Sound Deadening Model 3

[KG2V]

Following this thread. My LR AWD is quite noisy at speed, it seems to be mostly coming from the tires (stock 18" until this afternoon, switching to snow tires). Whenever I roll onto a freshly paved stretch of road, the noise disappears.

Yeah, I found the same thing - I put studded snows on this weekend, now it is REALLY loud

 

[Joabe]

here is someone thats on the technical level you are looking for. maybe send him a message and work together to come up with some good solutions

 

[jbarnette]

I’m very interested. In traditional German cars, the lesser models (say 1/3-series, A/C-class, etc.) have notably less sound insulation than the intermediate and larger cars (say 5/7-series, E/S-class, etc.). I firmly believe this is part of the up sell and very frustrating as cars get larger but remain “degraded” (modern 3-series same size as older 5-series but trim and sound insulation is inferior in quality). I wonder if this is happening as Model 3 vs S.

 

[mike123abc]

Sound Deadening Model 3

Is a long thread on various treatments people have tried. I used a sound meter and posted the results after I did each treatment. My sound meter was not calibrated (I did not have an 80db 1KHZ tone available), but I assume that the results were relative. My car is a July 2018 model. Musk has indicated that newer cars have improved noise insulation from the factory.

Noise reduction rear areas

 

[superbaka]

Yes

Thanks for posting. I have planned to add dynamat to wheel wells and strut towers, except I will use thinsulate on the wheel well trim on advice on some sound deadening experts. It will block more frequencies from the road, as opposed to only stop the trim from resonating. I hope to get even greater gains. Thinsulate holds less than 1% of weight from water and is claimed to be okay for this.

 

[Schmidlack]

The best sound absorbing materials are really heavy because they have to be very dense. Lead may be the best but for an automobile application where weight is a consideration, it is obviously impractical. Many luxury cars use around 500 lbs of sound absorbing materials. It is tough to get around the weight issue when it comes to materials.

 

[TehBRD]

When I feel like there's too much road noise, I just turn the premium sound system up a little bit and I feel better.

 

[RB88]

When I feel like there's too much road noise, I just turn the premium sound system up a little bit and I feel better.

Not helpful if you have a passenger you’re trying to have a conversation with.

 

[kwag]

My model S is the quietest car I have ever driven. Certainly more quiet than BMW or Mercedes. On top of all noises being much more in your face because they aren't droned out by the engine.

 

[ACHiPo]

I'm pretty amazed Tesla doesn't use active noise cancellation ala Bose. Technology isn't terribly expensive, and given the large number of speakers and mics in the Tesla it would seem that it could be pretty effective.

 

[Jack Straw01]

As an X owner, I’m amazed at model 3 owners who, after spending $40 - $65 k on a new vehicle feel the need to spend additional monies to soundproof their new car!! Had my car needed additional soundproofing, I would be taking it back to service until I was satisfied with the noise level.
My wife’s Ford Fusion Hybrid is extremely quiet when running on just the battery, and that car was quite a bit less than a model 3.

 

[FlyinEV]

Thanks for posting. I have planned to add dynamat to wheel wells and strut towers, except I will use thinsulate on the wheel well trim on advice on some sound deadening experts. It will block more frequencies from the road, as opposed to only stop the trim from resonating. I hope to get even greater gains. Thinsulate holds less than 1% of weight from water and is claimed to be okay for this.

I didn't know about thinsulate. I think your result would be better than mine. Please keep us posted.
Are you going to use 3M thinsulate?
https://www.amazon.com/Thinsulate-A...1_1?keywords=thinsulate&qid=1573671601&sr=8-1

 

[FlyinEV]

As an X owner, I’m amazed at model 3 owners who, after spending $40 - $65 k on a new vehicle feel the need to spend additional monies to soundproof their new car!! Had my car needed additional soundproofing, I would be taking it back to service until I was satisfied with the noise level.
My wife’s Ford Fusion Hybrid is extremely quiet when running on just the battery, and that car was quite a bit less than a model 3.

I don't think Tesla service center would install more soundproof material than my car came with, plus couple visits at least? Also, noise level is objective. It depends on who you asked if Tesla model 3 is quiet or noisy.

 

[cab]

I don't think Tesla service center would install more soundproof material than my car came with, plus couple visits at least? Also, noise level is objective. It depends on who you asked if Tesla model 3 is quiet or noisy.

Biggest single factor in road noise is the roads you drive on. People who declare Teslas to be super quiet aren't generally driving on grooved concrete or heavy chip seal "rocks". Even after applying some additional sound deadener and blockers to my Model S, I woudl just describe it as "average" - certainly not as quiet as our two old 5 series at speed.

 

[Bob M]

I am not sure what to think hearing conflicting assessments of how sound in M3 compares with other cars. My general feeling is that the M3 is too loud. What always reminds me is going from a newly paved hw at 60 mph+ to some others adds an unacceptable amount of noise. So is this because the tires are so highly inflated for range that makes them so surface sensitive or wheel well sound isolation, or some other factors? I have heard that at some point a guey pad was added to the mX and MS tires? Does the M3 have this sound absorbing pad also? Has this been already discussed in this thread?

 

[amoney805]

My main noise complaint is near the A pillar on the passenger side. I can hear wind whistling as if the window is cracked. Two service centers have looked into it and agreed its noisy but they either refuse to fix, blaming my chrome delete, or say its fixed when its not, it actually got worse imo.

 

[skatefriday]

Under 50mph road quality makes a massive difference in sound. Above 50mph on good roads wind noise becomes prevalent.

I'd like to try dynamat in the wheel wells. How hard was that disassembly for that job?

 

[FlyinEV]

Under 50mph road quality makes a massive difference in sound. Above 50mph on good roads wind noise becomes prevalent.

I'd like to try dynamat in the wheel wells. How hard was that disassembly for that job?

I recommend you do rear wheel wells first because they cut down road/tire noise a lot more than the front ones and clips are much easier to remove. Get some heavy duty glue ready in case dynamat doesn’t stay secure.

 

[Bob M]

Biggest single factor in road noise is the roads you drive on. People who declare Teslas to be super quiet aren't generally driving on grooved concrete or heavy chip seal "rocks". Even after applying some additional sound deadener and blockers to my Model S, I woudl just describe it as "average" - certainly not as quiet as our two old 5 series at speed.

So how can we find out what is causing Model 3 to be noisy on groved concrete which is common hw at speed? Is it high inflation (at 42 to 45 which on all other cars I have owned was 32) or is it inadequate sound insulation?

 

[cab]

I am not sure what to think hearing conflicting assessments of how sound in M3 compares with other cars. My general feeling is that the M3 is too loud. What always reminds me is going from a newly paved hw at 60 mph+ to some others adds an unacceptable amount of noise. So is this because the tires are so highly inflated for range that makes them so surface sensitive or wheel well sound isolation, or some other factors? I have heard that at some point a guey pad was added to the mX and MS tires? Does the M3 have this sound absorbing pad also? Has this been already discussed in this thread?

All new Tesla's (S, X and 3) include tires with the acoustic foam on the insides. Goodyear, Continental and Michelin all have their flavors of this tech. It is primarily designed to attenuate some of the higher frequencies (similar to the "ping" tone a basketball makes when it hits the floor).