I have done a few "ride quality" mods these past ~2 months and I thought that I should probably post them, being that I feel like some people would want to maybe copy some of this. I will go in chronological order from the first mod to the latest mod that I have done. I always forget to take proper pictures of things as I do them so I do apologize for the lack of pictures.
1st Mod: 2 way speakers and Android Auto Stereo
So, this one was necessary for the drivability of my car. I personally cannot do almost anything without music so, imagine my surprise when I first get the car from CarMax and it has a nice Kenwood Single Din stereo. I thought maybe it will sound good so I start to do my normal music quality tests. My first song was Wolf Alice's "The Beach", an indie rock song with lots of low notes then ramps up to really high notes, then goes back to low notes. This song was actually painful to listen to. I immediately got a headache from the song so I ended up sitting in the car without music the whole 2 hour drive home from CarMax (I did not feel comfortable driving at 9pm at the time as currently I still have my learner's permit). I legitimately refused to be in the smart for the whole week until I ordered these mods from Crutchfield. These speakers were Infinity's Primus PR65012is paired with a Boss BE7ACP stereo. I don't have any pictures of the Infinitys as I already switched them out as of writing this post. The stereo works fine and I love having Android Auto when I drive. It's so convenient and I much prefer it over having my phone mounted at eye level.
Sidenote: My button bank slightly wobbles. Does anyone know how to fix this? It's not a problem it's just slightly annoying.
2nd Mod: Front Motor Mount Silicone Fill
I don't know if everyone will relate to this. Around where I live there are multiple uphills, downhills, flat roads, and slow roads that suddenly speed up. Anytime the car needed to downshift it would feel like I'm slamming on the brakes then slamming on the gas (I have since started driving in manual more) and I figured maybe the motor mount is already broken, leading to the whole bucking feeling. I removed the Motor Mount to see and it was still good, so I thought maybe I should make it stiffer. I don't really care for the vibration on idle but I wanted that huge bucking feeling to go away or at least be reduced. I read on here that someone used Windo-Weld to good effect, so I headed to Napa to buy some windshield sealant, and ended up with Silicone somehow. Filled up the entire Motor Mount then let it sit in the sun for 6 hours, in front of a fan for a day, then installed it where it proceeded to rain for 2 days. I flipped one of the bolts so that I could access it better. I cannot for the life of me lift the car high enough to use my jack stands higher than the first step. Sorry for the lack of a good picture, this picture was taken nearly a month after the installation and it was taken just to see if the silicone is still there. I took the picture right as I was about to leave so I didn't get a good angle on the mount either.
There's a bit of vibration when the car is just sitting, but nothing uncomfortable and when you start moving it goes away.
3rd Mod: Sound Deadening
Weirdly enough, this wasn't necessary but I wanted to try something fun. I already planned on sound deadening the doors for a little better audio quality, but then I took a month long vacation after the Motor Mount mod where I got to drive a 2021 Buick Encore GX for ~3 days. It didn't have the greatest sound quality, but a few things about it were interesting to me. It had a 3 cylinder engine, and it was QUIET. It made a bit more power than the Smart but still felt a little similar to drive, funnily enough. The quiet thing though, caught my eye (or should I say ears?). I knew Buick's are quiet but it made me want to try something similar on my Smart. I knew road and exhaust was basically impossible unless I did the Wheel Wells and the inside of the Hatch (I am actually planning both when I have time) but wind was possible and was my main issue with the car on the highway aside from the sway on the highway. I ordered 36 sq. ft. each of Siless Foil Backed Butyl Rubber and uxcell Adhesive Backed Closed Cell Foam, both of which were bought on Amazon. I put Butyl Rubber on the engine cover, under the seats, on the passenger side firewall, both doors, and the front and back of the roof (this one was the hardest of all). I put the Foam under the passenger side carpet, and on parts of the firewall. I knew the foam wasn't going to do much under the carpet but I used it for a kind of padding under the passenger carpet. I ended up with a car that has less wind noise on the highway than my father's Corolla iM, and I was very happy with that. It even cooled down the car to a considerable degree, as originally I always had the AC set at 3 on the lowest setting, but now it's only at 1, even in humid Maryland summer. I had part of a windshield cover in the sunroof already but the combination of these made the car genuinely cold even on a sunny 90 degree day. Again, I took barely any pictures so just try to picture it in your mind.
PLEASE NOTE: I am in no way a professional installer and I didn't even use any cutting tools. I ripped every piece instead of cutting it, put sound deadening in useless spots, and only used half of what I bought. I have however, been told that sound deadening has diminishing returns at higher coverage percentages so I'm guessing that my mistakes didn't matter much.
I actually redid the rear roof trim (2nd picture) because I realized afterwards that there are clips that go into the roof and I covered the holes. I didn't cover enough of where the engine is and I plan to do more but I just didn't at the time. All of this left me incredibly sore so I took a break before the next mod.
4th Mod: Component Speakers and Amplifier
I call this the "ultra budget semi-audiophile" mod. I purposefully tried to save as much money as possible because I know my car audio is never going to get that good. I just wanted something where I could play any song on my entire Qobuz playlist and it would sound good, at the very least. I also like bass but I didn't want a subwoofer for a few reasons being that I didn't want to compromise any of the limited space, and I was working on a tight budget. Crutchfield has a house brand named "Sound Ordnance" and they had the P-67CB in stock. I knew from my previous audio adventure that 6.5 inch speakers will fit, and although these speakers say 6.75, that's just mounting size. They also came with silk dome tweeters, which I know won't sound harsh at higher frequencies. An amplifier is a little necessary when installing component speakers (at least in my eyes), so I settled on a compact 4 channel amplifier with 45 RMS on all 4 channels. I settled on the Sony XM-S400D but it was a little smaller than I expected. I was originally going to mount the amplifier behind the passenger seat, but when I got the amplifier I realized it was much smaller than I planned. If I put it behind the passenger seat it was going to be tiny so I settled on behind the stereo. Yeah, it was so small i literally shoved it behind the stereo and that's where it sits. I didn't even mount it because it fits there so perfectly that it doesn't rattle when I'm driving. This also allowed me to use much shorter cables than I expected, aside from the cables I bought set lengths of that I didn't realize until too late. I also accidentally bought way too big cables than what I needed, but better to overdo it than under-do it in this case I guess. The tweeters had this chrome mounting hardware that I thought might blind me as I drive, but turns out it's in the perfect spot to not glare at all. I set the EQ in the stereo to an extremely bass heavy setup because I wanted that rumble feeling and the highest notes on the tweeters were a little loud even on the -3 db setting on the crossovers.
Hand for scale
5th Mod: 20mm Athena Wheel Spacers
Remember when I talked about the swaying on the highway being one of the things I don't like about driving on the highway in the Smart? This basically fixed it. Pretty self-explanatory and simple to understand. They space the wheels out, giving you a wider wheelbase, reducing the effect the wind has on the car in the left-right direction. Simple, see? I tightened the Torx bolt on the spacer as tight as I could with my small ratchet, then tightened the lug nuts to 98 lb. ft. I checked the torque multiple times just to make sure it was tight. I forgot to take a picture of them but just imagine the front wheels (165 width) are flush with the fenders. I personally love the flush look and driving in strong wind was similar to driving our Highlander. Slight swaying but nothing excessive and much less than stock.
And that's it for the past ~2 months. I wanted to upload these separately but kept putting it off so I decided on this instead. Now, you might be wondering, "Why do all these mods in 2 months and in the first ~3 months of even owning the car?" Well that's because I actually have a reason. I am moving to California and I am driving the Smart the whole way there from Maryland. Having done the trip before in out Highlander, I know there can be very strong wind and I wanted to prep the car for it so I don't panic when there is strong wind. The rest were basically just QOL (Quality of Life) mods. Sorry for the extremely long post but again, somebody might want to try some of this themselves.
I was actually in the middle of a mod until it rained, forcing me to stop and do something else as my garage is occupied with another project car. I was going to put a silicone air intake hose for the tiny upgrade in HP that I probably won't even notice.
1st Mod: 2 way speakers and Android Auto Stereo
So, this one was necessary for the drivability of my car. I personally cannot do almost anything without music so, imagine my surprise when I first get the car from CarMax and it has a nice Kenwood Single Din stereo. I thought maybe it will sound good so I start to do my normal music quality tests. My first song was Wolf Alice's "The Beach", an indie rock song with lots of low notes then ramps up to really high notes, then goes back to low notes. This song was actually painful to listen to. I immediately got a headache from the song so I ended up sitting in the car without music the whole 2 hour drive home from CarMax (I did not feel comfortable driving at 9pm at the time as currently I still have my learner's permit). I legitimately refused to be in the smart for the whole week until I ordered these mods from Crutchfield. These speakers were Infinity's Primus PR65012is paired with a Boss BE7ACP stereo. I don't have any pictures of the Infinitys as I already switched them out as of writing this post. The stereo works fine and I love having Android Auto when I drive. It's so convenient and I much prefer it over having my phone mounted at eye level.
Sidenote: My button bank slightly wobbles. Does anyone know how to fix this? It's not a problem it's just slightly annoying.
2nd Mod: Front Motor Mount Silicone Fill
I don't know if everyone will relate to this. Around where I live there are multiple uphills, downhills, flat roads, and slow roads that suddenly speed up. Anytime the car needed to downshift it would feel like I'm slamming on the brakes then slamming on the gas (I have since started driving in manual more) and I figured maybe the motor mount is already broken, leading to the whole bucking feeling. I removed the Motor Mount to see and it was still good, so I thought maybe I should make it stiffer. I don't really care for the vibration on idle but I wanted that huge bucking feeling to go away or at least be reduced. I read on here that someone used Windo-Weld to good effect, so I headed to Napa to buy some windshield sealant, and ended up with Silicone somehow. Filled up the entire Motor Mount then let it sit in the sun for 6 hours, in front of a fan for a day, then installed it where it proceeded to rain for 2 days. I flipped one of the bolts so that I could access it better. I cannot for the life of me lift the car high enough to use my jack stands higher than the first step. Sorry for the lack of a good picture, this picture was taken nearly a month after the installation and it was taken just to see if the silicone is still there. I took the picture right as I was about to leave so I didn't get a good angle on the mount either.
There's a bit of vibration when the car is just sitting, but nothing uncomfortable and when you start moving it goes away.
3rd Mod: Sound Deadening
Weirdly enough, this wasn't necessary but I wanted to try something fun. I already planned on sound deadening the doors for a little better audio quality, but then I took a month long vacation after the Motor Mount mod where I got to drive a 2021 Buick Encore GX for ~3 days. It didn't have the greatest sound quality, but a few things about it were interesting to me. It had a 3 cylinder engine, and it was QUIET. It made a bit more power than the Smart but still felt a little similar to drive, funnily enough. The quiet thing though, caught my eye (or should I say ears?). I knew Buick's are quiet but it made me want to try something similar on my Smart. I knew road and exhaust was basically impossible unless I did the Wheel Wells and the inside of the Hatch (I am actually planning both when I have time) but wind was possible and was my main issue with the car on the highway aside from the sway on the highway. I ordered 36 sq. ft. each of Siless Foil Backed Butyl Rubber and uxcell Adhesive Backed Closed Cell Foam, both of which were bought on Amazon. I put Butyl Rubber on the engine cover, under the seats, on the passenger side firewall, both doors, and the front and back of the roof (this one was the hardest of all). I put the Foam under the passenger side carpet, and on parts of the firewall. I knew the foam wasn't going to do much under the carpet but I used it for a kind of padding under the passenger carpet. I ended up with a car that has less wind noise on the highway than my father's Corolla iM, and I was very happy with that. It even cooled down the car to a considerable degree, as originally I always had the AC set at 3 on the lowest setting, but now it's only at 1, even in humid Maryland summer. I had part of a windshield cover in the sunroof already but the combination of these made the car genuinely cold even on a sunny 90 degree day. Again, I took barely any pictures so just try to picture it in your mind.
PLEASE NOTE: I am in no way a professional installer and I didn't even use any cutting tools. I ripped every piece instead of cutting it, put sound deadening in useless spots, and only used half of what I bought. I have however, been told that sound deadening has diminishing returns at higher coverage percentages so I'm guessing that my mistakes didn't matter much.
I actually redid the rear roof trim (2nd picture) because I realized afterwards that there are clips that go into the roof and I covered the holes. I didn't cover enough of where the engine is and I plan to do more but I just didn't at the time. All of this left me incredibly sore so I took a break before the next mod.
4th Mod: Component Speakers and Amplifier
I call this the "ultra budget semi-audiophile" mod. I purposefully tried to save as much money as possible because I know my car audio is never going to get that good. I just wanted something where I could play any song on my entire Qobuz playlist and it would sound good, at the very least. I also like bass but I didn't want a subwoofer for a few reasons being that I didn't want to compromise any of the limited space, and I was working on a tight budget. Crutchfield has a house brand named "Sound Ordnance" and they had the P-67CB in stock. I knew from my previous audio adventure that 6.5 inch speakers will fit, and although these speakers say 6.75, that's just mounting size. They also came with silk dome tweeters, which I know won't sound harsh at higher frequencies. An amplifier is a little necessary when installing component speakers (at least in my eyes), so I settled on a compact 4 channel amplifier with 45 RMS on all 4 channels. I settled on the Sony XM-S400D but it was a little smaller than I expected. I was originally going to mount the amplifier behind the passenger seat, but when I got the amplifier I realized it was much smaller than I planned. If I put it behind the passenger seat it was going to be tiny so I settled on behind the stereo. Yeah, it was so small i literally shoved it behind the stereo and that's where it sits. I didn't even mount it because it fits there so perfectly that it doesn't rattle when I'm driving. This also allowed me to use much shorter cables than I expected, aside from the cables I bought set lengths of that I didn't realize until too late. I also accidentally bought way too big cables than what I needed, but better to overdo it than under-do it in this case I guess. The tweeters had this chrome mounting hardware that I thought might blind me as I drive, but turns out it's in the perfect spot to not glare at all. I set the EQ in the stereo to an extremely bass heavy setup because I wanted that rumble feeling and the highest notes on the tweeters were a little loud even on the -3 db setting on the crossovers.
5th Mod: 20mm Athena Wheel Spacers
Remember when I talked about the swaying on the highway being one of the things I don't like about driving on the highway in the Smart? This basically fixed it. Pretty self-explanatory and simple to understand. They space the wheels out, giving you a wider wheelbase, reducing the effect the wind has on the car in the left-right direction. Simple, see? I tightened the Torx bolt on the spacer as tight as I could with my small ratchet, then tightened the lug nuts to 98 lb. ft. I checked the torque multiple times just to make sure it was tight. I forgot to take a picture of them but just imagine the front wheels (165 width) are flush with the fenders. I personally love the flush look and driving in strong wind was similar to driving our Highlander. Slight swaying but nothing excessive and much less than stock.
And that's it for the past ~2 months. I wanted to upload these separately but kept putting it off so I decided on this instead. Now, you might be wondering, "Why do all these mods in 2 months and in the first ~3 months of even owning the car?" Well that's because I actually have a reason. I am moving to California and I am driving the Smart the whole way there from Maryland. Having done the trip before in out Highlander, I know there can be very strong wind and I wanted to prep the car for it so I don't panic when there is strong wind. The rest were basically just QOL (Quality of Life) mods. Sorry for the extremely long post but again, somebody might want to try some of this themselves.
I was actually in the middle of a mod until it rained, forcing me to stop and do something else as my garage is occupied with another project car. I was going to put a silicone air intake hose for the tiny upgrade in HP that I probably won't even notice.