The long road for Natan Budiono has taken him from his native country of Indonesia to a position as a senior acoustics engineer for Panasonic Automotive System Company of America in Michigan. Driven to pursue his goals and provide for his family, Budiono’s life story gives new meaning to the word passion.

Budiono’s passion for audio was originally fostered during his teenage years in Indonesia where he installed his first system in his parent’s brand new 1978 Honda Civic. After his first successful endeavor, he began installing systems in his friends’ vehicles. Once he graduated high school, he enrolled in the electrical engineering program at Milwaukee School of Engineering in Michigan, where he discovered his interests were not limited to car audio but included SCCA SOLO 2 racing and radio control car racing. Eight years later, Budiono graduated and attempted to enter the work force during a tough time for engineering grads, the middle of the Gulf War. When the challenge to find work in engineering became too great, Budiono fell back on the skills he developed in Indonesia and began working as an installer at the local car audio shop. His skillful hands and quick learning ability helped him become the shop’s installation trainer.

Looking to further his potential, Budiono decided to open his own business. He and his wife, Emma, opened Enbies’ Installation Center, Inc., in Milwaukee, WI. They built a successful business and reputation, serving the likes of Latrell Sprewell and Glen Robinson. Budiono’s love for car audio flourished after a vehicle that he built and designed for a customer won three first-place finishes at its first IASCA competition, producing an immediate attraction to car audio competition. Finding the taste of success irresistible, Budiono was compelled to design a system for his personal 1994 Suzuki Swift Gti to compete in both IASCA and USACi organizations. Over the next couple of years, Budiono produced strong results at the World Championships ranging from 7th to 2nd place until he became USACi World Champion in 1999. His elation was short lived as misfortune struck in 2000 when he became a victim of an armed robber at his shop in Milwaukee. This proved to be a turning point in his life.

Budiono’s level-headedness and optimism kept him afloat and led him down a new path. He decided to set his hobby aside and pursue his professional engineering career once again. Being the optimist he is, Budiono chose to have his cake and eat it too. Disassociated from his engineering discipline for so long, Budiono worried that he might have to relive his Gulf War job-search frustrations until he applied for a job at Pioneer OEM-Division in 2001. He was able to relate his work experience to the position and landed the job. After settling into his new profession, Budiono ended his two-year sabbatical from competition and focused once again on obtaining a World Championship title. He returned with reckless abandonment in 2002 and captured the third consecutive championship title with his 2000 Toyota Echo in 2004. His stint at Pioneer had lasted for three years when he took a job at Panasonic Automotive Company of America in 2004. Now loaded with two championship vehicles, Budiono, his wife Emma and sons Ari and Timo take both cars to championship events making it one dedicated family affair.

CA&E: Your two competition vehicles are both compact cars; can you comment on your selection of these vehicles and if they were specifically chosen for audio competition? Natan Budiono: The Suzuki Swift Gti was the only car that I owned at that time. I realized that it was a small car, which would make it very challenging to create a great sounding system. This car went through many different design evolutions until I found Image Dynamics and their horn-loaded driver that made the car sound perfect.

The Toyota Echo was actually specifically chosen for my latest audio system because of the layout of its interior. As soon as the Echo hit the market I purchased one immediately. I always wanted to have an up-front subwoofer in my audio system and the Echo presented the perfect opportunity with its dash design. The installation was done with very minor dash modification. Currently I am pretty happy with the way it sounds, but I still have many ideas for improving it, as everyone will see in the near future…

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