How To: Quiet down cabin noise and improve sound for cheap

[Wagonbacker9]

sound deadening the hood more than the factory installed stuff will accomplish very little anyway... really, risk/cost for gain is nowhere near worth it IMO

 

[sethro_GT]

Just realized it would be good to do the rear hatch as well; probably the easiest thing to do and I bet a large source of noise. Been driving around this week without studded tires and the swear the car is quieter than my Mazda5. Hmm perhaps I should to do this to the M5.

I think if you want it quieter you'd be best off just investing a little more in actual acoustic dampening material.

note: That link is inop for http://www.edesignaudio.com/ ... That sounds like a good deal, does it work as well as the others?

 

[Wagonbacker9]

can't speak from experience, but raammat is a similar off-brand and it made a WORLD of difference in my trunk. I'll be doing my doors with edead eventually so at that point I'll update.

link fixed.

 

[sethro_GT]

Anyone have a break down the square footage per door, floor pan, trunk area, hatch, etc? It'd be nice info to have for calculating prices.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

I used about 10 on the trunk (sedan, but i'd figure the same for a P5)... I would figure 3-4 per door, another 15 if you're doing the cabin floor and 10/15 for the roof for sedan/P5

 

[sube]

^ ummm... the underside of the hood already has dampening/fire proofing from the factory.

The factory hood pad has no soundproofing quality whatsoever, it is strictly to protect the hood from underhood temperatures. And most of the soundproofing materials from Dynamat, B Quiet, Edead are all rated for underhood..

Pat.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

The factory hood pad has no soundproofing quality whatsoever, it is strictly to protect the hood from underhood temperatures. And most of the soundproofing materials from Dynamat, B Quiet, Edead are all rated for underhood..

Pat.

you mean to say that fabric-based mat under the hood isn't absorbing any sound?

no, it is not taking a lot of resonance out of the panels (thats actually a more accurate description of what "Sound deadening" does than 'sound deadening')... but I don't believe for a minute that it doesn't reduce transmitted engine noise heard in the passenger compartment.

 

[sube]

you mean to say that fabric-based mat under the hood isn't absorbing any sound?

no, it is not taking a lot of resonance out of the panels (thats actually a more accurate description of what "Sound deadening" does than 'sound deadening')... but I don't believe for a minute that it doesn't reduce transmitted engine noise heard in the passenger compartment.

Well according to all the professional soundproofing gurus the OEM underhood mat does squat for soundproofing. The soundproofing material has to be actually adhered to the panel to do any good. Believe me I did a lot of reasearch before committing a lot of dollars and time to this project of soundproofing my PRO 5.

Pat.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

again, ambient noise and panel resonance are 2 completely different things. given the hood is not in the passenger compartment, resonance is far less of a concern, and the material that is there both quells large panel vibration, and absorbs sound waves traveling through the engine compartment. the professionals you are citing aren't wrong... they're just interpreting the question differently.

 

[not yellow]

"professional soundproofing gurus" is gonna be the name of my next band!

 

[sethro_GT]

Thats about all that phrase is worth anyway...

 

[Rockin03mp5]

this helped a lot.

raammat and ensolite. not cheap though. it is a lot quieter. of coarse driving around for a week without rear seats or anything in the back, anything will help then.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

you covered a lot more than I would have... the curved areas really don't need it... doesn't hurt though. I was AMAZED at the difference deadening my trunk made.

 

[Rockin03mp5]

that is the ensolite you see. it is more for the ambient noises. the wheel wells seemed to have the most noise, so i made sure to cover them well. also, i did this to the spare tire compartment. that is why it is covered as well.

 

[wagon]

NEW TIRES!!

Just got new falken 912s all corners and wow, big difference.
205/45/16, were cheap and look nicer than the 195s.

Most all of my rattles and such are gone though and if the road is not crap it is almost silent compared to before.

I lined floorboard areas under the carpet hatch sides etc years ago with thick layers of newspaper. (burnout)

It did help but certain spots are definitely more contributors to the sound level then others; rear wheel wells and rear seatback/hatch transition area were worst for me.

 

[Matt V]

this helped a lot.

raammat and ensolite. not cheap though. it is a lot quieter. of coarse driving around for a week without rear seats or anything in the back, anything will help then.

That's awesome, looks great.

I just did my rear panel with the Frost King stuff today, I haven't driven it yet so I can't attest to the difference just yet.

 

[ToNeZ90]

I was wondering, how does it hold up on leaking the music out of the car? my gf complains about hearing my stereo when i'm a quarter mile away even with windows up. How does it sound outside or the car with the padding compared to without?

 

[Matt V]

I don't have a sub but it does seem to tone down the noise being heard from outside of the car.

 

[ToNeZ90]

i don't hve a sub either, which is why i think she has bionic ears lol. I guess i'm doin this when I install my speakers in a few weeks. can't wait, thanks for the write-up. i have been looking for a write-up about this for about a month

 

[localkineguy]

reinstalling interior pieces?

this helped a lot.

raammat and ensolite. not cheap though. it is a lot quieter. of coarse driving around for a week without rear seats or anything in the back, anything will help then.

Do you have a hard time reinstalling the paneling, carpeting, and seats because of the added material? I was thinking of doing the cheap Frost King along with the Ensolite IUO...