Greetings from the UK!

I've had my 3gs 450h for over 2 years now and I'm bored of the lack of bass and fancy an upgrade!

We all know the boot(trunk) in the 450h is tiny and I dont want to loose any more space, so I'm thinking of upgrading the standard ML sub in the rear deck! I've searched for ages through the forum and can't find anything about upgrading it in the hybrid!

Theres a 12v panasonic battery in the back already so I was thinking of utilising this for power, the only thing I'm worried about is upgrading the sub itself! I was looking at the Fi Audio IB3 12" sub mated to an Alpine MRX-M55 amp and what I'm worried about is the sub is 12" not 10" so I assume I'm gonna have to widen the hole to drop it in! Also the excursion is 30mm 1 way so its gonna move some serious air! Will this affect the rear deck cover? I want to keep it stealthy!
Also it needs 6.5" mounting depth and i don't particularly want to sit it on top of the traction battery! Will it have enough room?

Has anyone installed an aftermarket sub in the rear deck of the Hybrid and if so was it easy enough?

Hope you can help

Cheers

Ben

 

Yeah this was my plan it's a little hard to do, cause the current sub-woofer sits on the traction battery in the trunk. You need to match the size and make sure it doesn't sit fully on the battery.

 

Would 4080 box fit?

 

Unfortunately the 4080 enclosure probably won't fit as that is the side the auxiliary battery is located

I'm definitely looking into the depth of the rear deck woofer! as far as subwoofers go i didn't think 6.5" was all that deep really so hoping if i can enlarge the hole for the 12" woofer to fit in and just see if it'll fit!
If there isn't too much room then maybe i can space it out upwards and butcher the rear deck grille =/ Hopefully it wont come to that.. IT WILL FIT

 

Thought I'd take a few pics for fellow GS450h owners as I decided to dismantle my car and take a peek before i went ahead and ordered anything subwoofer wise!

Think the 12" sub idea maybe a stretch, not impossible but I'm thinking it could be quite difficult to mount it, as the woofer on the rear deck actually measures around 9" from the edge of the rubber to the other edge and the hole that it mounts into, measures the same diameter! A lot of cutting required to fit it but not completely impossible!! Took a few pics of where it locates and the trunk side of the woofer as well!

The other issue is the mounting depth. There is an absolute maximum depth of about 7.5" from deck to battery, BUT there is some air ducting that diverts air from the cabin to a fan and then into the battery pack itself! I'm thinking of cutting this up and diverting the air in some ducting of my own!
Think I will need to make a 11.100" template (to simulate subwoofer mounting size) and see what the chances are of it fitting!

 

noob question, does sub has magnet?? i know some home threater speakers does, and they are really bad for battery, and our cars has the giant battery right there...? any affect?

 

Yeah I think a 12" will fit, post some pics after install.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but from some of the articles I've read on the net and a few forums I've read from, there is no evidence that says it will affect it! Risky it maybe, but someones gotta try it

Can't buy the subwoofer yet until start of next month, but I'm going to make some templates and offer them up to the area and see how it goes! I'm also going to have to tamper with the air ducting for the fan system on the battery, but I'm hoping it shouldn't have too much effect as I will just re-channel it on a different route!! As England isn't the warmest of countries either, I should be alright

 

I'm thinking going to use this one, its seems perfect with the space.......any input?

 

Would be perfect size for our deck, but is it an infinite baffle compatible sub? If not then it might not sound all that good due to not having a box!

Infinite baffle subs don't need boxes so will pound good and hard without 1 whereas a non "IB" sub wont sound as good and you can potentially damage them by over exerting them due to them not having the sound waves in the box to stop the over exertion! The power rating has to be reduced, so if that was a 500wRMS sub for instance it would probably have to be halved to stop it from "bottoming out" (from what I've read anway)

I'm no expert but I've done LOADS of research and want to get this right

 

PS. SoCal_450h can I swap your wheels for my knowledge?!?! hahahaha

They look sweet!!

 

Get a car audio shop to fiberglass behind the sub so you can have a sealed enclosure.

OR... why not just amplify your stock sub!?!

 

I'm not sure It'll take much more power, It's only a paper cone with a thin rubber surround, in it's current position as an "IB" sub I don't think it has the potential! I would imagine the mark levinson amp is powering it adequately really anyway! At higher volume levels and certain tracks you can hear it making the "farting" noise to which I've always tried my best to avoid. I only ever have the bass level set to +1 and I dare not put it higher at volume levels of 40+ or I'll kill it!

I've seen people on here use the Kicker C10 sub in this spot but I fancy a different route and perhaps if I'm successful it will encourage others to do the same!

 

HAHAHA...Too bad you just gave free good knowledge.....Thanks.

 

Ok so I don't have a 450h but I'm thinking that my ML sub is the same. I've read there aren't any "open air" subs that can compete with the ML sub. Replacing with a 4080 closure is the way to go or doing what slimsled stated. True or False?