Upgrading From Std To Prem. Sound

[Shermanator2]

Well its more than that to be honest- As For starters I got it with the six in dash stacker unit with the TFT screen upgrade. Basically in a nutshell it is identical to the Factory Premium Sound Ford supply with the DSP settings e.t.c but without the pillar tweeters and amps and subwoofers etc. However I don't know about the pillar tweeters- but you can add your own amps, speakers and woofers at a later date. You have to understand that ASL are actually affliliated with Ford- they are the ones that repairs headunits and anything to do with the ICC. So in actual fact nothing is compromised in warranty issues.

If your thinking of if its a case of putting in a $150 buck TFT screen and a facia its alot more involved than that. As far as I am aware its a whole entire unit in itself and it is apprently connected to the engine management computer- hence the reason why if you remove it the car won't start. What I can gather is some form of reprogramming is also done and as well as a software upgrade for it to all work with the air-conditioning etc. All in all I am not going to state that its cheap option, but for someone who missed out on getting premium sound or doesnt have premium sound then its a worth while upgrade. I went to Ford the other day just to get a quote from them to install premium sound and was told to trade in my car for another one that has it already built in. I am sure they know of ASL because that's their ICC service provider, but are either not willing to inform us or don't know they are doing this.

I know the price is steep, but I have gone to Autobahn and Strathfield etc and investgated compatible head-units. All of them come back and say that they find it extreamly difficult to incorperate the head-units with the ICC. In other words they won't touch it. So that leaves me thinking what choices do I have?

As I said in my previous post I have noticed a big difference in the sound quality compared to the old unit, even though I don't have the speaker upgrades yet. At least for now everthing appears factory and in my opinion it is factory minus the speaker upgrades.

[Shermanator2]

Ok after going through my Ford manual I have found that their is a number of ICC setups going for the Falcon range. First starting of with Standard ICC with standard Single CD, Secondly their is Standard ICC with 6 Stack, Thirdly Color TFT with 6 Stack CD (Premium?), Fourth Color TFT with 6 Stack plus Dual Climate Control. It is really confusing to tell the least. In the manual Premium is refered to the one with Dual Climate control but as I am aware premium sound is also refered to one with Color TFT and 6 Stack CD. IN my opinion FORD uses the word PREMIUM too much!!

[johno1au]

So all they add is the bigger fascia and a Colour TFT?

Colour TFT panels in 6.5" are $150 for a good quality Sharp unit.

The Fascia is $120 or so.

Or is some special unit required to get the additional info onto the display?

If it still uses the same connection and just some software upgrade from a dealer.  The price seems to be to dear.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If it was that simple I think everybody would be offering this. Try it and let me know how you go?

[johno1au]

I Looked into it on my last car.

I spoke to a wrecker, he had a couple of wrecks with Premium sound in them and was quoting around $1500 for the whole lot ICC loom and speakers etc But it would be a big job!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Even if you get them form the wreckers, they will not simply work once you fit in your car

Cheers