It snowed again

Posted on by Ian C.

We actually had almost a real winter storm today – except here on the coast it switched over to rain quite early (it was up to 37f when I got home!).

But there was about an inch of snow this morning on the cars …

Lots of snow covered MINIs at MINI of Peabody today too!

Unfortunately the snow on the roads made it impossible for MoP to try and track down the rattle in the back of GPMINI – so I’ll have to return there another day.

Oh – GPMINI’s snow tires were little better than hopeless today – accelerating was OK with DSC working hard, stopping was good, but steering when the roads weren’t fully plowed was an arbitrary event – I gave the car hints and hoped it decided to obey them, and not visit the guard rails! Of course, appropriate speed, keeping distance from other cars & objects, all helped to keep me & GPMINI safe. But I’d hoped for better from the tires; I guess 17″ runflat snow tires are just too much of a compromise 😦

Dynamat Extreme

Posted on by Ian C.

This is a tale of failed experiments on GPMINI … don’t read if you don’t like failure!

The plan: quieten GPMINIs interior to reduce the rumble of road noise, and install new speakers to improve the (sub)bass response.
Actions: install loads of Dynamat Extreme on all the panels I can access, and install Kicker KS6.2 speakers which look to have great low frequency performance!

 

Results: The Kicker KS6.2 speakers are HORRENDOUS! They only stayed in GPMINI one weekend – and that was because I didn’t drive it! There is so much high frequency from them, they’re incredibly harsh and gave me a headache within 5-10 minutes of listening to them. Turning down the treble on the HU didn’t help much, it just made everything sound muddy. I’d selected the Kickers to get more low end – but they didn’t seem any better at that either! So the stock speakers went back in.

I first drove GPMINI with all the Dynamat installed but none of the rear panels back in. It was amazing how LOUD the exhaust noise was – of course there’s two air vents at the back of the MINI that were not covered by the trim piece under the hatch … I stuffed them with foam, and I re-installed the carpet that covers the battery (and has some good thick foam sound deadening on it); that got the exhaust noise under control again.
But I can’t claim any noticeable reduction in road rumble from the tires, due to the Dynamat Extreme. It claims exactly that – to reduce road rumble – but it doesn’t seem to make much difference (and I added 20lb of Dynamat to the car!)
Of course when I add the rear panels back, there might be some further noise reduction, but the Dynamat is no “magic bullet” for quieting GPs!

My next plan is to stick some foam batting to the back of the trim panels before I re-install them – maybe that will help (at least it won’t add much weight!)

As for improving the stereo, I had an idea to install a subwoofer in one rear foam storage tray but I’ve decided now that all this DIY experimentation isn’t good for me – it’s very frustrating when it doesn’t work as I’d hoped! So, time to find an expert …