Bought a 2012 six weeks ago...Thought it was pretty quiet but after reading pretty much all of the soundproofing threads, I decided to give it a go...35 years ago, I owned a auto shop that specialized in hot rods and antique high end interiors....We did a lot of soundproofing back then (cameros and Mustangs were notorius for road noise) and used a simple 1/2 inch dense felt carpet padding on the floors and inside the doors...Its was the same material that the high end speakers of the day used for their speaker boxes....and if you are old enough to remember, some of the best speakers of alll time were made in the 70s...soooooooo ... I figured if it worked them..it will work now...the difference is...this material is about 65 cents a square foot...I started first thing saturday morning ..took about 2hrs to remove the trim , fit and spray glue the felt in the rear section of the car (spare tire and surrounding area...the doors took about two hours for the front, an hour and 30 for the back doors...I used the felt inside the doors ( glued to the metal after removing the factory foam) and used a foil, gel foam product from home depot on the door faceplate (behind the door panel)...before I pulled the seats and carpets, I decided to take a freeway test....the difference is amazing....My wife drives a mdx and the pruius is just as quiet....by installing the felt behind the speakers, the performance of the stock speaker improved so much...I couldnt tell it was the same stereo.... Im not sure that I will do the floor .The doors are the major culprit I suspect.. I will drive it for the week and decide.... Total cost including glue , felt padding and foiled padding..$53.00... Im sure my previous experience helped me but its not rocket science like the makers of the expensive sound deadening material would like to make you think.....just my take.
I did a couple of cars with carpet padding back in the olden daze, it was effective then so no reason it wouldn't be effective now. A couple of things to consider is that is will absorb and hold any spilled liquids or water that leaks into the car. Also holds smell. Shouldn't be as much of a problem on a modern car as it was on old cars.
The 1/2 felt carpet padding can be had at any auto upholstery supply ...I bought mine at Perfect Fit in oregon on their internet site..they ship ups anywhere...the double sided foil gel foam insulation I got at home depot...comes in 2 by 10 ft rolls..perfect for the doors face (behind the door panel))..3m spray glue at any hardware store or home depot..
Spills in a car with carpet of any kind can hold smell but I get the point on the padding holding smell...for a 4 or 5 hundred buck savings I will take a chance...
Great stuff.. $53! I was considering this as an alternate to MLV's. Doors are the key? A little concerned about gluing and foil. What are the details for the foil padding?
Nice post. I'm also looking to install some sound insulation in my Prius. I did the same thing to my 2005 XB and used sound deadening material that's used under floating tongue and groove floors. I picked up a roll at Lowe's back in '06 for about $25 and it worked well. The carpet padding should offer more insulation and I'll check on the materials this weekend.
I found during research and when I deadened my doors that water does get into them and inside the door skin. Just FYI in case you want to glue the felt on the outer skin behind the speakers... Deadening inside the door skin really helped make the doors seem so much more solid but if you do, then you shouldn't use anything absorbent. If cost is an issue, check out FatMat, found it on amazon, $45 for 25' sq, did all 4 doors and seems to hold up great.
Pics aren't that great. My little boy liked to help but that pic shows the deadener on the inside of the outer skin. I didn't take a ton when I did it.
Did it make a huge difference? Is it worth it? I wasn’t even planning to deaden anything and had no complaints but keep reading about how speaker sound quality improves. I watch videos of people tapping on the metal and how the sound changes. I don’t know what the difference it can make. What’s your opinion?
