Cabin noise

leeyeegue

I just put on Bridgestone RE760 tires... A lot better in terms of noise

370ZilverZ

Okay, I completed the Dynamat Extreme install and put the car back together.
The test drive indicates that this is worth the time, money and effort to install. The road debris was barely noticeable and what I did hear was muffled, so you didn't get the annoying tink tink like you are dragging several tin cans with rocks in them behind you.
You can still hear your exhaust with no noticeable change there.
Since weight was brought up several times in this thread as an issue. I only used 26 sq.ft. of material to cover the entire hatch. That is only 11.7 lbs. of added weight.
Pics will be posted in my journal.

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BMW Z4

brucelidat

Did you do the doors also or just the hatch? Does it seem like it would be easier to hear the radio and carry on a conversation now?

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370ZilverZ

So far I see no reason to do the doors. It is much quieter as far as road noise goes. I have an aftermarket exhaust, so that is still a factor for me, but if you have a stock exhaust system, I think you would hear the stereo and have a conversation very clearly with the Dynamat installed.

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370ZilverZ Journal

BMW Z4

RiCharlie

I can tell you from experience the doors are the most important part..There is NO sound dampening in them at all..

RiCharlie

Ok everyone I just got the Continental Extreme Contact DWS .. here are my impressions..I drove the car on dry pavement on both highways and secondary roads....I dont notice a great deal of noise reduction..but keep in mind the car has sound dampening in both the hatch and the doors. I noticed a lot of noise on wet pavement with the old tires so that test remains to be done.
I do notice the ride is a bit softer and the control is a bit looser than the original stocks. So my first impression is that if you want to make the car a bit more comfortable these tires would be good for you. I do think that if you are into extreme, hard driving on dry pavement and want the most in control, you should stay away from these tires.
I have a feeling these are going to be better on wet pavement than the old ones and certainly better in snow. ( i never drive in snow ..to many rocks and sand and salt)
I am posting this under this thread because of the cabin noise issue but I will post it under tires as well.
Reactions?

370ZilverZ

Did you Dynamat your doors and get a significant change from what you get from doing just the hatch area?

How did the Conti's work out?

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370ZilverZ Journal

BMW Z4

lpsscc

The one thing I noticed with my Altima SE-R was the Bridgestone Potenzas it came with did two things. First they were noisy as hell, i mean all four tires you could hear. If you think the Z is noisy it's more like a library next to the SE-R. Second the tires would not track on roads with slightly worn down ruts in them. Almost like riding a skateboard on a half-pipe. Up one side, down again and up the other side and back again over and over. Took a stiff grip on the steering wheel to maintain a straight line. In other words those tires were crap...

I replaced those with some Conti Extremes and the tire noise went down about half and the tracking was pretty much fixed.

So now I added a Z to my stable and the previous owner put some Yokahama S-Drive tires on the rear. The front has the bridgestones. I hear a lot of front tire roar and suprizingly the rears are quiet (no roar). I got a bunch of dynamat coming and will still do the back and doors like you all have done and maybe put some on the front or something as well if possible. I am certain changing the front tires to S-Drives will be a quicker fix though...

RiCharlie

Yes in fact I was very dissatisfied with doing just the hatch.. It made some difference but the combo of the hatch and the door made it much much better..

As far as the Contis go..i just had an hour or so with them..I dont see much difference in noise and if I had gotten rid of the originals while still new for the Contis I would have been seriously pissed..but they were worn and needed replacement..

I notice a bit softer ride and somewhat looser feel on the road..at least that is my first impression.. I'll keep you posted as to the performance...it was dark and I dont like doing any performance driving at night...I think I will have a better idea tomorrow..

370ZilverZ

I have 10 sq.ft. of Dynamat left over and will be enough to cover the doors and see how much more it helps. Although I am satisfied with the results of the hatch alone. Do sense in wasting the Dynamat though.

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370ZilverZ Journal

BMW Z4

RiCharlie

Let us know and its good you can do this yourself..i could not and it cost $1200..and they broke a wire that caused the radio to lose signal and I had to bring it to the dealer to fix. Took two days because they could not find the problem at first... Lucky for me they didnt charge me but they could have..what are you paying?

370ZilverZ

That is the reason I do as much as I can, no matter how long it takes me. I don't like paying someone that doesn't care to do the job like I would. I see how this job would be expensive to do, but I have seen where the labor was charged, but not performed too many times. I have more time than money to do my mods, so that is my incentive too.

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370ZilverZ Journal

BMW Z4

kidkotic2001

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Bonzo

The thing is, you aren't really talking apple to apples. You are in the "hate the road noise in general camp." Unlike you, many of us here expect and even like the road noise associated with the tires, the pavement and the exhaust. To us that's what a sports car is all about. But what many of us do dislike is the obnoxious pebble/debris noise from the rear wheel wells. Spending time & effort doing the doors will most likely do very little, if nothing at all, to help with this issue. So for us doing the doors is most likely more a waste of time and energy than anything. But I think daemon1957 will be able to answer that better than you because he's more in the pebble noise camp. We'll see.

I for one am sticking with my current plan, for now. I bought a FatMat (Dynamat by a different name) trunk kit for $60 and am going to try to put that in this weekend. I'm going to concentrate on the wheel well arches first, then move out from there. If that doesn't get the job done, then I'm going to buy some FatMat (or the like) liquid noise paint, and paint the wheel well arches on the outside of the car. This will act like a coat of rubber to deaden the actual sound impact of the debris. If Nissan had just added a plastic liner to the wheel wells we wouldn't be having this issue. But there isn't any sense worrying about that, so we make do.

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My original Bridgestone's droned horribly on the freeway. After 30 minutes it was more noticeable. With the Michelins droning stopped, so longer drives still get pebbles, but the drone, that got to me and the little lady, is gone.

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