Quote:
Originally Posted by Alchemy
Wow, I cant believe people go thru all this time and money over a little cabin noise. Personally, it doesnt bother me what-so-ever. You guys are crazy  |
In my case, I bought the FatMat as well. I figured for ~ $40 I could cover the rear hatch area and well wells and down to the rear of the seats. I barely had enough to complete my job.
Additionally, I bought a $8 can of undercoating took off the rear wheels and sprayed the inside of the wheel wells.
It just so happened that I live on a street that is coming apart and the tiny pebbles were driving me crazy coming to and from my house.
My problems with road noise was only the tiney sound that the pebbles made hitting the undercarridge and wheel wells. If I'm on a road that allows me to go faster than 30mph the rocks seem to fly out under the fenders before they can even make a revolution and therefore no contact with inner fender wells. That's a good thing.
I'm glad to say that three hours later and $50 I'm pleased with the results. The sound hasn't completely gone away but, it sounds much more pleasant now. A dull thud vs. a high pitched and vibrated ping. I know it sounds like we're making too much of this but, it's not something I'd expect in a expensive street car. Something I expect out of a cheap econobox or in a race car or track car you expect it. I know why Nissan did it but I don't need the 20lbs it saves me on this item. You can still hear tire roar and tell the difference between road surfaces but, that has improved somewhat as well.
I took couple good long trips on the freeway and back mountain roads this week. Those roads had a lot of pot holes and gravel to test the work with. What I noticed is that I enjoyed the sound of the motor and stereo a lot more and it did seem to be more quiet. I could spend another $50-75 and 3-6 hrs installing more material in the doors and firewall etc... But, at this point I do not really see the need. I think I made a marked improvement over what the factory has done and at this point I do not think I need to do any more. Time will tell.
It only takes about 5-10 minutes to get all the rear panels and spare tire out of there so don't be afraid to tackle this one if you have modest skills. I can't seem to find the finished product pictures. But, here are the ones I took with all the panels out:
