To All Alto Owners / Experts: Need suggestion about Alto ICE Installation.

[nitin.dangayach]

I just bought an Alto LXi. The ICE components were bought by me ever before buying my car :P I have everything needed to fix the things up in my new car. The HU, Rear Coaxial, Front 4" inchers, Speaker wire, HU wiring harness for alto (just to avoid that cutting of stock wires).

I bought the car from my hometown, a small place about 400km from gurgaon (the place I work and where I'll primarily keep my car). I asked a local audio fitting guy about the installation of all the stuff in my car. He did not have the MDF board for ALTO so I didnt get it fitted.

Out of curiosity I just asked him how to open the dashboard to fit the HU. He repied that in alto it needs to be cut. I was so astonished to hear that. I am not sure but I was expecting something like what I saw in my friend's i10 (no comparison though but still :P). There was a nice lookin rack that was removed to add the HU. It was really bad to hear that ALTO does not have that thing.

My question is Was the installer ignorant/incompetent or the HU can only be put after cutting out the dashboard, in ALTO ?

I know the installation is farily simple and with the wiring harness its just a piece of cake. I thought I would do it myself but later found myself stuck up with the opening of the front panel and now I am feeling really bad to hear that I need to cut something out of my new car :(

Alto users, Please share your experience about how was the install done in your car.

Also any DIY tips will be beneficial since I dont want to drive the car without a stereo and do not want anybody from my small town to TRY fixing things for me.

Thanks in advance.

OT: I have Dynamat Xtreme Door Kit lying with me. I do not think it will make much difference in ALTO so if anybody is interested in putting it for better use, in their own vehicles, I can part with it for around 4K. PM me if interested.

[DerAlte]

@nitin, you must be really disappointed about something to want to discard the Dynamat Extreme. The Alto can use some serious damping, so use it - you will feel the difference.

Most installers are never systematically trained - they just learn what they have seen another person do. If they have worked at a professional joint, one is lucky, else it is care of God! There is no reason why they wouldn't do the right things if we are telling them what to do. If you can, make a difference. Almost all the necessary information is available here - you only need to write it down and tell him what to do.

[nitin.dangayach]

Thanks deralte. OK I will keep the xtreme. What i realised when i saw my friends i10s doors shaking due to speakers in them, is that dampening is better for these kind of installs. My thought was that since i am using the 4 inchers in the dash, i do not need any door dampening. Anyway thats fine.

Please suggest me how to go about the ice installetion in my alto. I have everything with me and i m being so desperate now to get the things working. Do I really need to cut the dash?

[greenhorn]

pity the car is not in gurgaon.If you were , you'd be spoilt for choice.
Two of team bhp's finest are quite nearby, one in delhi, and one in fbd...

[nitin.dangayach]

Ok i think i will come to gurgaon without any music system :(

Now can anybody suggest me some good shop where i can get my stuff fixed?

[greenhorn]

delhi or faridabad , which is closer to you ?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by nitin.dangayach

... My thought was that since i am using the 4 inchers in the dash, i do not need any door dampening. Anyway thats fine.

Please suggest me how to go about the ice installetion in my alto. I have everything with me and i m being so desperate now to get the things working. Do I really need to cut the dash?

The door damping ('dampening' is "geela karna") will reduce the self-resonance and road noise, making the cabin quieter. You can put some on the underside of the dash around the speaker mounting - as far as the hand can reach.

Want to do it yourself? Take a deep breath and muster up some courage. Your installation is quite simple, actually; all standard components. You only have to follow instructions (and diagrams) given in the user manuals of the HU and the speakers.

All of it is (should be) connect wires, drop in and put screws. Maybe you need to make thread starter holes in plastic (a hot poker should take care of that). The only place you are likely to face a problem would be speaker connection - not sure if the wires are terminated in crimp connectors or left just cut. This would need either soldering, or crimping of spade terminals to the end of the bare wire. If you ask the service guys, I am sure they will be able to crimp the terminals for you.

Wherever you feel you are facing a problem, you could post pictures of the problem and there will be many here who will be able to solve your problem.

What say you?

Keep the speaker wire for a later upgrade (I am sure you will, some day). For the time being, use the existing harness.

[nitin.dangayach]

Well i finally installed everything on my own, including the bluetooth.
Now the next problem !*

NO THUMP.

The rear speakers have been simply placed in the boot. I couldnt find any MDF tray, will get it from gurgaon.

The front speakers are fine but the rears (polk audio db691) are major turn off. They are simply not picking up any lows.

Is it due the missing plank? I can not take that the plank adds so much bass. The NOT SO GOOD speakers in my mothers car literally kick.

Please help.

[Dhar's]

Hi Nitin,
Congrats on your new Alto. Welcome to the club.
Appreciate your DIY spirit.

For the front 4" speakers, you may open the grills using a screwdriver covered with cloth and drop down the speakers. I guess OEM speaker wiring for front speakers are standard.
Good that you have bought the wiring harness.
Rear coaxials has to be fixed to the optional parcel shelf by cutting. Unless you choose to fix it onthe boot door or rear door (which needs cutting of panels).

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by nitin.dangayach

Well i finally installed everything on my own, including the bluetooth.
Now the next problem !*

NO THUMP.

The rear speakers have been simply placed in the boot. I couldnt find any MDF tray, will get it from gurgaon.

The front speakers are fine but the rears (polk audio db691) are major turn off. They are simply not picking up any lows. ...

Wonderful, Nitin, that's the way to go (other than keeping the rear speakers just like that)!

We may not be understanding you correctly ("rear speakers have been simply placed in the boot"), but does it really mean the speakers are just lying there without any mounting??? O bhai, in that arrangement, there CAN BE NO THUMP! You either need a box (sealed mounting) or a parcel tray (infinite baffle mounting), so that the rear wave of the speaker does not meet the front wave and cancel out the waves (happens more at low frequencies). Quick, get a parcel tray at least! Polk db691 may be bright, but thump they really do when mounted properly.

[nitin.dangayach]

LOL Yes. You got it right. "The speakers were just lying there without any mounting"

I came to gurgaon only on the front speakers. Bad time man..!!

But finally I added everything from a small shop in gurgaon. The difference was amazing. Addition of the MDF tray literally made the things go mad. The Polks really groove now. Yeah !

I also put some nice looking seat covers. The color scheme was chosen to compliment the interior of the Alto.

Something which did not really do well was the sunfilm. The agreed to put Lumar to all the five locations in 1800 bucks(Garware was for 850 bucks so I prefered lumar). It was OK type thing. I chose 70% visibility. The final outcome was like I haven't put anything. I wished to add a little tint which did not anyway come up. The second disappointment was the rear glass film. The guy insisted me to put the film in 3 parts which I simply didnt want to. I convinced him to put the film in only one single piece. But then his workers were not competent enough to put the film in the right way. Now there are some air spaces and folds on both the right and left ends of the rear pane. Not a very pleasing thing to see.

I am little out of budget now so planning to keep the things as they are for a while. Will try to post the pics after a week or so since I forgot my camera at my hometown.

[cyclops]

Hey congrats on your install!

Originally Posted by nitin.dangayach

But finally I added everything from a small shop in gurgaon. The difference was amazing. Addition of the MDF tray literally made the things go mad. The Polks really groove now. Yeah !

But I thought the new alto is not having a provision for fitting a parcel tray. There are no slots for fitting it in. Can you post a pic of the install?

Originally Posted by nitin.dangayach

The guy insisted me to put the film in 3 parts which I simply didnt want to. I convinced him to put the film in only one single piece. But then his workers were not competent enough to put the film in the right way. Now there are some air spaces and folds on both the right and left ends of the rear pane. Not a very pleasing thing to see.

actually putting the film in three parts helps the film to set properly on the curved rear glass. thats the reason the installer cuts it into 3 parts. one single piece wont get set properly on the curves.

[nitin.dangayach]

Originally Posted by cyclops

Hey congrats on your install!

Thanks a lot buddy.

Originally Posted by cyclops

But I thought the new alto is not having a provision for fitting a parcel tray. There are no slots for fitting it in. Can you post a pic of the install?

Yes the alto doesnot have any provision for the real parcel tray. The guy fixed the tray with the help of a a pice of ANGEL IRON. The pics will make that more clear.
I'll post the pics after 30th since I forgot my camera at my home.

Originally Posted by cyclops

actually putting the film in three parts helps the film to set properly on the curved rear glass. thats the reason the installer cuts it into 3 parts. one single piece wont get set properly on the curves.

Yes that guy told me that. But I didnt want my car to look so bad> I really hated those two separation in the middle of the rear pane. But now I feel that was better :P My install looks even bad.


And what about the price ? 1800 for llumar. I am not sure which model he used but I checked from the website that all models are cutting out at least 30% of solar hear and 95% UV. Not bad in abstract. What say ?