BRZ soundproofing
 

Practical thread on BRZ soundproofing

Subaru has a long history of neglecting quality soundproofing in cars and putting crappy lightweight speakers with 1 inch magnets (no subs in this thread! :)). Things got a little better since 2008 for some models, but it still so-so even with 'Premium' sound package. Consider light weight of this vehicle and you get the point - sound is probably no good.

Unfortunately, SOA chose not to demo a car in Bay Area. Those who had a chance to sit in it and look at the interior, these are questions for you:

1. Did the doors and trunk had that 'thump' when closing them?
2. Were doors light when closing-opening?
3. When knocked on the outside of the door, was it metal bucket echo or else?
4. Did you notice any sound isolation on the trunk floor and top shelf, aside from the floor mats?
5. With windows all the way down at closing, did you hear that famous Subaru ramble on a frameless door?

Appreciate any useful info posted here.

My priorities are the opposite of yours. When I remove my sound proofing you can have it.

:thanks:

i dont mind if the sound comes through i just dont like rattling when daily driving, ill take a few things down if i hear anything... :D i also hate sound deadening like hearing the tires scream for mercy while the chassis rapes them into the ground

in other words i like to know when im running out of grip...

That soundtrack is mostly coming from wheel wells. I normally don't touch those. Only doors and trunk (shelf, mostly)

Wind noise - that what bothers me. Add California tarmac into equation (I-85, anyone), you daily drive becomes a sound nightmare, affecting your phone calls or just nice music or news in the morning.

30 pounds for sound proofing won't hurt car performance - I'd rather eat less and empty trunk once in a while.

I personally hate factory sound deadning. Many times its patches of hardend tar that can weigh up to roughly 60lbs throughout the chassy. Some people choose matting which is just as heavy or even heavier because you have more freedom to place it on all surfaces. Only benefit to matting for me is keeping a consistent temp in cabin, which is more for comfort than anything.

If i wanted sound deadning and keep it under 40lbs (20-30lbs max) id use a brushed or sprayed non-petrol based liquid sound dampener.

So you have any brand names for this I can look into? I'd get this done to the celica first then If I like it have it done to the frs...wind noise drives me crazy.

:)

One of my cars came from the factory with zero sound deadening, the others have had it completely removed.

its been a while since iv used liquid sound deadner, so my information on brands might not be accurate anymore. Last i heard Quiet Car Liquid Coating was good. But do a search on reviews through google and come back to us if you find something good.

Slamming the light door at the show gave a surprisingly sturdier sound than expected. Granted it is frameless, and the window was down; it didnt have a Lexus thud but was obviously much improved from the typical Subaru style.

The interesting thing is that instead of closing and shimmying upward like on past Subaru frameless doors, this door closes straight on and then moves the window up an inch or so just like a VW CC or other cars that have that feature.

I noticed the same thing. At least compared to my former '05 Legacy GT

On a scale of 1-10 regarding door closing niceness (1 being pure tin can-like crap and 10 being a lexus LS460L/bmw 750/benz S63, etc.), I would rate the BRZ a 6 or 7. I was actually expecting something around a 3 or 4 due to Toyobaru's effort in keeping the car lightweight, so I was pleasantly surprised by the truth.

This is slightly off-topic but, did anyone else notice the car shake when closing the door? A normal shutting of the passenger/driver door set the BRZ into a plus/minus ~1.5 inch oscillation that lasted for only about a second. The guy next to me also noticed this and said it's a sign of the suspension being soft....

or some fat ass jumped in or out of the car. :p