Decibel reader? Amazon probably has them pretty cheap.

 

I recall reading an article once that a decibel reading doesn't tell you the whole story, theres more to a quiet auto interior than that...

 

Decibel reading only shows you the peaks of sound. Studies show that it isn't the peaks that bother people, but the variance from low to peak that people find most annoying. Unpredictable sounds is what most people find the most irritating. A constant 80dbs on a jetliner is a lot more tolerable than say 30dbs of periodic squeaks and rattle from your vehicle.

 

You can get an app for Db reading. I use one for setting speaker levels in home theater setups

 

Radio Shack sells a digital sound pressure level (SPL) meter for a reasonable price.

 

OK folks. Now the latest quieter GSFS project update. I have replaced the factory Dunlop SP Sport MAXX 050 tires to Michelin Pilot Super Sports last week and have driven 300+ miles with them.

Many people suggested, a set of softer and quieter tires will makes the most difference in reducing road noise. I had high hope this will be the case, too. My Dunlops still have about 5000+ miles tread life left, but I went ahead with this $1500+ tires set replacement now so I can possiblily enjoy a much quieter drive. The result - some what disappointing as the road noise is still loud on cement highways (which surrond where I live). It is maybe a bit quieter on local roads and on smooth asphat highways, but it was pretty quiet with the Dunlops, too. Without any scientific instrument measuring the decibels, the noise level feel quite similar. This mean the Dunlops are already fairly quiet tires and Michelin PSS could not bring down the road noise level much further. I guess this is the draw back of a huge 265/35/19 tires on the road.

One thing I do feel the difference almost right away is the softer ride the Michelin PSS provides. In a way, the GSFS is a bit closer of the driving feeling of a LS, which I like. The Dunlops did feel sharper in response but a bit more "jumpy". Luckily, the Michelin PSS felt just right in Sport+ mode if I want to have fun in the mountains.

The end of project conclusion - Is the $2500+ worth of Dynamat+tires made the GSFS's interior more quiet? Probably a little bit, but it is hard to tell the difference in everyday driving. I drove my wife's LS460 and my car back to back several times and the LS is still much quieter and smoother. I guess without even more radical insulations, GS can not be compared to LS in driving quietness.

On the bright side, the Dynamat took out most of the little rattling in the car when I crank up the ML audio volume and it has better sound resonance quality than before. Now I love my car audio even more. It is not quite LS good, but it is pretty close. So my solution on the road noise issue is just turn up the volume to cover it up and enjoy the music on the concret highways.

I still love the handling and performance of the GSFS much over the LS which is a bit too big and heavy. However, I can see myself in 10 or 20 years loving the smooth and quiet LS (F-Sport?) more. I better enjoy my relative youth while I still have it.

 

dynamat is not what makes a car quieter. look into barrier composites. dynamat is for vibrations.;

http://www.cascadeaudio.com/car_nois...r_barriers.htm

 

Sounds promising. How about it Howie? One more experiment?

 

By the time you're done you could have bought an LS...

 

The Michelin PSS is quiet among max performance summer tires but still not the quietest Michelin you can get though. The only way is to go with all season high performance or grand touring tires but that kills the purpose of driving a F-Sport.

Besides Dynamat, there is also Second Skin (http://store.secondskinaudio.com/). A couple of guys with 370z recommend this over Dynamat.

 

spray on dynamat in the wheel wells might be a good option to consider...i'd look into that as well, just make sure they do a clean job (tape off neatly)

 

I love my Michelin pss tires. They are actually the OEM tire for Ferrari F12 cars.

You want some noise to make it in for emergency vehicles and some awareness for your surroundings. At least I find some comfort in that. Thanks for the update

 

Hi folks:

In search of a car that is handling like a GS and quiet like an LS, I have put Dynamat in the floor and all four doors in my GSFS and have some marginal result. Replacing the Dunlop with Michelin PSS got me better ride, but the road noise is still quite loud. Just when I thought this is as quiet as a GSFS will be, I decided to do one more job to see if I can get the car quieter.

By more research on the web and reading other car forums, I find out some people had good success putting the extra Dynamat inside the cabinet close to the wheel wells. I am in no mood of lifting the carpet in my car again; however, I think putting Dynamat in the wheel wells outside will be very doable. I ordered more Dynamat and study how to take the wheels and wheel well linings off so I can put the Dynamat on the metal panels. It took me 2 afternoons (one for the fronts and one for the backs), 3 hours each afternoon (6 hours total) to do the job by myself alone. I am very happy to report, I am very please with the result. The car still have the perfect factory look, but much quieter interior as much of the road noise is blocked out. It is very noticeable, but I do not have any real measurement to back it up. Still, I highly recommend this work if you want to make your car more quiet from road noise.

I still have some Dynamat left, so I put them in the trunk and around the sub-woofer. The result is cleaner bass and I can crank it up more without distortion if I want to.

A car that performs like GSFS, quiet like LS, and the ML audio got even better. I am so glad to find the perfect solution I am looking for. This is a car I will keep for a long time.

I will post some pictures on the work in the wheel wells soon.

 

Here are some pictures of Dynamat in the wheel wells:

 

That's an interesting (and logical) result... Did you put dynamat on both the metal surface and on the back of the wheel well cover? Or is that third picture showing what you used as a template to cut the mat?

I'll have to give this a try myself!