Ive had my mini for about 2 years now and I rode in a friends car and was perturbed about how loud my car is driving down the highway. Wondered if you guys might have some suggestions to quiet down the ride. I read some use 3m sound deadening stuff which I don't have a problem buying but where do I put it for the most effectiveness any info would be awesome!!

 

New tires - worn out tires or if you are still on the run flats will make a huge amount of difference. And yes sound deadening materiel is huge if you search there is a whole thread on it

 

+1 on tires...

...not just new but the type of tire. The number one noise producer.

Motor on!

 

what type of noise? wind noise? road noise?


wind noise: close windows


road noise: change your tires and get a proper alignment.


if you need zen, you can pop off all your panels and carpeting and get some dynamat. also get a corrugated foam board and cut out the shape of the moon roof, slap that up there. new rubber seals for windows

 

Tires are usually the worst offender....
They gradually get worse...high performance tires are the worst in many cases, and add uneven wear....they can get VERY loud....

Next up...any mods on your car? Header, exaust, etc?

 

No mods at all I did do some new tires a while back and that did a bit but it's still pretty loud. I'm thinking the sound deadening material might help a lot. Can you give me the link to that thread?

 

Bam! Smokin' us with science!

You might also want to have a shop check for exhaust leaks.

 

Might be a good idea...
While mini's were never ultra quiet, they are not "bad"....
Any idea if the windshield was ever changed? Sometimes the foam/felt backer on the piller can be bad, or lost, and it can result in lots of noise...

Seriously, what kind of noise...buzz...whoosh...drone...
Wind noise? Road, engine, etc....each one is a bit different in what is done to mitagate it...
Heck...some folks found tossing a rubber Matt UNDER the rear seat added some sound control...
Mini's don't have lots of space to add "dynamatt" (a brand name, but semi generic like kleenex or xerox), but it has been done...adds weight...so the opposite direction many here go....a few threads on it...you can try the google " site serch" to serch better, but biggest thing is removing the interior panels to add the products....

 

well I figured, since noise is pretty generic :D
there is a lot of it, I tried to make more, I require noise, I need to make sure everything is working haha


but there are lots of types of noises hard to give a logical fix without the more specific noise

 

New tires!!


I had some BFG G-Force Sport tires on my mini, and after around 10,000 miles on them, while on the highway they were louder than the huge Nitto Terra Grappler AT tires on my dodge truck. They were so loud, it was hard to have a conversation with someone sitting right next to you......it was down right embarrassing!

I put a new set of tires on the car, and it's now super quiet on the highway! Ultra Performance Summer tires seem to always be pretty loud....go with a nice touring tire....much better!

 

It's never gonna be a Lexus, but after I sort out my rear end rattle, I'm probably going to Dynamat everything just to quiet it down a bit in the cabin. I'm told that trunk hatch and floor make the biggest difference, and if you want to go all out, you can do inside the doors as well.

 

I tell ya - Before my previous car was totaled in an accident, I had installed DynaMat on all of the doors and it made an incredible difference in dampening the noise and really improved to radio sound quality.

I am going to do that to the doors on my MINI since they seem to not have anything and really amplify noise.

You can buy DynaMat on Amazon cheaper than most places. There is also an equivalent product that is slightly cheaper.

 

Yep. To help prevent premature tire howling, combine the new set of tires with a good alignment.