Road noise
 

WHITE WOLF This is exactly my experience.. I now love the car but did not notice the road noise during the test drives because I was too focused on other things..When I went on a trip with my wife for the first time I noticed it and it was horrible.. the roads here have a rough surface for driving during snow and ice and it was LOUD.I really thought I had made a terrible mistake. I had the car dynamatted and it has made a difference. My Z is good now but still I am going to go one step further and get the Conti Extremes at some point probably next year to take the car from "very good" to "excellent beyond all expectations!" because to me the less the road noise the better.


I dont think there is anything different about the 2011..The noise may not bother you or maybe the roads in your area are not so noisy..but if it becomes a problem its easy to correct. Its no different from those that buy a car and then add a better sound system.. its just a way of making the car more to your exact liking.

Go ahead and buy it!!

One other thing.. I notice you live in Hawaii.. are the roads there built with a rough surface to cope with snow and ice??:)

If you think changing the stock tires to another summer tire brand will cause a dramatic change in road noise, you're fooling yourself. The difference will be minimal at best. The only time you get a big variation in tire noise levels is when you go from something like mud tires to more conservative all-seasons.

Better would be to Dynamat more aggressively. If you only did the rear hatch area, go for the doors. If that's done and your'e not happy still, Dynamat the floor. Last option is the roof. And now you'll have yourself a 4,000lb sports car.

Holy crap, ANOTHER cabin noise thread?!?!
Oh wait... it's still the same one.

hey you guys with noise issues should consult 90ST how he did his entire floorboard with dynamat. he's an audio guru here taking things from the traditional acoustic side. :)

big's the other audio guru taking things from the electronics side.

hey luna you should link your thread about nissan engineers prioritizing things. :D

I disagree. Certain summer tires, like the Bridgestones, are well known to be a very noisy tire.

Also, Dynamat is not meant to be sound-deadening material. Its sole purpose is to add mass to whatever it is applied to, making it heavier and therefore less prone to rattling or vibration from acoustics. IMO, you can find better material to use.

RE050s are pretty noisy but they aren't THAT noisy until about 50% worn...then it roaarrs like a frikken 4x4 with off-road tires. :D

as for dynamat there is noticable noise reduction just doing the trunk. the trunk floor is pretty flimsy in some areas. i speak from experience. it's quite more tame now, not that road noise was ever bugging me. i wanted to reduce the low frequency resonance for a clear bass note off my stereo without using subs, etc.

Despite any evidence to the contrary, Dynamat alone proved delightfully effective in reducing all types of noise, good bang for the buck.

According to a Dynamat promo, dynamat does reduce sound but not by adding mass but by changing sound energy into heat .. The amount of heat is very small but this is how Dyamat is able to quiet sound with a very lightweight product.. I bet you could do the entire car with less than one hundred pounds of Dynamat..

I am torn between DWs and DWS's.. any thoughts? I was concerned the tread of the "S" would be a problem...Also did you notice any change in performance?

I have honestly never found the road noise issue to be too big of an annoyance..

Ya, 30 lbs is really going to slow down a 3000 lb + car.:icon17:

Guard Dad,

Thanks for all your excellent info on quieting this beast down. Why live with annoying levels of noise unless you only care about performance? Your posts have been very helpful in helping me to decide what methods to use.

I'll let everyone know how mine turns out.

pbs370z

I'm glad that my posts have been of benefit. Please feel free to PM me with your results or questions.

If you're in a state that gets some snow and plan to drive it in the winter time, get the DWS. For more snowy states, get a dedicated set of snow rims and tires.

The noise is significantly less with the DWS. Performance wise they've been really good so far for street driving and I don't drive hard enough to really miss a summer tire.

With damplifier pro and luxury liner pro from second skin in the trunk/doors and these new tires, the road noise isn't even a problem. All I really hear now is my exhaust.

I'm trying to figure out why it doesn't bother you. Little hard a hearin' are ya? Maybe a few too many rock concerts in your youth, eh? :icon17:

Dynamat Install
 

See SilNik's video sticky located in the audio section.

So the DWS is less noise than the DW? I dont drive mine in the snow at all and I thought the bigger treads on the DWS would give more noise and less performance and smooth ride than the DW.. what thinkest yee?

Bring on the noise
 

Personally, I love the noise. It's all part of the character of the car. Nissan spent a considerable amount of time and money finding ways to keep the weight down (i.e. aluminum doors, hood, trunk) and make the car stick like glue in the corners. I won't be touching mine.
However, I do sympathize with those who want a quieter ride. I'm lucky in that when I want a quiet drive I take my Jaguar XK8. That car is all about refinement and luxury.
I guess I'm just saying every car is built for a reason and IMO it seems counterproductive to try and turn a car into something it isn't.

amen
 

:iagree:

Well I think the roads have lot to do with it too. The roads in RI are bad and even when I cross into Mass. I notice a difference. But I am happy with the car now that I have made some serious dents in the noise level and I bet the total weight is less than 100 pounds which is very small percentage wise and I can easily make up my leaving my wife at home! Keep in mind we are talking about tire on road noise and not engine noise..

:iagree: I started out by just Dynamatting the trunk but was not satisfied so
I just finished with door panels and area behind the seat and side panel where seat belt retractor is located. differance was quite substaintial and improve the Bose system to where I can acutally hear and feel the base.

I agree about the tire noise. Anyone with a suggestion on quieter tires?:stirthepot:

Hankook V12's seem to be what a lot of folks suggest for quieter quality tires. There is a discussion over in wheel and tires, if you do a search for "quiet tires" you will see a few discussion over just this.

My car is quieter too when I leave the wife at home. :icon17:

:icon17: Isn't that the truth.

:icon18: :tiphat:

I'm afraid I don't really understand the logic that this kind of ambient noise is a positive thing and that people shouldn't be interested in sound dampening their Z's. While I agree that the sound of a beautiful engine or an aggressive exhaust can be pleasant to hear, I don't think the majority of Z owners relish the sound of tires slapping the pavement. To me, tire roar is an unpleasant sound that makes it hard to have a conversation in the car or listen to music and after a 6 hour road trip, it can get pretty irritating. And let's be honest, it's not rocket science to make a quieter cabin environment.

To that end, it isn't particularly difficult to install sound dampening material, nor does it add an excessive amount of weight to the car. Adding Dynamat to the cargo area, floor and doors added a whopping 30 lbs to my 3,200 lb vehicle. Adding my weight pushes it up to almost 3,400 lbs and I can't see how 30 lbs is going to make any significant difference to the performance. I track my Z fairly regularly and I had it on the track both before and after the dampening. I felt absolutely no difference and would be very surprised to find any objective research that shows 30 lbs. slowing the car down enough to feel.

I also don't think that putting a bit of sound dampening material takes away from the "sports car" feel of the Z. I intentionally did not dampen the firewall and so I can still hear the engine, which is nice. Although the dampening did not eliminate the road noise, it did help to reduce it. It's a shame that Nissan chose not to add ANY dampening material to the vehicle. Regardless of a person's individual tolerance to this kind of noise, the road roar clearly irritates a large segment of the Z community. Given a choice between a 370 with no dampening and lots of road noise and a Z that is 30 lbs or so heavier but has less tire roar, I'll take the second option any day. I can't hear the road noise on the track, but my Z is also my daily driver and that accounts for far more time in the driver's seat.

Well said.:iagree:

I think a lot of people are lost in the fact of what a true sports car is. I dont think most view it has a positive thing, but something that comes along with a vehicle in this realm.In the sports car realm a mere "30lbs" is a lot when you are trying to shave wieght everywhere you can. Power to wieght is what we are talking about 30-50 lbs could be a 5-6 horsepower loss. I know you are going to laugh at 5-6 horsepower but hey you buy this type of car to squeeze everything you can out of it. In terms of horsepower, everything is about wieght.

It amazes me that people buy these cars and expecting for the money (in truth these are cheap sports cars) they pay to get everything in one package. There is an infiniti that boasts much of what you are looking for with the same engine and a back seat. Which seems a much more practical option for many of the complaints Ive seen an read about. I mean look at the Ferrari F40 (I am in no way comparing our car to it in any other way than it was also a production car), for the money you paid you know what you got? A/C.... No door handles, no carpet, no stereo *it did have an oil cooler :stirthepot:" I dont know of any car designer who was designing a car built for speed and handling that would throw "cabin noise" high on the concern list.

I think you have to remember who a lot of your audience is here. Though there are some daily driver stock guys here, a lot of people here bought these cars to see what they could get out of them. A fun afforadable most bang for your buck sports car. So when you say people seem to think road noise is a positive issue, they arent they view it as an acceptable issue. I mean this isnt a personal attack, more of a defense of the people who dont mind the road noise. You said it yourself its easy to add, so if it bothers someone so much that they are having buyers remorse maybe a little more research or a few more test drives should of been on the menu.

My 2 cents, opinions are like @55holes, and all that jazz....

Well I love the car, I love everything, and for short trips, less than 30 min, it is not a problem at all, however when I drive on hwy or hour or longer trips, after i get off the car my ears are kinda numb and it is uncomfortable to listen the music or radio at high volume to over come all the so call 'noise', it actually hurts my ear after long trip.
long hwy drives on very poor road surface = uncomfortable and hurts my ears.
I am planning on this mod for summer when I don't have classes.

Perfectly stated. :tiphat:

I have said it before, and the 370Z is a GT. It should be comfortable on long cruises and the high noise level detracts from that substantially. And I don't mean big Lexus, BMW or Mercedes comfortable and quiet, but it could be much quieter than it is without affecting it's performance by enough that anyone who isn't tracking it at 9/10th's would ever know.
Nissan failed at something that was an easy design parameter. A 300 mile cruise would be much more fun if you could hear the stereo better and not have to practically yell to speak with your passenger, or yell to use the built in Bluetooth and have the person on the other end ask if you are driving a convertible with the top down.

Everyone in this thread bought one, nonetheless.
Nissan succeeded by saving themselves the expense of adding noise dampening materials and people still bought the car anyway. On top of that, they gave you the option to add it yourself if you so desired! :tup:

This thread is to talk about how to reduce the noise inside the car. If you're happy with the noise level, then fine. You're a happy camper. For those of us who aren't happy with the noise level, we're (many of us) are going to try to reduce it and we want to know all the techniques and info available to do so. If you don't think this car is noisy inside then this isn't the thread for you. Find another thread!

P.S. I just got finished with Dyanamatting the rear hatch area and also some Luxury Liner Pro over some key areas that sound like a tin drum when you tap on them. Noise level is definitely better. Not satisfied yet though. I plan to do the doors next.

When you do the doors you will really notice a difference. The installers were surprised to find NO sound dampening at all in the doors! I only wish I knew how do do this myself as I have the hatch, trunk and doors done and so far it has cost me $1200...and I would still like to do the floor..

That's what surprised me. Nissan put NO sound dampening on this car at all. I do understand what people are saying about "buy a sports car, be prepared for a lot of road noise", but with the technology of today, it's really not hard to get a great sports car that is also not unnecessarily burdened with tire noise and a cacophony of rock & pebble sounds. As a person that does track their vehicle from time to time, I can tell you that (imho) 30 lbs worth of sound dampening doesn't make a smack of difference. I challenge anyone to take their Z to the track and quantitatively differentiate the difference in performance between 3,330 lbs and 3.360 lbs. Take a decibel meter and you can differentiate between absolutely no sound dampening and 30 lbs worth of your favorite dampening material.

In for before and after dB readings from members' cars! :tup:
(anything else is subjective and anecdotal like measuring the effects of engine mods by buttometer)

I've said much the same thing in the past, unfortunately many people seem to take it as a personal insult that anyone could possibly find the Z lacking in any area whatsoever. Of course the idea of audio, engine, chassis or body upgrades to their cars is in no way offensive to them!

You are absolutely correct, if you can't make a positive contribution to the thread don't post.

This topic is relevant to my interests. Can you just buy some material and ask any body shop to put it in for you? Or do you have to find someone who specializes in sound-dampening? I'm not *too* bothered by cabin noise, but I certainly wouldn't turn down a chance to reduce it.

Just look up dynamatt on the internet and find a local dealer.. Its not difficult to install (except for klutzes like me!) but I would certainly never want someone who had never done it before to do it because once its down you can never remove it..