Team-BHP - ICE upgrade : Mahindra XUV500

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- - ICE upgrade : Mahindra XUV500 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-entertainment/110242-ice-upgrade-mahindra-xuv500-12.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacob_inasu@gma (Post 3852412)

Did google it. I'm not here to argue. Just share information and maybe it benefits someone.

Any door installation of speakers is nothing but a free air \ infinite baffle speaker installation and hence almost all the component speakers are IB speakers. The basic requirement of an IB is to avoid mixing of the front and back waves to avoid cancellation, for that the panel on which the speaker is mounted should be sealed from any leaks like the following image. Hope you will understand what need to be done in your setup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ::CMS:: (Post 3852449)

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Got it! Thats exactly whats been done. Atleast tried to close off most of the openings, however, there were a couple of small openings where it was difficult to get them closed off.

The foam you saw in one of the pictures earlier was on the boot, there are no speakers there, just rattling and vibrations coming in from the subs, therefore the foam is added as a layer between the door pad and the door to reduce it.

For folks looking for a minimal modification way to fix the hollow/tinny sound from the stock HU/speakers, simply plug in an under seat Subwoofer

It took me all of 1 hour from start to finish and the end result is a much richer and fuller sound

I used a Blaupunkt XLF 200-A underseat subwoofer (approx 11K) with line level inputs
The wiring was quite straighforward - The kit comes with the power cables
I added an in-line fuse at the battery tap and ran the power cable through the existing firewall

The speaker level input was tapped from the front right door without cutting any harness
The entire job required removal of just two fiber panels (the XUV-500 footlight panel and the panel next to the front door) to route the cables and the door panel to tap into the speaker output

The end result will not please an audiophile but the cost+effort to improvement ratio is very very high
vocals now are a lot more richer (which was my biggest complaint with the stock setup) and obviously bass beats are a lot more pronounced

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacob_inasu@gma (Post 3852104)

Hey Soumen, thank you for sharing the link for Harmonixx, I briefly interacted with him over mails. The next couple of lines here is to benefit those who want to pick up an XUV 500 and upgrade the head unit and speakers at a cost that does not tear any innerwear:)

Variant decision:

Having gone through many many threads I was a little concerned on the purchase of an XUV 500 mainly because of the lack of information on ICE upgrade. I listen to music only while driving and I do a lot of long trips, music becomes essential. Options were to either pick up a second hand fortuner or a brand new XUV 500, W6 onwards, the infotainment comes into play and along with it other electronic gadgetry that might require to retain the OEM unit. I made up my mind about W4 variant - in this variant, there is a music system, though the display is a small LCD screen - where information is shown like a calculator. The best part of it, it has space for a 2DIN allocated to it as well, I have shown the picture in my previous posts here in this topic.

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ICE Install:

Anyway, I picked up a 2DIN - Pioneer AVH 275BT, took it to the showroom. The initial response from the accessories manager was that it cannot be done cause there is space only for a single DIN (He wans't aware that the latest XUV's W4 variant had space for a 2DIN), having proved him wrong and showing him the 2DIN space, he took on the job of fitting it into the car. And guess what!! It fits perfectly ;-) ok thats a little too much, it fits right, though there is a little silver shown on the side (you can only see this if you concentrate for it), anyway I was really happy with the job done, no warranty issues cause I got it done at the showroom. This was the most technical part of it, cause the speakers can be fitted anywhere.

I decided to reuse my existing speakers and amplifiers from my previous car, its pretty decent system. Went to Satya from EVO, his biggest concern was the replacement of the head unit, which I had sorted out for him. Apart from that based on my previous experience with him, I took the big plunge. Attaching the pictures from the install. I am not sure how I can add a video to this, would like to share the quality of music also. I'm in Bangalore, anyone interested, let me know. I'm in Mahadevpure. I am happy with the install, there are a few things which I am not happy about, but I guess thats because I got the install done in a brand new car. The job was done very well, Satya has dedicated boys with him, though they appear unapproachable, I was gladly surprised how they went about the install. I would recommend him anytime. A couple of things, damping mats - this is a big question for everyone here, I didnt have the budgets for damping mats and therefore decided to go with a foam sheet to cut noise and rattles. I must say its done a pretty good job. Costs much cheaper than mats, gets the job done. Mats also add weight to the doors, I'm not sure how sturdy the XUV 500 doors are :-), I'm no audiophile, though my choices of genres are varied from country, to regional to eletcro during those show off times ;-) and the system does its job. I'm a lay man speaking, don't have degrees to support my choices and decisions made - ultimately its my decision and I'm happy.

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Driving:

I haven't fully opened her up as yet, letting it run in. Just completed about 1500 kms. Trying to get a couple of long trips in before 5000kms. Nothing much to add her apart from what has already been discussed in detail, the steering column rubbing against the foot, difficultly to get it into 1st and 2nd, no power in 1st and 2nd, surprised power in 3rd, etc. Over all I'm happy, still getting used to the wide body of the car.

Customisation:

I decided to go with a black and white look, did a computer generated image of the same before I went all out to spend that kind of money. Here are a pics from concept to actual.

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Will share an update soon. Hope my experience with ICE upgrade helps someone.

Thank you.

Hi Jacob, nice upgrade done. Please share the details of the alloy wheels. Where you got them and the cost

Quote:

Originally Posted by tirthankard77 (Post 3858435)

Hi Jacob, nice upgrade done. Please share the details of the alloy wheels. Where you got them and the cost

I picked these up at jc road, the first shop on the left with lots of alloys and tyres stacked outside. You will see a crowd. Car Sringar is the name. I paid rs. 33500 for a set of 4. It's got tuff written on the alloy and the cover says stallion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhi182 (Post 3853594)

The end result will not please an audiophile but the cost+effort to improvement ratio is very very high
vocals now are a lot more richer (which was my biggest complaint with the stock setup) and obviously bass beats are a lot more pronounced

Interesting point. I agree this would atleast give more depth to the music. But how about mid bass? the stock speakers tend to muddle the sound a lot even at little bit higher volume. How does the setup sound with little bit higher volume? Maybe this upgrade plus component change on the front doors might be a good enough update for most without having to change wiring etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supertinu (Post 3862516)

No, the mid bass hasn't improved by much.. Having said that, by keeping the x-over at the highest (150 hz IIRC), the vocals have improved significantly and the non existent lows of course are far better than stock
Given my past experience with meddling with audio on my older cars, I doubt a plain swap of existing speakers with better components would deliver much of an improvement on this front unless you choose ultra sensitive speakers (I think the HU is not capable of driving good speakers through the entire frequency range)
This basic, cheap and hassle free upgrade however gets the audio up from my older subjective rating of 2/10 (hollow) to 5.5/10 (fairly rich but with lack of any soundstage/clear mid-range) and that is quite a feat for the amount of money/effort spent

PS: Regarding my subjective ratings, I consider myself a reasonable judge of good SQ when it comes to my home audio setup (I use a set of marantz monoblocks to power a set of KEF towers for my audio room stereo setup and a 5.1 setup for my living room consisting of Klipsch towers, center and sub and Bose surrounds (yeah, Bose is not as bad as the Interwebs would have you believe))
Personally, I am not a big fan of spending too much effort and money on car audio since the acoustic limitations within a car and the ambient noise would never yield a really good setup so this basic upgrade did the trick for me.. But then that's just me

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacob_inasu@gma (Post 3852104)

Customisation:
I decided to go with a black and white look, did a computer generated image of the same before I went all out to spend that kind of money. Here are a pics from concept to actual.

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Will share an update soon. Hope my experience with ICE upgrade helps someone.

Thank you.

That's a cool mod that you have done on your XUV5OO, Jacob. Really liking your black on white. clap:

I have some queries regarding your external mods.

First, is that a pint job or a vinyl job?
And second, what is the tyre and rim size? Have you upsized your wheels or is it just an impression because of the tyres?

Regards,
Debasish.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhi182 (Post 3863000)

PS: Regarding my subjective ratings, I consider myself a reasonable judge of good SQ when it comes to my home audio setup (I use a set of marantz monoblocks to power a set of KEF towers for my audio room stereo setup and a 5.1 setup for my living room consisting of Klipsch towers, center and sub and Bose surrounds (yeah, Bose is not as bad as the Interwebs would have you believe))
Personally, I am not a big fan of spending too much effort and money on car audio since the acoustic limitations within a car and the ambient noise would never yield a really good setup so this basic upgrade did the trick for me.. But then that's just me

Thanks Abhi for your detailed explanation. Btw I was not doubting your audiophile abilities but good to know that you take your music seriously :thumbs up. I agree that stock HU maynot be able to power better speakers without an amp. I had similar experience with Infinity CS comps on my Figo, they came to life only after I added an amp.

Do share some pics of the setup to show the subwoofer placed under the seat if possible. I also want to upgrade the existing setup but at the expense of minimal intervention. Given that XUV is not the most well built car on the inside, I am little apprehensive of opening door panels etc and add rattles. Doesnt matter how good a installer I dont think they treat the cars with same amount of respect as required and tend to do hurried job of opening and closing door panels.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supertinu (Post 3864369)

Not a problem - The car is used by my wife so can take a pic only in the evening
However, the subwoofer is very low profile and can fit under much smaller seats than the one in XUV and there is ample space under the seat to almost fit two of these

I fit the sub myself and it took around an hour to do so - Needless to say that I gave the amount of respect the panels (including the door panel) needed to go back in stock condition

To open the door panel, you need to use a hard plastic tool (credit card will also do) to pry open the outer panel on the door handle that will reveal a few screws underneath
Open the screws and start gently prying the door panel from the bottom edge

Once the panel starts coming out, you will need to remove the door handle/lock cables and i think 4 connectors to get access to the speaker

In terms of difficulty, i'd rate it as a low complexity job as long as you have done some basic DIY

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpaul (Post 3864238)

Thanks Debasish - the Black is stickering from 3M (Matte Black) the gloss is almost twice of what they charged me for Matte, therefore went with Matte black. The tyre is OEM (JK Tyre - that comes with W4), only the alloys have been changed, the offset on the alloys makes the tyre look bigger, though it will come to perspective when you look at it from the back of the car.

@jacob_inasu@gma saw you post for XUV W4 ICE upgrade was very impressed seeing that. Have couple of queries regarding the fitment
1. The existing buttons such as volume, channel select, CD slot still usable or it is dummy?
2. Have you installed Rear camera and parking sensor and integrated to the ICE and how does it work

Need help in ICEing my XUV (2014 W8). I want to keep HU the same, not keen on a subwoofer eating into space and my budget is upto 50k.
Total ICE noob, Please help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aniket6 (Post 3895464)

Need help in ICEing my XUV (2014 W8). I want to keep HU the same, not keen on a subwoofer eating into space and my budget is upto 50k.
Total ICE noob, Please help.

If you don't need a subwoofwr then you can consider adding pair of component speakers for front and rear and use a 4 channel amplifier to power them. You might need a hi-lo converter and your installer should be able to help you with that and quality wiring. Brands you can consider would depend on your music taste.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sree_hari82 (Post 3894438)

@jacob_inasu@gma saw you post for XUV W4 ICE upgrade was very impressed seeing that. Have couple of queries regarding the fitment

1. The existing buttons such as volume, channel select, CD slot still usable or it is dummy?
2. Have you installed Rear camera and parking sensor and integrated to the ICE and how does it work

1. The existing buttons are all dummy. Couldn't really do much here. They just exist.:-)

2. Yes I've installed a rear view camera and parking sensor which is integrated to the HU. I think there is an option that allows you to integrate it.

The one thing that I changed was the USB port which exists in the car, I had got the team to plug the usb into that slot from the HU. Looks neat from the outside though at the backend they have used some hard glue to fix it.