Dynamat/sound deadening

[Redmax]

Has anybody used Dynamat or similar under the carpets please? I don't mind some engine noise but I'm a bit worried about how whether the aluminium panels will create an echo chamber in the interior!

Thanks

Jason

[Westfield 129]

I have some really difinite opinions about this. I think that efforts to silence the basic sounds of a W11 is a waste of time, and ruins the car's appeal if not the performance.

I have seen a car with lots of sound deadening in the floor (Dynamat), on the frame and side pods (Lizzardskin paint), and the thing was stil noisy, and over 100 lbs heavier. This is not really a good solution.

I suggest that you drive the car before doing anything. It's an open sports racing car, and will be, well, a bit of a visceral experience. Not like an MX5 Miata, or even a Mk 4 Sprite.

I would worry about heat on LHD cars (the driver's firewall is next to the exhaust header, and it gets hot in the footwell).

The noise is typical open car. Wind noise, engine noise. Being a race car by design, you will hear the suspension working, and the body panels moving around on the chassis. There are metal on metal hinges for the front and rear clamshells, and the panels work against themselves as all the mating surfaces are 'glass to 'glass unless you put stripping between them. In any case, you won't hear the body work over the wind noise or the engine. If you have a straight cut gearbox, that will make more noise than anything, engine or wind. A lot more...

Don't compromise the car by trying to make it something it was not intended to be.

On long trips, i wear earplugs to reduce the sound of surrounding traffic (or my helmet, which is the quietest solution), and the engine. I don't hear any body drumming at all, and would not mind if I did.

[Redmax]

Fine, thanks Jan. As you suggest, I'll try it before worrying about it.

Cheers

Jason

[bobwhittaker]

The sensory overload is all part of the experience , be it a Westfield XI or the original and genuine . One thing
you won't need is a Radio / CD player , intercom possibly .
Bob Whittaker

[Elva 11]

What carpets?
Ear Plugs are popular.
Enjoy.

[Splat]

Yup!

Sound deadening would be a complete waste of time! And money! And would increase weight for absolutely no good effect whatsoever!

I stripped the carpets out of mine and polished the tub instead. I cut ribbed rubber matting for the foot wells and I suppose that to begin with I might have noticed the increased noise at low speed. But at anything over 40, wind noise is the factor. All the mention of earplugs has nothing to do with the noise of the vehicle; it's the visceral effect of having a flyscreen and precious-little else. And frankly, you really don't notice the noise; you're far too busy concentrating on the driving to notice!

What it boils down to is; don't bother! Less really is more with the Eleven!!!

[biggles]

And your passenger should be screaming too

[Simon Marks]

I did a small amount of sound deadening in preparation for my IVA. I tested my car which felt to be rather noisy and obtained a reading of 108dB(A) against the required 99dB(A) - in real terms eight times too loud, considering that dB(A) is a logarithmic scale. I installed two extra Dzus fasteners at the trailing edge of the bonnet (to stop that flapping about) and fitted sound deadening mats to the left side of the engine bay (around the exhaust manifold exit) and the inside of the pontoon. I also installed a sound deadened divider floor beneath the Weber carburettor. Add to this a manifold link pipe made up with a reduced bore second silencer in it and replacing the spark plugs plugs (I had allowed the originals to get sooted up and the engine was running roughly, and more noisily, as a result). After all this, I felt that 97dB(A) was a good achievement. I did all this because of the proximity of the carburettor to the gaping hole of an exhaust outlet from the engine bay - I felt that intake noise could be adding substantially to the total reading 500mm from the exhaust outlet.

With IVA passed, all the modifications have remained other than the silenced link pipe has been rebuilt with one with a 2" bore. I haven't sound tested the car recently but its not quiet!

I don't find my Eleven too wearing to drive from a sound point of view. My car has the head fairing and I usually drive in a wooly hat (pulled down over my ears) and goggles. Yes, it is louder than my Sunbeam Lotus (another hardly subtle car) but, as Splat has said, the wind noise plays a major part. I haven't taken out many passengers and none of them have been able to give an objective view of sound levels afterwards! I agree with the other responses in that the Eleven will never be a quiet car and it would be easy to dull some of its responses in trying to achieve the impossible.