Soundproofing The P85+

[Chgd Up]

There are still opportunities to go after the sources of the noise and diminish what is coming into the car. I spent quite a bit of time crawling around the back to find the actual noise sources.

Eliminating the source is really the only way to reduce the road noise levels in an already quite car. Just covering the floor with Dynamat isn't going to do very much as panel transmission isn't the primary source and you can see Tesla has already done some of that in the pictures posted. You have to find the holes where the sound is leaking into the cabin. The area's I found on my car were the drafters and to some extent the seat belt openings. With some very localized sound deadening in these areas it was possible to significantly reduce the road noise transmitted into the car with minimal weight addition.

You do have to be careful not do obstruct the airflow out of the cabin or risk making closing the doors even more difficult. Having driven a P85+ loaner with a pano roof I found the road holding to be great and roof beautiful but the roof was the largest source of noise in the cabin by far.

I'll be switching to the Michelin 19's before a long road trip on our concrete roads in a couple of weeks.

 

[DIL]

For you P85+ owners out there. Is the noise a daily nuisance? Does it wear you down when driving the car? I stopped driving my Nissan 370Z because it was just tiring me out.

 

[Shumdit]

For you P85+ owners out there. Is the noise a daily nuisance? Does it wear you down when driving the car? I stopped driving my Nissan 370Z because it was just tiring me out.

No, not at all to me. Then again, I love slacker so much I likely wouldn't hear it if you dropped a running v8 in the frunk!

 

[Twoeagle]

Continental Tires -ContiSilentâ„¢

These would be nice

 

[bradhs]

Does anyone have any details on what to Dynamat? I'd like to reduce the noise in our P85+ a bit if possible. I no the glass roof doesn't help much but it seems that most of the noise is coming from the tires/wheel wells.

 

[100thMonkey]

switching to 19" primacy's made the issue a non-issue for me. I'm thinking I'm going to skip sound proofing for now. We are having a blast with our P85+ with 19"s, it's most of the handling improvements but with better wet/cold traction and less noise... and the tires will likely last a lot longer! lots of fun, less worry, more happy all the way around.

 

[Mayhemm]

switching to 19" primacy's made the issue a non-issue for me. I'm thinking I'm going to skip sound proofing for now. We are having a blast with our P85+ with 19"s, it's most of the handling improvements but with better wet/cold traction and less noise... and the tires will likely last a lot longer! lots of fun, less worry, more happy all the way around.

So you just bought a set of the 19" OEM wheels/tires then?

 

[lloyds]

Dynamat really works. I've had it on my M3 before and the interior became a lot quieter. I don't think I will need it for the MS though.

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

I did a hack version of soundproofing that has helped a bit. I bought new floor mats for the car and I kept the old floor mats and put the new floor mats on top of the old ones and that actually helped quiet the cabin a bit. Probably not nearly as much as getting the Dynamat treatment. But I had the extra floormats and thought I'd give it a try, it seemed to improve things a bit for me.

 

[svp6]

Just to put things in perspective. After reading so much about how loud the P85+ is (which I want for the handling ability and I ended up ordering) vs. high-end ICE cars I decided to do my own testing. I have a 2012 650i BMW that I took for a ride same day and location as the P85+ in the local Tesla service center. I used the iPhone free app decibel 10th. I do not know how accurate the measurements are, but here is what I found:
BMW650 at 70 mph: ~75 - 85 dB
Tesla model S at 70 mph: ~ 75-85 dB

These values are higher than the ones reported elsewhere in this forum (don't remember the link, but there was an entire table with various brands / speeds), hence my question about the accuracy of my iPhone app. That being said, the numbers are really identical.

My impression are:
1. Even a high end car cannot completely obliterate the road noise, and the Tesla seemed loud because there is nothing else but the wheel / wind and climate fan noise. I did test drive a lot of other cars before deciding for the Tesla, the only one I thought was more quiet was the new Mercedes S-class. Audi A6 / A7, my BMW 6, Jaguar XJ were all similar. I did not try exotics like Bentley Rolls Royce, I imagine they will be better, but of course a different ballgame.
2. I did not record at low speeds, but Tesla was clearly more quiet

 

[MattMDK]

For you P85+ owners out there. Is the noise a daily nuisance? Does it wear you down when driving the car? I stopped driving my Nissan 370Z because it was just tiring me out.

I absolutely love my car and have no issues with road noise. The only noise that bothers me comes from a fan that cools the battery. Tesla wrapped it in a sound blanket which helped but is still quite noticeable. Even with that, the car is still a true pleasure to drive. It's much quieter than my last car, an AMG Mercedes.

 

[artsci]

The threads below might be helpful. If done right sound deadening can make a big difference. But it's not just a matter of throwing some Dynamat around. It has to be a very thorough job. To do it right the most of the interior has to be removed.

Interior take apart for sound deadening

Report of results (post #35)

 

[Genebe]

I just bought a pair of Bose noise-cancelling earplugs (which work amazingly well) and it makes me wonder why some electronic noise cancellation couldn't be integrated into the cars from the factory. I'm not sure what would be involved, but it seems like it would be fairly simple to build into the car. And if it costs $3K to soundproof a car with Dynamat or similar products, having a Bose-built system for a thousand bucks or so would be a bargain! (the headphone cost $300 ~ how much more would it cost to come up with something for the cabin? )

 

[aschmid2]

Excellent idea +1

Audi uses what I have heard Bose sound canceling technology in their a8 model.

 

[artsci]

In-ear monitors (Ultimate Ears, Alien Ears, etc) are far better at eliminating extraneous noise than anything Bose makes but they are so effective it may be a safety issue, as one will hear nothing but the music. I use them on airplanes and they are so good that the engine noise is almost completely eliminated. They are custom fit to your ear canal which also makes them quite expensive. Noise cancellation is not necessary as they fit so well no extraneous noise gets through the ear canal.

 

[Rory]

I just bought a pair of Bose noise-cancelling earplugs (which work amazingly well) and it makes me wonder why some electronic noise cancellation couldn't be integrated into the cars from the factory. I'm not sure what would be involved, but it seems like it would be fairly simple to build into the car. And if it costs $3K to soundproof a car with Dynamat or similar products, having a Bose-built system for a thousand bucks or so would be a bargain! (the headphone cost $300 ~ how much more would it cost to come up with something for the cabin? )

I had the good fortune to visit Lotus engineering 20 odd years ago. They took me round their test track and demonstrated the noise cancelling system they were developing. At the time it was strictly limited to low frequency noise. It is hard to see how higher frequencies could be technically cancelled using the sound system except perhaps for one ear only. Headphones are an altogether different case.

In my view large diameter wheels are a fashion accessory that has no performance advantage and indeed I have experienced improved traction from reducing the wheel diameter on some cars. I would fit the smallest available wheels, will the model S take less than 19"? The ride quality is likely to be hugely improved and road noise reduced. Ever wondered why you don,t see low profile tyres on Indy Car, Nascar or Formula 1.

 

[jerry33]

In my view large diameter wheels are a fashion accessory that has no performance advantage and indeed I have experienced improved traction from reducing the wheel diameter on some cars. I would fit the smallest available wheels, will the model S take less than 19"? The ride quality is likely to be hugely improved and road noise reduced. Ever wondered why you don,t see low profile tyres on Indy Car, Nascar or Formula 1.

100% in agreement. The main purpose of a large nominal rim diameter tire is profits for the tire company and tire dealers. Unfortunately, the Model S won't allow a smaller than 19" diameter wheel*, otherwise I'd put them on faster than you can read this sentence.

* It may [emphasis on may] be possible to have a custom set of wheels with the well situated so that it doesn't interfere with the brakes. This would be a very expensive proposition, and even then the smallest would be 18".

 

[Rory]

100% in agreement. The main purpose of a large nominal rim diameter tire is profits for the tire company and tire dealers. Unfortunately, the Model S won't allow a smaller than 19" diameter wheel*, otherwise I'd put them on faster than you can read this sentence.

* It may [emphasis on may] be possible to have a custom set of wheels with the well situated so that it doesn't interfere with the brakes. This would be a very expensive proposition, and even then the smallest would be 18".

Hi Jerry

Would a steel rim of 18" clear the brake? Not sure if 18" is a common tyre size? Because of regen braking the heat dissipation in the brakes is not excessive. On my Leaf I use a stainless disc trim with steel wheels and I believe this gives an aerodynamic advantage. The reduction in range on an electric car as speed increases is very marked in my experience: any aero mods have great range enhancing potential.

 

[CHG-ON]

I know. But I simply couldn't resist. I know I'll regret it. But they are so great looking!

 

[thimo]

* It may [emphasis on may] be possible to have a custom set of wheels with the well situated so that it doesn't interfere with the brakes. This would be a very expensive proposition, and even then the smallest would be 18".

There is about 5mm clearance on the lower bolts of the front hub in my lightweight 19" rims (ATS), that's closer than the calipers are to the wheel. Some 19" wheels don't even fit because of those bolts.

To fit 18" you'd have to win 10mm (for 3mm clearance) with steel wheels at that point, doubt it's possible.