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Bunch of ride quality mods

8K views 53 replies 12 participants last post by  Scooba Steve 
#1 ·
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Hand for scale
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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.
 
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#2 ·
Good job! How did you come to the conclusion of the Boss headunit? I only ask because I reviewed a similar unit recently and was presently surprised with the clarity.

Regarding your fifth mod, I would have gotten a second set of rear wheels instead of the spacers, then fitted 195/50/15 or 185/60/15 tires all around. You get fantastic stability and more grip than those stock pizza cutter front tires can provide. Plus, you'll have access to a far greater selection of tires.

Granted, spacers are cheaper than wheels and tires, I guess. :)
 
#5 ·
Good job! How did you come to the conclusion of the Boss headunit? I only ask because I reviewed a similar unit recently and was presently surprised with the clarity.
I actually have a few problems with it. I cannot connect the dimming wires correctly or else the headunit flickers when I turn the headlights on, I can't blindly change the volume as all the buttons feel the same, and I wish I could offset the source volume more than +-5. I have the volume set to 18 normally, 24 is the limit before it gets a bit too loud, but 24 is about 1/2 the volume bar. It makes me wonder why the rest of the volume bar exists when even without the amp it was extremely loud.
I basically just bought it because it was cheap and I wanted Android Auto in my car. I fully expected it to sound bad and was planning on buying an amp anyways but it turned out to sound perfectly fine.

The spacers were much cheaper than buying rear wheels. I would happily buy rear wheels if I had the money but I cannot find any rear wheels in the same style the car came with (Similar to the Design 9 wheels) anyways. Either way the spacers feel fine, and I do enjoy the look of the stock wheels.
 
#6 ·
Notapenguin
There is a few under dash subs that will work with these cars.
I’ve used the sub your using except in a different vehicle and it did great.
I’m a audiophile so I went with three way diamond audio component speakers.
Now I need a decent amp to drive them(may get the one your using since it fits behind the radio)
The flicker comes from it being a cheap radio and the car using pwm(pulse width modulation) on the dash lights and as a temporary fix you can set the dash lights to the highest setting(it’s what I did) till you can add a online capacitor to smooth it out(which is likely what I’ll do)
 
#7 ·
My free fix for the stereo flickering was just don't connect the dimming to the dash lights. I connected it to the ground and just setup android auto's dimming (I don't know how it works but it works perfectly, get under a tunnel it goes into night mode, etc.) since I always have it connected. I specifically got the amp for the 45w rms considering the speakers take a maximum 55w rms.
I do actually have a subwoofer and amp for said subwoofer, I just don't know if I can get away with such a big sub in such a small car (12" kicker square sub). Maybe one day I will connect it, I just feel like it's excessive when I already have enough bass with just the speakers, with no distortion.

For my first car audio installation, I feel like I did much better than I expected, considering it was also my first time using a jigsaw lol.
 
#11 ·
Funny enough, I had the same flickering problem in the demo unit that I tested. Maybe there's something about a Smart's wiring that these systems don't like. Guess I'll wire the dimmer wire to the ground, too!

 
#8 ·
Hmm Interesting.
The amp is plenty for the speakers(infinity speakers are 2 ohms so they pull a bit more current then 4 ohm speakers)
As far as the sub the pre made boxes for this car hold a 10 inch sub and go under the dash on the passenger side(clean and out of the way) and I doubt the size difference will be noticed once the setup is properly done.
 
#9 ·
That whole subwoofer and amp came straight out of another car so it has a box and everything, it's just a matter of "do I really care about trunk space that much?". As I said in the post, I was on a tight budget which, at this point, has run out. If I had the money I would happily get a custom enclosure, or a proper setup, or any of the other proposed ideas. Either way there's a nice amount of bass already, and adding more seems a little... excessive. I know how good it sounds to have a dedicated subwoofer to fill the low frequencies, I just don't see the need at this moment. Maybe I will sometime in the future, but not now.
 
#10 ·
I understand that.
I was going to order a sub box myself but recently had rain get into my car and short out the tcm so that pretty much scrapped those plans.
I am currently using a lenwood powered sub till funds allow for a under dash sub box(still haven’t decided on which one I want to get)
Mind sharing the link for the amp your using?(id like to get one)
 
#13 ·
Wow, I didn't realize until just now that Miss Mercedes is Mercedes Streeter on Jalopnik. I've read quite a bit of random Jalopnik articles.
I don't remember if I connected the illumination wire to the ground or if I just left it separated. I would try both just to be sure. Wiring isn't my "expertise" in any way, shape, or form. My take on the flickering was that the ground cables weren't good enough but maybe it is just something in the Smart's wiring.

As for the big e, here it is. I actually bought 2 PAC SN-1 thinking there would be a ground loop issue lol.
Crutchfield service is amazing. One of my tweeters were broken out of the box and they sent me another component set to swap parts from then return.

Sidenote: I used Posi-Products Connectors on literally every open strand of wire for the stereo. They were a tight fit but I can attest that they work perfectly. I didn't want any kind of permanent connection and these worked.
 
#14 ·
That makes two of us.(I never knew)
Anyway I plan on breaking out my multi tester and reading what the voltage is on the illumination feed to the radio(I’m about willing to bet it pwm and if so a simple cap will fix the issue)
I’ve got mine connected and the dash lights set to the max brightness so no flickering of the radio screen.
Thanks for the link(I’ve bought from them before btw) I checked my speaker’s specs and it should work with them without issue.
That’s not a bad price on that amp either and soon after I get the tcm replaced in my car I’m getting one of those amps.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Guess I saved myself a bunch of money and time by not listening to the radio.
My Chevy Volt had a Bose sound system in it turn it on maybe three times. Once by accident when I hit the unmute button.
It had a much clearer sound quality than what is in my Buick. Bose designs their systems per application, that and the lack of engine noise helps.
 
#19 ·
Hehe, yeah, I got into a new line of work last year. I love cars, so why not write about them? :)



Honestly, many factory systems don't live up to their branding. I've tested everything from a Mark Levinson system (Lexus) to Bose (GM), Beats (variety of manufacturers) and even Marshall (BMW Motorrad) and all of them are a letdown in some way.

Most recently, I got to try out the Marshall Amplification system of the BMW R 18, and it succumbed to the sounds of... classical.
 
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#18 ·
I personally don't like nearly any of Bose's products. Just not my taste I guess.

By the way, I am doing a few more mods as I write this so I will upload those hopefully at the end of the day. I have a lot of materials left over and I'm really bored lol.
 
#20 ·
I had a 99 Concorde(Chrysler) that had the infinity speaker package) one thing they was true to and that’s infinity’s bass output(the rear 6x9 ‘s felt like two small subs)
The one thing that killed it was the cheap dome tweeter which ruined the highs(give me emit tweeters over those)
But otherwise I agree with miss Mercedes as most rarely stack up to the claims.
The Bose system that was in my Escalade had harsh highs non existent mid range(no joke) and muddy bass.
I put infinity speakers in it not long after and ecen
With the stock radio and Bose amp they was leaps and bounds better then the Bose was(I later made it even better by bypassing the amp and installing a aftermarket radio) needless to say It was a audiophiles dream by the time I got done.
One the songs I have(sad songs by Elton John) made the flaws of the Bose system obvious in the mids (hint it was the bongo drums that revealed the mid range flaw)
I did a sound ordnance powered sub(the slim one) under the center console of that truck and nobody knew it wasn’t stock till they heard it(I had multiple members asking how I managed to get it to sound so good)
Ok back to the regular program I want to see more updates.
 
#22 ·
…ok… come here looking for ride comfort in the way of shock absorbers….springs…track bars and the likes but no….is all about driving enjoyment….make it loud …lol
…by the way….mod 5 wheel spacers…it can adversely affect suspension geometry and put above normal stress on the bearing….bump steer can be introduced and wheel offset outside "0"scrub radius can cause the steering wheel to jerk to the side on bumps…

jetfuel….back to US open
 
#44 ·
FJB LTD Rebuilds Koni and other exotic car suspensions. Has a shock absorber dyno And can check compression/rebound settings. They have installed Koni adjustable cartridges into Chrysler/Intrepid struts!
I sold/serviced shock absorber test systems for many years. Had a pair of shocks made with special adjustable guts put into a standard Ford Mustang shock for SCCA showroom stock road racing. This eliminated a problem with rear axle hop when accelerating thru turns. The mustang rear end would hop violently and hit the gas tank!! Nothing like cheating! These shocks looked identical to the oem shocks and had the same part number. Other drivers noticed I was much faster thru turns as I didn't have to back off on the throttle. I own a 2016 smart and have not put my shocks/struts on the shock dyno to measure performance. Then the question is---what is the new shock specs without actually measuring them. Point is, you can have custom suspension made to your liking. Adjustable Koni's on your smart---possible.
 
#23 ·
Today was really hot and I completely forgot to take pictures of nearly everything I did. I took 3 pictures and they were only for 1 mod. Weirdly enough I also realized I never took a single picture of my own car so I took one and made it my profile picture. There's these little black specs in the grey that the picture doesn't show.
Wheel Tire Automotive parking light Automotive side-view mirror Car

Ok back to mods. I have a lot of materials left over from both previous mods and my project car (that I haven't touched in 4 months) so I decided to put some of those materials to use.
1st Mod: Moar Sound Deadening
I removed the front bumper, which was weirdly easy to do, thinking I would put some sound deadening on the wheel arches. I took apart the front bumper, aaaand turns out there's no space to put foam on the front wheel arch. It did give me a good look at the inside of the front bumper though, and can I just say they put a LOT of stuff in the front of the car? I then decided to put some foam in the rear arch liner, as I read someone doing that on here (literally no pictures of this. This was my 2nd least favorite thing about today). While I was waiting for the 2nd Mod to finish, I decided to kill time and sound deaden the hatch. I took off the rear hatch panel, put butyl rubber on both the outside panel and behind the little pocket in the hatch.I then put a big piece of the foam and laid it over the entire back of the pocket in the hatch. I literally took zero pictures of the sound deadening, I keep forgetting to take them as I do stuff.
Automotive parking light Vehicle registration plate Car Vehicle Tire
I took apart the front bumper... Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. Maybe I'll just take stuff apart and take pictures of the sound deadening to make up for it.
Sidenote: Am I the only one who finds installing sound deadening kind of fun?

2nd Mod: DIY Brabus Headlights (copied Evilution)
I already had easy access to the headlights so I just decided, "Why not?" This was a mistake. This was soul melting. I wanted to try out the colored reflector look, and I was already there. Took off the headlights, disassembled them, etc. (You can read the Evilution guide. I just followed those instructions.) I AM NOT GOOD AT USING SPRAY PAINT. Either way, I first painted the reflectors this "bumper trim grey" I had bought about a week ago. I thought it looked nice but it was like flat grey, which is not my favorite color. I grabbed this gloss paint that I had on a shelf (yeah yeah, old spray paint isn't very good, I had it on hand and I already did it anyways) in a nice navy color and sprayed around where the chrome edge was. I originally planned on only adding little specks of it to the edges but it didn't look good. I put the headlights back together, aside from 1 metal clip that would not fit, reinstalled them, then realized I left all the lights in the hot 90 degree sun. Every light worked except for the Indicators, which I assume burnt out (with both amazing and horrible timing). This kind of annoyed me so I just put the bumper and side skirts back on and called it a day.
Automotive tire Leg Human body Wheel Guitar accessory
Hood Automotive design Automotive exterior Synthetic rubber Road surface


3rd Mod: Silicone Intake Pipe
This was actually yesterday but it took 2 days because it suddenly rained while I was uninstalling the old intake pipe. Really simple install, I ended up using a reciprocating saw for the uninstall as my ratchet didn't fit in the little spot with the screw. I made sure to vacuum the entire engine bay before installing just to make sure nothing got in the engine. I haven't driven with the intake pipe, aside from the space from my backyard to my driveway. It feels like it "kicks" a little more from a stop, but that might just be me. I need to drive on the highway to really see if there's a difference.

Jetfuel, I didn't know what to title the post so I called it "ride quality". I should have called it QOL mods. As for the spacers, I have driven around with them already, and the only difference I noticed was that it feels more "stable". I don't care if the car is "comfortable" at all, I actually like that it's stiff. Even if I were to remove every single mod, I would easily call this car enjoyable to drive. It's probably the most fun car I've driven, including cars with too much power. These mods are just to add to the enjoyment.

To add to the horrible factory sound systems talk, I shall add my father's 2004 Toyota Tundra with the JBL sound system. It came stock with 4 tweeters in the front, 4 speakers, and absolutely no bass. The tundra actually turned into my father's "bass experiments" car. He put 2 underseat subwoofers in the back, and at some point it had 2 10" enclosed subs in the back seat. Bit too much bass for my taste until he put 2 12" subs into his corolla. My eardrums feel the pain just remembering that (I have since gotten him to turn it down a bit).
 
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#27 ·
I took a few photos and installed Neoprene Dash Designs Seat Covers from Rock Auto. Weird that nobody has installed these. They fit pretty good, came with exactly the right hardware, and were perfectly matched to the car. Came with hole for driver side armrest and armrest cover but nothing for the passenger seat. Also had holes for the side airbags and seatbelt guide on both seats.
Seat belt Plant Window Vehicle Head restraint
Car Motor vehicle Car seat cover Automotive design Steering part
Automotive tire Hood Bumper Window Automotive exterior
Textile Comfort Grey Material property Tints and shades
Automotive parking light Vehicle Car Grille Automotive lighting
A blurry reflection of me taking a picture lol
I think those headlights came out pretty good, in my opinion.

And now I think that is all the mods I have bought. This was a journey to install all of this.
 
#29 ·
The headlights were a pain to reassemble but the colored reflectors were SO worth it.

I can't tell if the sound deadening made any difference in road noise. The amount of wind noise that was reduced was what I really noticed. I haven't been able to drive the car for a few days now so I haven't tried it with the wheel well. I bet if I really tried to do a full on installation or gave it to an installer there would be less road noise but in reality, it's the Continental tires. The tires are extremely loud and I've been planning on changing them for slightly bigger Kumho tires anyways.
 
#30 ·
Your telling me.
I did a projector retro and it was a royal pain to get into them(but the work was so worth it for the improved light output I got) it will be worth it to do this mod too.
I’m running those(kumho) and they are really quiet.(I don’t think I’ll use anything else on it)
Still plan on adding some noise deadening material to help for my gravel road.
 
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