged in the floor. Seeing the amps here, you'd think that the old spare tire went into early retirement. That's not the case.
Underneath the carpet-wrapped false floor, the trio of amps sits in a rack that moves for access to the spare tire. The trick is a pair of hinge-like attachments at the front of the rack that allows the metal structure to swing up from the rear. In the horizontal position, the rack rests on shocks towards the rear of the Jetta. "Kevin really built the hinges," Zimmerman states. "He came up with a nice design." It's a clever trick for anyone who can't let go of his or her spare.
For The Everyman
Like any good display car, the Jetta offers a variety of ideas for showgoers, and the best part about it? The system is accessible for most people. Zimmerman points out that a basic installation of all the components should take a hit of less than $5,000 on your average joe's wallet. Of course, when you take in all the customization, such as the flushed-in bezel, the rebuilt rear deck and the puzzle-piece finish work in the trunk, that bumps up the bill another 10k. But, whether you choose the high-cost customization or the low-cost bare bones, it's nice to know that this system is within reach.