Hey Everyone,

I took a 2002 WRX Wagon for a Test Drive the other day and I am seriously considering buying it....but....it seems to me the interior is pretty noisy with road noise.

Anyone know if the soundproofing is skimpy on these cars? I am not looking for luxury sedan soundproofing quality....but a little more deadening on these cars would have been nice.

Anyone every added sound proofing? Dynamat...etc?

Thanks for any input!

- Rye

The interior sound of the WRX is TERRIBLE compared to other cars in its class -- even my wife's Civic is quieter inside.

If you look in your trunk, you will see a lot of the problem -- a THIN piece of plywood covered with a micro-thin layer of felt is all you get. Below that is bare metal, then the road! Inside the wheel wells there is nothing, and the engine firewall is also milimeters thick.

When the WRX won Car of the Year in 2002, the interior noise was cited as the biggest drawback!

So I am also very interested to hear people's experiences with limiting this noise. I saw a SWEET trunk liner for sale on one of the suby parts threads, so I think I will pick one of those up and then line it with soundproofing foam before putting it down.

Also, the stock tires on the WRX (Potenzas) are quite noisy. A friend of mine went to Yokohamas and he said they are much quieter.

I've been checking out this company called "Quiet Car"

From what I read on their site, the product looks good, easy to install, and is much cheaper that dynamat

www.quietcoat.com

i double lined my doors. one on the outter skin and then on the inner webbing. i threw some in the trunk. all that gave my car the heavy solid feel when i drive. i don't have the tin can feeling. i then added some foam carpeting under my carpets and that took away some of that road noise. i think the noise that is still present is coming from the roof which is bare behind the liner. my doors now close with a thud too.

overall i added about 10-14 pounds of weight which won't hurt too much on the performance.

i used raamat. try and check out the stereo forum here for sound dampening questions. you'll get alot more feed back.

That quietcar demo is nice... I just wonder how much of a pain in the ass it is to paint that **** on your car.... I'm all for it but how would you take everything apart then put the inside lineing back on?


-Nigel

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies!

Very informative!

Keep it comming!

- Rye -

Drive a Miata for 5 years, then complain to me about road noise! Wha???? Speak up!

I've used e-dead to quiet a CRV before and I like the stuff. It smells like tar though and I have no idea how long it takes to go away.

Does anyone have any idea about how long the asphalt smell lingers?

THanks,

Ironic, since I wanna take out my sound-deadening material to save some dead weight :D
Oh, and if you want interior sound, try a Lotus Elise :eek:

I used the dynamat extreme door kits for all four doors on my sedan. I honestly can't tell you there is a day and night difference in road noise, but my speakers sound better. I had a little bit left over and was considering using the rest to either line the back of my seats, or seeing if I could line part of the firewall.

The noise of my WRX is horrible i can believe that a car that is so xpensive and high class produce this noise days later i drove a Hyundai accent and is more quiet noiseless than the WRX this noise makes my audio system distorted.

Let me reiterate a vital point: The WRX is first and foremost a SPORTS car. Too many people complain about features that a car its price should supposedly have: why no leather? why no moonroof? why no dual climate control? WHY?! I'll tell you why: these features get in the way of the WRX's true mission of being a fast car. So why's it so expensive? Because you're paying for performance! I can't think of any other car in this price range that can outspeed or outmaneuver the WRX, except maybe (shudder) that glorified Neon of an SRT-4. Then again, the SRT-4 doesn't even have rear power windows!
Look, I can understand the desire to soundproof the WRX if you wanna make it a family car. But it sure seems that a lot of people have some kinda misconception that the WRX is "high class" or "luxurious", but it's not. Its heritage literally lies in the dirt and the mud. It's the automotive equivalent of a bar figher. The fact that it comes in 4doors and wagon form is b/c most countries outside of the US have a rich heritage of sports sedans and wagons. Count your blessings that the Impreza didn't stay a coupe. If you say that there's too much road noise b/c your children are uncomfortable sitting in the family car, then I say that's legitimate. But if you say the road noise is getting in the way of you bumping your music, then maybe you should have gotten a Civic or a Hyundai Accent like voyager2000 said so eloquently stated without the use of ANY punctation whatsoever.

Originally posted by Choku Dori
Let me reiterate a vital point: The WRX is first and foremost a SPORTS car. Too many people complain about features that a car its price should supposedly have: why no leather? why no moonroof? why no dual climate control? WHY?! I'll tell you why: these features get in the way of the WRX's true mission of being a fast car. So why's it so expensive? Because you're paying for performance! I can't think of any other car in this price range that can outspeed or outmaneuver the WRX, except maybe (shudder) that glorified Neon of an SRT-4. Then again, the SRT-4 doesn't even have rear power windows!
Look, I can understand the desire to soundproof the WRX if you wanna make it a family car. But it sure seems that a lot of people have some kinda misconception that the WRX is "high class" or "luxurious", but it's not. Its heritage literally lies in the dirt and the mud. It's the automotive equivalent of a bar figher. The fact that it comes in 4doors and wagon form is b/c most countries outside of the US have a rich heritage of sports sedans and wagons. Count your blessings that the Impreza didn't stay a coupe. If you say that there's too much road noise b/c your children are uncomfortable sitting in the family car, then I say that's legitimate. But if you say the road noise is getting in the way of you bumping your music, then maybe you should have gotten a Civic or a Hyundai Accent like voyager2000 said so eloquently stated without the use of ANY punctation whatsoever.


When you put it like that, it makes me want to drive my car and hear the engine and everything or go rallying...heheh

True about the road noise though... after a while it can get annoying, I say this only because I am driving an hour back and worth to work... once I get my turbo back exhaust I am sure I will love to hear it :-) But until then all I can hear is either my music or the road noise..lol

-Nigel

Originally posted by Choku Dori
Let me reiterate a vital point: The WRX is first and foremost a SPORTS car. Too many people complain about features that a car its price should supposedly have: why no leather? why no moonroof? why no dual climate control? WHY?! I'll tell you why: these features get in the way of the WRX's true mission of being a fast car.

And herein lies the problem. A lot of people here drive the Outback Sports and 2.5TS which has the same noise level but not the same perfomance.

My car is the family car, I want it to be quieter, and therefore this thread is great in my opinion. :)

:banana: :banana:
:banana: :banana:

1. Where are the best places to add layers of soundproofing like Dynamat or e-dead in order to most effectively quiet the ride?

2. How long does it take for the tar smell of these products to go away?

JC

Does anyone know if the 04 has this problem as badly as the 02-03 models?

Well, I bougth and O4 WRX Wagon and its not as loud as I expected it to be based on what I had read...still, its as loud as my 2000 VW Golf 2.0l was and that was not the most quiet engine. I have no basis to compare it to a 2002 WRX though.

We should do some tests of DB levels at different speeds inside 2002 and 2004 wagons.

Anyone have a DB meter they can lend out?

JC

Originally posted by darkstarinhell
Does anyone know if the 04 has this problem as badly as the 02-03 models?

Definately yes. Nothing compared to a 97 Saturn, but still loud.

This is indeed an interesting thread - I'm especially intrigued by that quietcoat stuff that was mentioned in an earlier post...

anyone have any experience with this stuff?:confused:

Originally posted by Kuth678
And herein lies the problem. A lot of people here drive the Outback Sports and 2.5TS which has the same noise level but not the same perfomance.

My car is the family car, I want it to be quieter, and therefore this thread is great in my opinion. :)

Ah no one brought up the N/A Imprezas and I was too careless too realize that interior noise levels were similar for them too. But like I said family comfort is a worthy cause, even if it's for the WRX. Complaining that the road noise drowns out your Britney Spears CD doesn't really cut it; it was the intent of those folks that I was questioning :D

dude i can't bump my initial D in my bare car, can i plz put some stuff on so my system doesn't sound like all treble? =P

Coming from an 87' Jetta GL to a wrx then to the STi........the wrx is a freakin MBZ compared to the other two :D If your complaint is the road noise, i would have to venture a guess and say that most of that stuff does come from the trunk, and perhaps the inner wheelwells. I put 2 sheets of dynamat xtreme in my front doors and two small squares around my back speakers, but it does nothing for the road noise, so i wouldn't suggest putting squat in the doors unless you're having speaker issues, as there should already be some foam or something in the wrx doors.

Originally posted by Seraph
dude i can't bump my initial D in my bare car, can i plz put some stuff on so my system doesn't sound like all treble? =P

Yeah Rockin, it's called dual 12's in the trunk :D
But back to the matter at hand... Another contributing factor to cabin noise could be your tires, particularly on the highway. Read a few reviews and go for quieter tires.

I hear RE070's have tons of road noise, the only experience I have is with my car... but I haven't heard a STi with S03's or other tires yet, so I really don't know.

Any how, reviving this thread, anybody try out the spray stuff yet? Also, how much should I expect to pay for 100SqFt of Dynamat? I saw it going for 100 dollars on Ebay.

Signed,
Outferno