Cabin noise
 

Evil, what I did was apply the Frost King Insulation in many layers and added a 1/2 inch thick piece of backed on one side carpet insulation. I cut pieces to fit everywhere. the license plate section, the sides and even the section right behind the seats. I removed the spare( who needs it anyway). Then placed a folded bed comforter where the spare was.. Its clean and unseen. plus a nice storage area where the spare was. It definitely seemed to help, especially under normal cruising. When you first drive and listen, you maybe more aware and keen to any noise. When your driving later and not paying attention critically, you ( I) noticed a definite improvement. Thats enough to satisfy me. Now,as the other guys mentioned, you could get into the doors, but I dont want to screw with that and cause damage. Just add more and you'll see a difference. Plus, it cant hurt and doesnt cost much. I heard about second skin so maybe you could add more. Good driving man.

Oh yeah. Doing it sucks. 4 hours in a 'poop squat' putting the stupid stuff in. Having a little trouble standing up straight today. And I think if we had a contest for the ugliest Dynamat install, I would be hands down winner. Lots'o little pieces. Not a job for a perfectionist. After a while it was just do whatever I could to get the hell out of there.

My hamstrings are about to snap today:icon14: One thing I noticed now is how loud the doors are. Im not sure Im the guy to tackle that job. Is there some video here on how to do the doors?

Here's a couple of photos from my install...

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...n/dynamat2.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...n/dynamat1.jpg

Not difficult. If that were me, the Z would gain about 25# in sound insulation, noone would whine or bitch, and the stat would go un-publicized. Everyone would just notice the next model being much quieter and then they could opine on what it weighed, rip it out and weigh it if they wanted, etc., but 98% of them would just love the hell out of it and not ask.

How effective would it be to just lay a layer of the stuff (not stuck on) under the hatch carpet? Obviously not the greatest, but quick and dirty and worth 1-2dB?

Not very. It's a hatch so you really need to do the whole interior to have a meaningful impact on sound.

Scott, above is a total hacked and edited version of your quote. I mostly agreed with what you said but had to change some words and delete others. The real quote is just back a page so if anyone wants to see that please do so.

The car has a more solid sound now, yes, but I wouldn't call it revolutionary.

As for the pebbles, I was hoping for more. There is a difference. They used to go tink plink tink plick and be really loud. Now they are more like dink donk dink donk, and aren't quite as noticeable, I think because it's not as shrill sounding.

I think it's an improvement but, since it's so slight......

.....is it really worth all the work? I'm not sure. This was a total PITA!!! Only time will tell if it worked for me. I think if I just unconsciously stop noticing it then it worked. If a month from now I still notice it all the time then I might need to go to the next step. I think the real cure for the pebbles is more rubberized undercoating in the wheel wells. FatMat sells paint on stuff by the gallon, which is probably where I'd start my hunt. Paints on blue so you can see where you've done, and dries black. I think rubber stuff on the outside will act like a padding to help the pebbles bounce off with less metal sounding noise. If I ever do it I'll be sure to report here.

4 hours? Wow, you cruized! :eek: All my plastic trim pieces, foam stuff and spare tire were already out, and it still took me about 4-1/2 hours the first day (when I ran out of material after 5 sheets of 18 x 36), and about 4 hours the second day (for another 5 sheets of material). All in all if I had started with panels still in this would have been a 10 hour job, easy. Now I will say that I took my time and tried to do it right. I tried to clean all the surfaces with 409 (but this was hard too with all the wires and protrusions sticking out), and I really tried to work the FatMat really well down into all the cracks & corners etc. I tried to cover all the holes. I used larger "fitting" pieces when possible, and took my time trying to cut stuff fairly accurate (Smaller pieces are inevitable eventually though, especially as you wind down and find little spots you missed). I also had 1 full sheet left over when done, so I re-did the fender wells doubling up material best I could with the 1 limited sheet. I also took 5 minute breaks every 45-60 minutes or so to stretch my legs out. I wanted to be able to get out without falling into the car so this was good for me to do. Basically I tried to be that perfectionist you talked about, but failed too due to it just being a PITA. I'm not sure if my work quality was as good as professional, but I'm certain it could have been done a lot worse. It was the best I could do.

I've got lots of pics which I will post when I get time. Here's one of me climbing around in back....:icon23:

So for those of you doing this, it took me 9 full sheets at about 18 x 36 to cover most of the trunk. I used my 10th left over sheet to double up on the fenders some. Best tools are your fingers, a micro fiber cloth to help your fingers slide as you push, some good plastic handled scissors to both cut and to push the material into corners with the handle, and that roller thing they supply you with. Make sure you bring a bottle of water in with you, as well as a folded towel or something else padded to sit on. Use your knuckles to rap on the metal areas to see what's most important to do, and make sure those areas get covered.

That's all I got for now.

Cheers ---- Bonzo :tup:

I want to know is Dynamat or Q-Quiet what once is better????

Insulating
 

Its hard to say which product is better since we only use what we use and not the other options. I used an insulator for ductwork bought at Lowes called Frost King. Looks just like Dynamat and a bit thicker. Hard to say since i never used Dynamat.

:iagree:

Only way to really tell would be hard. Since there are several ways to do this (lets just say 5 for this discussion, but there are many more), you would need 5 of the same car, all installed by the same guy using the same amounts of material, then driven and tested over the same roads under like conditions, and probably using a sound level meter to be scientific about it. Otherwise it's all just opinions and hear say. Installers might be able to give the best options, but their experiences can be flawed. Using Dynamat in a big custom van may make a huge difference, but using Q-Quiet in a Camaro might not make as much difference. And even if the installer did do 2 Z's, it would probably be weeks or months apart, and memories aren't always clear with this.

My recommendation after going through all the pain to do it would be not to skimp if you can afford it. Do some research on your own, pick a brand that seems to have a good product, and if they have different options, like thick = $, thicker = $$ & thickest = $$$. Go with the $$$ thickest of that brand and be done with it.

Dynamat has the name, but there are others that are the very similar if not exactly the same, and possibly even better. I chose FatMat because it offered the same sort of product at a cheaper price. If I had to do over I would have bought the better level material though. I just got the regular FatMat, but they make 2 other better ones. My mistake. But if you are considering FatMat, don't use Amazon or the like, because it will cost more. Go direct to FatMat and shipping is free. Also, do NOT buy the trunk kit. #1 it won't be enough, and #2, it's priced higher. If you want to do the entire trunk area, buy the 50 sq ft Bulk package, it's the best deal.

Cheers --- Bonzo :tup:

Wow, I cant believe people go thru all this time and money over a little cabin noise. Personally, it doesnt bother me what-so-ever. You guys are crazy :icon17:

:tup: :iagree: but maybe it doesn't bother me because i drive mine on weekends mostly cruising around.

US CRAZY?? :eek:Maybe you are DEAF..:tup::bowrofl::roflpuke2::icon17:

:iagree:

:tup:

I spent less than $40 on the Frost King stuff thanks to rebe945, worked well.

:tup: thank i will try that this weekend

Yeah $50 and one hour of time to cancel out tire and road noise (and making the exhaust and engine sound better) is just INSANITY! Who has that kind of time or money?!

:tup:

I hope Frost King is stable. Had a buddy that used homeowner stuff in his RX7. When it got hot it (a) melted, and (b) smelled like hell. He took his whole interior out to try to scrape the goo out. After days of scraping and cleaning with acetone, the car still reeked of hot tar until the day he sold it. It had dripped down into every nook & cranny.

Frost King may be ok, but just a word of warning to those who use stuff not designed to withstand the heat that a car interior can generate.

I just finished up putting Dynamat Extreme in the hatch floor, wheel wells, back wall of the hatch, forward section of the rear wheel wells behind the seats, and most places in between. I also coated the doors and around the speakers there. Note that, as mentioned, you do NOT need 100% coverage. I used strips of it cut to fit the areas. I kept a soft mallet to test for vibration and solidity of the parts after application. You can clearly hear the tone change even with a small amount of Dynamat Extreme applied to an area. I also put some on the heat shield over the rear muffler area. Since my custom exhaust with no mufflers does not get that area very hot any more, it stopped that rattle from the loud exhaust completely.

The sound change overall with just Dynamat in some key areas was significant and well worth the effort. I spent the whole Saturday doing it (not an easy job) and cleaned up before my wife got home. When she got home, I took her for a ride as an objective opinion (without telling her what I did).

It was not more than five minutes in the car and she flat out asked what changed on the car because it was so much quieter and more relaxing inside. I proceeded to explain..

Cost was $142 (price match at Best Buy to Amazon.com prices for three door kits of Dynamat Extreme). I have two sheets of Luxury Liner Pro being delivered today to cover the hatch floor and rear wheel wells. It will be here today so I can report on the additional refinement. Total weight added so far is 15 lbs on the dot. Another 20lbs for the LLP and that will be more than sufficient for my needs. It is already very nice now inside, but I want the CCF and MLV barrier in the back for future exhaust mods to avoid too much drone getting into the cabin.

In addition, after I finished surrounding the door frame and the speaker bracket itself too with the Dynamat Extreme, it nearly doubled the bass output from the Polk 6-1/2" speakers. Sounds like I have a small sub in the car and was worth every penny. I cant turn the volume up anywhere near as loud now and its crisp and clean sounding. Imaging is fantastic.

Last but not least, I covered the rear air vents (near the wheel wells) with Dynamat too. Since the windows open a bit when you get in and out of the car, they were not doing much for air exchange. That alone killed a lot of tire noise and some exhaust fumes from the back.

More to come soon. My opinion is that adding 35 lbs in return for more of a GT-style refined ride is 100% worth it. The car handles identically to before, but the exhaust and engine purrs are so nice now and the road harshness is down about 50% already, pre Luxury Liner Pro addition.

Just my $0.02

Sorry, but there is no way, no way you got it all done in 1 hour. Either you only did a very small portion of the back, or you didn't do a very good job doing it. Heck, unless you've done it all before and are experienced doing it, it takes 10-15 minutes alone to take out all the panels, foam, and spare tire, and another 10-15 minutes to put it all back in. So according to you it only takes 1/2 hour to put in the sound deadening material? You need to buy yourself a watch that works my friend. ;):rolleyes:

I may have taken a lot of time to do it properly and nicely, but even scottIN took 4 hours and he self proclaimed that he did a sloppy job. This is at least a 4 - 10 hour job depending on how picky you are and how many patience you have.

I don't think he meant an hour literally. Obviously it takes more than an hour but the point is it's not a large investment for what can be (depending on your opinion) a large improvement.

lp

It is def more than an hour if you do it right (thats what she said).

I had fun though, had a couple Terrapin Hopsecutioner beers on hand, my handy work gloves, some jams on the garage radio. Good times :tup:

Ever since I got a house, I fell back in love with getting to know my car's guts and privates. She so fine!

I just don't want anyone to be mislead if they are thinking about doing this. It's a royal pain to do, and it takes a while. It's not a wham bam thank you mam job. I think people here considering this should know reality. I know I would.

I got into a discussion years ago with a guy back on the Pontiac Solstice forum about how long it took to put the top up or down. After pages and pages of thread, the guy swore it only took an average Joe 10 seconds to do with no rushing around. He was delusional. I always thought maybe he was an engineer at GM trying to back his baby while wearing a welding mask. Totally blinded. :icon14:

To me it was not a difficult job, it was an exhausting and time consuming job.

Difficult was wiring some AudioQuest UL listed in wall cables through the door piping and connectors without losing my skin.

:eek::rofl2:

True. I would also add arse, leg, and back stiffening the day of, and arse, leg, and back hurting the next day.

not to troll this thread but i just don't understand what the point in dampening the sound in the z. it's supposed to sound and feel like a raw sports car. dynamat'ing the car takes away from it, and imo you mind as well just get a beemer, benz, g37 that's meant to be like that from the factory

I don't ever expect the 370Z to sound like a mid-engine car, but I also don't want to hear every pebble that I drive over - I'll probably give this a try soon.

I sent you a Pm did you get it?

Nice to hear..what i like is that you can now hear the engine more and it's a LOT more pleasant on long drives..I dont think I have ever read a professional review that did not mention extreme road noise as a major problem..It still sounds like a sports car..not a cement mixer..
Same experience with my wife...
With this many complaints you would think Nissan would do something about it...
Nice to hear of your success..

Thanks for the thread...

I have had a 350Z, so I know road noise, I knew the 370Z would be the same, but I want to get rid of Tire noise, and the sound deadening seems like the thing to do..

Thanks for the tips..I now have another project..

And you want road noise ? My other car is a close ratio Pro touring Z/28.. Leave the radio off, and both windows down....That is crazy fun...WOT is just addicting..

Dynamatting does not make this car sound like a luxury cruiser by a long shot...it make it more civilized..sports car sounding but not blasting in you ear mile after mile
..did you read the pro reviews posted earlier in this thread? They all say the road noise extraordinarily loud..

That being said each to his own...glad you like it the way it is......but i post this just to answer your question.

My take on road noise again
 

After riding Saturday The verdict is a thumbs up. I wasnt paying attention at first since i havnt driven since last weekend, then i realized how nice it was. Just cruising about town with the windows down somewhat. It was perfect for a SPORTS CAR. Now thats the key. If you read reviews on any sports car, 95% will mention road noise as a negative. Thats because its a sports car. What I did was perfect for me. It sounds great . Noise was a non factor. Now I didnt go over those perferated cement highway sections but so what. For normal cruising, it was great. I added 2.5 rolls of a product bought at Lowes called Frost King and 1/2 inch layer of backed carpet insulation and removed the spare and layed down a comforter in the spare area. Made a nice unseen storage area. I will be putting on 19s tires 255/295 ( instead of my base 18s) soon. Im hoping what I did is not cancelled out somewhat with the larger rubber. Cross my fingers. Rich

So now that I have the dynamat and luxury liner pro in, its very nice inside. I added a layer of Dynamat to the inside of the front fender liners and it made quite a difference. The harshness is almost gone from the road noise, everything is deeper and more subdued. I took some buddies for a ride and they both commented how much quieter it was inside. I think we have two converts coming soon. :tup:

Hey Chops any update on the noise level after you coated the trunk area? I might just do that... have my Z wheel wells coated by 3M not only it would protect my car from rust and stone chips it would probably lower down the road noise.

Wow, you must be fun at parties. I was just trying to help people out guy, no need to get your pretty little pink panties in a wad.

If you actually read my post, you'd see that my install was uber simple and I did the bare minimum. My car didn't have spare tire, foam, tools, etc to deal with. I already took that crap out a long time ago. So for me, it was just a matter of removing the trunk panels and slapping the 12 sq ft of B-quiet down and then laying corrugated foam on top of that. So YES, it took me roughly an hour. Maybe it was an hour and 21.50894 minutes? A couple hours? No idea. Next time I'll keep track down to the millisecond.

The point I was making is that you don't have to go all out and dynamat the whole car to get good results. It can be done on the cheap, and quickly. I apologize again for making you PMS so hard.

Switch to decaf, my friend.

:tiphat:

I'm not misleading anybody. If you only do a small (12 sq. ft) portion of the trunk, it IS a wham bam thank you ma'am job. ;):rolleyes:

Even a very small amount of dynamat/bquiet/etc makes a pretty big difference in these cars.

:driving:

Just my 2 cents on the noise level. It's a sports car. Not a high-end sports car...but a good one with great lines. It's NOT a stuffy Z4. Or, Audi TT. Etc., etc. There were several things I didn't even consider when I bought mine.

STEREO - I turned it off. I wanted to hear the engine.

ROAD NOISE - Didn't care. Was too busy enjoying a great sports car!

GAS MILEAGE - Didn't care! Ok, when I fill it up...and really only VERY briefly! I forget all about it when I drive away...

It's a gritty car. One with tons of history and fans. I honestly don't even notice the road noise. I'm too busy trying to wipe the smile off my face.

Again...just my thoughts!

No panties in a wad here. Sorry you can't handle hearing the truth. You are "one of those" I guess. I'd say you are the one getting your panties in a bunch.

Well for you, doing the bare minimum might have been good enough, and that's great for you. Seriously, I wish that were the case for everyone. Others here felt dynamatting the entire back did nothing at all, and it was only after doing the doors that it made a difference. So one thing this thread has proven is that people have different tolerances for different things when it come to this noise issue. If YOU had read all my posts here, you would know that my ONLY noise issue is the pebbles tinking the inside of the fender wells. Your minimalistic approach would have done about 1% to fix my issue, which basically means it would have done totally nothing; a total waste of time.

And just who do you think is being the total jack arse here???

I think a lot of people here aren't normally all that adventurous in regards to removing panels etc. I know every single one of my friends that saw my car were like, are you crazy? You are an exception. Most people have not torn out all the foam and tire for other reasons etc like you. Most people aren't going to rip all that stuff out only to do a quick fix. Most people, after going through the nervousness of all the panel removal, are going to take the time to do the full blown fix, to get all the improvements they can. I'm glad you are happy with your results, and that's awesome. Again, I think you are an exception, not the norm. I for one did the entire trunk and I'm still not sure about it. If a month from now I don't notice the pebbles I'll be good.

Your 1 hour is not the norm, it's the exception. 4 - 8 hours is the norm.

Me thinks it's you who is a bit over sensitive. Take a chill pill man.

Don't drink coffee, only beer. :tup:

Your post I was quoting was misleading. It only mentions that the job takes 1 hour, and without referencing again that you only did a very small portion, becomes misleading. 4-8 hours is the norm, and that's what the ordinary Joe people should know.

Again, and I mean this sincerely, I'm glad the amount you did made all the difference for you. I'm sure there are others that will agree. But from what I've read here, there are many that will not.

For all,
what I found doing this is that you HAD to cover everything. Using your fingers and knuckles, you can rap on the metal to see where it sound's plinky. Before you start, almost everywhere sounds this way. But even after I covered the entire left half of the flat bottom area, the right was totally plinky sounding, like I had done nothing. Just putting down 1 piece in the middle of an area did not fix the problem either. I had to do everything to eliminate the plink. I do not agree with Raw_Shark.

So to what level you choose to do this is up to you. After doing this myself, I'd say going through all the trouble to yank everything out, if someone isn't willing to spend a measly $100-$200 to do it right, they are just being cheap. They aren't poor because they have this $30,000+ impractical car. I myself was being cheap, because I didn't want to spend $200 to do it. But now after I spent 8-9 back breaking hours doing it, the money seems irrelevant. My advice is not to skimp with stuff from Lowes (and rumors of the potential smell issue don't make me thrilled either), but to buy the best automotive industry made stuff you can find. That doesn't mean more expensive is always better, so I'd search around for a brand you find comfortable with, then buy their highest dampening stuff they have. If you want to do the entire trunk area including the fenders and back wall, it's going to take 9-10 sheets @ 18" x 36". Do less if you want, that's up to you.

Cheers --- Bonzo :tup: