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Sound Deadening Model 3
- Thread starter fly2damoon
- Start date
groovidad
Living the Dream!
groovidad
Living the Dream!
One of the “quietest “ vehicles I’ve owned is a Lexus. That is not just my observation but, my wife and friends that have experienced it. It would be interesting to investigate “how” they manage this and attempt to replicate it. Understood, different cars but, no “engine noise” to contend with.
How ICE cars make a cabin quiet is no secret.
Insulation - But this does add cost and weight. A lot of people are DIY adding it or paying someone to add it.
Acoustic Glass - Also adds cost and weight. Probably not that much cost or weight though.
Active Noise Cancelation - Very low cost and a bit surprising no Tesla has it, since it's a "High Tech" way improving cabin noise.
Lot's of folks say it's because there is no noisy ICE in an EV, so you hear more road noise. That is BS.
At 70 MPH I hear nothing but road noise in my ICE or EV. It's just that the EV is worse.
My ICE is so quiet, occasionally I have to look at the Tachometer to verify it's running.
Only time an EV is really quieter over an ICE is when you accelerate.
At Idle or Low speeds EV and ICE are both very good.
At Highway Speeds EV (Tesla) is lacking for sure.
Check out my signature. I've done half a dozen, cheap simple things that has helped.
It’s still not as quiet as my Jeep Summit which is exceptionally quiet, big reason why I bought it. But the Model 3 is now much more tolerable. Still have a couple things I might do.
pdx_m3s
Active Member
Family member of mine has a 2014 S 85. Much louder than my 2019 SR+ in terms of road noise.
I think that another factor at play is the all glass roof for the Model 3. A regular roof would have fabric and insulation to dampen and absorb sound, while the glass roof will clearly bounce the cabin noise around, and the Model 3 have A LOT of glass, and at different angles too.
Though I would choose glass roof over regular roof anytime. I love it too much
Though I would choose glass roof over regular roof anytime. I love it too much
I think that another factor at play is the all glass roof for the Model 3. A regular roof would have fabric and insulation to dampen and absorb sound, while the glass roof will clearly bounce the cabin noise around, and the Model 3 have A LOT of glass, and at different angles too.
Though I would choose glass roof over regular roof anytime. I love it too much
Correct, which is why I installed both sun shades. Some folks went further and put thinsulate above the sunshade.
Between stress cracks (which I’ve had), noise, heat, glare, vulnerability to chipping from stones the glamor of the all glass roof has long subsided.
Well I had a different thread that I made for the rear of the Tesla sound insulating. I got quite a big change on the noisiest roads. Here are the numbers from that thread.
Noise reduction rear areas
Smooth fresh asphalt: Before 66-67.5 After 64.5-66 -- I would say about 1.25 to 1.5 dBa difference on average
Regular asphalt: Before 70.5-72.5 After 68 - 70.5 -- I would say about 2 dBa difference on average
Cement Interstate: Before 72-74 After 69.5 to 71 -- I would say about 2.5 dBa
Rough asphalt: Before 80 to 82 After 75 to 77 -- I would say about 5 dBa
Super bad overcoat: Before 85-86 After 78-79 -- roughly 7 dBa
As you can see from that thread I did not do anything to the front of the car. Well yesterday, I decided to finally try some work on the front areas. Road noise was definitely coming in from the front of the car, so I jacked up the car and took off the wheel liner:
As you can see from the above pics, essentially it is just the plastic between the wheel and the interior to block sound. Probably does some, but not much. I was intrigued by the posts about the thinsulate, but, I did not have any lying around. So, I decided to try some dynamat. I had two sheets left over from the trunk work.
There does appear to be some sound mitigation applied in tiny amounts at the factory. But, essentially the other issue is that there are direct unblocked holes right into the frunk area. I had the frunk open and could see the overhead lights through various openings. Since, I already had the wheel off, I decided I may as well see what I could do with what I had.
Essentially I used one sheet (18"x32") on each wheel well. I applied it mostly to the passenger compartment side. I could get to the top side of the metal on the outside. Total project time was 4 hours. About 45 minutes to remove each tire and liner, those plastic fasteners do not hold up well in this area. They were really hard to take out and I had to replace a few. They fill up with dirt/dust and the sort of cement themselves together. After each 45 minute tire liner removal session, I would wash the inside metal, it was not really that dirty, the liner blocks it well. Then took a 20-30 minute break to be sure it was really dry. Then it took about 30 minutes to papier-mache the dynamat in small pieces. I did not want to cover up any connectors or holes.
Needless to say I was not very hopeful that much would be done given that there are so many direct entries into the frunk. But, it did help some.
The numbers from the other thread/and above
Smooth fresh asphalt: Before 66-67.5 After 64.5-66, wheel well was about the same
Regular asphalt: Before 70.5-72.5 After 68 - 70.5 wheel well was about the same
Cement Interstate: Before 72-74 After 69.5 to 71, wheel well dropped maybe .5, but really cut the concrete "whine" down
Rough asphalt: Before 80 to 82 After 75 to 77, wheel well dropped it to 74-75 about 2 db
Super bad overcoat: Before 85-86 After 78-79, wheel well dropped it to 75-76 about 2.5 db
So, both treatments together dropped the insanely loud super bad overcoat (pics and discussion in other thread) down 10db
It noise is about tolerable on the really bad pavement, and on most regular roads it is fine. It is not luxury car quite by any means.
Where do I think the next best area to attack is? Well I am torn between the thinsulate in the wheel wells and doing the front floorboards. It would be nice to get some feed back on the wheel well thinsulate experiences. It sounds like most of the noise is now coming through the floor now. But, it is road noise which means it is coming from the tires one way or another. Treating the front has moved the noise back in the car. After treating the rear, all the noise was coming from the front. Now it seems to be in the passenger area.
I suppose I should insulate the front tub since that is directly exposed to the wheels too.
Noise reduction rear areas
Smooth fresh asphalt: Before 66-67.5 After 64.5-66 -- I would say about 1.25 to 1.5 dBa difference on average
Regular asphalt: Before 70.5-72.5 After 68 - 70.5 -- I would say about 2 dBa difference on average
Cement Interstate: Before 72-74 After 69.5 to 71 -- I would say about 2.5 dBa
Rough asphalt: Before 80 to 82 After 75 to 77 -- I would say about 5 dBa
Super bad overcoat: Before 85-86 After 78-79 -- roughly 7 dBa
As you can see from that thread I did not do anything to the front of the car. Well yesterday, I decided to finally try some work on the front areas. Road noise was definitely coming in from the front of the car, so I jacked up the car and took off the wheel liner:
As you can see from the above pics, essentially it is just the plastic between the wheel and the interior to block sound. Probably does some, but not much. I was intrigued by the posts about the thinsulate, but, I did not have any lying around. So, I decided to try some dynamat. I had two sheets left over from the trunk work.
There does appear to be some sound mitigation applied in tiny amounts at the factory. But, essentially the other issue is that there are direct unblocked holes right into the frunk area. I had the frunk open and could see the overhead lights through various openings. Since, I already had the wheel off, I decided I may as well see what I could do with what I had.
Essentially I used one sheet (18"x32") on each wheel well. I applied it mostly to the passenger compartment side. I could get to the top side of the metal on the outside. Total project time was 4 hours. About 45 minutes to remove each tire and liner, those plastic fasteners do not hold up well in this area. They were really hard to take out and I had to replace a few. They fill up with dirt/dust and the sort of cement themselves together. After each 45 minute tire liner removal session, I would wash the inside metal, it was not really that dirty, the liner blocks it well. Then took a 20-30 minute break to be sure it was really dry. Then it took about 30 minutes to papier-mache the dynamat in small pieces. I did not want to cover up any connectors or holes.
Needless to say I was not very hopeful that much would be done given that there are so many direct entries into the frunk. But, it did help some.
The numbers from the other thread/and above
Smooth fresh asphalt: Before 66-67.5 After 64.5-66, wheel well was about the same
Regular asphalt: Before 70.5-72.5 After 68 - 70.5 wheel well was about the same
Cement Interstate: Before 72-74 After 69.5 to 71, wheel well dropped maybe .5, but really cut the concrete "whine" down
Rough asphalt: Before 80 to 82 After 75 to 77, wheel well dropped it to 74-75 about 2 db
Super bad overcoat: Before 85-86 After 78-79, wheel well dropped it to 75-76 about 2.5 db
So, both treatments together dropped the insanely loud super bad overcoat (pics and discussion in other thread) down 10db
It noise is about tolerable on the really bad pavement, and on most regular roads it is fine. It is not luxury car quite by any means.
Where do I think the next best area to attack is? Well I am torn between the thinsulate in the wheel wells and doing the front floorboards. It would be nice to get some feed back on the wheel well thinsulate experiences. It sounds like most of the noise is now coming through the floor now. But, it is road noise which means it is coming from the tires one way or another. Treating the front has moved the noise back in the car. After treating the rear, all the noise was coming from the front. Now it seems to be in the passenger area.
I suppose I should insulate the front tub since that is directly exposed to the wheels too.
I think that another factor at play is the all glass roof for the Model 3. A regular roof would have fabric and insulation to dampen and absorb sound, while the glass roof will clearly bounce the cabin noise around, and the Model 3 have A LOT of glass, and at different angles too.
Though I would choose glass roof over regular roof anytime. I love it too much
The key is to block the noise before it enters the glass cabin. If the noise is blocked it would not be there to bounce around... I think you are right that noise is very noticeable in the model 3 since once it enters the cabin it bounces around like and echo chamber.
Fernand
Active Member
Fat carpet type floor-mats atop the OEM ones seemed
to help.
How about damping and sealing the doors with those
pre-cut weather-stripping kits? That seems like an easy,
cheap -- and probably effective -- start. Anyone try that?
to help.
How about damping and sealing the doors with those
pre-cut weather-stripping kits? That seems like an easy,
cheap -- and probably effective -- start. Anyone try that?
Doing the sound insulation in the rear is probably the best bang for your buck: Noise reduction rear areas
It took me 4 hours, I would use a generic dynamat if you want to save some $$. It involves a bunch of pop plastic fasteners and a few screws/nuts. Watch a youtube video on how to take it all apart in advance. Take pics along the way to remember how it all goes back together. I am not an artist, I just held the sheet up to the area I wanted to cover, estimated where to cut and cut and stuck it on. I used a lot of small strips.
Sound reduction is somewhat tricky. You need to know what
frequency to want to block. First is having quiet tires, makes a
big difference. I did play very loud music in my younger years,
200w-300w PA. I used a high density vinyl in all the walls of the basement.
It is very heavy and did a great job. Google acoustic sound dampening foam
and you can find very cool solutions from fabric to tiles. Placing it in the right
place is the art.
I did not find the model 3 that bad, wind noise at 100Mph was a little loud,
the tires sounded like snow tires that I had once.
I hope this helps.
frequency to want to block. First is having quiet tires, makes a
big difference. I did play very loud music in my younger years,
200w-300w PA. I used a high density vinyl in all the walls of the basement.
It is very heavy and did a great job. Google acoustic sound dampening foam
and you can find very cool solutions from fabric to tiles. Placing it in the right
place is the art.
I did not find the model 3 that bad, wind noise at 100Mph was a little loud,
the tires sounded like snow tires that I had once.
I hope this helps.
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