sound proofing/deadening

[scubasteve]

Hey guys!
Ive had this idea in my head for a little while about putting in some sound deadener in the forester. The two most popular reasons for this seem to be to enhance audio systems or to decrease road and exhaust/engine noise. Good sound deadening looks like it will do both.
Ive been interested in the cheap DIY's seen online with "peel and seal" or similar types of products that people stick to the inner door panels, along the back trunk (of wagons) and along wheel wells....etc. It looks like from reading that this only stops those surfaces from vibrating so much which helps speakers to put noise into the car and, to a lesser extent, helps outside vibrations (from traffic and wind) from transmitting noise into the car. A second layer of foam (they call it 'closed cell foam') looks like it helps more for the traffic and wind and road noise. and then the hardcore audiophiles add a layer of super heavy vinyl stuff to block out more...

Im mostly interested in the first two layers and was wondering if anyone in this area has any experiencing with either home-depot/lowes products or the RAAmaat/dynamat type products.
Was it worth it?
I was just curious and checked out home depot and lowes and both did not carry "peel and seal"

heres an interesting thread if interested http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulle...iet-car-28591/

thanks again!
-Scuba

[sperry]

If you ever ever ever think theres the tiniest chance you'll ever want to remove it, don't put it in. Apparently it's easier to cut out the floorpan and weld in a new one than to remove dynamat.

That said, the stupid doors in my miata were dynamatted by the previous owner. Not sure why, maybe just to cut down on vibration from the tiny speakers in the door. I can't say it seems to make much difference, but I also don't have a "before" reference. Either way, the miata is terribly noisy. But it's a miata with an aftermarket exhaust.

[scubasteve]

haha Id think a miata with a soft top would be noisy either way! but good advice, thats part of why I ask.
I figured it'd be hard to remove, people describe the cheap stuff as asphalt-like. I wanted to see if there was any big difference in the the DIY and the professional stuff,

thanks for the insight

[cody]

I have Dynamat Extreme in my doors. I put it in like 9 years ago. I'm not sure how much of a difference it made. In retrospect, I wish I didn't add the extra weight.

[scubasteve]

Thats another part of it, Ive read posts where people have put in 50lbs just from the dynamat. Im sure the foam adds up too...

[100_Percent_Juice]

This website has what you're looking for. http://store.secondskinaudio.com/
Dynamat, fatmat, etc. doesn't really kill any sound but may stop a few rattles. My experience has been that small squares about the size of your hand are plenty to deaden vibration in a door.

I have wanted to pull my entire dash and carpet out and really cut the sounds with their luxury liner, but its a lot of work and its a decent amount of money for something that could work awesome or just slightly.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by sperry

If you ever ever ever think theres the tiniest chance you'll ever want to remove it, don't put it in. Apparently it's easier to cut out the floorpan and weld in a new one than to remove dynamat.

^^ What he said. If you ever want to get it back out it takes a ridiculous amount of effort, dry ice, heat, more cussing than you'd imagine possible, and you'll still never get it completely out.

[Brandong]

I have been wondering about this myself. Kinda a best of both worlds approach. I am doing Perrin engine and transmission mounts this weekend and have adjustable coilovers and just with the coilovers on stiff my car rattles like an angry rattler! Plus my year has a lot more road noise than my buddies 2011 and my 04 was the same....any other suggestions on how to maintain the stiffness without her making so much noise? Other than Viagra and a pillow?!

[100_Percent_Juice]

I rememeber when I did the cusco engine and trans mount and it made the car substantially more noisy.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by Brandong

I have been wondering about this myself. Kinda a best of both worlds approach. I am doing Perrin engine and transmission mounts this weekend and have adjustable coilovers and just with the coilovers on stiff my car rattles like an angry rattler! Plus my year has a lot more road noise than my buddies 2011 and my 04 was the same....any other suggestions on how to maintain the stiffness without her making so much noise? Other than Viagra and a pillow?!

There is no good answer. There is a reason the car has all that rubber you're replacing - to quiet and damp out noise, vibration & harshness. Take away all the soft, squishy bushings & mounts for performance reasons, and the car is not as pleasant to drive on the street. It's a fundamental trade off, you can't have both. Adding a bunch of dynamat is no magic cure, and also adds weight which then detracts from the performance you were trying to get in the first place.

[cody]

Just be happy with a little bit of stiffening. It becomes a game of diminishing returns the further you go. I took 1st place in my class for years and in 2011 I took PAX, all with a 2L WRX wagon on springs that are basically progressive rate STi pinks and Koni Inserts. The only other suspension mods I have are 22mm swaybars. I have very low NVH and no squeeks or rattles. You guys with crazy stiff coilovers and solid mounts in your DD are nuts.