Haakon

Hey! Starting a little build log for my tiny little car, a VW Lupo: Modified with coilover suspension and some old OEM Porsche 928 wheels. Pretty much stock outside other than that System overview: Pioneer DEX-P99RS head unit with 4-way XO, 31band eq, time alignment and more Tang Band W3-1878 3" fullrange drivers on dash playing 200hz and up Digital Designs DDW6.5 midbass drivers in doors, playing 60-200hz FI BTL N218 (fully loaded) D1 subwoofer Phoenix Gold Outlaw 1845 amp for front stage speakers SPL Dynamics ICE-3500D for N2 sub Kimber Kable 4PR speaker wires for front stage 4x Supra Dual interconnects 1/0 gauge power wires 120A stock alternator XS Power D1200 battery up front Second Skin Damplifier mats, 2x in roof, 3x in doors and quarter panels, 1x under carpet and in boot. 1/2 inch closed cell foam on top of damplifier Some pics, starting with wiring: Amp/subwoofer rack/mounting frame: (only tackwelded in these pics, will be fully TIG-welded when finalized with all braces) More to come!

Thanks for the comments guys I actually had one Sony XM2000R from before, but I got such a sweet deal on the second one that I had to buy it! Also picked up the PPI PC6600 from the same seller, but I really don't need that so I might let it go.. Also looking into getting a company car for daily driving, so the Lupo can be used only for fun

New amps for 2012! What you see here is 5 feet and 120lbs of class a/b power Also the wrap is (almost) done! Just photoshopped the sill to the vinyl colour because I have to do some work on them before wrapping. But its gonna look niiiice!

Thank you for the feedback! Always nice to hear what others think Very little This is my second attempt, first one was my Cosmo 3-rotor 20B that I did a few years ago, that did not turn out great, haha Some imperfections on that, but looked great on the move But I have been into vinyl cutting and car graphics for almost 10years now, just not been into wrapping so much yet. Have done a few roofs and hoods in carbon fiber vinyl, but not whole cars. Using really good vinyl this time though, maybe that is why it is easier 3M 1080 series car wrap vinyl:

Some more pics of the vinyl wrapping progress

Just got some new rolls of wrap vinyl from 3M: Should look like this when wrapped

When matched to the level of the components, the sound quality is actually really good! Off course the sub has so much more to give than the front speakers, so it needs to be turned down a great deal, but levelmatched and crossed over at 50hz/24db oct filter setting, it blends well with the midbass drivers. My previous sub in this car was a 90s Soundstream SPL160, which actually was one of the best SQ subs from that time, and is still highly regarded as a SQ sub, even though it was never marketed as one. Maybe that had a somewhat flatter response curve, this sub/box combo is pretty bottomheavy, but it still sounds great! Not at all boomy, very precise and effortless bass. But when the level is turned up so the amps for both components and sub run out of steam at roughly the same time, all hell breaks loose! Its the first time I've seen wheels/tires on a car actually flex/vibrate from the system? The car is pretty well dampened, with 2-4 layers of Damplifier in about all of the car, including roof, so not much rattles, but doors, windshield, rear hatch and bumper -they all flex a substantial amount, and this is with about 1kw or so, the amp will put out about 3,2kw rms @0,5ohm.. No audible port noise from the seat, and the ports are pretty close and nothing in between them and the listening position. No real port noise when standing right over them from the back either, will see how it goes with more power? Looking good so far at least.

Thank you all for the comments Tried it on the Termlab today (on music only), did just over 142 with an amp that puts out just about 1000w now, fused with a 100A fuse. That power will triple when I rewire it to 0,5ohm when I get my new 180A alt and more batteries. Did not push it either since its just been hooked up for the first time, I'll give it some time to run in first What I can tell you is that both window handles fell off today, and they are screwed in place Screwed them back on with some loctite, hopefully they will stay in place a bit longer And the sealant will be covered with a panel that extends to the sides and lower part of the trunk opening, will also make panels to extend to the sides on top. Maybe add a plexiglass top with a cutout for sub and ports later on. I trimmed the headliner in dark grey alcantara, maybe I'll use the same on the covers for the box. Took this pic in the car today, it has now travelled a distance farther than the distance to the moon! 400,000KM

A few pics, trying it with a single baffle for now, but will maybe add a second one while I'm building panels to extend out to the sides of the trunk and to the side windows. Should look okay when finished

So yesterday night I installed the N2 and the new SPL Dynamics amp and OH MY GOD!! Not run in, not set up gain properly, and wired the sub in series to get a 2ohm load since my new alt has not arrived yet, and my current setup can't support the amp at 0,5. But still, that sub is some of the most impressing things I've heard! Can't wait to have it properly run in, and about triple the power I'm now running!

Well, let's do the math: 6" round port equals 182cm2, 40cm long = 7280cm3 or 7,28 litres. Times two for two ports equals 14,56 litres = 0.51 cu.ft. So yeah.

Thanks It's my first time taking a build to a "show" level of sorts, meaning spending a good deal of money just for good looks. Trying to make it strong and fuctional at the same time. My new sub amp has arrived at the post office, picking it up in the morning SPL Dynamics ICE-3500D mono amp, 0.5ohm stable which is perfect for my D1 sub, rated at 3200W RMS at 0,5ohm. Ordered it with a remote gain control for easy adjusting from the drivers seat.

Its first and foremost for strength. I have mounted it to the box now, and I had to warm it up and use plenty of force to get it down in the middle for screwing it in place. Can't see that panel flexing when curved like that. It also looks great, but thats just a bonus When lit:

Jumping a little back and forth here, but here is some of the most recent work, I'm still building on this box for my fully loaded BLT N2 18". Box is just under 8 cubic feet before port/woofer displacement, so a bit over 7 net. Using dual 6" aeroport, just checking if it all will fit on the baffle Making the baffle dual later on after box is installed. Have to make it at the same time as the beauty panels to integrate it into the interior. Back wall will be a curved piece of 10mm acrylic, so marking up the curve to cut with a jigsaw: Made templates in adobe illustrator, and cut them in vinyl, ready to be placed on top and bottom of box: Spraypainted over the vinyl and removed it, making a permanent line to cut by: Painted the inside of the box in metallic silver, like the car. And added some custom FI graphics in vinyl on the bottom Ports not cut to size yet, so don't worry about that Dropped in the N2 to see how it looked, it actually looks tiny in this box Top view (looks like mickey mouse) Ports cut to size for a 32hz tuning (or 21hz if I block one of them )

Its past midnight, and bedtime here in Norway, so just throwing out a pic of a part of the subwoofer box before I head off to bed

Anyone up for some box build pics?

Not so much any car mods, I will tint the windows to hide the stereo, kinda hard to do that othervise since the box will be just over the windowline Other than that maybe a full vinyl wrap? The car has done 400,000km or about 250,000 miles now, and is still getting close to 70mpg, so its just a cheap moneysaver. Saving up to buy a small delivery van for my graphics business, something like a brand new VW Caddy:

Just throwing in some random pictures of the rest of the car and what has been done. When I got it, it was completely stock: First mod to the car was coilover suspension, helped a lot Maybe a little too low for crappy roads like on the island I live: Porsche wheels on, with pretty agressive camber Wrapped the roof in carbonfiber vinyl: Also did the hood; but did not think it looked quite right, too much black on the front of the car, it kinda took away from the black roof Took it off, and got blacked out headlights instead, with tinted indicators and carbonwrapped grill Wanted something different after a while, so the vinyl on the grill came off and the indicators were tinted yellow instead:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=264-902 These are the drivers I find the rated power handling quite amusing, I have used them with 10x that power and they handle it like a champ I can even cross them over at 80hz without them sounding stressed at high levels, there are a bargain basically. But they DO need some hefty eq action to sound their best, especially at a offaxis mounting like this.

I found out that I was not going to use it, I tried to give it away for free, but no one was interested, maybe because it was made for a odd speaker size, 11" subs. Had no room for it just standing around in the already small garage, so out it went. Learned a bit more of what to do and what not to do when building a fiberglass/mdf combo box, so adding some points for experience and that it. Fine by me Anyway, a N2 18" is maybe a much funner sub to have, making a pretty big box for it, about 7 cubic feet net. Tuned to 31-32hz, should hit the lows pretty good? I'm working on the box these days, it's looking pretty good I think Back to the doors, I actually came across "readymade" door panels. They were not ready. Halfway ready at most Finish was good, but fitment was rather crap to be honest. Did not fit at all, needs major surgery to fit. But they look pretty good though. For a "proper" build they need to be modified a bit, they have really flimsy mounting points and if you were to mount speakers directly to it, the whole panel would vibrate bigtime. I might make new door spacers to fit the Focal midbasses, although they are nearly 8" in reality (specced as 7"), I should be able to fit them behind the door panel, and just use the panels as trim. They look like this: and where they are supposed to be straight: The lower parts of the doora has a really big opening behind the doorpanel: so I made a cardboard template that filled this out: and transferred the template to a 8mm thick plastic sheet: This is fastened with industrial 3M VHB doublesided tape around the edges, and then a layer of Second Skin Damplifier Pro over the panel and its edges to seal it properly up. Looks like this all sealed and dampened:

I found out that I was not going to use it, I tried to give it away for free, but no one was interested, maybe because it was made for a odd speaker size, 11" subs. Had no room for it just standing around in the already small garage, so out it went. Learned a bit more of what to do and what not to do when building a fiberglass/mdf combo box, so adding some points for experience and that it. Fine by me Anyway, a N2 18" is maybe a much funner sub to have, making a pretty big box for it, about 7 cubic feet net. Tuned to 31-32hz, should hit the lows pretty good? I'm working on the box these days, it's looking pretty good I think Back to the doors, I actually came across "readymade" door panels. They were not ready. Halfway ready at most Finish was good, but fitment was rather crap to be honest. Did not fit at all, needs major surgery to fit. But they look pretty good though. For a "proper" build they need to be modified a bit, they have really flimsy mounting points and if you were to mount speakers directly to it, the whole panel would vibrate bigtime. I might make new door spacers to fit the Focal midbasses, although they are nearly 8" in reality (specced as 7"), I should be able to fit them behind the door panel, and just use the panels as trim. They look like this: and where they are supposed to be straight: The lower parts of the doora has a really big opening behind the doorpanel: so I made a cardboard template that filled this out: and transferred the template to a 8mm thick plastic sheet: This is fastened with industrial 3M VHB doublesided tape around the edges, and then a layer of Second Skin Damplifier Pro over the panel and its edges to seal it properly up. Looks like this all sealed and dampened:

I actually started building a box for the Utopias, and had it about 80% complete when I decided to use something else, haha.. I'm terribly indecisive Can show you some build pics of that box anyhow, its junked now And some amps I have (well I sold the Tru Tech Copper tube amps for $3000 a few weeks ago)

Originally all speakers were going to be Focal Utopia, from the old (and no compromise) W series, the one before the Be series they have now. I made the first door spacers for the best Focal substitute for the old W midbass drivers that I had no luck in tracking down after 2 years of searching. The Focal distributor had found the midbass capabilities of the 6" driver from the KRX3 set to be stronger than the Be utopia equivalent, the 6w3 driver. So the spacers were made to fit these. Incidentally, the Focal Audiom 6W midrange units (that I have) are exactly the same size, so I could use them for measuring. However, I found out a bit later (when the door spacers had swelled up), that I did not want to mix Utopia and K2 power drivers, and if I should build a complete Utopia W series setup, I should have all the right drivers, not use some K2 units just because I did not find any of the amazingly great 7w2 midbass drivers. So I decided to postpone the Utopia setup plans until I got hold of everything Since i also had a DD 9510G about, I decided to try out some DD midbasses also this summer I've had a setup of TangBand fullrange speakers, DD6,5 in the doors and a 9510G in a ported 1,5^ft box. But I got a good offer on the 9510, and a great price on a fully loaded N2 18" delivered from the european distributor. I only paid about $50 in between on the price I got from my used 9510G to a brand new N218 delivered to my door, it was an easy choice to make! Meanwhile, a set of Focal Utopia 180W components came up for sale in England, and this set includes the 7w2 drivers I needed, so I bought them also. So now I have my complete Utopia W setup, maybe I'll fit it all to my next car, sometime in the future: Focal Audiom TLR tweeters, Audiom 6W midranges and Utopia 7w2 midbass drivers: And I have 4x Focal Utopia 27WX subwoofers:

Made some spacers for the door speakers, was at first going to put Focal Utopia midbasses in there. Two 19mm MDF-rings glued together Mixed up some polyester resin and hardener, alot ot hardener in fact, it is NOT supposed to turn dark purple after 2 minutes Coated the mdf with resin, as mdf is not waterproof and swell up when wet. Now they can live in a door in rainy norway. Finished them with some filler and paint, they wont be seen when the new door panels are back on, but they do look a lot better like this Found the Jasper Jig to be very accurate, I got the mdf rings so precise that the speaker actually pressfits to the rings Tested with the Utopias: Sadly, even though I was sure I had made these waterresistant with the polyester coating and gloss paint, they drew in water and swelled up so much that I just had to remove them and throw them away... Started out with some new ones that needed to be deeper anyway, because of the mounting depth on the DD W6,5 drivers: Speaker adapters/spacers V2.0: Triple layers of 19mm mdf, bonded together and sealed with three thick layers of VPA, this time they shall not swell up like the first ones that were sealed with a layer of polyester. They are bonded to the doors with Sicaflex for a perfect seal. And seeing how much work it was getting the old ones off, I think they will hold up just fine being bonded only to the door metal.

Just wondering, because after measuring the space available in my small hatchback with the rear seats out, this is whats available to fit a box in. Was planning to make a box of about 8ft^ net after port and driver displacement, but just asking Have anyone tried something similar? This is for daily music playing, low(ish) power - about 2kw in a nowall setup in a very small hatchback. BTL N2 18" fully loaded is ordered and paid for, just sitting here and waiting for it to arrive. Been a month now