road noise - BRZ vs FRS

[MikeM7]

Originally Posted by Mim

The elephant in the room (with sound deadening) is the added weight. Our cars are so light that you can pretty easily tell the difference from having a full tank of gas to having half a tank. Adding sound deadening to the doors and boot would equate to adding half a tank of gas (in weight) to your car. Makes me cringe at the thought.

If you picked up the box of audio equipment im about to install in my car I think you might literally burst into tears lol

[Mim]

Originally Posted by MikeM7

If you picked up the box of audio equipment im about to install in my car I think you might literally burst into tears lol

I totally get what you mean. I had a one of the recent GTO's (Monaro's in Australia) with the 5.7L V8 and the car weighed in at over 1730kg. Adding a large AMP, sub, new speakers, heavier duty wiring and enclosure box in the boot added a decent amount of weight, but the car was a cruiser and had enough engine power to help mitigate the extra weight. I did do some power mods and diff ratio change so this likely helped more than anything.

That experience was kind of educational in that it helped me understand why the top luxury cars are so heavy. Looking at Bentley for instance, those cars are over 2 tons in weight, but the effect on the ride is improved due to the added mass counteracting residual road bumps that the suspension could not fully mitigate.

The flip side with our cars though is they are exceedingly light to begin with so changes in weight can be felt. With this in mind I looked at my very first proper mod, of replacing the audio system, with a view of upgrading, but to keep any additional weight down to a minimum. I ditched the idea of adding a sub and enclosure, into the already tight boot space, and instead opted to simply replace all the existing speakers with much better JL's (including the tiny rear speakers with 5.25" ones). Together with a tiny 4 channel amp in the boot and the new double din head unit, the audio quality went through the roof.

All said and done, though the sound quality improved quite a fair bit, it can certainly do with some more bass (but that's like the 'every car could use more power' argument) you just have to take a step back and realise where to draw the line. Sound deadening and a sub would go a long way in helping to achieve more bass, but the amount of extra weight just turned me off the idea.

Sorry to get a little off topic OP, but to take my post into account, I did find the improved audio system quality help me to deal with road noise. I do tend to drive with my windows shut and this, coupled with the better sound quality of my stereo, really seems to of reduced road noise for me when going on a recent interstate drive for 2.5 hours.

Taking everything already discussed in this thread, I think the biggest take away for you, would be to appreciate that not every car is for every person. If the road noise is a major concern, you will find it less hassle and cheaper (in the long run) to consider another kind of car, than to try to bend and twist a twin into something it was not intended to be

[MikeM7]

I figure I can remove the spare tire to make up for some of it, plus there's the weight of the current equipment coming out.. It's not like it doesn't already have a head unit and speakers in it. Shouldn't be a massive impact.

To get back on topic, I take back anything I said about not noticing the road noise. Had 2 passengers for the first time today which made me more aware as we were trying to talk. At 75mph on hwy 90 the road noise was just brutal. It was embarassing. I never notice when im alone, but this really brought it to my attention. Time for some sound deadening for sure.

If all that creates a noticeable loss in power, then ill probably looking into some more power mods. So much for being "almost done" with mods

[donoman]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

Man I wanna ride in urs & listen before I do it! Maybe if I can meet up with u at some big 86 meet in Cali.

Any time, my man! I don't go to meets, people.

To the guy who said "buy another car" I think that's not a fair assessment of this situation. If you want your FRS/BRZ to be as quiet as a Lexus, buy the Lexus.

But if you want to be able to drive this car on the freeway and have your wife use her NORMAL TONE then just do a little sound deadening I gotta admit, I'm a road noise nazi and when I test drove the FR-S in 2012, I thought it was too loud for me. I ended up buying one this year, knowing I'd have to deaden it.

[rlpaul]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I had keyless for many years and now that I am back to one I just jump in and try to push a nonexistent button at least once a day!

I do this every time I get into the Jetta. I also pause confused for a second when the doors don't unlock when I pull the handle.

I also have to switch the headlights on manually! What a PITA.