kenwarch00

Spent the MLK weekend tearing apart the interior of my car to apply Elemental Design's eDead v3. The verdict is: Don't waste your money.

Did a ton of research and thought I was making a smart move, but to no avail I feel like everything is the same.

My biggest problem was the lightweight flywheel whirring noise on the highway and the road noise, especially from the rear by the wheel wells. Removed everything! Cleaned the surface with goo-gone and then acetone. Placed two coats on nearly every inch I could get to. Then padded the trunk and wheel well with quarter inch neoprene. Waited a day to fully dry and on my trip the next day I was in no different a car than the one before the weekend.

If anyone is looking into buying this product I am offering a strong suggestion to look into another product. If I had a chance to do it all over again I would look into buying the sheets of B-Quiet or Raamat.

If anyone has had success with sound deadening or other methods to reduce engine/road noise please share.

blasian

iTrader: (29)

I used eDead in my hatch and doors and noticed a difference

My goal wasn't to get rid of tire noise but the loud exhaust drone I had at the time.

joey77051

iTrader: (16)

well....I used raamet and edead v4 to both my truck and wheel wall and noticed a big difference!!
For my wheel wall, I applied on both inside and outside(where suspension sits) and the result was noticeably!!

Crom

iTrader: (47)

I combined their v3 w/ their acoustic paint as well....works well...

Spike100

Well crap... Sorry to hear that. That much effort and expense with a negative result is certainly disappointing.

I’ve had moderately good results using sound deadening. I did what you describe, but also was careful to seal the joints (just taping was adequate). I did add liquid deadening to the rear wheel wells to quiet road debris hitting the metal here.

The most important thing is defeating any “paths” the sound might use to travel to your car’s interior. Think of this as a water leak in a building roof that displays on a ceiling (sheetrock or ceiling tile). The water runs along a surface, and leaks through well away from the initial leak point. Sound “leaks” happen pretty much the same way.

The main area where you can get sound leaks after doing deadening is the console behind the driver/passenger seat.

--Spike

orgasm_donor

iTrader: (4)

Tow layers of poly-butyl based deadener on the inside of the door makes your tin can Nissan turn into a Mercedes. Thats my experience mind you I used 108 square feet throughout the car.

kenwarch00

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I'm gonna run with Spike001 and orgasm_donor and buy some foam deadener.

After going back to the drawing board to see what I did wrong I came across an excellent website that seems pretty legit. Appearing at first like an independent information resource, a couple paragraphs will show the site is a business. But nothing wrong with that, because the explanations are incredibly helpful.

Check it out: http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

I'm inching towards applying his mass loaded vinyl and closed cell foam approach. Any experience with these products?

orgasm_donor

iTrader: (4)

That comparison is quite old but is still informative. Hushmat is not on the list but is VERY good to work with. I use some closed-cell foam and 3/8" and 1/2" Neoprene for some of my installs. They are great for metal to plastic contact to prevent buzzing between panels.

dkmesa350z

iTrader: (41)

I hear Elemental Designs deadeners are not that great, but I used one of the earlier versions on my trunk, hatch, doors, and door panels and noticed improved sound characteristics out of my stereo and deadening of road noise to sum degree.

Dirty Dave

iTrader: (8)

I used a combination of edead 80 and 1/4" closed cell foam (ensolite or something like that ) with fantastic results. I applied on every square inch of the interior including roof, doors, floor, hatch area and what I though made the biggest difference right behind the seats in each cubby. To achieve the best results this stuff need to be put on in layers starting with the butyl rubber based mat applied to the metal surface the closed or open cell foam glues on top of that. My car is now just as quiet as my friends bmw...... until the external wastegates open up right underneath the car ; ).

BonesZ33

iTrader: (2)

i like noise

orgasm_donor

iTrader: (4)

Then I think you've wandered into the wrong section.

BonesZ33

iTrader: (2)

i agree, can you please point me in the direction of the rice section

Spike100

I realize you are being facetious, but I’m not discounting your statement which I believe is valid.

I’m going to play the Devil’s Advocate here, and offer these comments:

• Summer performance tires are by nature very noisy, but this type of tire is what you want for best handling. And, wider tires provide progressively better handling, and result in progressively more noise.
• The Z is meant to be as light-weight as is possible if you want better performance. Sound deadening adds significant weight and is a trade-off.
• You need to decide if you want “luxury” or performance. The luxury alternative to the Z for a little more $$ is the Infiniti G 35/37 coupe. The best performance is the 350/370 Z.
• The Corvette, BMW Z, and Porsche (Boxster, Cayman, and 911) and some other expensive sports cars are more quiet than the Z; but they are very expensive cars that incorporate unique light-weight and thin sound deadening panels that add significant cost that 350Z/370Z buyers are not willing to absorb.
• The Z shares many of its components across the entire line of Nissan cars, so it’s heritage is not that much different than an Altima, but different and better. Don’t be too proud and realize this is an “economy” sports car.

The great things about the Z:

• It handles just great (matching the much more expensive exotics in many ways).
• The car has a superior engine that delivers great performance and economy.
• The car is track-capable right “out of the box” with little or no modification.
• You can buy this great car at a very reasonable price.
• There is a plethora of customizing options; including interior, exterior, and engine modifications.

The great thing about the Z is that it delivers a lot of fun for a relatively low cost, and it is just a great looking car with a neat design.

--Spike

kenwarch00

I hear you Spike on realizing and weighing the pro's and cons. The performance, looks, and price were what made the Z one of the best bang-for-the-buck sport cars on the road. In recent years though, I have lost my beater ride and now use the Z as a daily commuter. After driving my girlfriend's, sister's, and friend's mid-line toyota camry's and mazda 6's I've realized how nice it is to get a break from all that noise.

There is no way I am going to sell my Z, especially based on road noise. So if I'm not going to buy a side car for another 2000 grand and all the additional hassles, I need to make this the most comfortable car for me.

Some choose to squeeze every ounce of speed out of their cars. But like my father always said: "There's only one speed for fast, and thats fast." And speed is not my #1 desire with the Z (though its in the top 3). I want to squeeze as much luxury as I can before I start stealing significantly from the performance. I can live with another 14 lbs. of deadener (and thats after weighing it myself, though not saying it worked).

I'm gonna run with the first piece of Spike's advice and search for every path that sound can get into the car. Dirty Dave I think is smart to do the roof too. I did not get the roof given I used a paint on deadener.

Thanks again
-Ken

dkwang

iTrader: (6)

+1 on everything said here. My experiences are specifically from upgrading my tire size from 18x8's to 18x9.5's. The sound has increased greatly due to a larger contact area. OP, what tires do you run? As previous people have mentioned, there are numerous tradeoffs between performance and comfort, and tire size/tread style is one of them.

Spike100

Hi Ken, Thanks for posting more information. I have a better understanding of your goals towards sound-proofing your car.

The Z coupe is the biggest offender as to allowing road noise to enter the car’s interior. That is simply because the rear tires are inside the car (the Z coupe is like a mini-station wagon), and the noise is awful. If you drive a soft-top Z, notice how much less the rear tires transmit road noise to the car’s interior. That’s simply because the rear wheels are inside the trunk vs. being inside the car’s interior (i.e., the coupe’s configuration). Same is true when driving the G35/37 coupe since this car has a trunk isolated from the passenger compartment.

Here are some more suggestions:

• The spray-on products aftermarket shops apply to the inside of your front and rear wheel wells help a lot to reduce noise from your summer performance tires. I did this, and like the result. I believe the downside of these products is the potential to increase moisture and road-chemical retention that possibly results in rust. It’s ironic that these products are often promoted as anti-rusting solutions. You are in a climate where this might not even be a factor.
• Place sound deadening inside the doors. You wouldn’t think doing this would make a big difference, but it does. I’m guessing here, but I believe a lot of the “sound leaking/vibration” is transmitted to the Z’s doors along the reinforcement metal the Z uses as its “frame.” A positive side effect is that doing this greatly improves the sound coming from your speakers mounted in the door (even if you use door pods).
• The next step to reducing unwanted sound is applying deadening to the rear wheels wells, rear cargo floor, spare tire well, and the structural piece behind the driver and passenger seat.
• Finally you line the front floor, front wheel wells, and firewall with sound deadening.

Notice the last two steps require a significant amount of labor, additional weight, and co$t.

Other solutions:

• You might consider the G35/37. It has more sound-deadening. But, comparing the drive (if you are a freak like I am), the Z is better (much more fun to drive).
  
• If you don’t need anything wider than 245mm tires, consider running all season tires which run much more quietly than summer performance tires. The downside it that summer performance tires are a lot more fun.

I think the biggest deficiency of the Z is its noise. The Corvette, Audi, and Porsche are much more quiet.

--Spike