Project QUIET

[altspace]

Car: 2003.5 Mazda Protege 5
Audio: Stock 7 speaker CD sound system w/ optional tire subwoofer

In search of better audio resonance and a smoother ride I began the journey of stripping out the inside of my car. Let me begin by saying that I was honestly amazed by the amount sound deadening material that was already in place. Both underneath the carpet where 1/4" -1/2" padding resides, to the amount of asphault based materal covered on the floorboard.

With various tools in hand and a cold beer by my side I began the removal process with a friend. Relying on my memory for each bolt/screw location, every interior part was removed with the exception of the dash and roof panel. More beers later, some hard sweat and a few cuts/scrapes on the hands, the job was complete. Layers of eDead were applied to all door panels, floorboard, and rear panels. Next, a layer of 1/4" synthetic carpet matting.

End result: Excellent acoustics with better bass response. No exhaust drone or road noise from wheel wells.

Photos: http://altspace.com/p5/quite/

 

[Iggy]

how long did it take to do? how expensive was it as well? and lastly...thats an awesome idea.

 

[altspace]

Most of it I did myself. My friend was only around for a little while, so I spent the weekend completing the job. Remembering how everything fits correctly was the tricky part. Cost was approx. $100 total.

 

[Matthew]

i did the same s*** wasnt too impressed. i did it to deaden noise coming from my loud exhaust on the intereior. i used only carpet padding, about 1/2in thick s***.

 

[altspace]

It's not a Lexus, but much better. So, it all depends on your overall goal.

 

[Matthew]

true. im thinking i just need to concentrate on the whole hatch area more and double and triple up in that area to reduce the noise. or just get a damn resonator.

 

[Poseur]

Be careful with wheelwells, I had 2thin layers of padding and a couple of dynomat-style stuff and it was REALLY hard to get my panels back inplace...

Looking really good, glad you managed to get pics. WHen I did mine,I was too busy messing with it and my exhaust at teh same time to really bother documenting. Props to you for the breakdown, should cover alotta ppl's questions. Also, if you ever manage to haveyour doorpanels off agian, stretching a "skin" over all of the holes does wonders for your sound system.

 

[Iggy]

Also, if you ever manage to haveyour doorpanels off agian, stretching a "skin" over all of the holes does wonders for your sound system.

How does this help?

 

[jonlong]

What kind of "skin" do you reccomend? I was thinking about putting dynomat over the holes to seal the door.

 

[Poseur]

Dynomat or whatever... Bquiet, brownbread,etc. it's mostly for the same purpose. What it does in thsi application is create a "cabinet" out of your door which will seperate the sound coming off of the back of the speaker from the interior of the car entirely. Obviously you'll not have a perfect seal seeing as your doorhandle's pushrods, etc must still have holes, and there's actually drain holes at the bottom outside of the door, But it's essentially the same reason why subs go in boxes. "sealing" off your speakers increases powerhandling and efficiency. Not to mention this will give you another "wall" of insulation. I recommend atleast 2 layers perhaps 3 if you can swing it. Additionally, I'll soon be adding carpet padding to the inside of my doorpanels as well. Heck my friend's Beamer is noisier to ride in than my car, but i'm gunning for the audi/mercedes level here...

 

[jrodhotrod]

Nice work, I have been planning the same sort of thing for quite sometime with my MSP. thanks for the pics.

 

[altspace]

Indeed that with the padding in place over the wheelwells I had to use a bit of force to get the panels back in place, but they all fit.

 

[Greg S]

Just remember that as you add more padding the car will get quiter but you'll start to add alot of weight. I've done this to my two previous cars, 2-3 layers over every surface from floor to roof, and it really made the cars quite and improved the SPL and SQ in the car but it ended up added anywhere from 150-230 lbs. to each car, so it was like I was always driving around with two people in the car.

 

[altspace]

I weighed it out before installing. 14 lbs. total from what I used.

 

[Kooldino]

Just curious...all that asphalt stuff you pulled out...what did it weigh in total?

 

[altspace]

Pulled out? I added everything to what was already stock.

 

[323CiP5]

good job...this will be my next mod

 

[altspace]

...and then I add a MazdaSpeed muffler....go figure.

 

[altspace]

Hey Matt, you add any more padding?

 

[novAKs47]

Dynamat stuff is a waste of time.(not to flame anyone for using it though). After I put my sub in the trunk, I didn't like the way it was resonating off of the exposed metal. I just got some acoustic foam, and lined my trunk with that. It sounded much better. Then again, this was in a sedan, not the p5. Those dynamat trunk kits cost how much? Over $100 if memory serves. More than enough foam cost all of $25 shipped. And for general purpose sound deadining(road noise), plain foam from the local hardware store will do wonders. Dynamat helps a little, but not enough to justify the cost. That's my rant for the night.