Project Yota 3.0 aka Gonzo the Blue Camry

C

chefhow

Member
After several years with Big Red, my BEAST of a Tundra it was time to move onto something a bit more economical. I have a fairly long commute with a lot of traffic and while the truck was like driving your favorite living room piece of furniture with a big assed supercharger on it, the fuel bill each week was starting to get out of hand. After test driving everything under the sun from an Audi S5 to a VW Beetle TDi I found the Camry to be the most efficient, reliable, and comfortable car with a GREAT audio platform to work from. I was about to buy a used Camry TRD with a v6 and all the bells and whistles when this electric blue car caught my attention and like a squirrel to a nut I was quickly distracted and instantly in love with Gonzo. It didn't have the features of the TRD, the v6 of the TRD and the sport suspension but it did look AMAZING, it gets 34mpg on my daily drive and its got all the same audio locations to start with.
Now that I have her I have started to acquire the equipment for the install which will begin in a few weeks, here's the list and the plan.....

OEM source until I figure out which direction I want to go with a HU. I think that my show in March plus the show in Texas will help me determine what to purchase.
Arc PS8-50 for front stage
Arc x2 1100.1 for Sub
Arc RS1.0 in the pillars
Arc RS4.0 in the dash
Thiel 8's in the doors although I have a few people telling me the RS6.0 can do everything the Thiel can do but in a smaller package.
Arc Black 15 on a trunk baffle.
Monoprice Monolith interconnects
Resonix CLD for treatment of doors, dash in the areas around the midrange and trunk.
A bunch of OCF and CCF for the door cards, the rear deck and anywhere else its needed once we get moving.

First part of the install will be in mid March when I am down in Knoxville for our SQ show at The Sound Factory.
I'll update as things progress, here are some pics of Gonzo

View attachment 15286
View attachment 15287
 
I like the newer Camrys for the most part. When I was shopping for cars, I picked my Mazda 6 for options/styling/speaker locations/sizes as well. lol
Can't wait to see what you come up with.
 
Very cool, I am looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Are you going to Frisco? I am thinking about it. That's pretty quick, though.
 
tRidiot said:
Very cool, I am looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Are you going to Frisco? I am thinking about it. That's pretty quick, though.
Click to expand...

I'll be in Frisco as a spectator, look for the fat white dude eating an endless amount of Hutchins BBQ and Babe's Country Fried Steak.....
 
Last box for this week before I head to Knoxville and start this install
PS8-50 with PSC controller
X2 1100.1 for sub(s)
6729a666380f4d3301f9e556cd6f860f.jpg



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Looking forward to following this build. Camry's are awesome, just change the oil and you'll be cruising for at least 120K without any other real maintenance. (I guess you may need to replace the brakes, filters, and stuff like that too :D )

Very nice that those pillars are ready to accept a tweeter. I would've loved to find something like that for my '15.
 
Chris12 said:
Looking forward to following this build. Camry's are awesome, just change the oil and you'll be cruising for at least 120K without any other real maintenance. (I guess you may need to replace the brakes, filters, and stuff like that too :D )

Very nice that those pillars are ready to accept a tweeter. I would've loved to find something like that for my '15.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris. I went from a Scion I put 180k miles on with nothing more than routine maintenance to a Tundra I’m selling that’s got 147k miles on with routine maintenance to this.
I bought it CPO with a 110k bumper to bumper warranty. I’m a Toyota fan and just don’t see anything better for the money right now.
I really wanted to buy a Stinger but they were uncomfortable for a guy 6’5. An Altima SR and Accord were also high on the list but again, narrow and little leg room.
I’ll drive this until my younger son is old enough to drive in 4 years than give it to him.


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I had the same issues....6'4 and 284 on a good day with light wind. I ended up going with my Avalon because I found a great deal on a finance manager's vehicle with fairly high highway miles but taken care of meticulously. I really wanted a Tundra but they depreciate slow as hell.


chefhow said:
Thanks Chris. I went from a Scion I put 180k miles on with nothing more than routine maintenance to a Tundra I’m selling that’s got 147k miles on with routine maintenance to this.
I bought it CPO with a 110k bumper to bumper warranty. I’m a Toyota fan and just don’t see anything better for the money right now.
I really wanted to buy a Stinger but they were uncomfortable for a guy 6’5. An Altima SR and Accord were also high on the list but again, narrow and little leg room.
I’ll drive this until my younger son is old enough to drive in 4 years than give it to him.


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Click to expand...
 
BenevolentDictator said:
I had the same issues....6'4 and 284 on a good day with light wind. I ended up going with my Avalon because I found a great deal on a finance manager's vehicle with fairly high highway miles but taken care of meticulously. I really wanted a Tundra but they depreciate slow as hell.
Click to expand...

They tried to get me to buy a 19 Avalon XSE with the 6cyl but the price was a bit to high and they wouldn't budge on the price at all.
 
BigAl205 said:
Are you going to give all that stuff to your son?

Call it Noah's Arc :brick:
Click to expand...

Uh, NO!!!
He did pull a 3.9GPA, made the Presidents List and got the scholarship for the year so he’s getting a PS8-50 and a set of Karma 2 way front stage drivers.


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