There are 3 main things that I wanted my Roadster to have (in order of less importance to more importance).
The DRLs would take about an hour to install and cost about $300 (SCORE!). The new head unit and 2 new speakers in the front along with a custom built iPhone 6 holster would cost about $2K and installation would be another $1K or so. The remaining $4K would go to attempt to make the car quieter.
The DRLs that we selected were a bright blue (to talk to the Glacier Blue color of the car) and we decided to slot them between the air intake louvers on the grille. I have no idea how they actually did all the electrical work on it – but I couldn’t be happier with the finished product. I have been told by multiple people that the vehicle looks a lot more aggressive when I’m tailing people and I get the feeling I’m more noticed during the day, increasing safety. And at night, they are even brighter still. Tesla has made no comments about it at the service center (no news is good news). There have been no electrical problems and they have been in place for almost 2 years now. If you have a competent custom/stereo guy, this is a quick win that I would very highly recommend.
DRLs:
We attempted to tackle the shortcomings of the Alpine / 2.5 stock sound system by replacing the front two speakers with higher quality/louder speakers. I can confidently say that I notice zero difference whatsoever here. We then tried to improve the workability of the head unit by junking the Alpine and replacing with the best double-din unit we knew of which was the XYZ. We also created a custom iPhone 6 holster to bring it all together. We installed a mic on the steering wheel which I have used exactly 1 time ever. Overall – I’m pleased with the look and feel of the head unit. The integration with the iPhone is far better but that’s mostly because there’s a nice holster for it and by selecting the auxiliary input (from the phone) I can easily play Soundcloud, Spotify, Youtube, etc. It also puts the image on the head unit of the display for the tracks that are playing. So there’s a much more integrated feeling here. The holster is custom so when the iPhone 7 comes out there’s potential that I’ll have to build a new one. But that’s not a big deal and I honestly think the form factor of the iPhone 6 can last for many years. If you are moderately happy with the Alpine and you don’t want to drop $3K, I think this is something you can go either way on.
New Head Unit:
Nifty iPhone holster (the phone fits snugly and integrates great with the head unit):
Finally. . . And most importantly. . . The creaking, cracking, squeaking, rickety cabin. La Jolla Audio took, literally, everything out of the car to go after this. The doors were opened and completely padded. Dynomat was put on every surface that could be covered. Tape was put throughout the dash to reduce rubbing/creaking. The vehicle was in the shop for 3-days and worked on open till close over this period. When I got the car back, there was some improvement. But after a week, I needed to bring it back in as there was still clicking/cracking. They worked on it another 24 hours. A week after that, I needed to bring it back in as there was still clicking/cracking. They worked on it another 24 hours. There was still creaking and squeaking. They advised me that the issue was a Tesla/warranty issue. I had the owner of the La Jolla Audio go into Tesla and discuss the creaking directly with Tesla. At this stage, La Jolla Audio was breaking even with all the materials/labor they had thrown at this. Not surprisingly, they were “done” with me. Tesla fixed the main problem – but about a month later, the clicking/creaking returned. Bottom line now that it’s been almost 2 years? No overall noticeable improvement. And, in fact, new and even more upsetting creaking has arose. ARGH! So I don’t know if there’s really anything that at least this much investment can do about fixing this nagging problem. And I'm also acutely aware that I'm the one with the super high expectations here. That is. . . Nobody seems to notice any noises the way I do on the vehicle. The vehicle is very much my daily driver (min 30 miles per day) and it now has almost (gulp) 60K miles on it and I still enjoy it just as much as the day I got it.
I absolutely adore my Roadster! But I love it a lot more when we’re on a smooth road and the top is off so you can’t hear the creaking. The DRLs are super great and not expensive. The new head unit looks great and the iPhone integration is seamless and looks great in the little holster.
Hope this helps! And if there’s any revolutionary recommendations from the forum on what folks have done to eliminate the rattles, I’m all ears.
- Bright daytime running lights that make it look more aggressive day and night
- Much better sounding system in the cabin, a much better head unit and a much better integration with my iPhone 6
- A car that’s much much much QUIETER when it’s rumbling down the road – to feel more solid, and a less like the Euro-chassis prototype that it is
The DRLs would take about an hour to install and cost about $300 (SCORE!). The new head unit and 2 new speakers in the front along with a custom built iPhone 6 holster would cost about $2K and installation would be another $1K or so. The remaining $4K would go to attempt to make the car quieter.
The DRLs that we selected were a bright blue (to talk to the Glacier Blue color of the car) and we decided to slot them between the air intake louvers on the grille. I have no idea how they actually did all the electrical work on it – but I couldn’t be happier with the finished product. I have been told by multiple people that the vehicle looks a lot more aggressive when I’m tailing people and I get the feeling I’m more noticed during the day, increasing safety. And at night, they are even brighter still. Tesla has made no comments about it at the service center (no news is good news). There have been no electrical problems and they have been in place for almost 2 years now. If you have a competent custom/stereo guy, this is a quick win that I would very highly recommend.
DRLs:
We attempted to tackle the shortcomings of the Alpine / 2.5 stock sound system by replacing the front two speakers with higher quality/louder speakers. I can confidently say that I notice zero difference whatsoever here. We then tried to improve the workability of the head unit by junking the Alpine and replacing with the best double-din unit we knew of which was the XYZ. We also created a custom iPhone 6 holster to bring it all together. We installed a mic on the steering wheel which I have used exactly 1 time ever. Overall – I’m pleased with the look and feel of the head unit. The integration with the iPhone is far better but that’s mostly because there’s a nice holster for it and by selecting the auxiliary input (from the phone) I can easily play Soundcloud, Spotify, Youtube, etc. It also puts the image on the head unit of the display for the tracks that are playing. So there’s a much more integrated feeling here. The holster is custom so when the iPhone 7 comes out there’s potential that I’ll have to build a new one. But that’s not a big deal and I honestly think the form factor of the iPhone 6 can last for many years. If you are moderately happy with the Alpine and you don’t want to drop $3K, I think this is something you can go either way on.
New Head Unit:
Nifty iPhone holster (the phone fits snugly and integrates great with the head unit):
Finally. . . And most importantly. . . The creaking, cracking, squeaking, rickety cabin. La Jolla Audio took, literally, everything out of the car to go after this. The doors were opened and completely padded. Dynomat was put on every surface that could be covered. Tape was put throughout the dash to reduce rubbing/creaking. The vehicle was in the shop for 3-days and worked on open till close over this period. When I got the car back, there was some improvement. But after a week, I needed to bring it back in as there was still clicking/cracking. They worked on it another 24 hours. A week after that, I needed to bring it back in as there was still clicking/cracking. They worked on it another 24 hours. There was still creaking and squeaking. They advised me that the issue was a Tesla/warranty issue. I had the owner of the La Jolla Audio go into Tesla and discuss the creaking directly with Tesla. At this stage, La Jolla Audio was breaking even with all the materials/labor they had thrown at this. Not surprisingly, they were “done” with me. Tesla fixed the main problem – but about a month later, the clicking/creaking returned. Bottom line now that it’s been almost 2 years? No overall noticeable improvement. And, in fact, new and even more upsetting creaking has arose. ARGH! So I don’t know if there’s really anything that at least this much investment can do about fixing this nagging problem. And I'm also acutely aware that I'm the one with the super high expectations here. That is. . . Nobody seems to notice any noises the way I do on the vehicle. The vehicle is very much my daily driver (min 30 miles per day) and it now has almost (gulp) 60K miles on it and I still enjoy it just as much as the day I got it.
I absolutely adore my Roadster! But I love it a lot more when we’re on a smooth road and the top is off so you can’t hear the creaking. The DRLs are super great and not expensive. The new head unit looks great and the iPhone integration is seamless and looks great in the little holster.
Hope this helps! And if there’s any revolutionary recommendations from the forum on what folks have done to eliminate the rattles, I’m all ears.
