Reducing noise and keeping the door sills clean

[dfwatt]

Semi final report on soundproofing efforts on Tesla Model 3.

I say semi final because there is always something you can do to improve things but at this point outside of going to thicker glass and tearing out the carpets to install additional soundproofing on the entire floor of the car, I'm not sure what else I could do. In any case this is what I've done so far:

1) Dynamating all four doors extensively with noico 80 including heavy application around front woofer basket to quiet extraneous resonances
2) similar application of noico 80 to front shock towers and surrounding sheet metal which required taking out the front trunk and heavy application of same material to rear trunk area
3) application of Z weather stripping material to all vertical edges of doors with P weather stripping material to bottom or horizontal edges and trunk edges
4) 3D maxpider mats which have some sound dampening front and rear
5) RPM Tesla sound kit consisting of rubber tubing that surrounds top glass to reduce wind noise

I'm kicking myself that I did not get sound pressure levels on the highway before starting all these modifications to get a clear empirical comparison of noise levels pre and post. I may go see if I can borrow somebody else's model 3 that has none of these modifications but also still has Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires and run an SPL at 70 miles an hour on the highway if there's anybody else down here in Southwest Florida who's got an unmodified model 3 preferably performance version, back-channel me and perhaps I could meet up with you for those measurements or perhaps somebody can simply take a reading on a stretch of road in this area and post it.

Subjectively the car feels significantly quieter. 70 miles per hour SPL varies of course hugely still based on road texture but is anywhere from 65 to 70 DB. It feels as though I've overall suppressed noise by somewhere between 5 and 7 DB but that's just a guess and until I can do an SPL level on an unmodified model 3 I of course have to admit that I don't know for sure.

In any case, the modifications have probably have their biggest impact on how the car no longer feels any version of cheap or 'tinny' when you shut the doors, along with reduced fatigue on long drives. Very different sound when you shut the doors - much more like a Mercedes - and some of that I'm sure is from the Dynamat some of it from the weather stripping. In any case I'm very satisfied with the results although I'm always looking of course to improve.

 

[buddhra]

Semi final report on soundproofing efforts on Tesla Model 3.

I say semi final because there is always something you can do to improve things but at this point outside of going to thicker glass and tearing out the carpets to install additional soundproofing on the entire floor of the car, I'm not sure what else I could do. In any case this is what I've done so far:

1) Dynamating all four doors extensively with noico 80 including heavy application around front woofer basket to quiet extraneous resonances
2) similar application of noico 80 to front shock towers and surrounding sheet metal which required taking out the front trunk and heavy application of same material to rear trunk area
3) application of Z weather stripping material to all vertical edges of doors with P weather stripping material to bottom or horizontal edges and trunk edges
4) 3D maxpider mats which have some sound dampening front and rear
5) RPM Tesla sound kit consisting of rubber tubing that surrounds top glass to reduce wind noise

I'm kicking myself that I did not get sound pressure levels on the highway before starting all these modifications to get a clear empirical comparison of noise levels pre and post. I may go see if I can borrow somebody else's model 3 that has none of these modifications but also still has Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires and run an SPL at 70 miles an hour on the highway if there's anybody else down here in Southwest Florida who's got an unmodified model 3 preferably performance version, back-channel me and perhaps I could meet up with you for those measurements or perhaps somebody can simply take a reading on a stretch of road in this area and post it.

Subjectively the car feels significantly quieter. 70 miles per hour SPL varies of course hugely still based on road texture but is anywhere from 65 to 70 DB. It feels as though I've overall suppressed noise by somewhere between 5 and 7 DB but that's just a guess and until I can do an SPL level on an unmodified model 3 I of course have to admit that I don't know for sure.

In any case, the modifications have probably have their biggest impact on how the car no longer feels any version of cheap or 'tinny' when you shut the doors, along with reduced fatigue on long drives. Very different sound when you shut the doors - much more like a Mercedes - and some of that I'm sure is from the Dynamat some of it from the weather stripping. In any case I'm very satisfied with the results although I'm always looking of course to improve.

Think you could make some recordings that we could compare to mine? I go over my methodology at the end of the video.

 

[dfwatt]

Think you could make some recordings that we could compare to mine? I go over my methodology at the end of the video.

You've got way more sophisticated tools than I do with spectral analysis Etc. I have a crappy little sound pressure level meter running on an Android phone. If I could get your tools without a big outlay of cash, sure be happy to! The wild-card of course is that we need to have the same tires. Those are a huge variable.

 

[buddhra]

You've got way more sophisticated tools than I do with spectral analysis Etc. I have a crappy little sound pressure level meter running on an Android phone. If I could get your tools without a big outlay of cash, sure be happy to! The wild-card of course is that we need to have the same tires. Those are a huge variable.

The tires do matter for sure, but I'm friends with a P3D owner, so good to go there.

I'm using a decent audio recorder https://amzn.to/2FN3e52, but the software is all free. I can do the analysis, if I just have the recordings.

 

[dfwatt]

The tires do matter for sure, but I'm friends with a P3D owner, so good to go there.

I'm using a decent audio recorder https://amzn.to/2FN3e52, but the software is all free. I can do the analysis, if I just have the recordings.

That's intriguing of course. Question is how might I get those files to you and how large are they?

 

[buddhra]

That's intriguing of course. Question is how might I get those files to you and how large are they?

It's just an audio file so megabytes. You could use Google drive or dropbox, etc to share it.

 

[dfwatt]

It's just an audio file so megabytes. You could use Google drive or dropbox, etc to share it.

As a major technology junkie of course I'm intrigued by the whole idea of a digital audio recorder. And it's not a lot of money so I'm in.

As a non-trivial PostScript to the whole weatherstripping business, the original adhesive is pretty crappy frankly so I had to buy a bunch of 3M double-sided tape which is a lot stronger and has held the strips in place far better. Most of the original adhesive seems to have worked itself loose despite the fact that I really clean the hell out of the sheet metal.

 

[Rev-777]

the original adhesive is pretty crappy frankly so I had to buy a bunch of 3M double-sided tape which is a lot stronger and has held the strips in place far better. Most of the original adhesive seems to have worked itself loose despite the fact that I really clean the hell out of the sheet metal.

As I have my seals waiting for install as I type, this isn't what I wanted to hear. Anybody else having adhesive problems?

 

[dfwatt]

As I have my seals waiting for install as I type, this isn't what I wanted to hear. Anybody else having adhesive problems?

I wouldn't be too upset about it. It's a pretty cheap fix for an extra ten bucks in 3M tape. And even if the seals adhere without it I'm not sure that without extra adhesive surface beyond the very narrow band of adhesive on both the P seals and the Z seals that this is a long-term stable deal. I got mine at a local AutoZone. The loose seals that I reattached with that have not come off and obviously the bond with the remaining adhesive on the weather stripping is fierce.

 

[Rev-777]

Thanks!

 

[Roentgen]

As I have my seals waiting for install as I type, this isn't what I wanted to hear. Anybody else having adhesive problems?

Bought mine off the amazon link provided previous in the thread. Washed my car and wiped down the door edges prior to applying the seals, but did not take the extra step of using alcohol. Was a bit worried about the adhesive, but have had no issues in the month(s) since I've done this. The Amazon products appear to use 3M branded adhesive (unless fake). Difference could also be due to weather/humidity differences between FL and CA.

 

[dfwatt]

Bought mine off the amazon link provided previous in the thread. Washed my car and wiped down the door edges prior to applying the seals, but did not take the extra step of using alcohol. Was a bit worried about the adhesive, but have had no issues in the month(s) since I've done this. The Amazon products appear to use 3M branded adhesive (unless fake). Difference could also be due to weather/humidity differences between FL and CA.

That very well could be although our humidity down here has been worse - in other words it's not super humid for Florida right now. In any case I cleaned the inside of the door area where the sticky tape would go when I put on just the seals by themselves and as they gradually worked themselves loose, recleaned with isopropyl alcohol once again, and put the seals on top of the 3M tape. Let's hope this holds up to the humidity cuz it would be frustrating to have to do this again.

 

[Silver_Bullet]

Thanks for all the reviews. I'd like to try it too.

 

[bradhs]

Do you have any details or instructions on any of this? I’d like to do the doors and frunk. If you know anyone in San Diego who’s done the work, I’d be interested in having them do my car too.

Semi final report on soundproofing efforts on Tesla Model 3.

I say semi final because there is always something you can do to improve things but at this point outside of going to thicker glass and tearing out the carpets to install additional soundproofing on the entire floor of the car, I'm not sure what else I could do. In any case this is what I've done so far:

1) Dynamating all four doors extensively with noico 80 including heavy application around front woofer basket to quiet extraneous resonances
2) similar application of noico 80 to front shock towers and surrounding sheet metal which required taking out the front trunk and heavy application of same material to rear trunk area
3) application of Z weather stripping material to all vertical edges of doors with P weather stripping material to bottom or horizontal edges and trunk edges
4) 3D maxpider mats which have some sound dampening front and rear
5) RPM Tesla sound kit consisting of rubber tubing that surrounds top glass to reduce wind noise

I'm kicking myself that I did not get sound pressure levels on the highway before starting all these modifications to get a clear empirical comparison of noise levels pre and post. I may go see if I can borrow somebody else's model 3 that has none of these modifications but also still has Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires and run an SPL at 70 miles an hour on the highway if there's anybody else down here in Southwest Florida who's got an unmodified model 3 preferably performance version, back-channel me and perhaps I could meet up with you for those measurements or perhaps somebody can simply take a reading on a stretch of road in this area and post it.

Subjectively the car feels significantly quieter. 70 miles per hour SPL varies of course hugely still based on road texture but is anywhere from 65 to 70 DB. It feels as though I've overall suppressed noise by somewhere between 5 and 7 DB but that's just a guess and until I can do an SPL level on an unmodified model 3 I of course have to admit that I don't know for sure.

In any case, the modifications have probably have their biggest impact on how the car no longer feels any version of cheap or 'tinny' when you shut the doors, along with reduced fatigue on long drives. Very different sound when you shut the doors - much more like a Mercedes - and some of that I'm sure is from the Dynamat some of it from the weather stripping. In any case I'm very satisfied with the results although I'm always looking of course to improve.

 

[dfwatt]

Do you have any details or instructions on any of this? I’d like to do the doors and frunk. If you know anyone in San Diego who’s done the work, I’d be interested in having them do my car too.

No I don't have a professional installer who I can recommend in your area. I can say that getting the doors off is very easy and it's mostly just tedious cut and paste (literally of Dynamat type material - I used Noico 80 mil) to cover particularly the woofer baskets in the front, exposed metal and the inner polycarbonate plastic sleeve that holds the door motor and other systems in place.

I wouldn't recommend this to somebody who didn't have at least some confidence in their technical abilities but it's really not that technically challenging. And the model 3 is actually exceptionally easy to work on overall in terms of assembly and disassembly. It's really well-thought-out from that standpoint. It takes only two screws to get the rear doors off and a bunch of clips and three screws and a similar group of Clips to get the front doors off. From there it's really simple and you can actually do the sound dampening without disconnecting fully all the door electronics for people who are nervous about that.

I'd be happy to repost some photos tomorrow showing the stages of this. In addition you can install closed cell foam which may also reduce road noise. Dynamat type material reduces Noise by dampening panel resonances, so the two approaches are a complementary rather than mutually exclusive.

The take-home message is that people should not be intimidated if they have even moderately technical backgrounds and fairly modest technical skills. And as I emphasized in previous posts, the effect of dynamating is to make the doors much more satisfyingly solid feeling when you shut them. No more of the Tinney rattley business that makes the cars seem cheaply put together.

 

[omegafiler]

Since my last post, I've since driven two Model 3's to see what the noise is like for myself.

I know a lot of folks explain increased road and wind noises due to lack of drivetrain sounds. Which I suppose depends on what you are comparing to. I personally own and have driven many modern premium and luxury vehicles and can easily verify the engine has little to nothing to do with that perception. Certainly not while cruising on the highway. Whether you are comparing to a Model S/X or a current Hyundai. Model 3 has excessive wind noise anywhere past 50+ mph. As well as road noise. It was even noted by Consumer Reports as having "considerable wind noise."

I'd say it's loud compared to any premium sedan and quite frankly, unacceptable in the luxury class. A lot more effort should have been put into eliminating road, wind, and general creaking/popping noises.

My best suggestion would be for anybody experiencing ANY unwanted noises, is to take it into a service center. From other posts, I doubt they'll be able to do anything. But at least it will be documented so the issue can be escalated and get more visibility. Then maybe they can fix this on the assembly line, where it should be addressed. There really shouldn't be this much effort by owners to fix obvious problems such as this.

With that said, based on my past experience with sound isolation (for audio), these efforts should be promising. Door seals, noico, foam padding, etc. Everything will help. But as noted, it can be a lot of work. Pulling panels and ripping out the interior isn't going to fly for your average car buyer.

 

[dwolvin]

Very cool info in this thread, thank you dfwatt (and others) for the efforts! My road noise is mostly tire related, wind noise seems low on the freeway, but I can see dyna-ing my doors eventually to reduce rain groove harmonics a bit sooner or later.

 

[Kelmn07]

Any concern with the the adhesive damaging the interior finish? I suppose once they're on you generally won't be planning to take them off but is it a concern at all?

 

[dfwatt]

Any concern with the the adhesive damaging the interior finish? I suppose once they're on you generally won't be planning to take them off but is it a concern at all?

No adhesive on any interior surface in anything that I did, wouldn't recommend that. All adhesive on covered/invisible surfaces.

 

[Rev-777]

I completed the bradhs weather stripping/seal mod today. About 5 hours for a thorough and professional [obsessive type-A] looking job. I made a few changes to the original idea and will post further pictures & details tomorrow.

My initial thoughts: a well worth mod, with a very noticeable decrease in noise level overall. The doors (as previously documented in this thread) have a very commanding, solid thud, reminding me of my former Golf R days. Looking forward to clean door sills again.