Anyone installed these wheel wells for noise reduction?

[James Cole]

Hello guys,

Looking for info if this wheel wells work well for noise reduction, especially at higher speeds...

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803587105834.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US

Thanks!
JC

 

[WADan]

I would be interested in knowing too. Looks promisin, especially for the front wheel wells.
Please post yours in this thread (where there are a few experts):

Ear pain/Pressure help

I have a December built Fremont Y and I would say there's a decent amount of 'buffeting' coming from the rear (like a low, bassy rumble when going over certain patches of road). I've got the 5/16 vinyl tubing to install this weekend, hoping that helps! I removed the cargo cover as it was more in...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[fiehlsport]

If they fit 100% perfectly, I might be interested in trying. I'm just not confident they will based on all of the other China accessories I've tried.

 

[ilovecoffee]

Yes, I have these. And yes they fit perfectly.

They reduce some minor road noise, but it's the kind of reduction where you question your own bias: well I spent the effort so I'm not sure if my brain is justifying the money and time I spent on this, or if it's legitimate. I'd probably say it was a 5% to.... 10 9% reduction in road noise (?)

That being said, the clips that come with them work for everywhere except the mudflaps. They simply aren't long enough to securely attach the mudflaps, so you should probably have some beefier alternatives for those.

I had a hoist to work on my car and it was still tedious work. I can't imagine doing this on the ground with a jack.

 

[WADan]

Okay, I think you just talked me out of it. I do believe that it might marginally reduces the noise level, like you said 5 perc. There is no way that it could reduce from 80 to 50 db like they claim.

I tried putting the butyl on the rear wheel wells (I don’t have the booming problem caused by the trunk) like you recommended, but so far my measurements showed no discernible improvement. Maybe, my way of measuring (using my iphone) is not sufficient to detect the reduction.

Like I have mentioned in one of my previous post, I do have some experience as I had to soundproof my house heatpump, and I was able to reduce the noise (from high 60s to high 40s db) after several layers of butyl and an OEM blanket, but wrapping around the compressor is easy.

 

[James Cole]

Thanks Ilovecoffee...

Not looking for marginal improvements I think all of us would prefer the biggest improvements first and then go from there... thanks so much for your review!

 

[nate704]

the wheel well has opening to the frunk area. Unless you insulate/seal the entire wheel well and frunk area with some kind of noise insulation material, the gain will be minimal to none with those inserts.

 

[TomB985]

This is an interesting thread for me because my Y has much less road noise than my '19 Model 3 did. Road noise and ride quality were my two biggest frustrations with that car, and my Y is quiet as a mouse in comparison. That's true even with my narrow 225-width WinterCommand snow tires.

Do earlier Model Ys have more road noise?

 

[ilovecoffee]

the wheel well has opening to the frunk area. Unless you insulate/seal the entire wheel well and frunk area with some kind of noise insulation material, the gain will be minimal to none with those inserts.

I'm not sure what you mean. The wheel well is sealed as can be for a wheel well, sure you can see the top of the wheel well if you remove the panels under the frunk. But at least what I'm able to see from the access in the frunk, there's a lot going on and that top exposed body of the wheel well from the frunk is thick.
There's also quite a bit of noise insulation between the frunk and the cabin (I can't find that disassembled picture)

This is just the same-ish material that's already in the back wheel well and pretty normal stuff, just meant to reduce tire noise. A lot of manufacturers use it.

 

[bobbyjae]

Yes, I have these. And yes they fit perfectly.

They reduce some minor road noise, but it's the kind of reduction where you question your own bias: well I spent the effort so I'm not sure if my brain is justifying the money and time I spent on this, or if it's legitimate. I'd probably say it was a 5% to.... 10 9% reduction in road noise (?)

That being said, the clips that come with them work for everywhere except the mudflaps. They simply aren't long enough to securely attach the mudflaps, so you should probably have some beefier alternatives for those.

I had a hoist to work on my car and it was still tedious work. I can't imagine doing this on the ground with a jack.

Have you tried anything that reduced road noise to an appreciable degree?

 

[Olle]

Very interesting product.

There are a lot of sound proofing threads in the Model S, section, this one for example: Scoob’s sound proofing before & after experiment.... It's usually about interior attachments as opposed to exterior wheel wells.

With Tesla's recent developments in noise cancellation in the S/X, I am wondering if that will ever make its way to our Model Ys through OTA? or would it always need the specialized hardware found in the S/X?
If noise cancellation is coming I'd be hesitant to spend time on sound proofing my Y.

 

[ilovecoffee]

Have you tried anything that reduced road noise to an appreciable degree?

Well for me I consider all road noise low-ish frequency.

Don't get me wrong, these help reduce noise, but it's just a piece of the puzzle and it's a lot of effort for what you get out of it.

Butyl on the rear wheel wells really cut out a lot of cabin noise for me, but it's on the lower end of the spectrum. The extra door gaskets would take care of the higher end with wind noise reduction. I may just try what @MattM24 did recently and stuff backer rod (foam tubing) into the existing gaskets of his door seals, that may also further reduce air noise/provide a tighter seal.

I don't think it's possible to get luxury car level quiet in this car because of the glass roof, and at least my Fremont vehicle does not have the double-pane rear windows. That and the suspension (and I also have coilovers). And there's no active-noise cancelling tech in the car, which frankly comes with a lot of non-luxury vehicles these days.

 

[ilovecoffee]

If noise cancellation is coming I'd be hesitant to spend time on sound proofing my Y.

Not that I can imagine because ANC requires extra microphones around the vicinity of the passengers' ears to accurately capture the ambient sound wavelengths in order to have the speakers put out an opposing wavelength to null it out.

The S and X have microphones in the seats

 

[SageBrush]

There is no way that it could reduce from 80 to 50 db like they claim.

That would be impressive, given the log scale of the dB

 

[weini]

I think tires also play an important role on producing the road noise? I wonder anyone has tried this new EV tire from Hankook:

Quietness is one of their selling points.

 

[TomB985]

I’ve used factory foam-filled tires, runflats, and snow tires. I’ve never been able to tell any noticeable difference between EV-spec tires with foam and those without.

My Model 3 was loud with factory foam-filled tires. It was also loud with Driveguard runflats. And it was loud with Altima’s Arctic snows. My Y was quiet on the factory rubber, and it’s quiet on Goodyear Wintercommand Ultra snows.

 

[TomB985]

My Model 3 was loud with factory foam-filled tires. It was also loud with Driveguard runflats. And it was loud with General Altimax Arctic snows. My Y was quiet on the factory rubber, and it’s quiet on Goodyear Wintercommand Ultra snows.

Autocorrect got me in the above post, and I'm past the edit window. I did not install Nissan tires on my Tesla.

 

[Vxn12]

I think tires also play an important role on producing the road noise? I wonder anyone has tried this new EV tire from Hankook:

Quietness is one of their selling points.

I just installed them on my M3P yesterday. I went from stock 20” uberturbines with P-zero Elect tires to aftermarket wheels with Hankook EVO Ion AS. Both have foam on inside but the Hankook got other sound absorbing features on the outside of tire as well which results in a quieter ride than the P zero. Love them so far.

 

[weini]

I just installed them on my M3P yesterday. I went from stock 20” uberturbines with P-zero Elect tires to aftermarket wheels with Hankook EVO Ion AS. Both have foam on inside but the Hankook got other sound absorbing features on the outside of tire as well which results in a quieter ride than the P zero. Love them so far.

Thanks for sharing it. I am interested trying them after my stock tires worn out.

 

[GBMaryland]

Okay, I think you just talked me out of it. I do believe that it might marginally reduces the noise level, like you said 5 perc. There is no way that it could reduce from 80 to 50 db like they claim.

I tried putting the butyl on the rear wheel wells (I don’t have the booming problem caused by the trunk) like you recommended, but so far my measurements showed no discernible improvement. Maybe, my way of measuring (using my iphone) is not sufficient to detect the reduction.

Like I have mentioned in one of my previous post, I do have some experience as I had to soundproof my house heatpump, and I was able to reduce the noise (from high 60s to high 40s db) after several layers of butyl and an OEM blanket, but wrapping around the compressor is easy.

If I were going to do the rear of the car, I would pull the trim out of the back and spray the inside of the car. Or put down mat which would be a lot less smelly….