Quiet down your smart car with this new product (Re: sound attenuation barrier) - Page 4

Terry Stibal · 10-29-2009, 07:36 PM

After the better part of a month with the barrier in place, my wife and I are happy with the reduction in sound level. The major part of the reduction came in lower frequency sound ("rumble" and road noise), and now wind noise is the main noise component in the interior of the car.

After being in place for a month, and following exposure to the heat of the engine, the mat has "laid down" better behind the seats. With the exception of the well attached logo label (which is hidden behind the seats), you cannot tell that it is not original manufacturer equipment.

The heat level of the rear compartment has been lowered way down as well.

All in all, I feel that I got my money's worth. Your mileage may vary, of course.

John_H · 10-30-2009, 05:17 AM

And here I was of the impression almost no smart owners had any sense of extra heat pack there, having done a poll on this forum quite some time ago.

I got some sound/vibration dampening and thermal insulation in my car before i took delivery (same raw-part manufacturer, different materials) and have been real happy with the performance. I've never had a problem with heat in the engine well, only noticing that it easily got uncomfortable with a passenger on those 65 degree nights (still relatively unexplained).

I figured that the heat insulation might not have been needed after the poll came back with unexpected results but happy to see that the pre-made solution is providing strong benefits.

pmolink · 10-30-2009, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stew7962

As for helping to quiet down the Borla exhaust I can't say I notice a difference to my ear.

To see how much sound damping I could get out of a SmarTenU8, I made a prototype with the most robust material that Cascade Audio makes: VB-TSM.

VB-TSM is a sound absorber, blocker and thermal control material all in one!

http://www.cascadeaudio.com/car_nois...B-TSM_Tech.pdf

This stuff is 4.5 times thicker than the VB-4 used in the SmarTenU8 and is much heavier and stiffer. It is made for boat and RV engine/generator compartments.

The sound quieting properties of the beefy SmarTenU8 were only slightly better than the one made with the svelte VB-4 material. I am using the beefy prototype in my car now, but it is not worth the extra price and bulkiness to produce it for SmartMadness.

It appears there is a limit to how much you can silence the after-market noise making add-ons.

Tip: I filled up the compartment of my Passions tailgate with scrap VB-4 material. That helped a little too.

SmartMadness · 10-31-2009, 08:42 PM

Well,

We finally got to use this mat ourselves over a long drive. We took our smart cars from Long Beach to Las Vegas for the SEMA show that starts on Tuesday.

Prior to leaving I decided to put one of these mats in my smart to see if it would help with the engine noise (SOLO exhaust and Cold Air Intake installed). I love the sound the car makes with the upgrades, but having to deal with it for 5-6 hours in one day would be a bit too much.

So... My thoughts...

The mat did not turn my smart in to a Lexus, but it surely made the drive much better. It reduced the interior noise and really helped out with the heat from the engine bay.

Would I buy it myself? Yes! I actually did, now that I think of it. :-)

smart fortimo · 10-31-2009, 11:35 PM

My experience is much like Boris'. It will never make your smart luxury-car quiet. But the heat barrier and slight sound reduction are good.

I also have a Cisco intake and DT single exhaust, of which I like the sound. And because I'm driving a cabrio, the sound reduction is relatively minimized because the ragtop isn't blocking as much sound as the coupe might, I think.

Anyway you look at it, I'm not trading the timobile cabrio plus $$$ for an SC430 to upgrade the interior sound level...

SmartMadness · 11-02-2009, 08:52 AM

We drove the car for 5 solid hours and after that long of a drive the engine floor is typically pretty hot. We parked, I took out the bags and the bottom of the bags and the carpet were barely warm.

Now when we take the smart on a shopping trip I won't have to worry about all the frozen stuff getting defrosted like before. Best of all the install took about 30 seconds to do!

If you are thinking about getting one don't forget you can order it, try it for a week and if you are not satisfied ship it back (just make sure it is in "like new condition") and we will refund your money (minus shipping).