B-Quiet Sound-deadning material installation

Hello, all.

Today, I used my lazy sunday afternoon to install "B-quiet" sound deadning material in my doors. It's a comparable product to dynamat, only b-quiet is much cheaper.

First, I got my 50 square feet of B-quiet ultimate. You can buy this from the "b-quiet" company website, but I went to ebay, which make it a little cheaper, $120 with shipping.

Taking apart the door was, at first, nerve wrecking; but now I figured out the sequence, I think I can do it in a few minutes now. I picked up the door removing tips from this forum. Thanks Tadashi & everyone else on those tips. Do a search on "removing door panel" then you are there.

In a nut shell, it's just a matter of
1. removing two screws,
2. Pulling on the door handle trims in the right directions
3. Disconnect the wires to the door switches
4. pulling and snapping off the plastic door shell.

I recommend starting it from the rear doors, as they are somewhat less complicated. I did lose some plastic grommets, but it's no big deal. Once you put the door back on, you can't tell that a few grommets are missing.

Anyhoo, B-quiet comes in a roll of aluminum foil-like material with rubbery foam, with glued side on the other with protective paper. Installation is simple, just cut them in pieces, remove the backing, and apply to the door (metal part). No heating needed, and no odor.

I was trying to do the installation with big pieces at once, but after a while, I figured that it's much easier to have multiple b-quiet pieces ready (about the size of my palm, or compact disc case) and apply them on top of each other with some over-lapping.


BTW, I did remove the vapor barrier (plastic covering) enough to go through the holes to apply the b-quiet everywhere inside the door frame. I definitely recommend going nuts & put a lot of material behind and around the speakers. It makes a huge difference in sound quality and rattle reduction (I did this installation with stereo on).

50 sq feet was more than enough material for the 4 doors. I did double to triple layer of b-quiet on the doors, again inside and outside of the door frame, and I still have a quarter roll left. I think I'm going to use it in the spare tire well underneath the trunk.

I'm not going to bother with roof & floor. The majority of the noise come from doors, and all the speakers are attached to the door anyway (well, except the center speaker.)

The result? A very happy prius owner. When I shut the door, it makes nice heavier "thudddd" sound. The stereo sounds great, as if I just added a sub woofer and upgraded the amp & speakers. The road noise from either side of the car is much less, as expected.

I definitely recommend this mod to pretty much everyone. It's pretty simple, takes only a few hours (once you figure out the door assembly), and improve both sound quality and incoming noise at the same time.

BTW, I also used a paint-on sound-deadening product called "quiet coat" on my previous car (Mini cooper), and the result was just as good. I prefer B-quiet cause it's cheaper, and less messy. I've got some black glue from b-quiet on my hands, but it washes off easy.

Kazu.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V8Cobrakid\";p=\"100037)</div>

I think the result is very similar, but B-quiet is cheaper... I think I ended up spending $200 or so on quiet coat on MINI, which is smaller than Prius, of course. With the quiet coat, you also have to wait for the paint to dry.

I'll try to take more pictures, maybe tommorow, and post on this thread.

I installed (sticked on) B-quiet on every metal surfaces... meaning a lot of reaching in those holes underneath the plastic covering, and placing these b-quiet squares everywhere, inside and outside. And then some more, just underneath the plastic covering. I doubled and tripled the layers, but the windows work fine... so far.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"100086)</div>

http://www.b-quiet.com/compare.html

0.35lb per sq feet x 50 = 17.5 lb. I think it's negligible amount to affect your mpg.

Again, the paint-on stuff is very comparable. I think they are more or less the same viscoelastic material... Of course, the paint-on stuff could be messy, and can't easily remove it once it cures. It all depends on what you like... I just like b quiet better.

The floor is really hard to get to. Someone posted here that the floor is actually pretty well insulated. My next project is to cover the trunk (spare tire well), and apply the left over underneath my all weather floor mat. It's not as effective, but it worked okay when I did with my previous car.

hope this helps... 8)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V8Cobrakid\";p=\"100118)</div>

I used to do autocross (Solo2) racing with my mini cooper, so I know about this weight game.

If you are trying to shave a split second off your lap time, of course every lb counts, as well as the weight balance of the entire car. The common first step is to take out the spare and the jack, and everything in the trunk. Next you can start removing the rear seat, maybe the front passanger seat. Next step is to remove the linings/carpets of the interior. Why stop there? you can switch the hood with carbon hood, and take out the side view mirrors.
:wink:

It's all tongue in cheek, of course. I can't imagine the 10-20lb added or saved here and there in Prius would change your mpg at all. Your milage is affected by so many different factors, ie. driving style, ambient temp, terrain, road selections, tire pressure, tire brand, tire wear etc etc.

For the same token, how much dynamat/b-quiet you want to use is up to you... but there is a trade off on weight/sound deadening. I believe there is a point of diminishing return as you start from the door --> trunk --> Floor --> Roof. As I mentioned, doors and the trunk, and some floor is enough for me. Doing the entire floor and roof is a LOT of work, for maybe a few additional db difference and possibly 100+ lb added.

Personally, I will soon switch out from the OEM tires to the triple treads/hydro edge as many posters here recommended. I agree that the OEM tires are very mediocre in performance and noisy.

FYI, I took out the trunk panel & placed the (left over) carpet I got from the home depot over the black plastic bin. So much more cargo room this way! 8)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"100110)</div>

FYI, both dynamat/b-quiet has different "grades" of materials. Original --> Extreme --> Ultimate etc. The more expensive, the thinner and more effective the material. I recommend going for the best ones (ie. b-quiet ultimate in my case).
:mrgreen:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V8Cobrakid\";p=\"100161)</div>

Okay... but you can't possibly compete in the H-stock class. That category is now completely owened by base mini coopers in the national & local competitions. :wink:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi\";p=\"100153)</div>

No, I'm too cheap :wink:

I think it's very similar to your modded prius, sans floor/roof noise-proofing.
Your Dynamat extreme is comparable to my b-quiet ultimate.

 

more pictures!

 

yet more pictures of my prius. The buddha keeps me calm in LA traffic.