Soundproofing Prius Prime

The Gen IV-4 is a 2016. I think part of the reason it seems so loud is that you feel like you are sitting really low in it. With it being so low to the ground you are closer to the road or at least I feel closer to the road.

As a matter of full disclosure Ema has Dynamat Extreme installed in her doors, floors and trunk. If not for that then Evey would be very comparable. Again the Primes seem to sit lower than the Gen IIs to me. I never owned a Starship Enterprise Prii (Gen III - flying bridge) or an original Gen I so don't know how they sound.

Chris

 

I've added a good amount through my whole gen 2. Only the roof of which I'd like to add some. Made a big difference that was well worth it. Apply pieces to the outter door skins on the loose tinny areas. Knock on them and you'll know where it's needed. Then apply big pieces to cover the big open areas from the inner door skin to the car. The doors will make a big difference. My doors sound pretty solid tapping on them, before like a tin can. I used a lot of dynamat extreme. Plus vinyl based stuff for hole coverage on the inner door skins, Parts Express used to sell.

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Mine is the 2016 Three model. And yes, it does seem to sit lower. Plus, I'm a tall guy and have the seat lowered all the way down. TidelandPrius pointed out that the glass is not double-pane in the Two or Three model. Why would Toyota skimp out on that?!

My amateur attempt at decreasing some noise, was to line the spare tire well with some stick-on felt stuff. And I also have the all-weather mats sitting on top of the carpet mats. Neither of those reduced any noise. But overall, it's a great car.

 

I'd avoid the spray on stuff.. did a bunch of research and the effect appears to be minimal at best.. proper sound proofing is much more involved.

 

Try slow response and A weighting. That's what's used usually for real comparisons for sound

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I finally did a long enough drive in my Prime to be in hybrid mode for an extended period of time. I thought it was my imagination that it was noisier than my Gen II Touring, since most of my driving had been in EV before this, and I had quickly forgotten what a Prius ICE sounds like. You have confirmed my initial feeling - it is a bit louder than my former ride.

Being used to small cars, particularly Hondas, over the past 30 or so years, my Prii are soooo much quieter! I guess it's all relative.

 

Thanks a ton for the detail pictures. I've been planning on installing some deadening since I bought my prime in March. I just am super busy with other projects. I did receive my rockford fosgate dsr1 today and am excited to get my stereo setup all together.

Are you focusing on just the front doors or are you going all out? Do you happen to know how the front speakers some out by the windshield? I haven't found anything online and havent looked closely.

 

It's either something like a cover that pops off or from underneath.

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That weight sounds much to high, where are you getting that weight?

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As well as absorbing high frequencies, the sound dampening changes the frequency that the metal vibrates at, especially door panels, it drops the frequency from in the 100’s to the mid 50’s, which also contributes to getting rid of unnecessary highs.

 

That is some thick heavy stuff. You may have some issues getting the door panels back on. My purpose was to stop the loose tinny sound on the outer skins of the car. Mostly doors and back corners. Taping on the car sounds solid now. But I did do a lot of the floor and as much as I could get on the firewall. Hard to get up in there.

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Or rather did you have issues reinstalling the panels?

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