OT: Car road noise / sound deadening

chrissmack · Since 08 Jun 2005 524 Posts portland Addicted

my wife's 2006 civic has such bad road noise that i'm considering buying a different car. have no issues with the car, other than loud road noise. bought nice tires after the factory ones wore out, not much difference.

so, would something like dynamat (mentioned on the forum) fix this?

any shops in the portland area that would install such a product? i'm sure i can do it myself, but would rather have it done in one quick go...

wylieflyote · Tue Nov 06, 12 9:27 am

I did the full dyna-mat install, and now the stereo sound a LOT better, but the road noise was not helped much. Since this I've learned that your tire selection will make a huge improvement.
I got this after an inquiry on another car-ralated forum:
"Continental Conti Pro offer a quiet ride. Softer tire with softer side walls. They also make a tire called DWS that offers a better all season traction than reg all season tires. Check them out on tirerack."

edit: Oh, and as far as doing this yourself? It's very easy, but very time consuming. I think I spent all day Sat & Sun the weekend I dyna-matted my car. PDXMonkyboy is a big help in this project and he gave me lots of valuable advice.

Nak · Tue Nov 06, 12 11:34 am

Road noise has two sources: The sound of the tires on the pavement and the sound of the airflow over/under the body.

Tire noise can be somewhat attenuated with some sort of coating in the wheel well. How successful this will be depends on a lot of factors, so you don't really know until you try it. Negatives include difficulty with nuts & bolts that get coated by the stuff and corrosion in areas that don't have good adhesion. (Moisture gets in & can't escape.) I'd go to a Honda forum to see if anyone has had luck with this approach on that model car.

Airflow noise can't really be helped too much. If you have a roof rack you can add a spoiler to it. If you have anything OEM or aftermarket sticking out into the airstream you can try removing it or filling the space between it and the body. Smooth airflow is quieter than turbulent airflow.

Dynamat may or may not help. An extra layer of insulation/padding under the carpet may or may not help.

The technology is there for active noise cancellation. I'm not sure why manufacturers haven't jumped on this. Using the existing car stereo, it really wouldn't cost that much to add. (For the manufacturer.)

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3753 Posts Los Angeles, CA Videographer

Chris, like everyone else has said, it isn't going to do much for ya... Does help on the older Civics as they're more prone to vibration/rattle, but I honestly wouldn't waste the time or money on C's car. Buy her a TSX and call it good! Thumb's Up

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

I dynamatted my subbie which had bad road noise and I think it did help a bit. Get some knockoff stuff on ebay its the same thing (I used Fatmat.) On our Ambulance I did the floor, ceiling, and two layers on the doors and it made a HUGE difference.

If you just do the front doors that is the quickest and most bang for your buck, you could start there and if that helps do the rest.

I would do it yourself on the doors as its super easy and not worth paying someone else to do. Plus the shops will all want to use the super spendy Dynamat brand stuff.

moondog · Wed Nov 07, 12 8:38 am

70% of the noise is from the stud-pounded, pock-marked highways in the NW!

chrissmack · Since 08 Jun 2005 524 Posts portland Addicted

Weaz · Since 23 May 2012 360 Posts Beaverton Obsessed

one option is a really loud stereo

wylieflyote · Wed Nov 07, 12 10:02 am