“Everyone out here is into cars. It really doesn’t matter whether you have a domestic or import; there is always some form of customization going on. It could be the body, the motor, or the stereo system,” claims Miller. He purchased a brand new Honda Accord in the fall of 1994, and as soon as he pulled the vehicle out of the showroom he drove it to a local stereo shop for some upgrades. The Honda received a full stereo system with a couple of amps and speakers, an exhaust sys- tem, and some outdated chrome rims. Miller thought he was a big shot as he rolled down Merrick Road, but his smile soon faded when his system shut off after 30 minutes of driving. He immediately returned to the shop for a quick fix, but for several days he kept running into the same problem. After numerous attempts at trying to get the system repaired, he was fed up with the shop and decided to redo the entire system. This is where the story gets interesting. That same weekend, Miller heard an advertisement about a big IASCA car stereo competition just 20 minutes away from home. At the show, he ran into some local IASCA competitors, Donnie Signorelli and Pete Apostolides. (Little did he know that these guys were heavy hitters in their respective classes.) After poking around the parking lot, he was impressed with the creativity of the installations and later that day learned that Signorelli placed at the Finals the year before. He listened to both vehicles and knew right then and there that he was way out of his league. “I asked them to listen to my car and tell me how it sounded. Even though I knew that they just hated how my car sounded, they were very polite and offered great advice,” recalls Miller. “The best advice I received was a recommendation of a shop.” The recommendation was Ultrasounds LTD., in Lynbrook, NY. Miller was quite surprised, because the shop is located just a few miles from his home yet he had never heard of them before. When he walked into Ultrasounds, Miller was impressed by all the trophies on display that had been won at countless nationwide events. And standing behind the counter with a smile on his face was the mastermind behind all of the trophies, shop owner John Francioso. Francioso and Miller talked for a while and came up with a plan: Miller basically gave Francioso authority to do whatever he wanted to on the car. Francioso and his installation team didn’t think twice about salvaging any components from the system already installed in the vehicle; instead, they gave it a complete makeover. Because Miller had presented Francioso with the challenge of conserving as much space in the vehicle as possible, he put on his thinking cap and got creative.

UNIQUE HOMES In most cases, subwoofers are installed in the trunk or hatch of the vehicle, but Francioso found some unused space inside the cabin. When the rear side panels were peeled off the car, it was decided that this would be the new home for the subwoofers. Enclosures that mirror each other would be placed on both sides of the vehicle, next to the rear seat. Before the enclosure was built, V-Block sound dampening was applied to all metal surfaces — including the outer skin of the car — to reduce any unwanted resonance. Then an enclosure made up of MDF fiberglass, and body filler was placed in the unused space. The internal volume of the box is .75 cubic feet, and it accommodates an Alpine SWR- 1040D subwoofer. Ultrasounds has toyed around with several different woofers over the years and come to the conclusion that the Alpine can take a beating yet still produce sonic excellence in the judging lanes. After receiving a dose of V-Block, the armrests were cut so the subwoofers would play into the cabin. The holes were then finished off with a perforated steel mesh grille covered in black grille cloth. With the rear panels on, you would never know that there is a subwoofer behind it. In fact, Miller often gets asked where the subs are located. Two Xtant 2200ls power the vehicle: one powers the front stage; the other powers the subs. Just like the subwoofers, the amplifiers have a unique home. Although space was limited, the amplifiers were massaged into the rear deck and mounted which keeps the motorization quiet. One shroud was fabricated to cover all three equalizers to decrease the overall foot- print. Instead of drilling holes one by one into the Plexiglas for the knobs, Francioso used a CNC machine to do all the work for him. The power supplies and voltage regulators for the equalizers were upgraded using Burr Brown components. All of side-by-side in a steel-reinforced rack that was welded onto the existing rear deck. All wiring was run toward the rear of the deck, just beneath the window. A beauty board constructed of MDF and body filler reveals the tops of both amplifiers. Three Audio Control EQTs reside in the trunk, beneath the rear deck, and are mounted on a motorized aluminum rack. The motorization occurs via a power seat motor from a Ford Thunderbird. A worm gear and wheel was used to push the rack in and out, this was done to improve sound quality. The equalizer rack beneath the rear deck takes up very little space and does not interfere with the trunk pass through into the cabin. Other features in the trunk include a sys- tem diagram and tool kit, both housed in the trunk lid. Francioso used fiberglass, body filler, and did lots of sanding to form-fit the new panel, then it was wrapped in gray car- pet to match the rest of the trunk. Fusing for various audio components is tucked away on the passenger’s side of the trunk, while the main battery of the vehicle rests in the left side of the trunk. We’ll get into why the bat- tery was moved here later.

GERMAN ENGINEERING Even a Japanese make can use a dose of Gernian engineering every now and then; hence the entire front stage uses speakers from MB Quart. After the inner and outer door skins received a heavy dose of V-Block, the speakers were ready to be mounted. A hall-inch spacer was constructed out of MDF and a TC- 160TX2 mid-bass driver was installed. The factory wiring boot in the door is where the speaker wire was run to give it a clean look. For heavy hitting midbass up front, the drivers were crossed over from 60 l-lz-175 Hz using a custom crossover that Francioso concocted. A pair of QM-25 tweeters and a QM-100 4-inch midrange handles the high end. Although it was a painstaking process, sever- al mockup kick panels were used in order to measure size and sonic quality. Francioso constructed the actual kick panels out of MDF, fiberglass, and body filler, then covered them with factory-matched vinyl. Both the tweeter and midrange feature a black Plexiglas overlay when the grilles are removed, and black grille cloth surrounds the Plexiglas grille used for the midrange and tweeter combination. MB Quart MUSiCOMP crossovers ensure that the speakers play the proper frequencies without getting out of hand.

BLUE IS BETTER Sitting in the dash amongst an array of gauges is an Alpine CDA-7864. For the first time ever, Alpine has manufactured a radio without their traditional green buttons on a black face. The CDA-7864 features blue buttons on a silver face, as well as “Swing” technology: the face slides when inserting or ejecting a CD. The change holder, located to the left of the steering wheel in the dash, holds three switches. From left to right, they operate a setting for RTA, SPL, and the motorized amplifier rack. When the first two switches are off, the vehicle is in sound quality mode. “This comes in very handy when competing,” states Miller. The factory valet switch for the trunk also acts as the system valet. When the key cylinder is turned to lock out the trunk, a micro-switch is activated that turns the system off. Protection for the whole vehicle is provided by a Clifford Intelliguard 900 security system.

IMPORT SHOW-OFF Once the stereo system was finished and Miller had enjoyed his five minutes of fame at the 1996 IASCA Finals and 1997 Spring Break Nationals, he was no longer satisfied. The Honda has since gone through a metamorphosis. Remember the battery that is located in the trunk? Well, this was necessary because under the carbon fiber hood there is now a 2.3-Liter Honda Prelude motor, a Turbonetics ceramic ball bearing turbo, Crower rods, JE Pistons, a massive Spearco intercooler that takes up the mouth of the front fascia, RC Engineering 83- pound injectors, an HKS Blow Off Valve and Turbonetics wastegate, a custom header, SX fuel pump, Tanabe exhaust, the factory air conditioning unit, and more. All this creates approximately 562 horsepower and scorches the Honda down the quarter-mile at a mind- boggling 12.56 @ 131 mph. And that’s with a full interior and sound system inside! A Brembo brake system helps bring this quarter-mile terror to a quick stop, while GAB coilovers and strut braces front and rear handle the suspension. Three-piece, 18-inch Gewalt Evolutions are wrapped with Bridgestone S-02 (225/40 18) tires. The award-winning stereo system is complemented by many interior upgrades as well. White-faced gauges from Greddy are located just above the radio and an HKS boost control provides up to 26 lbs. of boost on the track, while Indiglo gauges, Sparco racing seats, Sabelt harnesses, a Momo shift knob and steering wheel, and a 4-point roll cage round out the theme. Miller owes thanks to certain people and organizations that made this creation possible: Pete Miceli of Alpine Electronics of America, Team BBI (Donnie and Pete), Team Ultrasounds, Ultima Performance,JBE Racing, his mom and dad, and most of all, his wife Sandy for putting up with all the headaches that come with such an enormous project. Although Miller still plans to attend a few sound-offs, he will concentrate on attending more races and import car shows. You can bet that whatever type of show he attends, his Honda will intimidate the com- petition in one form or another.