Honda Civic Full In-Car Entertainment (ICE) System Install

Replace the four factory speakers with Kenwood 17cm (6.5") units - a component set up front and coaxials in the rear. This lifts overall quality but also exposes the weak amplification of the factory head unit, confirming that external amps are needed. Note early on that this head unit has no pre-outs, which dictates how every amplified stage downstream is fed.

Take a heavy-gauge cable (10mm2 is more than adequate, though stiff and awkward to work) from the positive battery terminal, fitting an in-line fuse within a few inches of the post. Drill a clean hole through the plastic battery terminal cover so the cable exits tidily. Instead of drilling the firewall, pass the cable into the cabin through an existing main wiring-loom grommet; on this car it sits high in the driver's footwell, behind the glovebox near the centre-console line (mirror the location for a LHD car). Getting the cable through the bulkhead is the slow, awkward part - allow a couple of hours for it alone.

Give the amplifiers and video gear a clean ground. A factory stud on the passenger-side inner wing serves well for the visual equipment; keep the amplifier earth leads short and bonded to bare metal for a reliable return.

With no pre-outs to work from, tap the amplifier signal off the head unit's speaker wiring. Use an Autoleads SOT adaptor lead so the original factory connector never has to be cut. Route the speaker-level lines rearward into the amp's high-level inputs, then loop back to the head unit to pick the signal up again. For the powered sub, use the high-level-to-phono adaptor supplied with the Pioneer, T-ing off the same high-level feed that drives the 4-channel amp.

Locate the Sony 4-channel amp (XM-SD14X) and the Pioneer powered sub (TS-WX11A) beneath the front seats. Secure the sub with self-tapping screws rather than trusting velcro, whose adhesive can let go with the unit hanging inverted. Keeping both units under the seats frees the boot and places the sub inside the cabin, where it works more effectively. Two things to plan for: the seats will only return to their lowest position once the wiring bulk is dressed neatly, and an inverted amp can build heat. In practice the owner reported no failures across a 1700-mile trip and show sessions of up to 4 hours, aided by air-conditioning airflow moving under the seats while driving.

The amps need a switched trigger so they power up only with the head unit. The cleanest source is the aerial (antenna) amplifier power wire at the head unit, which is live only when the head unit is on. If you would rather not pull the dash, an alternative is the switched 12V accessory feed found behind the cigarette lighter - fuse this individually, and remember it is rated to only about 10A. Since you already need to be at the head unit for the high-level taps, picking the remote up there is usually the simplest route.

The Pioneer sub comes with a remote bass controller. Run its cable to a spot that is easy to reach from the driver's seat; the roll-top drawer that houses the cupholders is a tidy home for it.

To fit a DVD player and PlayStation 2 in the glovebox area, take the glovebox out completely. Its fixings are: two screws, a pair of plastic studs at the front lip, two bolts under the dash end panel, a further bolt that only becomes visible once the centre console is removed, and a concealed screw holding the rear of the box to a hanger bracket. The hidden rear fixing is the one most people miss - find it before forcing anything loose. If the box simply will not come out, the units can instead be squeezed into the gap between the head unit and its lower mounting bracket.

Fit a USB extension and a remote reset button for the console in the driver's armrest cubby (USB-based controllers, such as the Buzz pads, need this, unlike plug-and-play wireless pads). Run the DVD player's infrared receiver eye down the centre console to the rear so the wireless remote works from the back seats.

Mount two 6.5" screens in the front seat backs. These were fitted professionally (by Veba) using flush mounts, which is worth considering because the seat-back trim clips are fragile - three large, stiff fixings across the top and smaller clips running down the non-airbag side, all easily snapped. Give each screen an infrared transmitter for wireless headphones, and wire both to an AV switcher mounted above the passenger-side kick panel so either source can be shown on either screen.

Finally, fit the Dension ice>Link iPod interface, running its lead to the silver cubby beneath the radio. A genuine Honda connector is required (about GBP 50 used). With that in hand, the interface can be plugged into the rear of the head unit without pulling the head unit out, and the control box tucked into the space between the head unit and its lower bracket - a roughly 90-minute job done yourself.