Given this is an Elgrand VIP, apparently these is more than the usual sound deadening standard from the factory. And yes, it is very quiet.
HOWEVER, things can always be improved, right? So first, I did some research and found this car electronics and audio speciality shop nearby my house - Dupree United Factory and had the owner, Akiba-san install vibration and sound absorber material to the floor and rear sides of the Elgrand.
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| Check out that secondary A/C unit on the right. |
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| Materials used - StP Biplast 10, StP Gold, and BOM |
Akiba-san really likes using materials from StP. StP Biplast for noise absorption and thermal protection, StP Black Gold for vibration damping. Can't recall exactly what BOM is...it all worked in the end, but it means the Elgrand is OOA while he has it.
So I decided to do the remaining bulk of what I think is also needed, myself. I tried to figure out where the extra road noise was coming from, and found that it appeared to be from the engine, the transmission, and then front tires (in addition to general windnoise).
First, I decided to see if adding heat resistant sound deadening (available as a kit from Amon specifically to dampen engine noise) would work.
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| The Elgrand DOES have this heat liner, but I guess it can be improved. And the goal is to apply the sound deadening behind it so it cannot be easily seen. |
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| Perhaps the most difficult part was to remove the clips without breaking them. |
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| The foil material has adhesive on one side. Cut to fit, and bridge the gaps with the provided aluminum tape |
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| Clean install! |
And the result? Yes, a noticeable difference in reduction of engine noise, for sure! But, that made the road noise from the tires stand out. So...
Next I decided to see how much front tire road noise I could eliminate. This meant taking off the front wheel liners and not only adding sound deadening/sound absorbtion materials to them, but also the same to the steel body behind the fender liners.
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Didn't have to jack it up, just turn the wheel to each side max. A few clips and screw and you are done!
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| Before - of course it needed to be washed and cleaned up |
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Here you can see the bodyside where I have added the sound deadning (name) from the Audio Technica Kit. Turns out there is a large HOLE in the firewall - probably for air circulation - that likely resulted in a lot of noise getting through to the cabin.
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| Having added as much sound deadening as possible while still allowing for the fender liners to fit back on properly! |
And the result? Yes, a significant reduction in road noise from the tires, but I STILL feel lik more can be done. The rest of what I have done so far, coming up in Part 2.
