I have matted my car so far i did the entire hatch/trunk (minus the hatch door), rear panels, rear seat floor, front doors.

things left to mat are front floor from firewall back to rear floor before the seat starts. and the rear hatch door (where the license plate is on the tc)

i have tried to install the mat and foam according to guides posted on here and other forums, i am 99% certain i am not doing anything wrong. if anything i probably overkilled on material (since i am about to run out with a big portion of the car not done)

so far i've been driving around with out the back seat, but all the plastic trims and panels are installed and i can not say that it made a noticeable difference. needless to say i am discouraged. i would imagine the floor is the main noise road noise part causing 50% of the noise, but with me matted 50% other parts of the car, shouldn't i expect the road noise disappear some what? what i actually notice is that the acoustic nature of the car did change, but the road noise is still quite disturbing.

what am i missing?

i have read that some posts claim that adding carpet padding will eliminate road noise. should i add those to rear wheel panel, front door, and flooring? (these area on the tC is scary, its bare metal after you remove the trim.)

i am looking to silent my car, not really looking to build a SPL monster or anything but simply a more comfortable car. i would like my car atleast feel like a 25k+ SEDAN.
i think this is not too much to ask. but right now this goal looks far.

on the home carpeting foam, are these "safe" for auto use? fire/moisture problem?

also, what do you guys think about if i simply wanted to quite my car from road noise, can i accomplish this by simply installing carpet padding everywhere and not use any sound deadening material at all?

thanks.
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completed (except the hatch lid, as i ran out of matt, only some foam left, i will do the lid with foam later)

i used 2 rolls of raam mat, some ensolite foam. and some spray that they sold.

i additionally added carpet padding from home depot (the sponge like type) only in the rear sides (the void between wheel well and the rear passenger side)

my goal was purely to reduce road noise. i am currently running stock potenzas.

the noise was definetely lower, however, there's still a disturbing hum when i drive on rougher grain pavement (stone bridges, or white concrete like road) I think it will be very difficult to improve it any further besides changing out tires. i noticed that the tC's steering wheel vibrates much more than my wife's 03 accord, or my previous 00 S4. granted these cars are different classes, but i believe the vibration is a good indication of the cabin noise. i think the sheet metal and frame is simply much lighter and prone to vibration and noise transfer, but i guess it is standard for a car at 17k.

note worthy points out come of this project.

noise reduction: not as great as i hoped, i was aiming for the "wow factor" result, but i think it met my expectation by 40%

sound improvement: since i wasn't aiming for this, it came in as a bonus surprise, i give the sound improvement 80% (if the car is quieter, this would be even higher)

difficulty: i knew it wasn't exactly easy, with avg person giving a medium difficulty. i felt this was slightly above avg difficult, since it required A LOT OF time and work. much more than i expected. portions of it due to the dirty and difficult to clean material. (i found that spraying my hands with oil or car detail polish first before working helped tremendously from gunk stuck to your hands)

price / bang: i guess this really depends on the driver. i personally didn't think it was worth it. but atleast i can say my car is deadened. i think that alone raises desirability and value of the car.

now i understand why shops would charge 500~1000 to deaden a car just on labor. yes, i personally would not do it for anyone else for under 1k, the labor is just too much for me. i did the entire interior over serveral weekends and some week nights. I am actually glad that "I" did it, instead of a shop, because it is just so easy to get lazy and not do it right. a true enthusiast project.

i may look into doing the wheel well or some under car spray... anyone can elaborate on these? thanks.

cheers!

 

what kind of mat are you using?

 

i don't want ppl to start judging the mat i used before i actually complete 100%

i was hoping to get some feedback about the carpet pad, so mine mind end up being a hybrid install anyways...

 

I had similar experience to you.

I used Dynamat Extreme on the Floor, Trunk, Rear Panels and fenders, and Doors. I also have Dynaliner under the carpet in the passenger compartment. No huge improvement.

The main source of noise that i experience now though is through the firewall and the front wheel wells (i believe).... so, you may want to try those and let us know how it goes. I personally gave up.

 

you have to remember that quite a bit of noise will also come from the all glass roof.

 

I additionally remember that the stock Michellen Pilots are loud. I changed to Pirelli Pzero Nero and they are slightly quieter. The roof is a huge source of noise at speeds.

 

the glass might be a bad sound damper, but it is hell of a sound barrier. it should keep the out side noise out and inside noise in. so i think the extra glass roof is actually a plus on the tC.

 

Not to question it, but do you really think the noise in the car is that bad?

I have 9500 miles on the car and have never noticed loud road noise. I just did a 700 mile roundtrip with the wife this weekend and had the radio off the entire trip and it isnt that bad.

The amount of weight and headache to save alittle bit of noise seems like overkill. If you wanted a $25K car feel/sound, you should buy a $25k car.

 

yes, it is that bad. maybe its just my tc. but i test drove it locally before the purchase and never noticed a problem, but first day i took it home i had to go on the highway and it hit me. when i took it on a 6 hour road trip, it almost drove me nuts. the road noise is most noticeable when you drive on the whitish stone like pavement, as oppose to the fine grain new black tar pavement. it starts when you hit 30+ mph.

if i had known this problem, i would probably not have bought this car.

it also amazes me how tC is the model in scion family used the most sound dampening material. i wonder if its due to the noisey nature, or is it suppose to be the quietest out of all 3.

come to think of it, i will go check my tire pressure...

 

Your tC came with michelin pilots? What kind of dealer puts those on the car? Back on topic, I find the road noise seems to come most from the tires. Maybe run some 16 inchers with a 50 series tire. That might help quiet it up, but I dont know how it could be made to look good.

 

to me, it depends on the road quite a bit. when you travel over bridges or overpasses, the road is rougher pavement.
also, i was going to an amusement park on tuesday(cedar point) and i noticed that the turnpike was super quiet compared to the interstate i took. its because the turnpike was solid and well maintained. the interestate was old and had been tar-ed many times, which added a lot of noise. it was noticeable because some parts of the interstate were new and very quiet, but the ones with tar spider marks were noisy

 

lets put it this way, everyone who rides in my car comments on how eerily quiet it is inside.... and I run 19x8 performance tires... and hear basic road noise, but am 100 percent quieter than stock... I pretty much took everything out of the car and did the whole thing... with acoustic foam as well on top of the RAAMmat.

doors (inside and out), floors, rear panels, trunk, everything exposed was done... and everything I could reach....

I'd definately talk to rick at raamaudio and get his advice.... he helped me signifigantly with my setup and he knows his stuff.... VERY well...

Check out -

http://www.raamaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?p=ht

and

http://www.raamaudio.com

 

Road noise = needs a sound absorber, not a mass loader.

Pick up some Tek-lite, ensolite, or as a last resort, carpet padding. All of those would help.

I say carpet padding as a last resort because it will absorb water = mildew if it gets wet.

 

ok, you need to understand that dynamat is great to stop the transmission of sounds through metal by reverberation, however it will not kill sounds in and of itself, for that you need some polyfill/foam materials to actually absorb the sounds.

I would use 8lb carpet padding, you can get it at homedepot for around $0.33 per sq ft, and when you find big cavaties you can put a bunch of polyfill in them (a box of 5lb's of this stuff is like $8 at walmart.)

Also, if you run out of dynamat, just go to a roofing supply place and get some grace ice and water shield, its the same stuff, but way cheaper... grace ultra is the same as dynamat extreme (like $140 for 225sq ft roll)

I cant remember the tC in particular, but I think it has plastic in the wheel wells above the tires, if so remove that and line that metal with dynamat then replace the plastic, this will help ALOT with the noise generated by your tires. Also, you can do the firewall on in the engine bay, but make sure you use dynamat extreme or some foil backed one to help resist the heat in there.

To apply carpet padding, go by some 3M spray adhesive (the generic ____ sucks and does NOT spray as cleanly which sucks for overspray INSIDE the car), spray the carpet padding OUTSIDE the car and then inside spray the area your going to stick it to..... be VERY careful about overspray insde the car... then stick the pad to the metal. Personally I like 2-3 layers of padding where I can get it, and it sticks very well right on top of dynamat.

When you have big holes (like by back seats, or in the trunk area) you can fill them with polyfill, but dont pack it in, you want it to remain light and fluffy to eat the sound, but not so fluffy that it will settle and not fill the space completely (hope that makes sense ;-)

NEway, hope this helps.

 

Please do NOT tell people an asphalt based roofing substance is the same as a rubber butyl based deadener.

That is a flat out lie. I don't know who told you it, or how it was determined, but it is NOT TRUE.

Ice and Water shield is an asphalt compound used for house roofing. Yes, it's cheap, yes it adds mass, but it is NOT made for use in a car, and is definitely NOT the same thing as rubber butyl.

That's like saying car tires are made of asphalt...uhhh....no.

And like I mentioned previously, be VERY careful w/ carpet padding...the second it gets wet, you're in trouble. And also be very careful w/ spray adhesive...it's very easy to get it everywhere.

 

I suggest the foam that raammatt sells... I have it on everything I've matted as well... it, I believe, is what makes a solid difference....

 

Indeed...closed cell foam FTW

 

I also did over my entire car with raamMat and ensolite foam, and I have nothing in the back where the spare is and no rear seats, and my car is STILL quieter than stock, by FAR with less than 50lbs added to the car.

it's the ensolite foam, it's a sound absorber/reflectant and adding mass will only move the audible vibrations out of the resonant frequencies (in other words, make it so you can't hear the metal vibrating)

sound dampening mat is only part of the solution. Also spray on/paint on undercoating for vehicles in the interior of the wheel wells underneath the splash guards will also make a world of difference, but not as easy to do/have done.

 

Scion of Annapolis provide the POTENZAs (brain fart earlier) and i Believe that was stock for many of the first 2005 tCs with 17s. They are loud tires. I think that the in vehicle "noise" is also more a factor on the Manual transmissions due to the fact that they rev higher at highway driving speeds. Much of the noise could be greatly reduced having a 6th gear.. but that would probably take some of the fun out of driving the tC.

As far as the glass roof. I think the noise is from the gap where air comes in and not from the glass itself. I suppose this could vary from car to car.

Also, any suggestions of good spray ons for wheel wells???? Thanks.

 

yes please shed light on spray on for engine bay, wheel well, and under body. thanks.