[rajathv8]

A-Star ZXi HU DIY:

Thanks to this and few other threads on the forum, I was able to muster up the courage to execute a HU upgrade on my A-Star.

The ZXi comes with an integrated HU with AM/FM/CD and 4 speakers. The sound quality was above-average by 2009 standards when it was launched. In 2023, I still feel it is a decent setup, however the main trigger for the HU upgrade ironically was the improving highway infrastructure in the country! On one particular jaunt on the Mysore expressway, I realized how drab and boring the drive had become. The monotony is borderline dangerous. The only saving grace being good music to tap the steering wheel to and sing along. My old laptop that had the sole purpose of burning CDs had long given up the ghost. With no new CDs and a long list of MP3 on my HDD, I needed a USB capable HU with same or better sound quality.

Getting the stock HU out was easier than removing the car cover. Pry out few trims while praying to 109 gods that you don't crack them, pullout the central AC vent, unscrew the HU and yank it out - easy peasy lemon squeezy. That's when I realized that one of the clips has cunningly trekked down the dashboard cave. Next few mins involved a search and rescue roleplay to extricate the clip and then administer a few fatal beatings so that it does not get used again ever - used new clips instead.





Yellow for AC vent screws, orange for HU screws and blue for HU clips. The orange and blue are the naughty ones to watch out for. Circular black FM antenna connector and blue ISO connector visible too.



It was interesting to re-live some thoughts from my younger days while shopping around. For anyone who has been in cars of yore - Ambassadors, M800s, Esteems will know that the 1DIN HU was the star of the dashboard back in the day. That glistering shiny slab with a lovely dial that you can turn to infinity, and oh the lights! One of the few things that could light up.

My weapon of choice was a Pioneer HU. There are HUs available from Rs.1000 to Rs.7000 but most of these can be filtered out. Low end are cheap nameless models or ones with very creative and funny model names. High ends have features I don’t need. Having Pioneer equipment for my home audio setup made the selection easy. Look at the beauty - even comes with a flap to cover the ugly bits!
The HUs these days, like everyone else, have taken to intermittent fasting and the results speak for themselves. Gone are the days when one could do a bicep workout with them.





The HU was available for Rs.4800 on amazon but like every DIYer I decided to make my life harder and visited a few stores nearby. First store quoted Rs.7000 and said there is no way in this galaxy that it could be procured at a lower price. Second store was much kinder and politely said they only have touchscreens and had long stopped 1 DIN installations. Third store, much smaller than the other two, procured it for Rs.5K. This guy turned out to be a nice chap - he did not discourage me and even offered to assist if I screwed up. I did screw up and he did assist - he helped procure spare screws for the brackets

Wiring was straightforward. Black connector plugs into and came with the HU. Blue one plug onto the car's wiring harness. Read the documentation, match the following and solder away.





The battle of the brackets.
The Stock HU has a pair of brackets that need to be transferred to the new HU. Problem? They have been screwed on by Mike Tyson.
I lost a screw driver and few years of my life trying to remove these! Like any self-respecting gentleman I gave up and ordered a new set. The new ones were crooked and no matter which way I bent them, the fit just didn't seem right so I was back to square one. I had to get the stock brackets out at any cost.

Useless new brackets:


Tried WD-40, this is a wonderful liquid that works great with everything except my HU brackets despite soaking it longer than what surf recommends for ketchup stains! Next, I opened up the HU hoping to get at the screws from inside - but no banana. Lost few nights sleep and then realized that since the top was removed there was a gap between the bracket and the HU now, so I tightened the screw and it gave in. Tightening made it unjam itself somehow and I was then able to get the Mike Tyson screws out finally!
Fitted them on the new HU, all looking good.







Test fitted in the car and watched my smile exceed the width of the face it was on. Wife’s call right on que tested the BT call feature as well but have not used it since.



Kitchen cleanliness be dammed, avoiding dashboard rattles are more important. Kitchen sponge doing its part around the ISO connectors.



Final fitment. Smile by now had exceeded the width of the car and was hampering traffic flow on the adjacent road.
The HU color is a perfect match. The ugly USB stick has been replaced by a tiny black one - one would not even notice its presence.





BOM:
HU: 5000
Dash kit: 300 + 56 delivery
ISO Cable : 169
Bracket : 69
HP v222w 64GB pendrive : 389

Closing thoughts:
This DIY has certainly yielded more than what I initially hoped for.

A pleasant surprise was the ease of parts availability for a discontinued product which was not a sales success by Maruti standards. The dash trim, bracket and clips were all available on boodmo. I checked few other trims as well (in case I break them during the install) and all were available.

The sound quality has improved 2 notches, the bass is tighter and liveliness improved across all tones - I am an audio geek and can pick these up easily. The BT pairs well with my phone and I have started listening to my amazon music playlists too - something I was not planning to do.
It looks good and the black/red contrasts well with the silver.

The HU has served well already in 2000+kms of highway jaunts. Hope to jingle away to many more.

[Aditya]

Thanks for sharing, Rajathv8! Moving your post out to a new thread. A new thread means 100X the views & 100X the visibility in search engines, including Google.

@ BHPians, if you should spot any good post in an existing thread that deserves its own new thread, please report the post and we'll move it out for greater visibility.

Thank you!

[Sk8r]

Sorry for going OT, I was sitting outside a restaurant waiting for my order to be handed over to me because apparently my DIY skills are limited to getting food myself instead of through Swiggy or Zomato.

Neatly done DIY and loved your sense of humour and writing style

[xsrahul]

Loved your writing style, DIY sense and sense of orderliness. Hope the traffic flow has since resumed. Cheers and happy (s)miles

[condor]

@Rajat, nicely written - your smile was wider than you think: stretching to those who have read your post there !

Once upon a time, I had got that trim from AliExpress to do the same on my wife's A-Star. But between her interest for music and my non-use of the A-Star, the trim is sitting there. I dont know if I will ever do what I had set out to do. (A remote thought to change the car is lurking somewhere)

While the stock HU does it's job, an aftermarket HU (receiver) with an amp and may be speaker upgrades will definitely change this cute lil car.

[rajathv8]

Originally Posted by condor

While the stock HU does it's job, an aftermarket HU (receiver) with an amp and may be speaker upgrades will definitely change this cute lil car.

Changing the HU and getting a set of speakers into the rear doors for Lxi/Vxi/AT will provide significant ROI at low cost.
If you have a good audio setup you are more inclined to using it often. And this in turn, even at low volume, will mask the inevitable Maruti rattles
We can have a quick meet if you want to hear the setup in my car before making a change. It has the stock 14 year old speakers and they do a respectable job including in the bass department.

I am contemplating damping the doors next with the aim of reducing ambient noise. This will provide benefits even when the stereo is not in use.

[condor]

Originally Posted by rajathv8

If you have a good audio setup you are more inclined to using it often. And this in turn, even at low volume, will mask the inevitable Maruti rattles
We can have a quick meet if you want to hear the setup in my car before making a change. .

Good point there, about using it more often. Where do you live ?

Fortunately, we have not had any rattles as such - though the shock absorbers can do with a change in some time.

[vigneshg]

Hi rajathv8,

Congrats on the successful head unit installation! You give non-DIY-ers like me hope and inspiration to be more experimental. I'd like to get some advice from you:

I own an A-Star myself (Buying a used Suzuki Alto (A-Star) in Berlin), and I am considering installing front door speakers. Right now the car has only a pair of upward-facing speakers on the dash, and they're good strictly for listening to the news via radio.

My question to you (and any other A-Star owners out there ) is: Any idea which size speakers will fit the front and rear doors of the A-Star without any modifications?

Thanks!

[SMitra3607]

Please share the link of the new gray dashboard piece (idk what its called) in which the pioneer HU got fitted