Bob, great pics! Driving across the country isn't fun, but at least you did it in a Sidewalk.

As it stands to date, I am now thinking of aborting the Sidewalk route and putting the money into the stereo. Based on my testdrives I don't think the H/K upgrade is going to be loud enough for the highways. I'm going to look at aftermarket amp and speakers this weekend and see what $1000 +/- buys me. Granted, I've changed this about 3 times a day, but right now the config looks like this:

MSCS Pepper White
Sport Package
Cold Weather Package
Cruise control
Chrome Interior
Arm Rest
LSD
Dash Surface Color
Chrono Pack

Aftermarket:
Amp/speaker
Clear Bra
Windscreen

 

I do a bit of driving between OKC and Tulsa (about 100 miles each way) and even with the top down and all the windows down, I have no problems with the H/K volume (apparently, neither do cars next to me...) Of course, your mileage may vary.

I would definitely go with the Clear Bra, though. I figure after 4000+ miles in travel we did the past three weeks, it has prevented more than a few rock chips. I am getting the wind shield treated as soon as our local guy here in town is ready to start applying it.

 

My Mini's still on order as well. I went with the DPSM and also targeted $1,000 for an after market upgrade (my upgrade is for bass which gets lost on highways with the top down.

Here is the amp and speaker:
Alpine MRP-M650 600 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms
Kicker Solo-Baric L5 06S12L54 12" Dual 4-ohm Voice Coil Woofer
Q-Logic QLH-1.0012SS/C-S12SQ Single 12" Hatch Box/Baffle Combo
Tsunami Lite Wave Capacitor 1.2-farad with Blue LCD Meter

I didn't know there is a clear bra - can you drop a link?

 

I would really like the H/K to work out. It will save me about $1000 which I can spend on other options. However, if it doesn't the choices for aftermarket and/or DPSM are numerous, expensive, and without a way to compare to representative conditions. There seems to be no question aftermarket is going to provide far greater sound, the problem is more of spending more than I need to. I have been to 3 aftermarket stores so far, and reoccurring theme is that the salesmen are extremely sleazy. Their main focus no matter what I tell them is to bump me into more, more, more.

I do plan on driving another mini this weekend to test the H/K again. I've read a few threads where they explained that the digital equalizer has settings which could make a difference, especially if the settings I was basing my decision on were not optimum.

Another thing I need to do is discuss the issue with my insurance co. In CO, aftermarket add-ins are not covered (found this out the hard way). Maybe I can add a rider to the policy to cover it.

This issue is driving me crazy.

 

Just bought a Sidewalk/JCW. You can live without the JCW (though I absolutely love that little kick in the pants every time I let the clutch out) but the Sidewalk package is too good a deal to let go. I have the Malt Brown seats with the pepper white exterior and the car turns heads every time. Combine that with chrome outside/chromeline interior and you have a "classic" car for not much more than what you had listed. You should smell the leather...like a new baseball glove! You'll kick yourself for not doing this when you see one go by on the road!

 

Tom, any closer on those pics?

 

Well, I drove around for about an hour today and the bottom line is the H/K isn't going to cut it. I thought for a while I could live with it, but am now facing the fact that with the windows down it just doesn't have the power to get me where I need to go. Oh well. Goodbye premium package, and goodbye Sidewalk. I guess it makes things easier on one hand. So I will be ordering with the stock radio and then upgrading to either DPSM or aftermarket later.

One question which came up today involved amplifier location. It would be ideal if the future amp could go under the passenger seat where the H/K amp is located. The question is if I order the stock stereo, does the space for the amp exist? The dealer was actually the one to point this out. He was thinking out loud about the fact that when you order the Nav., the dvd player is under the driver seat. The car we were looking at didn't have the Nav., and also didn't have the "clamshell" to accommodate it. We were wondering if the same is true for the H/K amp. If I go stock, will the space for the amp be included under the passenger seat?