Model 3 Road Noise

[enemji]

I see there have been many discussions on eliminating road noise, including the obvious dynamat on floor to the unique foam on the rear shelf for 2019 amd older models.

However, and somebody who is very engaged in audio science, I took a very different look and approach and it has worked!

So what different did I do?

If you see any speaker, you will see that the foundation of sound reproduction is designing the box. A speaker without a box is barely audible. Put that driver in a box and voila!

With that in mind my hypothesis was that the frunk and the trunk well are acting the same as speaker boxes and amplifying the road noise.

To test it out, I went down the path of insulating and isolating the frunk and the trunk well with simple bubble wrap on the floor of both the frunk and trunk well. On top of the bubble wrap, I placed the rubber mats to keep them down.

I then waited for my wife to take the car out to shopping and who had no idea of what I was doing in the garage.

After she came back from running her errands and shopping, she remarked over dinner that the car was very quiet today and almost no road noise, even over the rough worn out concrete roads outside the neighborhood. She then stared into my eyes and asked “What did you do?”

Then I also took out the car for a ride and yes! The car is almost as quiet as my mercedes S class.

I hope this helps anybody who is interested in reducing road noise on their Model 3.

By the way, this is the bubble wrap I used that I had some in my garage.

Double Bubble Reflective Thermal Aluminum Foil Radiant Heat Vapor Barrier Insulation: (24" X 10 Ft) Heavy Duty (Water Proof No Tear): Walls Windows Garages Attics Air Ducts HVAC Vehicle Etc https://a.co/d/iH9Pemw

 

[XPsionic]

Interesting stuff, care to show us a picture or two? I'm assuming the rear sub trunk is what makes the most road noise? The frunk with the firewall in between the cabin and it probably won't transmit much noise?

 

[phigment]

Interesting. I happen to have foil bubble wrap here from a shipment of food. Also I have rubber mats for horse stalls here. This warrants an experiment!

 

[enemji]

Interesting stuff, care to show us a picture or two? I'm assuming the rear sub trunk is what makes the most road noise? The frunk with the firewall in between the cabin and it probably won't transmit much noise?

Ohhhh the frunk is the biggest bad boy. The sound vibrations are transmitted to the A-pillars (or at least that is what it feels likee) is what I discovered from this exercise.

 

[enemji]

Interesting stuff, care to show us a picture or two? I'm assuming the rear sub trunk is what makes the most road noise? The frunk with the firewall in between the cabin and it probably won't transmit much noise?

 

[phigment]

Hmm.. I'll have to try again another time. I only had enough foil bubble wrap for the bottom of the frank. I see in your picture that you also put bubble wrap on the lid of the frank, I missed that.

In the well of the trunk I filled it with a big roll of foam.

Unfortunately I didn't notice a difference with this iteration.

 

[enemji]

Hmm.. I'll have to try again another time. I only had enough foil bubble wrap for the bottom of the frank. I see in your picture that you also put bubble wrap on the lid of the frank, I missed that.

In the well of the trunk I filled it with a big roll of foam.

Unfortunately I didn't notice a difference with this iteration.

Place a pillow in the frunk and see how that works out

 

[skygraff]

So, yeah, you said you put the bubble foil on the floor of both frunk and trunk well (sub-trunk?) then covered it with rubber mats. But, based on the picture and as phigment noted, it appears you further isolated the frunk with material on the hood. If that's the case, did you do the whole hood or just the portion that covers the frunk cavity?

Do you think the rubber mats are also a factor or was it just to weight the stuff down? If the latter, would the supplied carpet square (2018 M3) do the trick in the frunk and, maybe, some velcro strips between the wrap and sub-trunk floor? How does it sound at highway speeds?

Thanks!

 

[KenC]

So, yeah, you said you put the bubble foil on the floor of both frunk and trunk well (sub-trunk?) then covered it with rubber mats. But, based on the picture and as phigment noted, it appears you further isolated the frunk with material on the hood. If that's the case, did you do the whole hood or just the portion that covers the frunk cavity?

Do you think the rubber mats are also a factor or was it just to weight the stuff down? If the latter, would the supplied carpet square (2018 M3) do the trick in the frunk and, maybe, some velcro strips between the wrap and sub-trunk floor? How does it sound at highway speeds?

Thanks!

I think you're referring to the lid on the sub-trunk, not the hood on the frunk.

 

[enemji]

So, yeah, you said you put the bubble foil on the floor of both frunk and trunk well (sub-trunk?) then covered it with rubber mats. But, based on the picture and as phigment noted, it appears you further isolated the frunk with material on the hood. If that's the case, did you do the whole hood or just the portion that covers the frunk cavity?

Do you think the rubber mats are also a factor or was it just to weight the stuff down? If the latter, would the supplied carpet square (2018 M3) do the trick in the frunk and, maybe, some velcro strips between the wrap and sub-trunk floor? How does it sound at highway speeds?

Thanks!

That is the picture of the back trunk. The frunk hood does not have that, yet. I do plan to do it though.

 

[skygraff]

I think you're referring to the lid on the sub-trunk, not the hood on the frunk.

Nope, I was thinking it was the frunk because I didn't see the trunk latch for what it actually was. Sorry.

 

[chadol]

How about lining the outside of frunk box with the same bubble wrap?
Of course, one needs to take the frunk box out first to do so. But it will look much more neat and clean.

 

[enemji]

How about lining the outside of frunk box with the same bubble wrap?
Of course, one needs to take the frunk box out first to do so. But it will look much more neat and clean.

That would be good idea and might as well spray the rubberized undercoat used by automobiles manufacturers to dampen the harshness on the undercarriages.

 

[skygraff]

While that would reduce penetration of source vibrations, seems like it wouldn’t be building upon enemji’s speaker box amplification theory. Obviously both make a difference but the speaker box theory might be more elegant and less of a weight/maintenance penalty.

Stuff doesn’t have to be silver since it’s not about reflecting/damping light radiation. Could probably be done just as easily with some black acoustic foam but the bubble wrap probably takes up less space for the same result.

 

[enemji]

While that would reduce penetration of source vibrations, seems like it wouldn’t be building upon enemji’s speaker box amplification theory. Obviously both make a difference but the speaker box theory might be more elegant and less of a weight/maintenance penalty.

Stuff doesn’t have to be silver since it’s not about reflecting/damping light radiation. Could probably be done just as easily with some black acoustic foam but the bubble wrap probably takes up less space for the same result.

Exactly! It was stuff I had in the garage and essentially what this is doing really is taking care of the H in NVH.

 

[_Redshift_]

I see there have been many discussions on eliminating road noise, including the obvious dynamat on floor to the unique foam on the rear shelf for 2019 amd older models.

However, and somebody who is very engaged in audio science, I took a very different look and approach and it has worked!

So what different did I do?

If you see any speaker, you will see that the foundation of sound reproduction is designing the box. A speaker without a box is barely audible. Put that driver in a box and voila!

With that in mind my hypothesis was that the frunk and the trunk well are acting the same as speaker boxes and amplifying the road noise.

To test it out, I went down the path of insulating and isolating the frunk and the trunk well with simple bubble wrap on the floor of both the frunk and trunk well. On top of the bubble wrap, I placed the rubber mats to keep them down.

I then waited for my wife to take the car out to shopping and who had no idea of what I was doing in the garage.

After she came back from running her errands and shopping, she remarked over dinner that the car was very quiet today and almost no road noise, even over the rough worn out concrete roads outside the neighborhood. She then stared into my eyes and asked “What did you do?”

Then I also took out the car for a ride and yes! The car is almost as quiet as my mercedes S class.

I hope this helps anybody who is interested in reducing road noise on their Model 3.

By the way, this is the bubble wrap I used that I had some in my garage.

Double Bubble Reflective Thermal Aluminum Foil Radiant Heat Vapor Barrier Insulation: (24" X 10 Ft) Heavy Duty (Water Proof No Tear): Walls Windows Garages Attics Air Ducts HVAC Vehicle Etc https://a.co/d/iH9Pemw

Very interesting. As someone who has extensively noise insulated almost every accessible part of my Teslas, I find this rather intriguing.

Any before/after comparison results you could share?

 

[_Redshift_]

That would be good idea and might as well spray the rubberized undercoat used by automobiles manufacturers to dampen the harshness on the undercarriages.

I have tried that on one of previous cars. Doesn’t help one little bit.

 

[XPsionic]

Very interesting. As someone who has extensively noise insulated almost every accessible part of my Teslas, I find this rather intriguing.

Any before/after comparison results you could share?

What are some areas and materials used that made the biggest difference so far?

 

[Tom.Traxler]

I was fascinated by the "fix" from Enemji and the suggestion trying a pillow. i did not have bubble wrap or a spare pillow on hand, but I folded two heavy, quilted furniture pads that movers use, and I put them (2) in the floor of the frunk and one at the bottom of the well in the trunk, and they have made a huge difference in muffling the road noise. Kudos to Enemji for the insight and fix.

 

[RonB]

I too tried Enemji's fix. Used some foam board I had lying around and put some in the lower trunk and the frunk. WOW, what a difference. Can't thank you enough Enemji reduced road noise by 80%.