Dynamat - Professional Installation?

[chylld]

i put 3 bulk packs of dynamat xtreme into a 2006 honda civic. stripped the car to the shell from the steering wheel back (i.e. took out all the seats, centre console, carpet, all boot linings etc) and did 2 layers everywhere, except for the front doors where i did 3 layers (both outer skin and inner skin). i also imported some ensolite (special closed cell foam developed by nasa) and laid that everywhere on top of the dynamat. took 2 whole weekends to do it.

end result was jack****all. yes the noise was a tiny bit more muffled, and the car didn't resonate when i hit bumps, but the vast majority of the road noise was still there.

then i got quieter tyres ..... MASSIVE DIFFERENCE!! all that dynamat was wasted.

if you are going to use dynamat, know that you don't have to cover the entire surface for it to be effective - just put a few squares in the middle of the big panels that you think will resonate. it works by adding mass to resonating surfaces, not by covering them.

my advice to you is to not do dynamat at all, but just save up for a quieter car (audi, bmw, merc etc) in the future

[Ideo]

My I suggest sir purchases a Lexus?

[pologti18t]

I think you need Dynapad.

[gonsped]

Cylld - what brand/model tyres did you get?

I got a rough quote from Gold Coast Car Sound ~$700 for just 1 bulk pack installed. Due to the design of the Golf MKVI doors, they mentioned something about how the electrics/mechanics are designed, it is difficult to do the doors and can only place it as far as their hands can get in from the speaker holes. If I recall correctly, it was boot something and doors and thats it.

On another note, I saw a Jay Leno video where he (or the Dynamat rep in the video) says something about people with BMW and Mercedes get their car dynamatted for even more noise suppression. Most probably a product push I guess.

Ideo,

Pl don't bother commenting with a reply like that. If I wanted total silence and have the $$$, I'd be in a Rolls/Bentley

[RyanoAU]

Would be interested to hear what model of tyre you have.

I've currently got Continental ContiSport 2's on mine, and there's a fair bit of road noise at speed. Have been eyeing off other tyres for a while!

[chylld]

Cylld - what brand/model tyres did you get?

I got a rough quote from Gold Coast Car Sound ~$700 for just 1 bulk pack installed.

For the civic, this was about 4 years ago, hard to remember now. Think it was Michelin though. On my BMW the road noise with the standard bridgestones was a problem, but replacing them with new Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's made a world of difference noise wise.

On my R i have dunlop sport maxx gt or something, probably the noisiest tyres I've had.

What will help more than dynamat actually is underbody deadening incl wheel wells. This MUST be professionally done as you're spraying a black rubbery compound onto the whole underside of the vehicle, but it works quite well to counteract road noise. More effective than dynamat but still nowhere near as effective as new quiet tyres.

As for your quote, $700 is an absolute rip-off. I paid $600 for 3 xtreme bulk packs so you work out the markup...

[Skitz]

Cylld - what brand/model tyres did you get?

I got a rough quote from Gold Coast Car Sound ~$700 for just 1 bulk pack installed. Due to the design of the Golf MKVI doors, they mentioned something about how the electrics/mechanics are designed, it is difficult to do the doors and can only place it as far as their hands can get in from the speaker holes. If I recall correctly, it was boot something and doors and thats it.

Pl don't bother commenting with a reply like that. If I wanted total silence and have the $$$, I'd be in a Rolls/Bentley

Hi Gonsped,

You spoke to me at GCCS yesterday, so I thought I would clarify for the benefit of everyone here.

Firstly, when people say 'dynamat' they are usually refering to the dynamat extreme which is used extensively in the car audio industry for minimizing resonance in doors, boots, roof etc. Dynamat make a variety of products that will aid in the reduction of road noise when used correctly. The dynamat extreme product is not ideal for sound isolation or road noise reduction, it is not designed for this purpose.

To reduce road noise using dynamat products you would need four different products for the entire vehicle. Dynamat extreme, dynaliner, dynapad and hoodliner. First you would treat the doors, floor and boot with the extreme product to reduce any vibrations coming through the chasis. As I mentioned to Gonsped, mk6 doors are relatively sealed, in that the electronics are in their own section of the door which prevents you applying dynamat extreme extensively through the door as we normally would. The only way around this is to remove the speaker and apply your sound deadening from the inside (very annoying). I'll dig up some pictures of my doors if people want to see the inside of a golf door. Next stage would be to use the dynapad on the floor, unlike the extreme product the dynapad is not adhesive, it is designed to sit in between the extreme and factory sound deadening. The objective of the dynapad is to absorb as much sound an possible before it hits the factory sound deadening.

Next I would apply dynaliner, which is an adhesive sound absorber, on top of the extreme in the doors and boot. This is what actually blocks a lot of noise from intruding into the cabin. Finally the hoodliner is a sound absorber used for engine bays, I would apply some directly to the underside of the hood right above the engine. The hoodliner is specifically designed for high heat and is oil/water resistant. Do not use any other dynamat product near your engine.

So that's the process using dynamat products, we have done this to a few cars in the past and results have been quite good. As you can imagine it is a huge undertaking and usually will take a shop at least a day to complete.

In all honesty for a brand new car I would investigate other means of sound isolation before you go to this extent. I completely agree with the tyre suggestion put forward by other members here. I had the standard Bridgestone RE055's on my GTI which I quickly changed to Continental DW series sports tyres for better performance, comfort and road noise.

-Paul @ GCCS

---------- Post added at 02:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:30 PM ----------

As for your quote, $700 is an absolute rip-off. I paid $600 for 3 xtreme bulk packs so you work out the markup...

To clarify, RRP on the dynamat bulk pack is $349 and I estimated $350 in labour which I think you'll agree for the size of the job is justified. To strip are vehicle interior to bare metal, clean it and apply the sound deadening is a very long process. The quote was a over phone estimate which I specified would most likely changed once we decided which product was going to be used.

-Paul @ GCCS

[chylld]

To clarify, RRP on the dynamat bulk pack is $349 and I estimated $350 in labour which I think you'll agree for the size of the job is justified. To strip are vehicle interior to bare metal, clean it and apply the sound deadening is a very long process. The quote was a over phone estimate which I specified would most likely changed once we decided which product was going to be used.

Just trying to give gonsped some perspective. Also I'm pretty sure he'd compare to the price he can actually get it for ($235 locally, $150 imported) rather than an inflated RRP.

I understand how tedious the process is, and if someone is willing to pay $500 for labour to install $200 worth of product then yes $700 is a fair quote.

If he really wants to go the dynamat route, I think it's best to play on its strengths and upgrade the sound system as well (which is where dynamat really proves its worth imo.) I'm sure there's a possibility of a big installation discount if he does both together right?

[Skitz]

Just trying to give gonsped some perspective. Also I'm pretty sure he'd compare to the price he can actually get it for ($235 locally, $150 imported) rather than an inflated RRP.

I understand how tedious the process is, and if someone is willing to pay $500 for labour to install $200 worth of product then yes $700 is a fair quote.

If he really wants to go the dynamat route, I think it's best to play on its strengths and upgrade the sound system as well (which is where dynamat really proves its worth imo.) I'm sure there's a possibility of a big installation discount if he does both together right?

I understand your point, but its completely unfair comparing online prices to retail stores. Those of us with retail stores still standing need to sell at or close to RRP to make any money from the process. It's not worth me selling it at sub $250 prices.

I vote he upgrades the audio system to drown out the road noise