Pretty quiet Easter morning here in Nebraska, so I thought I would get some discussion going while wating for it to hit the predicted high of 64 so all us senior vette freaks can go for a drive. I was wondering.....has anyone done objective scientific tests using db meters etc. to determine the exact effect of the various soundproofing methods? If not, it would be interesting to see someone with the know how and equipment do it. Although it has been 40+ years since my college physics classes, it seem to me that the Frost King method could only add minimal sound insulation by filtering some of the high frequency sound waves. (IMO) My .02 for what its worth. What do you think.

 

I don't have any scientific measure of before and after the Frost King installation.... I can tell you it realy makes a difference. Before I would hear most of the road noise from behind me, the rear wheel wells. Now most of it comes from the sides, the Frost King was not added to the door panels. Trust me the stuff works well. My calibrated ear has never failed me.

 

I did the FK insulation in the rear of my '99 coupe. I am running with Michelin run flats and GHL exhaust. I used a db meter before the FK installation and then measured it again after. I took several readings at various speed from idle to wide open. The results showed a drop of 9 dbs from the before to after. This drop was most noticeable at RPMs between 1500 to 2000.

 

IMO

We all value different "things"..... road noise has never been a concern/issue at all with me......... I certainly wouldn't modify my car because of it (let alone invest the time/effort/$ involved).

again we're all different, if you're into that sort of thing more power to you

 

 

You cant go wrong with the frost king mod. One of the cheapest mods to do.Cuts out some vibration in the stock setup and even more so with aftermarket exhausts. Cant beat it for the money and you can do a section at a time. In my vert trunk & especially behind the seats. Something GM should have done

 

Yes there is noticeable difference after sound proofing and believe it or not the car seems tighter after. This is a project that is worth the little cuts you get from the foil on your hands when doing this You won't regret it

 

Take a look at Mikes info.

http://mikemercury.home.att.net/sound.htm

 

I would really like to take a drive in a car that has been sound proofed before attempting this on mine. To hear the before and after first hand. To see if it makes that much of a difference that it would appeal to me. I did buy a sports car and one thing about a sports car is it's sounds. Exhaust, intake and changing gears it's all apart of the experience. To just remove all that I am not sure I'd like it. I have a Bonneville that's so quiet you can hear a pin drop but that's what you expect in a car such as that. It doesn't have 350 hp and a 6 speed trans. But it would be interesting to hear the difference between sound proofed and non. Good question!!

By the way I love your avatar. He looks like he's your best buddy.

 

If your ever in NJ

 

I wonder if you could do 2 layers of the Frost King material? As long as there are no fit problems, that ought to really make a difference...or so it would seem.

 

While not scientific proof, several weeks after I was done, my wife took the Vette for a cruise ...and when she came back she said, "what did you do to the Vette to make it quieter inside?"

draw your own conclusions...

Peace
Willfulone

 

You might be able to, but it would be a very tight fit. I put down Dynamat and Reflectix throughout the interior cabin, and getting the door sill pieces to fit over the extra layers was a challenge. I had to cut the Reflectix out from around the seat bolts, there was just no way it was gonna compress enough to get the nuts on

I used Frost King and insulation in the wheel wells as per Evil Twins "how to" write up and once it was complete, I noticed a big difference. The Borla's are much more quiet through normal driving ranges and I can use less volume on the stereo (but I usually don't ), I'm very pleased with the outcome

 

Its funny that we put high performance exhaust systems on our car, expect them to be louder and sound more aggressive and then tacle a project to shield ourselves from the noise

 

Well I've done 2 Vettes now. My latest is a 6 phase project that has spanned over 2 months. The experience w/ my 99 coupe sound insulation project has taught me, through trial and error, the most effective way to achieve the results I was after. I've posted pics and summaries in many previous threads so I won't here. Intial ideas were from ET and MM and I just expanded from that.

Results on my 03 Z06 have been more than could ask for. As quiet as my LS400 Lexus, with that same Solid, Substantial feel to it. I have never been in a C5 that sounded anything like this. The exhaust sounds lower pitched, deeper and throatier, if that makes any sense. I also spent a lot of time w/ the hurst shifter area. It's dead quiet now after lots of experimentation, trial and error and using several techniques found on this forum.

Project areas were:

* Front cabin including tunnel.
* Rear deck
* Rear "inside" qtr panels/bulkheads
* Rear "outside" bulkheads(inboard of wheel well liners)
* Wheel wells
* All Nooks, nitches and voids (R13 insulation inserted w/ graphite golf shaft, under body panels)
* Door panels, both inboard and cavity itself
* Rear cavity behind taillights(interior cavity of rear facia) w/ R13
* Extra weather stripping sealing around both doors and rear trunk


Materials used:

(2) Bulk packs of Dynamat Extreme
(11) Packages of Frost King
(2) Rolls of R13 insulation
(6) Packages of weatherstripping
Alcohol, scissors, xacto blade, assorted tools, towels and so forth.

 

I haven't decided what I would use or if I will even do the noise reduction mod. But until then this seems to take care of my road noise

 

Thanks man!!

 

But there are some fitment considerations. See my response in this other thread.

 

This would be very difficult to do scientifically -- too many variables. For example, cold tires make more noise than warm tires (unless they are warm due to being underinflated), driving on rain-grooved surfaces creates more noise than driving on flat concrete...which is noisier than driving on asphalt, etc, etc. Also, a sound level meter only records peak dB readings, whereas the human ear can filter out certain frequencies quite effectively. Consider for example if your "before" drive was on a calm day, and your "after" drive was on a windy day. The dB reading might be skewed by the wind noise, but your ears would tend to disregard it.

 

I used DynaMat for most of my project and Frost King to finish up when I ran out of DynaMat. I can state the affect was dramatic and easily noticed and appreciated. I plan on going back over the Forst King with DynaMat when my 36 sq feet arrive from my eBay buy.

You can buy 36 sq feet of DynaMat on eBay for $125 (shipped). I paid $116 for 12 sq feet from my local Best Buy.

My Z "feels" so much more substainal and "solid" now. I plan on doing the area just behind the seats and the console.

Worth the cost and effort. Here are a few before and after photo's. You can see where the DynaMat ends and the Frost King starts.

Before: Remove the carpet in a Z and this is what you see


After:


This is a great mod, especially for Z owners since GM striped all the sound proofing to save a few pounds. I off set the few pounds I added by adding a few more ponies.

Tom