Reducing Road Noise?

[Raysp30]

Anyone have some ideas on how to reduce road noise? My CRX is absolutely terrible on the highway.

I'm looking for a cheap way to cut down the noise. Any ideas welcome.

[adrive7]

dynamat everywhere.

[Red]

Spray in bed liner on the wheel wells works

[Vince-HX]

find a quieter tire, make sure all wheel bearings are in good condition

[xbUser]

Agree with changing a new set of tires. Check with reviews on tirerack.com. Yokohama AVZ and General Altimaz are all quiet tires I tired. It makes huge different from the stock original.
Also, drive slower. Statistic shows the noise on 60mph is much quieter than 80mph. Both wind noise, engine noise and road noise are much less. I tried that and it is true. I believe this is the cheapest, most notable and fastest way to quiet down your car on freeway.

[justpassntime]

You could use bedliner of some sort, sound deadening padding or dynamat. All of those require pulling the carpet out of the car with the exception of the bedliner. I used the cheap padding JC Whitney has under the carpet on my 73 Ranchero and used spray on bedliner in the bed. It worked really well.

Or you could do like people around here seem to do. Put a thumping stereo in your car and turn it up so loud it blows out all the bolts holding on the important stuff. Then one day when it coasts to a stop you'll wonder why it never gave you any warning.

[Raysp30]

Originally Posted by justpassntime

You could use bedliner of some sort, sound deadening padding or dynamat. All of those require pulling the carpet out of the car with the exception of the bedliner. I used the cheap padding JC Whitney has under the carpet on my 73 Ranchero and used spray on bedliner in the bed. It worked really well.

Here's what I'm thinking. Tear off all the carpet, at least in the back under the hatch and put some of the carpet padding under everything.

For the wheel wells, I'm thinking I could spray some insulation foam in there. It wouldn't give me access to some of the wiring, but I figure if the electrical wires have lasted 20 years, they should be fine for another 10.

That seems like the cheapest way to do it. $25 for carpet padding and maybe $5 for insulation foam.

[basjoos]

Install underbody panelling. A lot of "road noise" is actually noise created by the wind turbulence underneath the vehicle.

[bhazard]

I know I do want to do something about the noise in my festiva. Its rediculous in there going down the road. I also have some noise coming from the back end, like wheel bearings (which I JUST replaced) or flatspotted tires maybe.

[Raysp30]

Originally Posted by basjoos

Install underbody panelling. A lot of "road noise" is actually noise created by the wind turbulence underneath the vehicle.

My underbody is surprisingly smooth. The only spot that air really gets stuck is when it hits the muffler, which sits about 2-3 inches lower than everything else. I'm thinking...other Honda CRXers can correct me, that this is because I don't have a stock muffler on my car.

I headed out to Menards a couple hours ago and bought $25 worth of 1/2" carpet padding (I wasn't about to pay the prices for padding meant specifically for cars). So far, I've finished installing it on the entire back half of the car. I also sprayed 2 cans of insulating foam ontop of each rear wheel well. Once I get the brakes fixed I'll be taking it for a drive.

[azraelswrd]

I just drive slower to reduce noise. When it comes to cheap and effective, it's gotta be high on the list. I can't believe when I was younger/stupider when I drove so fast that I would just turn up the music to cover the noise! Gah!

Driving fast + louder music = bad FE. No wonder my earlier FE was a pitiful 33mpg.

I can't comment on sound absorption techniques as I'm too cheap/lazy to do them (and if I wasn't so lazy I'd pull out my rear seats and that will only make the noise levels inside worse I think). Plus at 40-50mph I don't really seem to mind the noise.

[bikin' Ed]

When I was young and poor, I gutted the interior, used roofing tar and roofing paper (I think that's what it's called) to line the interior and then reinstalled the interior. It made a noticeable difference. It insulated sound as well as temp.

[CobraBall]

Insulation at JCWhitney.com

The idea about carpet padding may just do the job. U should be able to get enough scraps from a carpet installer to do the car free of charge.

"roofing tar" ?? Inside a closed vehicle??? Doesn't it stink? Great car for a date?

[dremd]

Damplifier Pro - Acoustic Vibration Dampening Mat

That's what's in my Ride; I need lots more, but I have to ecomod myself first.

I feel as though the more comfortable the car is the less I feel the need to hurry up and get out. It MAY be an acceptable trade off for some . . . .

[justpassntime]

Originally Posted by CobraBall

Insulation at JCWhitney.com

The idea about carpet padding may just do the job. U should be able to get enough scraps from a carpet installer to do the car free of charge.

"roofing tar" ?? Inside a closed vehicle??? Doesn't it stink? Great car for a date?

How about Snow Roof, it's a weather proof roofing compound like tar but without the smell.

[dremd]

Originally Posted by CobraBall

t JCWhitney.com[/url]

"roofing tar" ?? Inside a closed vehicle??? Doesn't it stink? Great car for a date?

I once used peal and seal; worked Ok, not great, did smell, but not tooo bad.