My area has some road surfaces that create a lot of tire noise. In my quest to reduce road noise I though I'd try cutting some floor mats out of a soundproofing material. So, I ordered a 1/4 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. sheet of Quiet Barrier Vinyl Barrier and used my rubber floor mats as patterns.

These mats go under my standard rubber mats. I extended them at the front so they go up the firewall as far as possible.

 

I'm thinking about bubble-wrapping my tires.

 

 

Didn't you get your MINI with the optional, dealer-installed "cones of silence?"

I think they come in a package with the Bluetooth shoe phone.

 

You might have to remove the carpet and install dynamat or accumat.That stuff does work.

 

I used Dynamat in the rear. I think this stuff is more effective, and can be pulled out to remove weight for AutoX, etc.

 

Clever idea! Any idea what the total weight gain was? Probably no more than I put on eating at Irish bars all weekend.

 

Cool! Smart! Good stuff! Glad you're getting good results!

Of course, the obvious fix for tire noise is to get less noisy tires.

I know you know that.

I only say this because I just switched to new tires over the weekend, and it's SPOOKY how silent they are compared to any of the three previous sets of tires I've had on the MINI... they're Nitto Neo Gens, BTW. Comparing them to Dunlop 9000 runflats, Kumho SPTs, and Goodyear Eagle F1 AS... all were MUCH noiser (I will still run the Goodyears as my winter tires here).

 

+1
Love my Nittos--got about 18,000 miles on them right now--I plan to get another set when it's time for replacement.

Btw, love the idea Robin. I too have used sound proofing like you--but removing the carpeting under the driver/passenger seats is a huge pain in the ****. The floor matt is a great idea!


Richard

 

the whole concept of soundproofing is to lower resonant frequencies (Fs). You do this by adding mass to a vibrating panel to lower the point that it 'rings'. Adding soundproofing mats on top of carpet lowers it's effectiveness by, oh, about 99%. Pull the carpet out and put that stuff on the sheet metal. That's what it's meant to do.

On my R53, the areas with the most vibration were the rear seat bulkhead (behind rear passenger's calves), the area to the sides of the rear battery and the floorpans up front. The R56 is put together much the same way. One way to test for this is the knuckle test...rap your knuckles on any panel....any 'thud' is dead. Any 'ting!' is something you should add mass to. As for cutting perfect shapes to fit...hogwash! The panel doesn't care whether it's perfect or you've added 100 4"x4" squares in the middle...mass is mass.

One other trick for those who don't care to pay megadollars for Dynamat. Non-drying modeling clay. It's friggin heavy, non-toxic, and easier to work into odd spots were rolls of mat don't play well (like the floor pan in a MINI).

 

Robin, did you get this stuff direct from the manufacturer, or did you find a local rep?

Thanks!

 

How is the handling and braking? I got Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S because they were supposed to be fairly quiet, and not give up too much in handling. I must say I'm a bit disappointed. They are a little quieter than my Michelin Pilot Exhalto PE2, but not a lot. And the PE2 handle much better.

Or, put a soundproof layer between the sound source and your ear.

I tried putting Dynamat on the floor panels from under the car, but it didn't seem to make much difference. I must say that overall, I'm a bit disappointed with Dynamat.

I ordered it directly from the link I provided.

http://www.soundprooffoam.com/quiet-barrier.html

They have a variety of soundproofing items, mainly designed for builders. I used their Vibra Pads to isolate my speaker box from the cabinet, and their Quiet Batt (acoustic batting) in the seat cavity (under the added floor panel) and in the rear side panels.

 

Regarding the Neo Gens - ask me after this weekend - Dragon run coming up. So far, I like them a LOT - very quiet, very good grip (I pushed pretty hard to 0.92G on an on ramp yesterday with no problem... and had a panic maneuver a couple of days ago where they drifted but did so very predictably and handily... but the real test will be a few hundred miles in the mountains this weekend. I'll write them up on my blog next week. BTW, I also now have CarboTech AX6 pads, and the combination of pads and tires stop like you threw out the anchor on dry pavement...

 

A very reliable tire source told me that Nitto's are actually rebadged Toyo's.

 

there's no black magic or voodoo involved in soundproofing. You are adding mass to a panel, whether you do it by jute padding (more for high freq), spray deadener, butyl or asphalt mat or some foam padding. It works best when applied to the surface that resonates.

dynamat is full of markup...better alternatives out there as you have found. RAAMAT, eDead from Elemental Designs, etc.

 

Hmmm.... I wonder WHICH toyo's are the Neo Gens...

edit: I looked through the Toyo site and they don't have anything that looks like the Neo Gen - which doesn't mean that Toyo doesn't MAKE them... it's just not a re-branded Toyo design, as far as I can tell.

 

Is it really hard to dynamat or similiar under the carpeting in the front. You normally do not have to everything covered up to receive the desired effect. As long as you can get a hand in there you can normally dynamat the area. As posted earlier small squares can work just as well and dynamatting everything.

 

Your statements make no sense to me. There is more to soundproofing than adding mass to panels. If it was just mass, then steel would be less conductive of sound than fiberboard, but it's not.

If you put a soundproof panel between a resonating panel and your ear, it is going to be more effective than 10% of adding mass to the panel.

It is not the cost that bothers me as much as its lack of effectiveness.

I think you would have to take out the seats, remove the plastic side panels, center console, and pull up the carpet.

Anyone know whether the carpet is glued down or not? My understanding is that it is glued down in many cars.

 

Everything has a resonance. Air. Steel. Wood. Glass. Skyscrapers. Bridges. Water. The key to keeping sound from transmitting through a panel (or air for that matter) is to keep it from resonating. Change the Fs, change the amount and/or frequencies it transmits. That soundproof panel has change the Fs of the system. More or less than adding mass to the panel, well, that takes some sophisticated measuring equipment.

Just about anything you do is better than nothing. A combination of butyl rubber/aluminum substrate on a panel and then a foam pad over top quiets most things.

I have not encountered and R53 or R56 so far that's been glued in place.

as mentioned before, the rear seat bulkhead is the prime offender for road noise as it's not dampened in any way except some thin asphalt sheets and of course that big foam pad called the backseat.

Four layers of butyl mat:


finish off with foam sound deadening mats cut to drape over: