At low speeds this car is nicely quiet- especially in stealth. However, at higher speeds I cannot remember a car with as much road and engine noise as this one. My Camry's were MUCH quieter then this. Anyone else wish Toyota had offered a "quiet package"? I am about to have a custom shop I've used before install soundproofing material under the carpet and thruout the trunk and door panels to try to quiet things down. Anyone else feel this is a loud car? Jeff Black #9
I agree that the road noise is much higher in the Prius than my 01 Camry Solara. I debated about getting sound-proofing and finally decided against it to keep the weight as low as possible for the best mpg. I also understand, that upgrading the tires helps alot with road noise. But, I just can't bring myself to buy a set of tires twice. So, I'll wait for these to wear out and then upgrade. Let me know what you end up doing and if it helps. Suanne 04, Super White BC, 3200 and 46.5 MPG ... and loving it!
Some do-it-yourself Generic Dynamat will help a lot with road noise coming through the doors, and at the same time you'll amplify your bass response. Here is an article written by a MR2 Spyder driver on how to do it - I'm sure that the Prius would be just as simple. http://spydermagazine.com/2002/Feb/dynamat/Dynamat.htm
Dynamat I did that same thing on the doors on my Honda Civic a while back, and it tremendously improved the bass, to the point where my front 6.5" speakers seem to put out as much bass as the 10" subwoofer in the back. And the bass feels more integrated with the music when you feel it coming out the front rather than just vibrating the whole car from the back. The dynamat does weigh a lot, but I figure in the Prius hopefully I'll be able to save the weight of a subwoofer by doing that, which would be worthwhile. I'll almost certainly find some way of sealing up a bass cavity in the Prius when I get mine. That and putting in decent speakers should give a great system.
Classic is much louder at speed. Part of it has to do with high weight over small tires I imagine. Could it also be the LLR tires? I know in my classic when I replaced the Potenzas with Dunlop SP-10's (also OE in Canada), that noise reduced slightly. -Rick
Another option Another soundproofing option is BrownBread. http://www.b-quiet.com/brownbread.html I've seen this mentioned on other car lists. There are two camps -- Dynamat and BrownBread, from what I've read. (Aren't there always two camps?) Thought I'd mention it for those of you trying to soundproof. peace, Linda 8)
I got the ToyoGard which included an undercoat intended to quiet the car, but I have no idea if it's doing any good. Never rode in an 'unprotected' one. The seats have some sort of no-stain warranty, though, but I'm not about to *test* them...
yeah it's called the stain your body makes from having paid $600 ridiculous dollars for the Toyoguard screw job... You can pretty much get this charge negotiated off any Toyota except the Prius due to the short supply...
Thankfully the stealership started my deal with all of the "extra" stuff knocked off of the price. I was glad as I still swear that most of that undercoating fell off of the car in the first week that I was driving it. :cussing:
I'm going to *try* to avoid being embarassed by revealing the fact that I *asked* for ToyoGard and it wasn't forced on me. I looked at the cost of this car, THE most expensive car I ever bought, and wanted to TRY to keep it looking good for a while. My deal was pretty good. Seaside Pearl BC/#9. Total on the sticker was $26,428.06, The Total Cost of the car was $25,163.00. $318 or so of that was tax and license, so the CAR cost me $24,845.00. That's $1,583.06 under MSRP. I am *not* unhappy. I got what I wanted, and like the deal. Screwed or not...
It's how you feel about the deal that matters, as we all know that you never win at the car dealing wars. I always pay about $50-250 over invoice for my vehicles, but it is the invoice that they print out, and it doesn't always match up with what Kelly Blue Book says the invoice is. I say as long as you didn't pay MSRP or over, then you got a good deal. As hot as the Prius is right now, you are lucky you didn't have to pay over MSRP!!!! Atoyot
For Suanne and anyone else who may be interested: Today we pulled the seats & carpet, stripped the hatch area to the metal as much as possible, and installed a material called VB2 (the shop found it- odorless and a bit cheaper then Dynamat, but still $50/yard). The difference is quite noticeable- there just seems to be a more solid sound to the car at speed- well beyond the simple 20 pounds of stuff we melted onto a lot of sheetmetal. Since we ran out of the VB2 the rest of the job waits until next Thursday, but we will then do the door panels and headliner. I expect this car will be about as quiet as my E320 when we are done, and to my mind that makes it almost perfect In Toyota's defense there was more soundproofing then I expected, but clearly (to me anyway) not enough. Peace
Thanks for the update. I've a couple of questions. First, how much of the VB2 did you use, and how much weight do you think it added? Second, how would you rate the difficulty of this job for a real amateur do-it-yourselfer? Thanks again, Suanne
Another way to go is to use an item called Quietcoat. It is a spray-on material that I heard was very effective and easy to use. Lots of kids used it over on the Echofans.net forum I belonged to when I had my Echo - and the Echo is WAY noisier than my Prius. I might give it a try only in the cargo area since I have a real fear of removing the door panels.
Suanne: We used four 52 by 31 inch sheets, and ordered two additional sheets- this should cover the car pretty completely, including the headliner. The stuff cost me around $50/sheet, but I'm sure it can be had for half that (I know the shop marked it up at least 150%). All told the four sheets weighed around 25 pounds- a nice medium-size dog To do it yourself wouldn't be that hard, but you'll need a heat gun (like an overpowered hair dryer) and pulling the panels and stuff off the car was somewhat tricky. Frankly unless you're pretty mechanically inclined (I am not at all) I would not attempt it. The tech who did my car had the interior of the car stripped to the metal (and a lot of mechanical modules w/ wires running everywhere) in about 45 minutes, but OMH to put it back together would have been a nightmare if you did not know where everything went. Fortunately he did, and it's been fine in the ensuing 500 miles I think Jerry P's idea of the spray sounds pretty good- if the stuff doesn't stink it might be better and less hassle then the sheets of VB2. I'll post again when the car is done to give you my final feedback . Happy cold (at least in the NE) Peace
For anyone who may be interested, the car is now done over as much as possible with the VB2. Floor (under carpet) hatch area, side panels, doors, and under the headliner. Everwhere. The car now rides with a very solid sound to it and best of all now the radio can sit on 15 instead of 25 Well worth the cost, IMO. Peace
...and how much was that, exactly? I'm curious because I'm planning on getting my Prius done as well (when it arrives).
The VB2 cost around 400, but it can be had for less. The shop I used charges 65/hour for labor and it cost me a day and a half Well worth it!! I'm afraid I will probably have to do all future cars as well. It doesn't seem to be so much a greater silence as it is a greater feeling of solidity and substance, coupled with distinctly less road noise. On our local salt/sand covered roads, the ticka-ticka-ticka of the particles under the car was greatly reduced on the ride home as compared to the ride on the way to the shop. Peace
What kind of place would do a VB2 treatment? Anything to watch out for? Any idea on how it might affect mileage?
Cathy- look in the yellow pages under auto customizing shops for places that might do the job for you. Places that do stereo or remote-start installations could either do the job, or perhaps refer you to someone who can. Whatever you do check around a lot and go with the ones who have the rep and that make you feel good. Not necessarily the cheapest. The shop I used here in Western MA is a place I've used many times (usually for tint) and even though they had never done this job before, the tech I talked to (and who did the work) seemed competent and suitably demanding about quality. They also charged 25 more an hour than the place up the street that uses younger folks with little experience or interest, but who were perfectly willing to do the job. What to watch for? Well, when they strip the car, there are a LOT, no a TON of electrical connections and sensors EVERYWHERE and if you don't know where everything goes, you could really mess things up. One clue I got was when I was making the rounds of the possible places to do this, I was referred to the shop I ended up using by one stereo retailer, who told me: "All the car dealers go to them", and indeed they do. As to mileage, it added about 25 pounds to the car in places you cannot see, but you sure can hear. Do you think we could tell the mileage difference when we drive somewhere with our dog, as versus without him? Good luck! Peace
