Cabin noise

Guard Dad

Hi everyone. Some months ago I mentioned that as part of of an audio upgrade I was going to add more sound deadener in the cockpit area, well I'm back to report the results.

As some of you know I've been aggressive in reducing the road noise in the Z. In the hatch I've applied generous amounts of Dynamat Extreme and covered most of it with Luxury Liner Pro. I've also applied Dynamat Extreme to the doors.

My most recent addition was to apply Rammat (essentially Dynamat Exterme from another supplier) on the bare metal of the cockpit floor. To do this I removed the seats and pulled the carpet back as far as possible. I was not able to apply Rammat to the top of the console and more than about 6-8" above the floor in the foot wells.

My observations are as follows:

Dynamat Exterme in the hatch and doors, approximately 38 square feet total: Huge improvement, modest cost, modest additional weight, modest degree of difficulty. Well worth the trouble.

Luxury Liner Pro in the hatch, approximately 20 square feet: Limited additional improvement over the Dynamat Extreme alone, this stuff is heavy. Probably not worth it unless the noise is a real issue for you.

Rammat on the cockpit floor, this requires removal of the seats, approximately 20 square feet: Rammat seems like a quality product but the improvement is this case was barely noticeable (the factory has already installed significant sound deadener on the cockpit floor) and is limited to a slight reduction of an annoying resonance from the foot wells that really wasn't noticeable until the application of the Dynamat Exterme and Luxury Liner Pro in the hatch. Probably not worth the trouble unless you are gutting the interior for some other reason.

The take away: Apply Dynamat Exterme or Rammat to the doors and hatch for a big noise reduction and only do more if you really feel the need.

UNKNOWN_370

Wow... so how much weight gain are we talking about???

harry370z

By hatch do you mean boot?

Guard Dad

In the U.S. the cargo area in a Z coupe is commonly referred to as the hatch and in the roadster it's usually called the trunk so take your pick as to which one would apply in your case. I have accumulated a fair amount of experience with the coupe but haven't done any work on a roadster although much of what I've learned should apply to the roadster as well. I'd be happy to share what I've learned if that would be of any value to you, just let me know.

RiCharlie

Yes but only if by the boot you mean the hatch..

harry370z

ha ha , bloody americans! always getting things mixed up

Ive organised to have my doors done with dynamat extreme and the "hatch" area done with dynamat extreme then with Dynaliner on top.

Selected Dynaliner over Dynapad because it seemed pretty similar and it has a adhesive backing already on it.

RiCharlie

Hey mate you're the ones that eat vegamite sandwiches and swim with great whites!!

Bonzo

Taking the chance of reopening up this super long thread and pissing off all the "sports car" people, I do have a question for those have done the sound proofing.

Unlike some of you, I don't mind the tire noise, engine noise, wind noise or road noise. I don't mind any of the mechanical noises. That's where I have to agree with the "sports car" folks. Compared with my wife's Pontiac Solstice this car is quiet in those areas.

BUT, what I do find overly loud, and unlike any other car I've driven, is the sand, dirt & pebble noise in the rear wheel wells. It's like every single grain of sand that you drive over gets spit up by the rear tires right behind your head in the wheel well. Here in South West Ohio we use street cleaners quite a bit, so it's not like the roads are filthy dirty. But when ever you go over those areas less traveled, where the "beads" build up a little, it sounds like you are driving through a freshly paved loose black top deposit.

So I've got my rear end all torn out right now (making way for wires for the back up camera and 4th brake light wiring), and thought this would be a good time to investigate soundproofing back there. And what I've found the last few days is tons of information that contradicts itself.

I'm basically down to 2 thoughts on this. I'm thinking while I have the rear all exposed, it wouldn't hurt to add dynamat or the like to the wheel wells and the trunk. It's just money and more so the time I don't have right now. So for those who have done this, has this application made a difference for the pebble noise?

After that, I'm thinking a good coat (or two or 3) of rubberized undercoating applied to the underside of the wheel wells might make the biggest difference. This way the dirt and pebbles are hitting a softer more forgiving surface rather than the "ping" of the lightly coated metal it is now. I saw a few options on this (like from Fatmat) where a gallon costs about $80. Has anyone tried this? If so, can you offer up your findings here?

Thanks for your help!

Cheers ---- Bonzo

......and sorry to those of your who I've not answered yet via PM. I've been so busy in my personal life that I've little to no time to do anything else. I'll get to it, I promise.

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