Greetings,
I've recently replaced the head unit and speakers in my
Nissan Patrol with a Kenwood 4029, Pioneer 6" 160W 2-ways in the front doors
and Pioneer 6x9 240W 3 ways in the rear wagon doors. Now, while the bass
response is fine for what I want while the vehicle is stationary, as soon as
I get on the road, I suspect the low frequency road/engine/vehicle noise is
killing/covering a considerably amount of the bass response from the system.
Am I right in this assumption? If I am, is this a common problem
encountered in 'larger' vehicles?

Aside from trying to soundproof the interior (not really an option), the
only thing I can think of is to fit a small sub (10") in a box, but I use
the car for camping/kitesurfing, so there's always loads of gear being
stashed in the back. The only way I can think of to have the sub protected
is for the actual speaker to face something, like the bottom of the rear
seat base when it's folded forward. Here's a link to a quick pic of what I
mean - http://www.mrbonk.com/sub.jpg - the seat base folds foward first,
then the seat back folds down.
My question is, how much space in front of the actual speaker cone do I
need, if I can do it this way? I'd have the enclosure mounted on spacers of
a suitable length. When the seat base folds down there's still loads of
space under the seat, so providing I can find an enclosure that will fit in
that space, it's the only way I can think of to have a sub, have it
protected *and* still be able to fold the seat back down if I need to. I
don't want to have the sub mounted in that floor space, because I can still
use that floor space for storage when the seat is folded forward.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
MrBonk
www.mrbonk.com