Sound Proofing

[richard.c]

Hi all,

The little lady is not happy about the level of noise in the rolla at motorway speeds - and have to agree it can become a bit tiresome on a long journey.

Been looking at this site which offers a full soundproofing kit - wondered if anyone had experience of them and how effective they are.

Noise Killer

I know there are many posts about doing the boot with Dynamat or similar, which is also very expensive, but this Noise Killer kit does seem to use specific products for specific problem areas.

Also interested to know if the factory soundproofing changes with the models produced or did they all get the same ?

thanks

[CorollaD4D]

the factory sound proofing isn't brilliant to be honest. to reduce noise coming into the car you need to firstly stop the cars panels resonating and then kill the airborne sound travelling through the panel in order to reduce noise.

best way to do this is to use dedicated products, this is one area where you pay for what you get and there is no one-trick solution. in order to deaden the panel and stop it resonating use something like dynamat, silent coat, vibe anti-vibe, stp maxmat is really good and is cheaper than the rest. applying this will stop your panels resonating. now you need some rubber butyl stuff to kill the "actual" road noise.

i would use second skin luxury liner or if budget allows second skin luxury liner pro. this should be applied straight over the sound proofing underneath. one thing to note, sound deadening the middle of a door skin for example will do the whole door in the sense it will stop the resonance. with luxury liner type products this is not the case and you should do the full panel.

personally if you are going down this route i would do:

whole boot floor

both rear wheel arches

at least 2 front doors, best if you do all 4

the firewall between the engine and passenger compartment do in 2 layers of dynamat and a layer of luxury liner on the passenger side <-- big source of noise/vibration! (please do check the suitability of the products mentioned for such areas, i assume the firewall will get hot etc.

this will help a lot but what i've noticed with my car is that when the noise is reduced from areas which are deadened you then notice noise from the undeadened areas more, however it does result in a noticeable drop in sound level in the car at cruising speeds.

Now, having said all that i'm now going to smash it all down by saying that for the sake of a car worth £5k (my own) i cannot justify spending money on such issues because it's easier and better to just buy a new car. german cars are always better for passenger comfort compared to the !Removed!. and also i find my car (2.0 diesel engine) very civilised on the motorway taken it to london few times and birmingham (i live near leeds) regularly no problems what so ever noise isnt really an issue at all? I would say i cruise at 80-85 i've never thought to myself it's noisey in here.

cheapest solution - buy your wife some ear defenders :P

[man-bing]

From the list, and the area's it's covering, if doesn't mention anything about doing the doors or even the roof. Both these areas also have a big impact on the noise level within the car.

It could help with making the car quieter, but pesonally, you can never have enought, as i want to add some more in my car, but just how much your making it quieter by, would only be something like 2-3db. I know it doesn't sound much, but it's alot, even from an audio point of view its a massive amount.

If you can find where they install, other than in Manchester, and see what they do, or even try and have a listen to the sound level, then it could be a worth while effort.

Bing

[madvinegar]

How heavy is this stuff? I mean, will this increase the car's weight significantly?

[CorollaD4D]

i can't speak for the specific product mentioned in OP but my car dynamat hasn't noticeably been detrimental to performance or economy.

[richard.c]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for those very informative replies.

Seems that Noise Killer Kit does include dampener pads for all the doors, but they do not use anything on the roof - they say getting the headlining off and back on without damage is a major problem / very difficult job.

Their price is for a DIY kit of pads, which seems a reasonable price when you look at the cost of Dynamat etc, but apart from their customers testimonials there is little around to confirm how effective they are.

Its clearly a handy thing to have a kit with everything cut to size etc, but suppose there will be a compromise between coverage and cost.

Notice they cover the bonnet , has anyone tried that and found it effective.

Thought the existing black cover was a soundproofer, but they reckon its just a muck protector.

The alternative is buying my own materials and do a much fuller coverage job, like dampeners and liners in the doors.

Reckon around 6 sq meters of material would cover the car, using dampeners and luxury liners would cost about £40-50 a square meter.

Noticed Second Skin recommend using the Overkill foam between those two layers - really worth it ??

Think after being used to the larger company cars we find the Rolla a little nosier than we first thought, though it otherwise seems a good car so might be prepared to spend a bit to get that extra sound comfort.

cheapest solution - buy your wife some ear defenders :P

- I've been wearing them for years :D

[CorollaD4D]

hehe, the overkill foam between the 2 layers is overkill mate! i know it's good to adhere to manufacturer specs but sometimes if you do this the bill gets larger and larger.

and yes i can see stepping down from a big company car (possibly a german one) you would find the corolla noisier.

going out now celebrating my 21st however upon my return (if in a fit state) i shall post a more informative reply.

[richard.c]

hehe, the overkill foam between the 2 layers is overkill mate! i know it's good to adhere to manufacturer specs but sometimes if you do this the bill gets larger and larger.

and yes i can see stepping down from a big company car (possibly a german one) you would find the corolla noisier.

going out now celebrating my 21st however upon my return (if in a fit state) i shall post a more informative reply.

Hi,

Happy 21st , hope you have a good time tonight :toast:

Won't expect a reply till the weekend then..!

Will appreciate any help as I am thinking of buying the stuff myself which will allow a more complete job to be done, good though that kit may be for the money there is room for improvement I think.

Been searching around and thought about using the Silent Coat 2mm Damping mats which seem a lot cheaper than the MaxMats, plus the Second Coat Luxury Liner.

sound deadening the middle of a door skin for example will do the whole door in the sense it will stop the resonance

That was my understanding too, though even most manufacturers videos show it being applied 100%

[AisinW]

the Second Coat Luxury Liner  is the only thing that may improve the quietness. The body (floor and under body) are well coated with tons body adhesive and rubberised paint in Corolla.   There are some area that can be filled with foam to further reduce the wind noise but most of the wind noise came from the glass window.  Don't waste your money and time in Dynamat, it only add weight in this current Corolla case.  It may help in 1990s Corolla, but not post 2010 Corolla