[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by thumpmeister

Hey alstan,

Congrats & many more miles to burn on ur Bea(u)t(y)!!!

have been reading ur posts ... im 5'9 .have taken the Beat TD once but am not so sure abt the road visibility.... u think its more fun to drive dan the Figo?

Originally Posted by akshatverma1979

Dont worry about the visibility if you're 5'9".You'll have no trouble at all.Also it's definitely more fun to drive than the petrol figo.diesel is another thing altogether.

Hey dude, with akshat completely. I am 5'11". When I first sat in the driver's seat of this car, I had mixed feelings on the visibility front. I was skeptical, nervous, alert etc etc, but later got used to the dynamics of the car and my judgement does all the manouvering, though the bonnet restricts complete visibility, I get a feeling that I am driving a 'big car' and it feels real good.

But the A pillar is a blind spot when it comes to looking before turning. Have to do a little bit of leaning forward or backwards to get visibilty from what the A pillar blocks me from.

Overall it is a wonderful city car with a nice driving posture and road visibility.

[alstonlobo]

Two months have almost passed and these are the pics post the wash she got today, Amway shampoo, F1 Carnauba wax, F1 dashboard cleaner, F1 tyre foam and lots of love and care, my baby still smiles with all the pampering she got today just like every Sunday

[salbin]

Originally Posted by alstonlobo

I wont be changing the stereo nor going to touch the head unit even. I will be working out a way where I will upgrade the stock speakers and install an amp and sub without hampering warranty

Waiting for your updates on speaker and amp upgrade.

[kphilip]

Hey Salbin, installed the rear suspension collars on the car?Where are you now? Cochin or bangalore?

[alstonlobo]

Here are the pics of the first installment of ICE. The goods were sourced out by my best friend Reo from Bangalore. We both made good use of the sunday at his place and did the install all ourselves.

The front coaxial speakers are 4" Boston si403 Play Smart.

The rear coaxial speakers are 6" x 4" Polk db461.

The amplifier for the sub is Hertz EP2.

The subwoofer is Rockford Fosgate r1l-1x12.

Right now I do not have the sub with me as there was no stck from the dealer in Bangalore. It should hopefully arrive this week or next week, shall keep you all posted.

We managed to hook up the rear speakers and I must tell you it is such a pain to ICE this car. Screws, plastic moulds, horrible provisions for speakers, all obstacles crossed and somehow rigged up the Polks for now. They sound awesome and do not jar at high volumes too. Crisp mids and active high frequencies. Definitely worth the upgrade for all the hassle. We were too tired after the install and had a break and decided to install the front Bostons but called it a day. The front install will be done by Reo later today as I will be in office and wont be able to help out for the install. Till then enjoy a few pics.

[alstonlobo]

Checkout the stock speakers after getting them uninstalled.

[alstonlobo]

Here is a stck picture of the sub I am planning to install. Though I do not have it with me yet, the pic is just to give you an idea

[salbin]

Originally Posted by kphilip

Hey Salbin, installed the rear suspension collars on the car?Where are you now? Cochin or bangalore?

No kphilip.
I am yet to get it done for my Beat.(may be I am lazy now a days)
Presently I am @ Bangalore.
BTW you may find my ownership review thread here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ip-report.html

[salbin]

Hey dude, I have few doubts:
- Where did you fix the 6"x4" rear inch speakers? I think the stock ones are smaller than 6x4 is it? Did you mounted it on the parcel tray?
- I remember you mentioning about trying to accomodate the sub under the seat. Is it really possible with the one you are getting?
- Is the mounting hole pitch same for both stock and new 4" front speakers?
Cost of ICEing?

[quadmaniac]

So astonlobo, the speaker upgrades alone are causing a big improvement in quality right? I.e. the HU is fine, and GM gave el cheapo speakers?

Thats good news then.. I'll plan my speaker upgrade.. but next year (budget constraints )

[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by salbin

Hey dude, I have few doubts:
- Where did you fix the 6"x4" rear inch speakers? I think the stock ones are smaller than 6x4 is it? Did you mounted it on the parcel tray?
- I remember you mentioning about trying to accomodate the sub under the seat. Is it really possible with the one you are getting?
- Is the mounting hole pitch same for both stock and new 4" front speakers?
Cost of ICEing?

Hey bro

- The stock speakers are 6" x 4". They are mounted by default on their plastic tray next to the parcel tray. I removed these speakers from their tray and replaced them with the Polk 6" x 4"

- Yes i did mention about the underseat sub. Had planned to get an active one but they were too pricey and do not play their money's worth. Then had a look at the Pioneer shallow series online but they did not appeal to me and they were too pricey yet again. So I weighed the pros and cons and thought how much I actually make use of the boot on a daily basis and the answer was nil. So I decided to go for a box sub with a decent quality and power, not that I wanna blow up the neighborhood but something that would deliver good quality sound to complete the setup. So the Rockford sub will be stacked in one corner of my boot.

- Well the front speakers fits easily and took only ten minutes to install. The rear ones were a little tricky. The hole positions on the plates on new and old speakers do not match. But ultimately managed to make use of three out of four holes for screw mounting for each speakers.

- Cost of Polk - 3600
Cost of Boston - 1600
Cost of Hertz amp - 6000
Cost of the RF sub - 8200
Cost of Scoshe RCA cable - 350

Total is a neat round up of 20000

[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by quadmaniac

So astonlobo, the speaker upgrades alone are causing a big improvement in quality right? I.e. the HU is fine, and GM gave el cheapo speakers?

Thats good news then.. I'll plan my speaker upgrade.. but next year (budget constraints )

Dude the GM speakers are extremely outdated paper cone ones. The rear ones sound ok but we can only leave it to that.

It took me weeks of research to zero down on the most suitable replacement speakers. I wanted the Infinity Electra 4.1 for the front but they were not available with the dealer and had to make do with the Bostons but all said and done, what the setup delivers now is crisp and clean mids and highs. Waiting to rig up the Sub and get that THUMP for the lows.

[salbin]

Originally Posted by alstonlobo

Hey bro
- The stock speakers are 6" x 4". They are mounted by default on their plastic tray next to the parcel tray. I removed these speakers from their tray and replaced them with the Polk 6" x 4"

Got it.
It looked smaller than 6x4 to me! That is why I asked you.

Is it okay to just replace the speakers (as quadmaniac mentioned) without the amp for getting somewhat better quality audio?

What is your openion on changing only the front speakers?

[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by salbin

Got it.
It looked smaller than 6x4 to me! That is why I asked you.

Is it okay to just replace the speakers (as quadmaniac mentioned) without the amp for getting somewhat better quality audio?

What is your openion on changing only the front speakers?

Hope this pic explains it all

Yes the speaker upgrade is sufficient and there wont be the irritating jarring at high volumes which was obvious with the stock speakers. Sound quality is crisp and clear. The setup is sufficient but if you want the thump and boom then an amplifier and a sub is definitely recommended.

Regarding changing only the front speakers, that wont make a huge difference as the rear stock ones would jar on higher volume so you might lose out on the balance in sound. But if you are on a budget constraint then you can just stick to changing the front speakers.

[quadmaniac]

Yes, so for those on a budget, just upgrading the speakers (4 x 6x4 at Rs 3600) sounds like a reasonable deal to up the SQ by a fair margin (and I'm not a basshead who likes deep thumping bass... crisp neat sound is fine by me)