Lotta road noise

[steve333]

On our Protege5 I spent a ton of time and money on sound deadening and the one thing that made the biggest difference was finally getting a quiet set of tires on it. I went through a lot of different ones on it too, unfortunately because so many reviews were with heavy cars that are quiet anyways. When we first bought our 3 last fall the first thing I did was swap out the tires (and then I added some sound deadening too).

The road noise and ride are my biggest concerns with the next car and unfortunately, they aren't always easy to get a read on during a test drive as some noises only get noticeable and annoying after awhile and some don't show up until you get on the wrong pavement.

Old thread, but which tires did you get that are quiet? I have a Mazda 3 Sedan and just replaced the crappy oem Bridgestones with Yokohama YK580. The new tires are much better from a driving standpoint but on certain types of road the noise is deafening.

 

[V8toilet]

I installed Second Skins Damplifier 40 sq ft pack (not the pro) in strategical areas of the doors, floor pan, and rear half of my CX5. It cut 2-3 db of sound across the board. It was a lot of work to install though and added 14 lbs to the overall weight of the car. That was enough to cut the edge off the road noise and I listen to the radio 4 points lower than I used to or from 25 to 21 with the mid level radio traveling at 70 MPH. I also hear less noise from the cars traveling next to me and the sound quality of the stock speakers is improved slightly.

I acquired samples of competitors products and tested them on metal clips hung from wire. You definitely get what you pay for and I learned thicker is not better.

 

[vanman79]

Yeah, the road noise it TERRIBLE on my cx-5 unless the pavement is perfectly smooth. It's much worse than anything else I have owned. Really disappointed because I like everything else about it.

I have the 17" Geolander tires.

 

[steve333]

I emailed my dealer to see if they would add second skin to the under carriage and wheel wells. Haven't heard back from them

 

[bluefan]

I guess it's relative. Much quieter than my previous Matrix, but not as quiet as my friends Santa Fe. And definitely not close to my other friends Buick Enclave.

 

[MikeM.]

One thing bothering me about my CX-5 is the amount of roadnoise at freeway speeds. I don't have a sunroof and its not windnoise. I'm hearing a lot of noise from the tires on the road.

My CX-5 has minimal road noise. Wind noise is slightly higher than my Volvo S80 sedan but that's to be expected of a SUV.

Didn't you install bigger speakers in your door panel last year using a shim of MDF? If so, that could contribute a significant amount of noise, especially if you didn't seal the speakers well to the door panel.

 

[Buzzx6r]

I installed Second Skins Damplifier 40 sq ft pack (not the pro) in strategical areas of the doors, floor pan, and rear half of my CX5. It cut 2-3 db of sound across the board. It was a lot of work to install though and added 14 lbs to the overall weight of the car. That was enough to cut the edge off the road noise and I listen to the radio 4 points lower than I used to or from 25 to 21 with the mid level radio traveling at 70 MPH. I also hear less noise from the cars traveling next to me and the sound quality of the stock speakers is improved slightly.

I acquired samples of competitors products and tested them on metal clips hung from wire. You definitely get what you pay for and I learned thicker is not better.

Great job. I was speaking recently to an engineer that makes sound proofing for a number of car manufacturers, McLaren being one. There are a number of different types of material depending on the frequency of the sound to be reduced - it was quite interesting. I was showed a number of different samples for different issues / applications, most of them are quite thin and lighweight. Reducing the interior noise by 2-3db is huge. It should sound like there is approx 50% less noise.

Most of the noise (in my car) comes from the lower part of the doors (lots of noise comes in from other cars) and a little noise from the 19" tyres.

 

[V8toilet]

Thanks Buzzx6r. I can tell you though that a 2-3 db reduction in noise level doesn't = a 50% reduction in the percieved noise level. My readings went from averaging ~ 74-75 db to ~ 71-72 db only using a phone app to measure that. The product I used was specifically designed for reducing resonate frequencies in metal panels. Many luxury cars have noise levels in the 66-70 db range and I bet that the tires that come on your 19" rims are quieter than the ones on my 17" rims. In fact tire noise is still the loudest perceived noise in my car followed by wind noise and then engine noise.

I bet swapping out the OEM 17" tires for quieter ones could produce the same results I achieved with the CLD tiles I installed in the interior of my car or even better.

 

[steve333]

The dealer doesn't apply sound deadening. Not sure if I feel comfortable having a body shop do it

 

[davesxx01]

V8toilet or ModShack, Do either of you have pics of exactly where you placed the deadening material?

 

[V8toilet]

I do not and even if I did, getting them posted to this site from an I Pad is almost impossible, I tried that once. What I can say is I used three sheets for each door spread between the outer skin, inner skin, speaker surround, and some of the inner part of the interior door panel near the speaker area. The rest I used on the center tunnel behind the front seats, rear floor pan, and a decent amount under the rear seats ( three sheets I think) I also installed a good amount on the left and right rear quarter panels, shock tower and some in the spare tire area. The spare tire itself acts like a deadener to the structure when its secured tight so I didn't waste much there. Mazda also applied their own deadener to different areas on the body so I didn't put any material over that. Lastly I installed 1-1/2 sheets in the rear lift gate. Each sheet was 1' x 2' and the pack came with 20 of those sheets. I would tap on the panels and listen for the areas that resonated the most and apply the material to those areas. It's not worth covering 100% of the surface area so I would cut the sheets up into smaller pieces and kind of spread them out to even out the coverage while targeting a large area. You can use as little as 25% coverage to get good results. I'm my testing on the samples I made I found that 40% coverage seemed to be the ideal compromise.

 

[davesxx01]

Thanks for the info! I'm starting with the spray on stuff under the wheel well areas after watching the video on Second Skins site. I may even pull the door panels and shoot some on the door skin. Yes, I know not to cover the drain holes!
Or, do you suggest a single sheet 1'x2' centered in each door panel. Two in the rear liftgate.

 

[steve333]

Thanks for the info! I'm starting with the spray on stuff under the wheel well areas after watching the video on Second Skins site. I may even pull the door panels and shoot some on the door skin. Yes, I know not to cover the drain holes!
Or, do you suggest a single sheet 1'x2' centered in each door panel. Two in the rear liftgate.

Let us know if the wheel well application helps.

 

[V8toilet]

Thanks for the info! I'm starting with the spray on stuff under the wheel well areas after watching the video on Second Skins site. I may even pull the door panels and shoot some on the door skin. Yes, I know not to cover the drain holes!
Or, do you suggest a single sheet 1'x2' centered in each door panel. Two in the rear liftgate.

I wouldn't bother pulling the panels for one sheet. It's better to wait until you can do it right or not do it at all. It's a lot of work to pull the door skin off the remove the guts inside to get to the outer skin. I'm not sure about the wheel wells either. Mazda did a pretty good job targeting this area and that felt liner acts as a sound absorber at the source.

 

[designtheland]

I Just had Lizard Skin installed. Great stuff. Check it out @ LizaardSkin.com

 

[steve333]

I Just had Lizard Skin installed. Great stuff. Check it out @ LizaardSkin.com

Did someone install it for you?

 

[designtheland]

Yes, It was installed by EXtreme Customz in Shelby, NC 28150

 

[123373]

The Toyo A23 19" that came stock on the Grand Touring are very quiet, even with the windows down.

I agree one very quiet SUV.

 

[hp79]

I wouldn't bother pulling the panels for one sheet. It's better to wait until you can do it right or not do it at all. It's a lot of work to pull the door skin off the remove the guts inside to get to the outer skin. I'm not sure about the wheel wells either. Mazda did a pretty good job targeting this area and that felt liner acts as a sound absorber at the source.

Were there any plastic vinyl type sheets that are glued on the doors? I once opened up my Elantra 2000 to sound deaden it, and I had to rip out that sheet to access the raw panels.

Did you remove all the seats and carpets too to access the floor? How hard is it without damaging anything?

I have a 2014 CX-5 GT, and thinking of doing this on mine too, if things aren't too hard.

 

[V8toilet]

Were there any plastic vinyl type sheets that are glued on the doors? I once opened up my Elantra 2000 to sound deaden it, and I had to rip out that sheet to access the raw panels.

Did you remove all the seats and carpets too to access the floor? How hard is it without damaging anything?

I have a 2014 CX-5 GT, and thinking of doing this on mine too, if things aren't too hard.

No vinyl sheets but you will have to remove the plastic door assembly housing the window mechanism to gain access to the outer skin. I didn't completely remove it, just enough to get my hands in there. I removed all five door panels, rear seats, rear interior quarter panels, and rear floor/hatch with spare tire. I lifted the carpet back to the back of the front seats to gain access under the carpet. Its not terribly difficult but its time consuming. It took me the whole day from start to finish.