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Making Golf Interior Quieter

AWD4416

Ready to race!
Location
Texas
Looking for feedback on this mod. I'm thinking a box of Dynamat to cover the spaces VW didn't cover. Then put something on top. Some of you mention foam sheets others felt pads. Any links for some of this stuff? I see "MACs Auto Parts 41-26251 Jute Backing - 72 Long X 36 Wide X 1/2 Thick" $28 on Amazon. I also see "Virbo 228 mil" for $105.

I commute on roads that they used the cheapest crap available to pave a road. So the journey is loud, looking to making it more zen :D.
 

AWD4416

Ready to race!
Location
Texas
Looking for feedback on this mod. I'm thinking a box of Dynamat to cover the spaces VW didn't cover. Then put something on top. Some of you mention foam sheets others felt pads. Any links for some of this stuff? I see "MACs Auto Parts 41-26251 Jute Backing - 72 Long X 36 Wide X 1/2 Thick" $28 on Amazon. I also see "Virbo 228 mil" for $105.

I commute on roads that they used the cheapest crap available to pave a road. So the journey is loud, looking to making it more zen :D.

I did a ton of research and found some really good info that I wanted to share [https://www.tundras.com/threads/sound-matting-worth-it.22604/].

So the best thing to do is apply something like noico sound deadening. Then glue some close cell foam to some mass loade vinyl and put this over the sound deadening. The foam can be cheaply sourced from eBay. The vinyl is actually expensive and pay attention to get something that has low odor. I got some low odor mass loaded vinyl from a seller at Amazon (4’x25’, could probably use half that if only doing doors) but it still has a smell. Over time it has died down but there is a hint of it that I’m still trying to deal with.

The biggest gains comes from putting the combo on the doors, but I noticed it changed the sound system’s acoustics a bit. I think it muffled the mids a bit but I haven’t mess with the equalizer yet so that’s probably a solution for this. My GTI has the regular sounds system with the Helix sub. I used a combination of Google Sci Journal (iOS and Android) and NIOSH SLM (iOS only) to get some data on the worst roads during my morning commute. I changed my phones during the period so I can’t exactly post data logs but the overall decrease was about 9dB which is massive as dB are a logarithmic unit (LAeq 79.4dB to LAeq 70.8dB). I took these measures while holding my phone next to my right ear.

The biggest difference now is that road noise sounds like flat notes instead of the higher pitch notes you get in something like a cargo van. If I had to do it again, I would but probably only do the doors. Covering the spare tire area did almost nothing. Covering the floor did a bit. I didn’t use foam on it, instead, I just laid the vinyl on top of the factory deadening. I still need to do the hatch, not looking forward to this. To be clear, I put noico everywhere the metal made a lot of noise while being knocked, and I still have like 2 sheets left from the 36 sq ft box.

Hope this is useful to someone.
 
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evilhomura89

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
SEA
Sorry for reviving an old thread but does anyone have any experience with 3M Thinsulate acoustic material?

Meanwhile, most have noticed the mk8 to be quieter than the mk7/7.5
I wonder what are the improvement made at the factory to acheive this
 
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George Ab

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Pacific NW
No experience other than my jacket, but the Thinsulate acoustic material really looks good. Superior to the foam I used. May have some challenges getting to to compress enough, but looks doable.
 

El_bigote_AJ

Autocross Champion
Location
Las Vegas
Car(s)
2019 GTI bunny
Sorry for reviving an old thread but does anyone have any experience with 3M Thinsulate acoustic material?

Meanwhile, most have noticed the mk8 to be quieter than the mk7/7.5
I wonder what are the improvement made at the factory to acheive this
Mk8 on the outside has more underbody aero and I believe the body shape is also more aero dynamic, hence the Corolla rounded shapes.
 

evilhomura89

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
SEA
Mk8 on the outside has more underbody aero and I believe the body shape is also more aero dynamic, hence the Corolla rounded shapes.
I did a little digging in ETKA via https://ifinterface.com/prog/car/cp2/inprog.php and found some interesting schematics comparing mk7 and mk8
It seems to me that Mk8 uses a lot more of those sound absorber material (Official part number 323863950) on the floor?
mk7 vs mk8.jpg



Mk8_1.jpg

Comparison with mk7 below
Mk7_1.jpg
 

GPL

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
UK
Car(s)
2018 7.5 Golf 1.5
Hi
I have used this 3M Thinsulate acoustic material on the insides of my doors and taigate .

Little flimsy and thin to work with but can shape and get into knooks and crannys easy.

Get the addisive backed type.

Not sure how effective it is tho.

I have done a load of sound insulation on my 7.5 1.5 TSI R Line but still a loud drive.
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
Hi
I have used this 3M Thinsulate acoustic material on the insides of my doors and taigate .

Little flimsy and thin to work with but can shape and get into knooks and crannys easy.

Get the addisive backed type.

Not sure how effective it is tho.

I have done a load of sound insulation on my 7.5 1.5 TSI R Line but still a loud drive.

I think one of the main things is that the MK7 has a foam panel between the end of the front wing & where the front door hinges are...the MK7.5 has a plastic trim panel...

I retro-fitted the MK7.5 panels to my car as the foam infill causes a water/rust problem where the bottom of the wing joins the sill...However I kept the MK7 foam...but heavily modified it...


I think having both has made the front end quieter then it was before...& why the factory change from foam to plastic made the MK7.5 more noisy from the front end compared to the MK7...
 

GPL

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
UK
Car(s)
2018 7.5 Golf 1.5
Hi
Good info. i had not thought about those side trims.

I am planning on working on the front wheel well area again because i think a hell of a lot of road/tire noise
is coming from there. i will check those side trims now.

My mk 7.5 is quite good on the motorway at 70mph but as soon as the road surface changes from smooth to semi smooth then rough
it all goes pear shaped and is as noisy as hell to the extent we usually slow down to 60 and try and find a smooth tarmac lane which
is uually the inside lane.


JUST NEED TO DECIDE WHAT SOUND ABSORTION MATERIAL TO USE IN THIS AREA.

i am thinking of glueing the material to the backside of the wheel arch liners

What do you think?
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
I've seen loads of people waste money by gluing stuff to the back of the plastic wheel arch liners & the inside of the door cards etc...

Firstly you have impact noise from stones...unless you line the outside face of the wheel arch liners with a foam/rubber you cannot stop this...

The result of the above is transmitted noise which is amplified by the echo chamber of the void behind the wheel arch liner. The best way to stop this is to get good quality foam & line the surfaces of the void behind the wheel arch liner...(much like the MK7 foam end panel fills quite a bit of the void).

Large metal surfaces without bends/creases in them act as drums & will vibrate as the car is moving...so you place bitumen pads in the centre of those areas to stop the panel vibrating at that frequency...much like a drummer places his hand on the drum skin to deaden the sound..
 

GPL

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
UK
Car(s)
2018 7.5 Golf 1.5
I see

I can pack these area,s out.

What foam would you recomend please Dave.

Any Links.

Maybe this

DODO SUPER LINER 12MM 1/2" 10 SHEETS CAR THERMO FOAM INSULATION SOUND PROOFING​

or this one

DODO MAT ACOUSTIC LINER 15MM 2 SHEETS CAR SOUND PROOFING FOAM SELF ADHESIVE​

 
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GPL

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
UK
Car(s)
2018 7.5 Golf 1.5
I have one more question.
do you think the plastic front arch liners make matters worse on the golf echoing the noise in the void.
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
Links don't work??.....

Basically anything that says it will cope with -10C to +30C at least & weatherproof....& what you want is not weight...but thickness to stop the sound waves...& spike/egg crate design....

My cars pretty quiet & besides the OEM mods I've not fitted any aftermarket sound deadening...mind you tyres also help...

& yes the front wheel arch voids do echo...just line the metal work...you can line the liners, but the self adhesive stuff never really sticks long term to the plastic..painted metalwork has good adhesion with the self adhesive stuff...
 

southpawboston

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Somerville, MA
The rear wheel arch liners have a felted treatment, like some type of plastic fiber, that does a fantastic job of deadening road noise and the noise of objects like gravel hitting it. The front liners are traditional smooth plastic and transmit much more noise. I've noticed more and more carmakers are switching to the felted type in the front as well as in the back. I don't see any reason not to...
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
The rear wheel arch liners have a felted treatment, like some type of plastic fiber, that does a fantastic job of deadening road noise and the noise of objects like gravel hitting it. The front liners are traditional smooth plastic and transmit much more noise. I've noticed more and more carmakers are switching to the felted type in the front as well as in the back. I don't see any reason not to...

Fecking difficult to get all the dirt/grit out of.....plastic way better & easier to clean.

Main reason for the "felt" fabric:- less oil & made of recycled materials, like the the door cards...so more "green" points in the marketing brochure..
 
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