Quiet?

At low speeds this car is nicely quiet- especially in stealth. However, at higher speeds I cannot remember a car with as much road and engine noise as this one. My Camry's were MUCH quieter then this. Anyone else wish Toyota had offered a "quiet package"?

I am about to have a custom shop I've used before install soundproofing material under the carpet and thruout the trunk and door panels to try to quiet things down.

Anyone else feel this is a loud car?

Jeff
Black #9

 

For Suanne and anyone else who may be interested:

Today we pulled the seats & carpet, stripped the hatch area to the metal as much as possible, and installed a material called VB2 (the shop found it- odorless and a bit cheaper then Dynamat, but still $50/yard). The difference is quite noticeable- there just seems to be a more solid sound to the car at speed- well beyond the simple 20 pounds of stuff we melted onto a lot of sheetmetal. Since we ran out of the VB2 the rest of the job waits until next Thursday, but we will then do the door panels and headliner. I expect this car will be about as quiet as my E320 when we are done, and to my mind that makes it almost perfect

In Toyota's defense there was more soundproofing then I expected, but clearly (to me anyway) not enough.

Peace

 

Suanne: We used four 52 by 31 inch sheets, and ordered two additional sheets- this should cover the car pretty completely, including the headliner. The stuff cost me around $50/sheet, but I'm sure it can be had for half that (I know the shop marked it up at least 150%). All told the four sheets weighed around 25 pounds- a nice medium-size dog

To do it yourself wouldn't be that hard, but you'll need a heat gun (like an overpowered hair dryer) and pulling the panels and stuff off the car was somewhat tricky. Frankly unless you're pretty mechanically inclined (I am not at all) I would not attempt it. The tech who did my car had the interior of the car stripped to the metal (and a lot of mechanical modules w/ wires running everywhere) in about 45 minutes, but OMH to put it back together would have been a nightmare if you did not know where everything went. Fortunately he did, and it's been fine in the ensuing 500 miles

I think Jerry P's idea of the spray sounds pretty good- if the stuff doesn't stink it might be better and less hassle then the sheets of VB2.

I'll post again when the car is done to give you my final feedback .

Happy cold (at least in the NE)

Peace

 

For anyone who may be interested, the car is now done over as much as possible with the VB2. Floor (under carpet) hatch area, side panels, doors, and under the headliner. Everwhere. The car now rides with a very solid sound to it and best of all now the radio can sit on 15 instead of 25

Well worth the cost, IMO.

Peace

 

The VB2 cost around 400, but it can be had for less. The shop I used charges 65/hour for labor and it cost me a day and a half

Well worth it!! I'm afraid I will probably have to do all future cars as well. It doesn't seem to be so much a greater silence as it is a greater feeling of solidity and substance, coupled with distinctly less road noise. On our local salt/sand covered roads, the ticka-ticka-ticka of the particles under the car was greatly reduced on the ride home as compared to the ride on the way to the shop.

Peace

 

Cathy- look in the yellow pages under auto customizing shops for places that might do the job for you. Places that do stereo or remote-start installations could either do the job, or perhaps refer you to someone who can. Whatever you do check around a lot and go with the ones who have the rep and that make you feel good. Not necessarily the cheapest. The shop I used here in Western MA is a place I've used many times (usually for tint) and even though they had never done this job before, the tech I talked to (and who did the work) seemed competent and suitably demanding about quality. They also charged 25 more an hour than the place up the street that uses younger folks with little experience or interest, but who were perfectly willing to do the job.

What to watch for? Well, when they strip the car, there are a LOT, no a TON of electrical connections and sensors EVERYWHERE and if you don't know where everything goes, you could really mess things up. One clue I got was when I was making the rounds of the possible places to do this, I was referred to the shop I ended up using by one stereo retailer, who told me: "All the car dealers go to them", and indeed they do.

As to mileage, it added about 25 pounds to the car in places you cannot see, but you sure can hear. Do you think we could tell the mileage difference when we drive somewhere with our dog, as versus without him?

Good luck!

Peace