Jump to content
  •  
Advertise here

Y61 SS Upgrades Help & Recommendations


Recommended Posts

14 minutes ago, Mario Cornejo said:

I've been told the same and have seen already a couple more Y61s with Squadron Pros installed as fog lights.  In my case I've used them only while driving on sand, the spread and intensity are just right.

The headlamps is another story, the bulbs I installed deliver a clear white light, which I use only as low beam while on the road.  Check this chart from Philips https://www.philips.ae/c-e/au/car-lights/headlight-bulbs/led-headlight-bulb.  You can find the LED bulbs in any car accessory shop, Philips or any other brand, they will install them on the spot for you.

Thank you for directing me to the source! Will look these up. I think the Whitevision Ultras seem to be the clear white light for the Patrol. Will enquire about them or similar profiles.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Gaurav said:

For lighting, I can say that go with bumper setup and LED bar with good brand and latest technology. Roof bar make noise and not bumper setup. With LED bar you get combo of flood (edges) and spot (center) which covers almost 150 degree with one job, one wiring and one placement. Amber and white, seek some other expert advise as I have never used Amber so far.

For head unit, double din looks classy and full of feature but it may be sensitive to regular dune bashing unless some new tech arrived in market with IP67 kind of rating.

For choice of Pioneer or Kenwood you cant go wrong, just make sure player has 4 channel and not 2 and as high watt RMS and then add a good quality amplifier (MOST IMPORTANT INVESTMENT IN SOUND SYSTEM SETUP) hope you get its importance with all caps.

For sound system @Niki has recently done some research and installation so Ill let him chime his knowledge along with our resident head of music @Frederic who is on holidays atm.

Thanks @Gaurav for bringing me into this conversation…. I now have stereo envy … 

Hey @munkybizness I have to say you are making the best first mods … audio!  We spend longer on tarmac than the dunes and being able to enjoy our music makes every journey better!  Apache Indian and trance music… I am personally grateful I am not your passenger 🤣 but that’s for a different thread (the Spotify play list discussion).

I went the path of Ground Zero products (speakers and amp).  These are not in the same pedigree of Hertz … and that’s why I have envy!  You have put together a great set of options and the fact you have a sensible budget for sound deadening is testimony to good research!  The y61 is basic by design and the sound deadening is critical!  I decided against a subwoofer even though I love bass!  So I went with the largest mid range component set up that would fit the door so put in 8” in the fronts and was only able to fit 4” in the rear!  If you likewise will not have a sub, do consider sizing a pair of your speakers slightly larger to offer a nice level of bass.  Also a 4 channel amp is ideal as if you add a sub later on a seperate amp is easy and recommended. 

a seperate GPS module is potentially overkill but not an expensive add and I have one in the FJ!  That said I use the phone via CarPlay to run Gaia and never have lost signal … I don’t use it to navigate yet as am just following the car in front and blindly trust the marshalls 🤣 .. so if you are genuinely navigating yourself then I would add the gps module from garmin!

Headunits, I wouldn’t have previously classed pioneer above alpine/kenwood/Sony for headunits .. I have typically considered them equals.  However I didn’t spend time researching actual headunit as stuck with the built in unit (not out of choice).  Wireless Apple CarPlay is desirable but if not an option a 500aed add on achieves the same (avoid Amazon options and I will share details if you need that later).  I would avoid a headunit that project out of the dash for exactly what @Gaurav warned about - sand etc!  When the weather improves and we drive with the window down, sand will get everywhere and it’s impact is real to our electronics etc.. 

I like your midrange option above- top end is wasted for our desert cruisers in my opinion.  If you consider a larger component setup for the fronts to bring you a decent amount of bass without a sub! You have an enviable setup!

As for lights … I personally decided to wait even longer and just changed the weak standard bulbs to some high powered philips ones and get a decent spread when in the middle of the convoy!  I sneak in behind or in front of @Alex Raptor or @Lakshmi Narasimhan in any convoy and you are not short of light pollution … they both throw out 20-30k of lumins for fun! :)  
 

 

  • Like (+1) 3
  • Totally Agree (+2) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, munkybizness said:

Got it! Would a straight lightbar be enough, or is it better to put in a curved bar to follow the curvature of the bumper?

Curved is always better to squeeze flood and spot in one bar.

  • Like (+1) 2
  • Thanks (+1) 1

Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, topgear said:

@Nikiwhich Philips bulb did you opt for?

I intend to do the same for my FJ. The stock ones are just not up to the job for night driving in the desert

@topgear I purchased the H4 size pro5000

there is an even brighter set, the pro9000k however I couldn’t find out if these are street legal in UAE so didn’t gamble.  If they are, these would be a better option. 

100% you will benefit from these when doing a night drive … all the advice given by the marshalls was spot on, in that if you are mid convoy you really don’t need additional lights … bumping up the weak stock headlights works perfect! 

 

  • Like (+1) 1
  • Thanks (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@munkybizness this is my cell 0554045278 feel free to what’s app me so I can send a short night clip so you can see how lights work in the dark , but there will be no strobing 🤣

  • Thanks (+1) 1
  • Haha (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Niki said:

I am personally grateful I am not your passenger

I'm certain Spotify's "Discover Weekly" algorithms hate me too, throwing them for a loop day in, day out 😆

9 hours ago, Niki said:

I went the path of Ground Zero products (speakers and amp)

Ground Zeros are awesome!  I particularly like their 4ch amps with built-in DSPs. If I'm unable to upgrade my head-unit to one that has a decent signal processor, I will be considering these. It sounds like overkill but before Spotify killed the usage of my NAS, I was already upgrading the majority of my library to FLAC, so I am considering wiring a SSD HD through the glovebox, as an external drive on the head unit. Where did you source the Ground Zeros here in Dubai?

I went down a serious rabbit hole on head units :D Sony's are easier to operate but the UI is very basic. I would get bored with it very quickly. Also, the Sony only has backlighting for the buttons in white while the Kenwoods & Pioneers allow 112. It's a tiny niggle but when the entire array on the Y61 is this shade of orange, having a white backlit button would annoy me in the time to come. But feature-wise, the Sony XAV-AX5500 is an excellent unit. 3 x 5V pre-outs, 6.95" capacitive screen and 2 camera inputs. The Pioneer DMH-Z6350BT/DMH-4660NEX have wireless CarPlay/Android Auto and the backlit colors. This is why I'm holding out for it. Otherwise, I'd pull the trigger on the Sony right away.

Thank you for the amazing advice and personal experiences. Will keep you folks posted on what decision tree I tumble down... :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, munkybizness said:

I'm certain Spotify's "Discover Weekly" algorithms hate me too, throwing them for a loop day in, day out 😆

Ground Zeros are awesome!  I particularly like their 4ch amps with built-in DSPs. If I'm unable to upgrade my head-unit to one that has a decent signal processor, I will be considering these. It sounds like overkill but before Spotify killed the usage of my NAS, I was already upgrading the majority of my library to FLAC, so I am considering wiring a SSD HD through the glovebox, as an external drive on the head unit. Where did you source the Ground Zeros here in Dubai?

I went down a serious rabbit hole on head units :D Sony's are easier to operate but the UI is very basic. I would get bored with it very quickly. Also, the Sony only has backlighting for the buttons in white while the Kenwoods & Pioneers allow 112. It's a tiny niggle but when the entire array on the Y61 is this shade of orange, having a white backlit button would annoy me in the time to come. But feature-wise, the Sony XAV-AX5500 is an excellent unit. 3 x 5V pre-outs, 6.95" capacitive screen and 2 camera inputs. The Pioneer DMH-Z6350BT/DMH-4660NEX have wireless CarPlay/Android Auto and the backlit colors. This is why I'm holding out for it. Otherwise, I'd pull the trigger on the Sony right away.

Thank you for the amazing advice and personal experiences. Will keep you folks posted on what decision tree I tumble down... :D

wow - you will genuinely make the most of this investment knowing you are holding a library in true lossless quality.  The ground Zero Amp with DSP is awesome and i just wish i went that route (it wasn't available in the store so guess what - they didn't even mention it as an option).  Ground Zero was sourced locally (drop me a whatsapp and i'll share the supplier 0551092859).  That said, it is painfully obvious in the UAE you only get advice and info on what they have ready to sell you... so this store is back to holding Rockford and Hertz so are pushing that (all are great however reinforces the value of you doing your own research!)

My opinion - please wait for the headunit that you genuinely want... even if its 6 months on the stock feeding the amp etc... its better to just get it right vs changing multiple times or having any regrets, especially seeing the care you take to go lossless and research the right setup.   @Frederic is genuinely the audio guru with competition grade setups in his youth so once he's back from holidays def catch some time with him to go through specs/designs. 

ps. for my sins i was a student in the late 90s so trance and apache indian is in my library :)  but i can longer move as fast so tastes have changed to match my pace! 

  • Like (+1) 1
  • Thanks (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No need to give any lighting ideas as there is an array of info here! However as a fellow patrol owner I wouldn’t block the airflow to the vehicle. Winter will be fine but if your driving as much as I do now in the summer then you’ll notice it’ll be best not reduce the flow of air as on long hard drives the engine temp can increase, and you will need to take time out to reduce the temp as your driving.

  • Thanks (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The topic keeps getting interesting - @munkybizness look to the right of the switch to turn on the coolbox, there is a USB port where you can attach a USB drive, I use it to play lossless audio files (e.g.: 192Khz - 24bit) without a problem, though output quality is of course not the same as through an audiophile system.

Do you think that installing a DAC, instead of changing the head unit, and of course upgrade the speakers would be another option to consider?  I researched and found this DAC: https://apogeedigital.com/blog/blog-how-to/listen-audiophile-quality-music-car-apogee-one-ios-device;

There are quite a few shops in Dubai that seem to specialize in "Car Entertainment Upgrade & Installation" ...time to do some more research 🧐

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of use