Frayz's Inferno 182 - Back in the old flame

[frayz]

Okay so guessing i'd better update this as i haven't for a while.

I had been investigating making the Clio a little bit more user friendly day to day in terms of interior comfort and sound. Both sound deadening to make the car feel a little more premium, but whilst i was at it to start collecting some bits to lift the Clios audio a little too.
This eventually lead to to using the lightest sound deadening i could get away with that would make a notable difference inside. I'm still yet to fully finish this project but thought id make a start at typing some of it up anyway.

Tailgate been deadened with 2 sheets of 2mm Stinger Road Block and some bass trap tiles.
Rear qtrs and inner wheel arch tubs have a layer of Dodo Hex mat 1.8mm, layer of Dodo super liner acoustic foam and again covered in bass trap tiles.
Boot floor and interior arch tubs are Dodo Hex mat 1.8mm and 7mm Super liner.
Front doors are Dodo Hex mat 1.8mm on the door skins, 7mm super liner, interior door skins are Noico 2mm in key areas.
All speaker apertures have been reinforced too and double lined with foam too. All in ive used less than 15kg of materials and using an iphone app, had quite impressive results.
Same app, same stretch of road, 50mph with the cruise control on, ive got the average noise reading in the car down from 82.6dB to 74.2dB. Now im more than aware this isnt a particulartly scientific test, but i dont need an app to tell me what a massive difference it has made to how much better the car feels to be in.

For audio i have the following:

Alpine CDE 178BT head unit
Focal AS130 front 13cm Components
Focal RCX130 rear 13cm coaxial
Focal Impulse 4.320 320w RMS 4 channel class D amp
Inphase USW300 under seat subwoofer (yet to be fitted when i do the cabin area) - I wanted the Focal, but it was larger than the space i wanted to fit it with the ultra low Recaros.

The crossovers I've mounted behind the instrument cluster and for now the amp is mounted in the glovebox. Its tiny fits in your hand and only 550g so i may mount this behind the dash at some point, but for now it was easy to get to and adjust for setting up. Power comes in via an 8 awg feed to a small 6 way piggyback fuse panel that i have mounted under the dash. This feeds both the amp and sub and gives me some headroom should i ever need a further power supply in the car.
I also spent quite some time splicing into the ISO connector and converting it to bullet connections so that i can run all of the audio via the oem wiring harness. This means i haven't cut into the oem wiring at all and as the amp is only 55w RMS per channel, its more than up to the job.


I am yet to get a dry day to have the seats out and continue the deadening of the cabin floor, so this will be done as soon as i can, and at that point i'll add the subwoofer too.

 

[frayz]

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Lovely job that. Remember one of my Escorts had this treatment and it made such a difference.

Can't believe how tiny the amp is!

 

[MLB]

Impressive update, especially on the audio front, looks like a lot of effort has gone into the wiring! Good idea to get two extra mounting points for the speakers.

I've been looking at the Alpine cde 193bt, assume that's similar to yours, does your dash screen and steering wheel stalk still work or do I need additional wiring?

 

[frayz]

Impressive update, especially on the audio front, looks like a lot of effort has gone into the wiring! Good idea to get two extra mounting points for the speakers.

I've been looking at the Alpine cde 193bt, assume that's similar to yours, does your dash screen and steering wheel stalk still work or do I need additional wiring?

My one all works as it should using the OEM stalk and remote, but you need a little adapter dongle from Connects2 that goes into the ISO connector. I would "assume" you would need the same on yours.

Cheers guys, its getting there slowly... feels like this one has taken a while to be honest. The sound deadening is so time consuming to make a half decent job on it. I'm glad i broke it down into segments.

 

[MLB]

Thank you, think I've found it, is £55 the price to pay though, more expensive than I expected?

Looks like this

 

[frayz]

Looks like they have gone up a bit. I bought mine when i first owned the car back in 2010. Lol

 

[Simon1975]

Just had to buy one for the R26 think it was around 60 with double din surround etc. Not cheap but if your going to do it do it right I guess.

 

[MLB]

I agree, might as well do it right the first time. Just wanted to know if this was the ballpark price instead of finding out later they're usually 20 quid!

 

[Simon1975]

I agree, might as well do it right the first time. Just wanted to know if this was the ballpark price instead of finding out later they're usually 20 quid!

Mine was from these people on eBay bit can't with plenty of other bits for that price but for my megane not my Clio

 

[frayz]

Dynamic sounds are good. They supplied my Focal Amp. 🙂

 

[jameswrx]

Would it not be wise to put the rear seats and parcel shelf in now you’re on this road?

When I first got my last 172 I had the seats down for a week or so (as it was full of spares) it was genuinely horrifically loud (some fandango exhaust fitted)

 

[frayz]

Would it not be wise to put the rear seats and parcel shelf in now you’re on this road?

When I first got my last 172 I had the seats down for a week or so (as it was full of spares) it was genuinely horrifically loud (some fandango exhaust fitted)

Fair point, however, I don’t use the rear seats at all and never have so pointless carting them around. I like the sound of the exhaust and the way the car feels inside without the rear seats.
I just wanted to improve the rattles and buzzing of some of the panels. These would be there regardless of rear seats present or not.

 

[MLB]

So I've been trying to figure out how to do the wiring on a setup like yours but with only basic audio experience I'm not sure I understand how it works.

Does the headunit have a seperate subwoofer output which goes direct to the subwoofer?

Then configure the crossover of the headunit as a 2 way system, put that signal through to the amplifier which then passes it on to the rear speakers and front crossover which divided the signal between the speaker and the tweeter?

 

[frayz]

Headunit to Subwoofer:

• RCAs to subwoofer
• Remote on to subwoofer
• Battery +tive to subwoofer
• Gnd to subwoofer

Headunit to amp:

• RCAs to Amp front
• RCAS to amp rear
• 
  
• Amp power out Front left to LH front crossover power in
• Crossover out Front left to ISO wiring (runs the mid driver)
• Crossover out to front left tweeter
• 
  
• Amp power out Front right to RH front crossover power in
• Crossover out Front right to ISO wiring (runs the mid driver)
• Crossover out to front right tweeter
• 
  
• Amp power out rear left to rear left ISO wiring
• Amp power out rear right to rear right ISO wiring
• 
  
• Remote on to Amp
• Battery +tive to Amp
• Gnd to Amp

Both amps will require their own 12v battery feed and earth.
Both amps will also require the feed from the remote on from the headunit, (hence the blue splitter wire i made up pictured above)


Hope that helps

 

[MLB]

Brilliant, that is exactly what I needed to know, thank you for taking the time to type that up.

 

[frayz]

Brilliant, that is exactly what I needed to know, thank you for taking the time to type that up.

No worries, if you get stuck or need any more info, drop me a PM, i'll be happy to help if i can.

 

[MLB]

Thank you, much appreciated!

Hoe much of a difference does the subwoofer actually make in combination with the focal speakers?

I also like the look of the Pioneer SPH-10BT headunit as it's got a phone holder, but it doesn't have a dedicated sub out, so would have to choose between subwoofer or rear speakers.

 

[frayz]

Thank you, much appreciated!

Hoe much of a difference does the subwoofer actually make in combination with the focal speakers?

I also like the look of the Pioneer SPH-10BT headunit as it's got a phone holder, but it doesn't have a dedicated sub out, so would have to choose between subwoofer or rear speakers.

I’ll respond later when I’ve more time. But there are ways around this. Don’t fret. 😏

 

[frayz]

@MLB Just recorded this for you quick when i pulled up at work.
Nothing fancy, just playing off the radio, sub on, vs sub off.
IMO the sub makes the biggest difference of all. The OEM speakers will play a large range of frequencies and the Focals do the same, just harder, louder and clearer. But the OEM system simply cannot play anything thats less than 200hz which is where all your baselines are, so you are getting sounds that simply were never there before.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Hoe much of a difference does the subwoofer actually make in combination with the focal speakers?

Massive..

choose between subwoofer or rear speakers.

You're not watching films in Dolby Atmos. Why would you want sound at arse level, behind you, in a car ?

Sub, and cut the bass with the LPF/HPF settings to the speakers

 

[rs 1an]

i just have my Frankie goes to Hollywood cd or radio 4 on Rob

 

[frayz]

Thank you, much appreciated!

Hoe much of a difference does the subwoofer actually make in combination with the focal speakers?

I also like the look of the Pioneer SPH-10BT headunit as it's got a phone holder, but it doesn't have a dedicated sub out, so would have to choose between subwoofer or rear speakers.

With regards to your rear speaker/sub question, this is dead easy. Add an RCA splitter cable that will allow you to fire 2 sets of RCAs from one pre-out on the back of the HU.
One set for the sub, and the other for the rear speakers. The Inphase sub has an adjustable low pass filter LPF built in, so you can alter the frequency that end, or you can do it at the headunit. But overall the sound deadening, Focals powered by an amp and sub have made a night/day difference. Yes the rears are also worth doing as they make a surprising difference too. If you have the means, do the lot. If you have to cut a corner, cut the amp out.

 

[MLB]

Thank you for that video, even in there you can hear the difference clearly. Hadn't thought that such a small sub would make such a difference, much richer sound.

I think it will be a step by step upgrade anyway so probably start with headunit and speakers and then add the sub and amp at a later point when I have more time.

Does the inphase sub have a built in amplifier or will that signal need to go through the focal amp as well after splitting the rca signal?

And (not the) last question, did you cut the speaker wires or use an adapter to keep the wiring original?

 

[frayz]

Thank you for that video, even in there you can hear the difference clearly. Hadn't thought that such a small sub would make such a difference, much richer sound.

I think it will be a step by step upgrade anyway so probably start with headunit and speakers and then add the sub and amp at a later point when I have more time.

Does the inphase sub have a built in amplifier or will that signal need to go through the focal amp as well after splitting the rca signal?

And (not the) last question, did you cut the speaker wires or use an adapter to keep the wiring original?

The sub is a sealed unit with built in 300w (150rms) amplifier. So no issues there. I cut into the ISO adapter and converted it all to bullet connectors. So that I could remove the amp at any time and revert it all to oem.

 

[MLB]

Thanks again for all the info, that looks easy enough, need to get myself some bullet connectors and measure the space under my passenger seat!

 

[frayz]

Mine is actually in the footwell behind my drivers seat because the poles are too low on the Jon Fiz bases. It’s actually the base it would foul as opposed to the seat. I wanted the Focal sub, but it was bigger again and less powerful.

 

[frayz]

Nothing much to report on WZD, still doing the daily stuff. Caught a lovely sunrise on the way to work last week so stopped to take a pic. It’s nice to finally see some sun and know that longer days and warmer weather is ahead.
With that in mind I ordered some new shoes (R888R’s) for the X3MAs so she’s just gone back on to her summer fun rubber.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Looked good today.. not sure if you saw me as you were on your way to work I assume !

 

[frayz]

Looked good today.. not sure if you saw me as you were on your way to work I assume !

I did mate, i waved as you passed me. Indeed, on route to work

 

[gambit]

Nothing much to report on WZD, still doing the daily stuff. Caught a lovely sunrise on the way to work last week so stopped to take a pic. It’s nice to finally see some sun and know that longer days and warmer weather is ahead.
With that in mind I ordered some new shoes (R888R’s) for the X3MAs so she’s just gone back on to her summer fun rubber.

View attachment 1529139View attachment 1529141View attachment 1529140

looking good, patiently waiting for new pics with the summer wheels !

 

[frayz]

looking good, patiently waiting for new pics with the summer wheels !

Haha, shes filthy at the mo bro. I'll get you some fresh ones this week.
Actually seeing as we have some nice weather, im going to uncover the Cayman and use it for work, so WZD can have a few days off

 

[frayz]

Finally took the cover off this since September. The sun is out so WZD got left at home today. 😅

 

[joe hk&uk]

Finally took the cover off this since September. The sun is out so WZD got left at home today. 😅View attachment 1530116

😯。。a MT Cayman S? Heard good things about them classified s fun toy, r they reliable mate?

 

[frayz]

😯。。a MT Cayman S? Heard good things about them classified s fun toy, r they reliable mate?

its a MT Cayman R. Yup, love it

 

[frayz]

Small but satisfying job on WZD over the last couple of days; new alloy pedals.
The existing pedals were worn and polished after 135k enthusiastic miles. I was tempted to keep the patina of the old pedals, but then I saw a lad on Facebook who had made some exact copies of the original Renaultsport items. They arrived and sure enough match the originals inc all the hole spacing exactly.
Mine were drilled off, sanded, etch primed, painted (Ford Panther black - its all I had spare lol) and new pedals riveted on.

Its a “nothing” job really, but looks nice a fresh again and ready for another 135k miles. 🙂

 

[ajracer]

Saw these this week and they look really good. Purchase imminent for me!

 

[Euan Baguette]

Looks good!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[frayz]

Dawn raid across Essex and Suffolk at first light this morning with @MrBlonde. Over 100miles covered and ended up at First Coffee in Woodbridge.
Cold, cloudy overcast day, but took some pics anyway of her.

Modern classic right here. Ha!

 

[frayz]

So yesterday I thought I’d finally finish up my sound deadening project and do the cabin floor.
I removed all the interior trim, seats and carpet and along the way was looking for clues to a creaking seat that I’d had for a while.
After removing the seat I’d found nothing out of the ordinary so pressed on with adding sound deadening to the front section of the rear bench and footwells. Then I removed the OEM seat spacers and that revealed the real damage of lockdown binge eating. 😅
My seat rail had punctured through and was cracked almost all the way around. I have many tools, but a welder isn’t one of them, so that meant getting a seat back in it to drive to a friends house. He’s a motorsport fabricator so had it Tig’d up in no time. I dusted it with Bilt Hamber Electrox to protect it.

It was getting late so decided to press on and continue deadening the whole front end. I paid particular attention to the footwells and tunnel area. Unfortunately forgot to get pics of that stage but did get some after I’d added the full foam liner.

I lined as much as I could with almost 100% coverage before refitting all the OEM NVH foams, felt and carpet. I re taped a lot of the wiring loom and made nice routings for the subwoofer wiring under the carpet keeping power/signal wiring separate.
Seats were refitted less the OEM spacers and now the Jon Foz bases are direct to the chassis seat rails.
Carpets were refitted with new clips and seats with new M8 hardware, but now I think I’ll swap the seat hardware to M10 as the chassis will take a bigger fastener. This I’ll do at a later date.

First impressions are another significant improvement in sound quality. Now the PMS is the loudest thing in the car, previously quiet, but now realise some of it was being drowned by general road noise. I can’t measure the sound in the car at the moment due to being on R888s now and they’re a noisy tyre as it is.

The sound deadening project has been a very time consuming and labour intensive job, but I’m really glad I’ve done it. Approx 20kg added all in including all the new audio, but the improvement in driving experience is huge overall.