There are a few great products on the market and some not so great, Dynamat Extreme, Second Skin Damplifier , RAAMmat BXT II, all close to the same in performance so what it really boils down to is doing a good install and ease of use!
(Though Harmon International, they own Infinity, JBL and many other brands, now use BXT II exclusively in all their projects because they love the price/performance/install ease
If you read the HOW TO guide on RAAMaudio.com, written for our older BXT which was less effective but much lower in cost than those above, the shotgun approach for the mat is called for. The products listed above are of such great effectiveness you can use much less but target the key areas and on the Vette there are very important steps to be taken.
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My recommendations below are based on 40+ years of car audio experience, 20+ years in high end electronics repair in the USN, having competed against and beaten a prior world champ in SQ competition, having been an audio judge and knowing most of the top installers ever combined with 10+ years specializing in sound deadening (and I have two Vettes and helped dozens of owners achieve their goals
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Doors, at least half the outer skin, focus more behind the speakers, covering most of the area with a second layer around 8x8 or so right behind them. Put some strips, 4"x15 or so towards the middle and rear of the door. Then put a piece of Ensolite (sold under different brand names for much more than I charge behind each speaker to break up the back wave, I find this just as effective as a costly Deflex pad and even used it behind a $7k pair of separates mid basses just fine.
I like to use a solid piece of metal to fill in the large access hole, this will greatly reduce road noise and stiffen up the air space for more accurate and more output from the speakers in the doors. The seal all the other holes in the inner door and mat well around the speaker. Then cover it all with Ensolite or similar, it is an incredible thermal and acoustical barrier, low in weight, low in cost, helps stop panel resonance, etc and works in higher frequencies than mat products. Ensolite nearly doubles the results of just mat alone, no matter what brand.
I may offer some aluminum channels for those that want to really go all out and stiffen the door more without the added weight of using a lot more mat, what I did in our car, worked great
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The hatch area is the next most important. Completely cover the wheel wells and then the middle of the rear deck, then strips along the sides, etc....I add a second layer in the middle of the deck area. Cover every thing you can back there with Ensolite, it helps keep a great deal of heat out as well
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Behind rear seats up next. Very thin sheet metal there so I cover at least 2/3 of it with mat, centered in the middle, cover it all with the Ensolite.
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Tunnel, more heat than noise issues. I use strips of mat to cover around 40% of it then cover it all with ensolite, double up onit near the shifter, etc.....
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Floor, not to critical in these cars due to the balsa construction. I have yet to even mat mine but will do some soon to see that happens and then cover it all with Ensolite.
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One package of our BXT II, 3 yards of Ensolite (glue down or now we have some Peal and Stick), will do a very good job if used very carefully.
Really want to do it well, 1.5 packs, 4.5 yards, etc......
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No matter what brand you pick, the guide above will help you greatly. Just make sure to take your time and absolutely use some sort of quality foam like Ensolite(the very best I have ever found)
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As soon as I get a volunteer I am going to produce a Vette specific guide with pictures, I would use my install but I went all out nuts on it as it is our audio demo vehicle and I have a tendency to go all out nuts. I need to make a guide that will take care of 99% of those not as anal as I am because like all things there is a point of diminishing returns.
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Purchase from me is not required to get help if you need it but read my HOW TO guide and this before asking please
how about up inside the rear wheel wells under the liners? I have my entire car done except that area and still pick up allot of road noise. i was thinking of trying to put something in there....??
I did that and there wasn't a really noticeable improvement. I heard in 1997-2002 cars that it helps because there is a flanking path for sound. In 2003 they blocked it off.
The majority of noise, I agree, comes from the wheel wells. There's virtually no noise but tire noise. My car is like a tomb on smooth road. But once those tires get a surface they don't like...
I agree, not going to get much gain from mat under there, it is great to help stop resonances but stiff areas just do not change much because mat is to make them stiffer acoustically.
I will do mine soon, add maybe a little mat but I will be installing Ensolite(my version has an open face though it is closed cell foam) as it will break up a great deal of noise and not reflect it back and out from under the car.
If not for moisture issues I would instead line it with some 2" thick acoustical foam tiles as I sometimes use under the dash and behind trim panels in qtr panels, etc...
I will test some of the new peal and stick Ensolite I now carry to see if it will stay on the inside and under side of the wheel well liners. Inside will work with the body sections I put it on and underside would help with noise coming out from the wheel wells.
If it will stick well that will be excellent, it can hold a bit of moisture on the surface but does not absorb it so should be fine in any weather.
We have big fat high performance tires and are quite close to them, the acoustical energy is very high thus harder to deal with, same with loud exhaust and especially those with nasty resonate peaks right in the cruise range. Those two are the most difficult issues to fix with deadening in all vehicles, often times requiring changing parts, tires, adding resonators, learning to live with it, etc........just the way it is.
Oooh, peel and stick ensolite? Keep us posted on that! Especially heat resistance. I was thinking of trying to find something I could put on the exterior of the car by reaching through the tail light openings.
The peal and stick part costs more than the ensolite does but it is of very high grade, I expect excellent results in pretty harsh environments.
Not sure just how high the heat tolerance will be but for cars needing under hood deadening, used over the top of some of our BXT II mat may do very very well, that I am testing very soon
I did that and there wasn't a really noticeable improvement. I heard in 1997-2002 cars that it helps because there is a flanking path for sound. In 2003 they blocked it off.
The majority of noise, I agree, comes from the wheel wells. There's virtually no noise but tire noise. My car is like a tomb on smooth road. But once those tires get a surface they don't like...
I agree, on a smooth road, my car is very quiet, or as quiet as a lowered vert can be riding on 19/20 inch rims....
its the tire noise that I get on some of the sections of road that are anoying.
I was detailing a S550 benz a few weeks back and noticed that all the wheel wells have the felt liner in them along with the complete underside of the car (that I could see) and that car is whisper quiet going down the road.
It is quite evident felt under the car and in the wheel wells would have a profound effect on reducing road noise but it would have to be something engineered to repel water and also not clog up over time. I guess a good pressure cleaning once a year may be in order
It would however have little effect on one major cause of road noise, that which is transmitted through the tires into the suspension thus into the body, that is why they have rubber isolated sub frames, soft bushings, etc.....MB spends a great deal of time on that area of design.
I am going to test some of the peal and stick version of Ensolite foam inside the wheel houses and then on both sides of the fender liners when I install the new ones with the rest of the Z06 body on our convertible.
I will also take a close look at any areas that may benefit from adding a bit of RAAMmat as well though not much would be used I am certain.
The Ensolite is water resistant, not fully waterproof(though only holds a bit on the surface, it does not soak it up like open cell foam would. Ensolite was developed for and is still used a great deal in aerospace for a thermal and acoustical barrier, really great stuff
Looks like my stuff shipped on Friday, so I spent the day pulling off door panels, removing carpet etc. from my just purchased 01 Vert.
Do you recommend removing all the syrofoam at the rear of the doors, or just covering it with ensolite?
I stripped all the factory padding from the carpeting, but wasn't sure about that styrofoam!
Looking forward to doing this job......
Sorry I did not respond, I did not get a notice you had posted, I will reset that option!
The only C5 I have worked on was(is being rebuilt into something else next( a full race car so the doors were stripped of any foam, etc....when I bought the car (02 Z06).
If you can send me a picture of it that would help though I imagine by now you have moved past that step but if not send it asap and I will respond asap.
Why did you pull the padding on the carpet? Are you thinking the carpet will not fit back in with the padding?
I ask that because I'm about to cover just about every surface of my interior with Second Skin Damplifier Pro. Then Luxury Liner Pro over that. I'm hoping the carpet will go back in without problem. I'm also getting a bunch of their Overkill and Overkill Pro to line the backside of all the interior panels (all the plastic panels) in hopes it will help with rattles and squeaks caused by the plastics.
Last edited by IRON MAIDEN; 01-21-2010 at 01:29 PM.
The principal reason I pulled the carpet was to reduce weight---the stuff I got from Rick at Raam is incredibly dense/heavy, and I figured the stock mat wasn't going to appreciably improve deadening.
I also anticipate it will be a little easier to re-install the carpet---time will tell.
Rick, any comments? I haven't trashed the stock pad yet and could put it back if you think it would help. I didn't see this addressed on your web site.
I normally leave it in, I have not done the floor or tunnel yet, dang busted up knees, but did leave any there may of been in the rear of the car.
I have removed it on an all out competition install a couple of times because I was using layers of mat and foam, built up to be even, thick as possible, carpets fit, etc....custom carpet added later on but not originally.
Taking it out will not make a huge difference but I would put it back
Corvette Store
Vette sound deadening 101
behind each speaker to break up the back wave, I find this just as effective as a costly Deflex pad and even used it behind a $7k pair of separates mid basses just fine.
