Any more info or pictures on how you mounted it like that? I've been looking for a small subwoofer option and this looks like it could be the best choice. JBL also makes a good spare tire subwoofer, but I wonder if it's too tall for the floor board. Also double the price of this one and I really only need a bit more bass, the Fit already rattles enough lol.

Did you do anything about the pocket area behind it? Otherwise, it seems like that area would have too much resonance. It might add some sort of ported enclosure effect though, perhaps with additional polyfill.

 

Sadly, I didn't take any photos, but it wasn't too complicated. Behind the plastic side panel, there's a metal structural kind of thing there that is really sturdy because it is part of the carbody frame. I bolted a spare piece of Masonite to it with some large bolts, via a couple holes I drilled through the plastic panel. One of the holes is hidden behind the bottom corner of the sub, and the other one is hidden behind that little "shelf" that is there above the sub. The other loose end of the Masonite is attached to the plastic panel with heavy-duty Velcro since there was no place to attach a bolt there behind the plastic. The sub itself is bolted to the Masonite panel and the whole thing is actually real solid.

I've never done any car audio work before, so I was just improvising this all on the fly. Most likely anyone who has done this a few times already would laugh because I am probably just a hack. My only real goals were 1) minimize drilling or cutting the plastic panels as much as possible and 2) make something that looks as if it could have been a factory option. I don't listen to music loud enough to make it rattle. Mounting the sub where I did keeps it up off the floor of the hatch and it doesn't take up space and doesn't get scratched up if I am carrying tools, car parts, etc back there. My best work was the wiring which I made as neat and stock-looking as possible but of course its all hidden.

I just left the little cubbyhole behind the sub open. I routed the wiring harness into the cubbyhole and through a grommet I put in the bottom of it. I never even considered what that open space would do to the acoustics.... Maybe I'll jam some fabric or something in there.

 

Thanks for the info, hopefully you get a chance to take a few pictures or do a how-to at some point, this is one the more minimal setups I've seen for the Fit that helps stay out of the way of everything else. And yes, I recommend you place some polyfill in the pocket area, that's what most people use inside their subwoofer boxes to smooth out the bass response a bit and also make a box "sound" larger than it is. It's the same material as the inside of a stuffed animal or pillows. If you listen closely to that area and hear it resonating too much, then maybe it'll make a difference. 1 or 2 sheets of sound deadening (like Kilmat) on the metal body panel would also probably help.

 

I upgraded to the leather wrapped AT shift knob. I never liked the stock rubbery knob which looked more like something borrowed from a Geo Metro or similar cheap car. I mean, my Fit is pretty fully loaded, so it needs something a rung or two above total bare-bones. Super fast shipping from Japan, and five minutes (barely) to make the switch.



The Fit went to sea last weekend, on board the Ohio River carferry at Cincinnati OH. We lived there when I was a kid, and sometimes we used to ride the ferry over to Kentucky for a picnic lunch, and then ride across afterward to go back home. This is the first time I'd been on the ferry since I was 8. Fit was nonplussed.

 

Keep us updated with your fit. You?ve got a keeper! Just keep up with the maintenance. At this point the little dude deserves fresh coolant and brake fluid.