Sound Deadening Choices

You missed one choice -- better tires!

I kid you not, Bill, I was going to add sound deadening to my Prius. But after I got the Comfortreds on the car, the road noise just wasn't bothersome enough to warrant going thru the install.

 

I yearn for active noise cancellation -- quiet without the bulk and weight. Sigh, Earth computers just aren't up to it yet...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Jul 5 2006, 12:49 AM) [snapback]281289[/snapback]</div>

I've found this article useful. Haven't decided on taking the plunge though.

 

I hate to add even more confusion, but I came across this stuff while considering sound damping material myself:

http://www.quietcar.net/

This stuff is a spray/brush/roll on visco-elastic polymer that weighs considerably less than Dynamat and its competitors, since it dampens sound by converting it into small amounts of heat rather than relying simply on mass to resist sound transmission. In all honesty, I don't really want to add the 40 to 100 lbs. of dead-weight incurred by Dynamat to my Prius. By comparison, 5 gallons of QuietCar, which according to the web site is what a Prius would need for door, trunk, floor, and firewall coverage works out to about 18 lbs. when dry. And it's less expensive per square foot too.

Hunting around a bit more, I discovered that QuietCar is one of a number of products made by http://www.quietsolution.com , including similar products for boats, trains, and aircraft, as well as a number of sound dampening products for home construction. All this leads me to believe these guys know what they're doing when it comes to stopping noise.

However, I have a huge disclaimer here: I have not yet had the courage to remove the door panels, seats, and carpets from our new Prius to go put this stuff in. So I can't tell you how well it works. But when I do build up the courage, this is the stuff I want to try, not DynaMat.

Maybe I can convince the local car-stereo place to dismantle the car and apply it for me. At least they know how to take a car apart and reassemble it without ruining anything... well, I hope so anyway.

Regards,

Peter.

 

Bill, I haven't do it on my Prius yet but on my sons '05 Hyundai Tiburon, we B-quiet basically his entire car to kill all rattles when he played his 3KW sound system for competition purposes. By cost/properties average, that was the best solution. We did 3 layers and add near 80 lb. to the total weight .
I have left some material to do the front doors, task that i will start after returning from out trip to the 2006 Hybridfest. At the moment, to compensate for the road noise, I crank louder the sound system and get a back massage

 

I had Dynamat and the new Dyna-sorb installed- adds some weight but really makes the sound system sound better.

 

Something that will help your decision is to look at each of the spec. They each have a different temperature in which they dampen sound. I also chose the lighest one. At the time Dynamat Extreme was the best but most expensive. B-quiet was a close runner up.

I had the entire cabin done and it has reduced the A/C usage as well. I am not sure if the weight reduced my mpg but seeing as how I rarely use A/C or only need it at the lowest level saves mpg. It took about 96 s.f. which is about 45 lbs.

I have found that doing the doors and floors will be your biggest noise reducer. The ceiling and trunk did not do so much. They did everything but the battery case. I had my Prius done in three parts since the shop kept running out of insulation. The cost should run around $600 - $700.

BTW, I did the same thing to my old F250 diesel. The difference was night and day. It made my truck absolutely quiet. I could barely head my engine. I would have to roll down the window to ensure it sounded right.

 

Well Bill, being that the wheather and spare time helped, here are the pictures of the job in progress, I used as I said in the earlier post, Bquiet sound and vibration dampening material. The rolls are 12" and 15lbs.
I applied 2 layers of material on the inside skin of the door, one above the other and a single layer in the inside of the door in the outside skin in manageble strips sizes( probably this step can be avoided, is to messy and cumbersome) and an extra piece of 20" that was left over by the center with the big opening. I removed and discarted the inside plastic vapor barrier. Routed the wires, opened the sockets for the wire harness and affixed the wires of same harness with left-over pieces of material. Also made round openings for the plastic plugs for the inside decorative skin.
After completion, the door tested MORE solid and it really does cut road noise and my Alpine speaker sound better, now it has a better metallic box. Notice that the replacement speaker is mounted in the old plastic basket of the OEM spkr.
The first door took me 1 1/2 hs implying dissasembly, planing the job and layout of components, actual job, cutting openings, fastening the wire harness, testing for rattles and spkr. and closing everything.
Not to bad, tomorow I will do the drivers side.
The pictures can be magnified for more detail.
Horacio

Door, full view
Door, detail on install


Edit: drove it trough a rough concrete surface road that I know and with certainty the addition of this material does cut down a lot the road noise while traveling, it's a posite improvement.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mrbigh @ Jul 14 2006, 03:32 PM) [snapback]286438[/snapback]</div>

Can't get your links to work...can you please double check them?

Thanks!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Jul 5 2006, 03:36 PM) [snapback]281641[/snapback]</div>

Bill,

Can I ask what size ComforTred you went with? As I read other PC threads here on tire replacement for the Prius, I see many going up in size to the 195 or 205/65-15s.

Also did you notice a big difference in noise level over the stock Goodyears? I'm expecting my Prius to arrive in a couple weeks and thinking about going direct to my Goodyear dealer when I take delivery.

Thanks! Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kn6vv @ Jul 14 2006, 06:03 PM) [snapback]286511[/snapback]</div>

You can get ComforTreds in the OEM size of 185/65/15

 

i got the comfortreds... i dont really think i notice that much of a difference

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(flareak @ Jul 14 2006, 11:42 PM) [snapback]286620[/snapback]</div>

I put ComforTreds on yesterday and the difference is amazing...both in quietness and in ride. Almost makes me wish I hadn't spent the time wearing out the OEM tires!

David

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Jul 15 2006, 01:36 AM) [snapback]286616[/snapback]</div>

Glad to be of service. I didn't realize RAAMaudio was in St. Helens. I may have to take a trip up there at some point. I was considering doing my integra first. I think my wife would kill me if I started taking apart her shiny new Prius...