2006 Civic sound dampening project [floor+boot done] [PICS]
I don't know about you guys, but I find the road noise in my 2006 civic to be unacceptably loud for a car branding a slogan "nothing else feels as finished" :) so before i spend thousands decking out on a new sound system to replace the embarrassment of a factory setup that i have atm, i'm going to sound deaden the car as much as possible so i can 1) cut down on the road noise, and 2) get the most bang for my buck down the track.
what i've done so far
defense pak sound protection (official honda accessory)
what is it: wax/tar compound sprayed onto the underbody of the car, including wheel arches
result: noticeable drop in road noise. if you split up road noise into the deep 'rumbling' sound and the more white-noise sound of tyres running over tarmac, then you could say it cut down the latter to the point where it can no longer be heard over the former.
what has yet to be done
dynamat all 4 doors, the floor (from firewall back), the boot and the rear walls.
i'm not an expert at figuring out what's what, but i figure that the defense pak sound protection took care of the airborne noise, but didn't do much about the noise transmitted through the chassis of the car itself via the suspension. i figure the vibration of the wheels over rough roads causes the body panels to vibrate, hence causing that low rumbling sound that's become ever so annoying on my daily commute.
i'm wondering if it's worth approaching this in a rather scientific way for the benefit of others, i.e. applying dynamat to one section at a time, each time test driving the car and taking db measurements to figure out which piece of dynamat had the most effect - that way people who don't have the budget for 2 dynamat extreme bulk packs can better choose where to install it.
there are 2 problems with this: 1) i don't have db measurements from before the defense pak sound protection, and 2) sound meters aren't very cheap.
is it really worth bothering doing it scientifically? or should i just trust my ears?
regardless, i'll take pics as i go and post them up in this thread.
btw service manuals for taking apart the 2006 civic can be found at collegehillshonda.com, the xm radio installation instructions is the best imo.
