People have been looking for a way to get rid of the noise of a vehicle from the very beginning of the automobile invention. Of course, someone likes it when those who are not driving pay attention to the roar of its engine, but when in the cabin you can talk quietly with the passenger and enjoy good music, it is much more pleasant. The trip becomes a pleasant and even soothing pastime when nothing creaks and noise does not annoy in the car.
Installation of soundproofing materials in a car has long ceased to be an "elite" service. Many auto repair shops offer the simplest "anti-noise equipment" without reference to the installation of an audio system. Driving in a car without unnecessary noise, squeaks and bounce is pleasant not only for music lovers. For installation, as a rule, relatively inexpensive sets of materials for low-market cars are used. For expensive audio systems where you want to achieve good results, someone uses Dynamat, V-Block, PROCON and other similar materials. However, the requirements of the market forced to look for more affordable ways to soundproof the car.
One of the approaches to sound deadening is based on the using of ready-made kits, such as, for example, Standartplast. It includes pre-cut pieces of different materials and a car scheme showing where to glue them. The kits are designed specifically for a specific brand of car, so everything is simple here - glue according to the scheme, and that's it. This method allows you to reduce the noise level by about 3 dB, i.e. by about 1.5 times. With such a noise reduction, it already becomes more comfortable, but usually with car soundproofing in which a good audio system is installed, customers want more. Then the client is usually offered expensive materials, and the cost of the service immediately jumps to $ 1,000 and more.
When installing expensive and high-quality audio systems, owners of inexpensive cars generally rely on the cost of soundproofing no more than $ 500-600. This is the cost of almost complete installing with inexpensive materials in a car. However, there should be good results, like expensive soundproofing.
Pay your attention to the Smartmat brand. Having already established itself in the market of soundproofing materials, it is known both among installers and among end consumers - car owners. Despite the low cost of materials, their quality is not inferior to the market leaders; the efficiency indicators are comparable to the characteristics of the Standartplast brand. A complete SUV handling kit costs approximately $ 200. In addition, even less for sedans.
Why is it worth choosing Russian soundproofing materials? Because the developers of Russia know everything about the climatic features of different regions. Therefore, such materials have the required properties.
1. Functional: sound-absorbing and vibro-deadening.
2. Operational: temperature and corrosion resistance, strength of the adhesive layer.
3. Technological: easy to cut, bend and repeat complex profiles of the car body and panels.
If ready-made kits are made more for DIY-users, then these materials are supplied in professional packaging - sheets and rolls (for convenience when covering large surfaces).
First, you need to determine the causes of the appearance of noise in order to effectively deal with it.
Noises and vibrations in a car have different nature: different sources, different frequency spectra, different intensities. Body metal is an excellent conductor of sound, and this is the biggest problem. To check this, you just need to knock on any metal object. Accordingly, each impact of the rocker arm on the valve, rotation of the bearing, each impact of the suspension and shock absorber through the buffer transmits its sound to the body and to the surrounding space. Moreover, there are noise and bounce from plastic panels, noise from the fan blowing air. As a result, an annoying noise background is created in the car's interior, because each mechanism operates in its own frequency range. There is no “universal” material that reduces noise at all frequencies, so it is optimal to use a multilayer coating. Because each layer has certain properties, and the "sandwich" as a whole gives an optimal combination of characteristics of noise and vibration absorption.
What are the main ingredients of a "sandwich"? The basis is made up of vibro-damping materials - they are glued to metal zones or plastic panels to increase mass and reduce the resonance frequency. In addition, the viscoelastic components of such materials convert the energy of "noise" vibrations into thermal energy. Because of processing, the amplitude of the vibrating element quickly decays and instead of a loud ringing, it emits a much quieter and dull sound. There is also a type of material called a sound barrier. The essence of such damping is that an obstacle is placed in the path of the noise, using materials with an aluminum or lead layer. They often play the role of a kind of acoustic screen. The third group of materials - absorbers of sound that has entered or arisen in the cabin - are usually soft foam polymeric materials.
How is soundproofing of a car done in practice?
First, you need to disassemble the interior of the car: remove the seats, the headliner and doors, the torpedo. Before gluing with materials, the surface is degreased with acetone or solvent and allowed to dry for 5-10 minutes. Then the first layer is glued - the material "Favorite". It is a self-adhesive material based on a mixture of rubbers protected from the front side by a rather thick aluminum foil. Excellent vibro-damping. The main processing areas are: floor, tunnel, doors, fire-wall, roof, hood and trunk lids. Favorite provides 100% hermetic surface coverage thanks to its soft ("raw") rubber base. Thus, the surface does not come into contact with air or moisture. Accordingly, "Favorite" has additional anti-corrosion properties. With its help, you will get rid of the hum of the car body, noise from the suspension, i.e. from the low-frequency component of the noise spectrum. When properly installed, it adheres perfectly to almost any surface. It should be noted that Favorite is the least critical to the surface quality of all materials.
As for door processing, for example, when the speaker is rigidly fixed in the door frame, the “Favorite” is glued over the entire surface in order to prevent acoustic closure, which reduces the speaker's response in the low-frequency region. A fully damped and partially sealed door solves the main problem when placing front speakers - to create conditions for the maximum possible return in the frequency range below 500 Hz. Almost all cars have a dip in the frequency response in the range of 150-500 Hz, and it is impossible to compensate for it without losing the concept of "sound stage" without a good return in this area from the front acoustics.
The next material is called "Comfort". It is based on polyethylene foam. There are 2 thicknesses: 4 or 8 mm. It also has a sticky layer and is glued over the Favorite.
Such a "sandwich" is glued to the most problematic areas in terms of noise: on the floor, doors, fire-wall. This multi-layer composition contains everything you need to effectively combat noise and vibration: a sticky bitumen base, an aluminum vibro-damping layer, a porous closed cell sound absorber and a dense outer layer. Noises will not pass!
For more thorough processing in the places where metal and plastic come into contact, a special tape "Antisqueak" is used. To eliminate squeaks and rattles, the joints between plastic parts and fiberboard door panels are processed and, if possible, strengthened. Particular attention is paid to the ringing parts of the door unlocking mechanisms and power windows. The cost of such "small" works increases the total cost by approximately 1.5 times. But since, against the background of a general noise reduction, even a slight rattling on certain sections of roads causes irritation, many car owners, after processing, return to eliminate the small noises that were previously lost. Drivers of loud cars or any diesel car are no longer talking in an undertone with a passenger, because they want complete silence. Unfortunately, this is not possible in a car. However, the noise reduction by 2-2.5 times is very noticeable for hearing.
Very often, car owners, hoping to hear subtle overtones, which emphasize the quality and natural sounding of instruments, increase the volume and twist the tone control to the limit. The effect is the opposite - the amplifier is overloaded, the speakers receive a distorted signal, and the car itself begins to hum and ring with all the elements of the cabin in time with the low-frequency passages. In this case, you will not get pleasure either from music or from driving. An attempt to install an ultra-low-frequency subwoofer in the car does not work if you do not take measures to eliminate the resonance phenomena of the car interior. The peak of these resonances from raw metal and plastic panels falls exactly in the frequency range reproduced by SUBWOOFER-20 - 100 Hz. Because of this, the bass does not sound clean and soft, but with an anguished wheeze.
Surely, some people have a question: is it worth spending money on anti-noise installing? In principle, noise has become a familiar part of our life, and even when selling a car, it will not be appreciated. However, with the current demand for this type of service, it will be more difficult to sell your car in two years if it is without upgrades. Therefore, a car with characteristic tuning bells and whistles is unlikely to stay long in the sales section. Individuality and comfort are the very advantages that you get with anti-noise treatment of the body and interior.
Anti-noise treatment has only one drawback - no one does it for nothing. But the desire to travel in a more comfortable environment contributes to the popularity of this type of service.