so ive been trying to figure out where to put my FT-7900 in my 2018 honda civic and im going back and forth between doing a proper trunk mount with a remote head up front versus just cramming the whole radio under the dash somewhere. the car is pretty small and theres honestly not a lot of room under the dash without blocking stuff or having it look terrible.

ive seen some people do the trunk mount thing and run just the head up front and it looks really clean but im nervous about the cable run and whether ill lose any audio quality or have interference issues with all that extra wire. also not sure how to route the power if the radio is in the trunk — do people just run a dedicated line all the way from the battery back there or tap into something closer?

anyone done this on a smaller car and have opinions either way? im a general class if that matters, mostly do local repeaters and some simplex when im out hiking spots to check conditions.

done exactly this on a focus a few years back, trunk mount is the way to go honestly. yeah the cable run for the separation kit is a little annoying to route cleanly but once its done you forget about it. i ran my power cable directly from the battery all the way to the trunk — sounds like overkill but it avoids all the garbage grounds and voltage drops you get tapping into stuff under the hood or near the fuse box. just use appropriately sized wire, fuse it close to the battery, and you're good. audio through the remote head is totally fine, no issues there.

the civic has decent routing paths along the door sills if you pull the trim panels back a bit. takes an afternoon but the result looks factory almost. way better than having the radio hanging under the dash getting kicked every time you get in.

i just zip tied mine to the passenger seat rail lol. not the prettiest but it works and i can yank it out easily if i need to. probably not helpful for what you're going for but just saying there are options between full trunk install and under-dash if you want something temporary while you figure it out