3 questions (only!)

[Mr Noble]

Does anyone know or maybe have done, a seat adjustment to tilt the seat (3R) back slightly. Its just slightly too upright for me as I have a bad hip and get cramp after an hour or so. I can't make out if its possible to tilt it back so the front raises up maybe 1/2 an inch or so.

Also thinking about having the oil pressure/temp gague fitted. Is this a factory job, or a dealer thing at time of service?

Also, not that its really an issue but my Sony stereo with the xplod speakers with red bits, sounds really tinny. I have tried adjusting the "DSO" and the setting to Xplod or Rock and at speed its terrible. Has anyone modded this? Whats the best answer.

Thanks in advance for your kind help on my 3 topics of the day.

I am delighted that these are the only 3 things I have found issue with and there not even problems!!

I am truly in Love with this car.

[kentviking]

I believe my car seats were adjusted by the original owner...he is quite tall!...anyhow the adjustment involved slightly greater lean back and it was performed by the factory...I'm afraid I have no idea as to what he paid for the job...but it is possible, and the result is really quite comfortable for me (5 ft 11)

[DanH]

I'm sure you can get it tilted with a spacer. Vegantune could probably help on that one.

Sony stereos + speakers are very trebbly (Japanese tastes), and its made worse by cars having so much glass which reflects it all around. You could try putting in some acousting barrier behind the speakers, try new speakers, or get a sub. Apparently there is a small cube shaped one that can fit under the passenger seat.

Personally I'm planning to get an alpine ipod compatible head and see how it sounds after that.

As to the gauges, mine were done at the factory, but Nathan had his done by plans motorsport. If you get a new gauge, I'd be inclined to see how much a new silver panel with the two gauge slots costs, thats what some of the newer cars have when they have gauges. If you go that route I might be interested in buying your silver panel from you as mine has an annoying chip in it.

[DanH]

p.s. is it that you need the back reclined, or that there isn't enough support under your thigh?

[Mr Noble]

I need both really, or a bit more lumbar support. My elise had a pump up lumbar that was great. I think the whole seat tilted back an inch would help. Ideally I would just put the seat back an inch but thats not possible. I sat in Chillidogs M400 yesterday and those seats are really spot on. I would love to get a set of them, but they would not match the interior.

Could do the panel thing with you. In the handbook the (optional) oil gague is fitted at the bottom right of the silver panel so I might put it there then it will look standard. Can't you order a new panel?

The chaps at my auto store said the same about the sony stuff. He suggested an alpind head unit with ipod attachment and JL 61/2 inchers with dynamat behind the speakers. Might do that when my wallet has recovered from the car purchase.

[DanH]

I could just order a new panel, but can't be arsed unless its suitably cheap. Its not really a big problem

Mine is fitted below the panel, probably same as your picture, but its nicer having it mounted higher next to the boost gauge which is what they do these days rather than cutting another hole in the dash. If mine hadn't already been cut below, I'd definitely do that (assuming its cost effective).

You could get an autotrimmer to add some lumbar area padding, or even one of the inflatable bags. I had lumbar put into my Elise. Thinking of doing the same for the noble, along with some more thigh support.

[paulcundy]

Gauges, get a quote on the standard Oil/pressure factory mod and compare it with the work that Nathan had done. He went electric and got combined gauges ( I think oil press/water temp and boost/oil temp) which meant you have no extra holes in the dash, the fuel gauge moves to where the boost one is. There are no oil pressure or oil temp line/pipes and the gauges have programmabke visible flasher warnings. They can also feed a data logger direct and look pretty good to. I think they are more than the standard mechanical factory mod but overall I beleive a better "package".
Regards
Paul C

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

I changed the head unit to another Sony one (CDX-M9900) and the speakers to Infinty's and it some much better.

The advantage of going the Sony route (for me) was it sounded as good as anything else in the price range (£350ish), worked with a Dension MP3 player and was a 5 minute swap. Even the stearing column control worked straight off the bat.

The Dension thing is great. Smaller than a CD multichanger, 80GB harddrive and pretends to be a Sony CD changer. Sounds good enough too.

[duplicity]

Dan,

I have the Apline iPod compatible headunit installed in my car. The idea is great, although the way the headunit navigates the iPod is not perfect. There is quite alot of lag when scrolling through the album lists.

Also, I would say the headunit is too powerful for the speakers and will ultimately damage them. I have been advised by a local incar installer that I really need to upgrade the speakers and add an amp. I just haven't got round to this yet.

Are you going to be at the Rockingham owners day? I could show you then.

Rgds,

Elliott

[DanH]

One thing I've learnt is that installers always want to sell you an amp...

Head units these days have pretty reasonable amps though, so for a car like ours its pretty pointless imho. If the amp is too powerful for the speakers, I guess thats definitely the case. Which sony speakers do you have btw? The red xplod ones?

Also which alpine head? I know there are two which can come bundled with the ipod interface. Its interesting you say the scrolling is too slow. I reckon that might be a tad annoying. Can you use the ipod itself to navigate whats being played?

Also what have you done in terms of ipod mounting?

Not sure about owners day yet, I haven't booked in yet, and I need to check out insurance costs. Was thinking of just doing a bedford day as I've not really tracked the noble properly yet, so a nice safe track is always nice

[hunttheshunt]

Can you remind me of the gauge post, or remind of the prices, I might need to take a look. I'd be interested on what was paid for the 'electric' ones??

[duplicity]

I have the Alpine CDA-9835R.

Another irritating thing is that the remote that comes with the headunit is not capable of navigating the iPod. You have to buy the upgrade.

For mounting, I decided to make it as fuss free and as easy to remove as possible. The iPod simply plugs in to the connector that comes out very close to the pocket in the passenger footwell. The iPod then just sits in the pocket out of sight. Because of this I haven't tried navigating using the iPod directly.

I think the performance also depends on the amount of content you have on your iPod.

As for the speakers, I will have to check. My car is 4 months old if that gives you any clues.....

With regard to track days.... is Rockingham not a "safe" location then? It will also be my first time tracking the car. Is Bedford a better bet? I haven't booked for the owners day, but was just about to send off the form.....

Any advice would be appreciated.

[DanH]

Well Bedford is probably the safest track in the country. Its a little flat and boring though.

Rockingham has a large concrete wall around half the track as its on a banking. I don't think anyone is likely to hit it, it just requires respect! I am, however, currently on the phone to enquire about getting full insurance cover for the car to see how much it will cost. Normally I only get partial cover!

I've only done a few trackdays though, so people with more experience will know more. I intend to drive reasonably slowly on the banked area Of course on the day, I may find it hard to stick to that resolution.

Did you buy the package deal for your Alpine? Really cheeky if the remote thrown in with that is no use! I've also got a lot of music on mine, so maybe this isn't the ideal solution I thought it was. The other option I'm thinking of is that Dension hard disk based head unit.

[Mr Noble]

My ice dude, said to want a few months as all the manufacturers are jumping on the ipod thing and they will soon be much better. I have over 350 albums on my ipod and i tried using the alpine thing with it in store and it was a joke. If the album I wanted started with a z it would take 350 presses to get to it. (i think) Was not impressed enough to buy it anyway. Denison do an "ice-link" that is good and plugs into the cd port of most new radios and you would have to mount the pod on the dash and use its controls. Much better if your keen to get it now. I would wait for Pioneers effort, think its going to be good.

I am keen to go to Bedford too, its onlt 35 mins away for me (5 in the noble) and as you say, is a good taster for first timers.

Paul C, thanks for the info, I remember seeing pics of the LCD gagues, they looked great but a bit "pro" for me I think.

Does anyone know how "safe" snetterton is?

[stuh]

DanH said:

One thing I've learnt is that installers always want to sell you an amp... Head units these days have pretty reasonable amps though, so for a car like ours its pretty pointless imho. If the amp is too powerful for the speakers, I guess thats definitely the case. Which sony speakers do you have btw? The red xplod ones? Also which alpine head? I know there are two which can come bundled with the ipod interface. Its interesting you say the scrolling is too slow. I reckon that might be a tad annoying. Can you use the ipod itself to navigate whats being played? Also what have you done in terms of ipod mounting? Not sure about owners day yet, I haven't booked in yet, and I need to check out insurance costs. Was thinking of just doing a bedford day as I've not really tracked the noble properly yet, so a nice safe track is always nice

I've just had the Alpine head unit and iPOD installed

www.dvbcaraudio.co.uk/product/Alpine_CDA-9835R.html

Does need a seperate amp to get the best out of the unit though, and you'll need to ditch the factory fit Xplods as they're pants. In fact just changing the speakers for another set of Co-axials like infinity's will give a big improvement with the standard M12 head unit.

[obes]

Mine's (std Sony) been knackered for about a month now haven't missed it one bit ! - Might be a bit of a different story for the plod down to Le Mans tho !!!

I have been looking at an Alpine with an ipod link too. I won't bother upgrading the speakers though, cars too noisy to bother IMO !

[DanH]

I think I may have non standard xplod speakers anyway as Andy got an upgrade deal with the factory. If I change, I probably won't go to infinities as they have a name for being quite bright too so not a good match to the sony head if I'm keeping that a while.

Bit annoying waiting as I want it sorted for lemans too!

[robp]

Mr Noble said:

Does anyone know or maybe have done, a seat adjustment to tilt the seat (3R) back slightly. Its just slightly too upright for me as I have a bad hip and get cramp after an hour or so. I can't make out if its possible to tilt it back so the front raises up maybe 1/2 an inch or so.

Greg - I am a short-arsed bleeder with a bad back. This is what I had done
1. Seat Runners moved forward - This allows full depression of clutch without having to pivot hips.(Has additional benefit of providing more space behind drivers seat so you can fit helmet on rear parcel shelf). This cost about £90 done by the dealer.
2. Seat tilted slightly rearwards by putting some 10mm spacers at the front. Dosn't sound much but makes a big difference.
3. Pump up lumbar support fitted.
Work done through factory using Noble trimmer which is a different Co. (just a few doors up from Noble).
Cost was about £100, and result is great. Can now drive for as long as there's fuel in the car without discomfort! You can have a 'go' when we meet up. I enquired about M400 seats - but they don't fit 3R without major mods (M400 tunnel is narrower)

[Mr Noble]

The best speakers for it if you like a deeper sound are the JL TA 650's but they are also one of the most expensive.

Others would include 6 1/2 inch Focus 2 ways. (very very good for the money)

Or Phoenix Gold 6.5" coax speakers. These are the best bet for the lower budget and I think the pair I am going to install.

www.phoenixgold.com/2004/octane-rspeakers.html

You need to put Dynamat on the door behind the speaker and on the back of the panel that the speaker fits to.

Changing the speakers and keeping the sony std unit will give a 65% mprovement, the other 35% achievable by upgrading the head unit.

Also check the following for bass lovers.

www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=9192&taxonomy_id=25-130

www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=8668&taxonomy_id=25-130

And there are a feww small powered ones that could fit behind a seat pretty eaisly to give a little more low end noise.

All this chat takes me back to my max power days when my ICE system was worth more than my car!

[robp]

Mr Noble said:

Also, not that its really an issue but my Sony stereo with the xplod speakers with red bits, sounds really tinny. I have tried adjusting the "DSO" and the setting to Xplod or Rock and at speed its terrible. Has anyone modded this? Whats the best answer

Speakers sound c***; engine sounds great.
Leave front of radio unit at home; listen to engine