Yet another subwoofer upgrade.

[Justin B8]

Decided to ditch the factory sub and look for something with a bit more oomph.

I read all of the threads here and got some great advice. In the end, I opted for this driver and this amp:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1081009...ty-100-9w.html

http://www.parts-express.com/boss-r3...fier--265-3982

Install was a little more involved that I was planning. The driver is about 3/8in larger than the factory cutout; the basket it too big for the opening. I used a 3/4 MDF spacer to gain a bit of clearance; mounted the driver to the spacer, then secured the spacer ring to the deck using screws from underneath, with 1in foam gasketing tape to take up the gaps. Used two layers of butyl sound mat - GTmat, on the rear deck. I also lined the driver cutout in the deck with butyl, as I had barely an 1/8 in clearance; didn't want any nasty vibration against the basket.

Amp was too big to fit inside the equipment bay on the drivers side, so I hung it from the rear deck. I used rubber fender washers, grommets and more butyl sheet to vibration damp the mount. I had to trim the rear shelf a bit, and a bit of the driver side speaker grille too, as it was too close for my liking. I wrapped the rear deck mounting fingers in fuzzy fabric tape so they don't vibrate, and stuffed felt or butyl anywhere that looked like it might rattle; which was pretty much everywhere, lol.

It's a nice setup and sounds great. I chose this driver because it's rated for IB/free-air usage; it's got a decent Fs of 33Hz, and 17.5mm of Xmax, not overly sensitive at 89 dB/1w/1m, but I was using a dedicated amp anyway. The amp is running bridged, and the sub is set to 4ohms, I'll give it a couple of days to loosen up and see if running at 2ohms makes any noticeable difference. I like it so far, but need to chase some rattles from the tweeters opposite the side mirrors. Cant seem to figure out how to get the grills off.

[Shimmy]

Pics?

[Acme]

Yeah. This thread needs pics!

[Justin B8]

Pics?

Yeah. This thread needs pics!

Can't attach pics for some reason, board noob thing? I uploaded and linked them instead:
Apologies for poor pic quality, it was getting dark.

Driver mounted to MDF ring and sealed to deck...



Amp mounted to MDF plate, which was mounted to the underside of the deck...



Connections, just inside the pass seat when folded...



Magnet and heavy cast basket; its barely visible from behind with the trunk open; sticks down about 4"...

[Justin B8]

One more thing... the same driver can be found at Amazon for about half of Crutchfield's price. I think I paid about $100 shipped.
All in, with 12ftsq GT mat, MDF rings and amp wiring kit, budget was about $225.

If I had to do this again, I'd run the MDF ring through my table saw and trim about 1/4 of height from the ring at the front of the deck, maybe about 3in back.
The deck is an awkward shape and trimming a wedge out of the ring would get it to sit lower at the front; still need to remove on tab from the speaker grille; dont want any holes in the cone/surround.