Dynamat

I worry more about the weight

The Prius is pretty quiet compared to my old car, and weight and mileage aren't compatible.

And, the weight would count toward your total load capacity.

The Prius can only carry about 800 pounds, so any weight the soundproofing adds decreases your load limit directly.

 

I put Dynamat all over my last car - 04 Suzuki Aerio SX. It made a HUGE differance in that car but the Prius is already pretty quiet. It is actually quiter then my Suzuki with all the Dynamat. I put the Dynamat in because I had an intense sound system and wanted to hear all I could of it. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it unless you beef up the sound system...

 

Yeah, Dynamat is kinda heavy. If you're concerned with the weight you should consider using Dynamat "Extreme". It's half the weight of the regular Dynamat and absorbs 4 times as much sound. It does cost a bit more though.

 

please report back once your dynamat is installed. personally, i have a great interest in doing this for my prius...not only to reduce road noise, but also to maximize what there is of the stereo. specificially, i'm wondering:

1) how would you rate the dampening effect? is the car dramatically quieter? somewhat quieter? no real improvement?

2) did you just do the doors, or did you do trunk/headliner/firewall as well?

3) did it improve the sound of your stereo?

4) did you end up using regular dynamat or dynamat extreme?

thanks in advance!

david r.

 

I did this on 2001 Prius (which lacked the underhood mat of the newer model). Used a less expensive asphalt-based material from "Parts Express" (it was on sale) and double thickness inside the front doors and underhood. The noise reduction was easy to discern, and rough indications from an analog dB meter (with the needle jumping around) was 3 dB improvement. Overall I added about 30 lbs to vehicle weight. The sound of the OEM audio did improve, but I notice the difference more with the audio off. For those unfamiliar w/Classic Prius it had more "ICE roar" under acceleration than the new model, and this was mainly what I was trying to improve.

I do recommend it to those interested, but the doors may be tricky to open for first-timers.

 

Anyone have decibel specs for the Prius? I guess that is not a usual spec mentioned in manufacturers' information. R&T and other car mags test that, I think, but I don't have one of those in front of me at this time.

 

My two cents,
In my opinion, the noise mainly enters through the floor. You could save the installation in the doors. For engine noise, you might want to put it in the firewall. I don't feel much noise through the doors or their seals (unlike my Odyssey...)

 

When I bought my Prius the dealer told me I had a soundproofing package installed (called Sound Shield on the invoice). He said it amounted to extra insulation being installed to cut down on sound/vibrations. I am not sure if they used Dynamat. Anyone know? My Prius does seem to be a little quieter than my wife's Prius but not sure if that is psychological or if it really is.

I have my F250 cab completely done with Dynamat and it made a big difference. When the doors were closed and windows up you could barely hear anything. It eliminated any driver's fatigue when taking cross country trips.

 

Are you still using the OEM Goodyear Integrety tires? If highway road noise is your primary complaint, upgrading your tires might be more effective and give you other benefits as well. Others have reported the Goodyear Comfortread's ($74/ea at Tire Rack) to be excellent for noise. There are other good choices as well, both more and less expensive (search here or Tire Rack has a good search if you put in the Prius. Most of the reviews are for other cars, but the tires that Prius owners have liked have been popular on other cars as well)

Not sure what dynamat costs, but the tire upgrade would help more than just noise.

 

My ComfortTreads made an enormous difference in noise on rough roads, less so on smooth asphalt roads.

Remember that they also soften the overall suspension of the body of the car, so they prevent rattles.

 

Well, I am going to hit up Best Buy this weekend and get the dynamat extreme installed in the entire cabin. Maybe in a couple months I will spring for the new tires and save my old ones as backup tires.

Have you guys had the same issue I had with my F250 - The dampening was so good the only thing I would hear is the howling of the wind due to my speed (although the F250 has the aerodynamics of a brick).

 

Anyone know how much it costs to have the Dynamat Extreme installed in the Prius (whole cabin)?

 

I decided to have my dynamat extreme installed at Best Buy. We estimated that it will take five 4 sq ft rolls and two 2-door kits to do the entire cabin (roof, floor, trunk, and 4 doors). It will cost $650 for parts and labor. The total weight of the dynamat is 26 lbs. (or about 2 lbs for the 4 sq ft rolls and 6 lbs for each door kit). If it will lower the noise by 8-10 db then 26 lbs is worth it to me.

 

Okay I just got back from BestBuy. It took them 4 hours to do the 4 doors so I will have to bring the car back on Tuesday to do the rest of it. We estimated they needed another 24 sq ft for a total of 58 sq ft (40 lbs).

One thing to note is that when they take apart the doors and then reconnect the control unit the doors take about 5 min to reset. It will only work when the car is on. My guess is there is a battery in the door that may need recharging. Once we played with the door for a 5 minutes it finally started working again (the 45 sec usage when the car is off and the auto up and down). It was really weird.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi\";p=\"82613)</div>

Tadashi,

Did you measure the noiose level before you started the upgrade? I would love a 10 dB reduction in road noise on the highway.