Because your car should sound good too

Money is tight right now, but I do more hours of listening in my car (Subaru 2004 Outback wagon) than at home, unfortunately. The car's audio is all stock, including an in-dash 6-disc changer, and component 6.5" speakers in the front and rear doors. There is an oval "subwoofer" mounted in the deck, although for the life of me I cannot tell if this woofer does anything, and it is not adjustable separately from the head unit's bass control. I find the in-dash changer is a must. Swapping out CDs while negotiating the curves and high-speed congestion of the Garden State Parkway is too risky (and I got pretty good at it in my previous car, too).

So, since I won't change out the head unit, what do you car-audio gurus suggest I do, one step at a time, to get better sound in the car? Remember, money is very limited.

I know how important quieting the cabin is to better sound. I was assuming that Dynamating the doors and roof would be the first thing to do. Note that most of the noise in this car comes from the road/wheel wells, with some wind noise from the windshield. The engine (the 6-cylinder) is reasonably quiet unless I floor it. Can you Dynamat the wheel wells to reduce road noise?

I will soon need new tires anyway,and General makes a model that seems to be very quiet. Like a true audiophile, I don't care if it hydroplanes or skids at 10 m.p.h., as long as it is quiet! Sooner or later, I'll own Generals.

Thanks for the suggestions, Tiggerfc. First of all, I should have mentioned that I have neither the time nor the ability to do any installation myself. The good news is that there is a local mobile audio shop that I have used in the past and highly respect and trust. Also, I live in a neighborhood where I would be uncomfortable with anything visible besides an all-stock appearance, so outboard subs are out of the question. I have located an oval car woofer that might offer some improvement over the stock woofer in the rear deck, provided it was properly amplified.

As for the factory HU (I think it's a Panasonic), I have heard good things about the units made by Alpine and others specifically for the purpose of using a factory HU with outboard amps. Also, the DSP units, while I would not want one in my home, seem to make sense for a car environment. So, I would look at these units eventually as well.

But, business is really poor these days, so everything audio (except listening) is on hold. I will have to do it in steps, but a full Dynamat application will likely be step one.

As for the merits of improved mobile sound, I know there are limits to what can be achieved, and I know that focused listening is mostly impossible while driving. But, as I mentioned, I do spend about 75 minutes a day commuting by myself, so I'd like to increase the enjoyment I get from listening to music while I drive. My $0.02.