Attention all lovers of big engines, purring exhausts, and oversized tires - we know your secret... Every day you walk out to your driveway and admire your car. You love the face your friends make when they hear you rev up for the first time. You love to look out over the cars around you as you sit up on your custom wheels. But love comes at a price, and sometimes, you wish you could just have a quiet highway ride.

It’s ok, this is a safe space. If anyone understands the joy and tranquility a quiet cabin can bring you, it’s us. And as much as you love what your car is capable of, you wish you didn’t have to hear it all the time.

Well folks, there is a solution. Whether you just want a quieter ride for those long drives, or you want to get more out of your car audio system, soundproofing the floor of your car is a surefire way to get rid of road noise and that dreaded exhaust drone.

Porsche with Sound Deadener (R) and Noise Barrier (L)

Road Noise

Although we all dream of driving the smooth blacktops we see in car commercials, the reality is our daily lives don’t look like that. Rougher roads cause vibrations which move through your car and can be heard throughout your cabin. Not to mention the debris that is constantly being thrown at the bottom of your car, even worse so if you find yourself on gravel, dirt, or heavily salted roads.

Mechanical Noise

There’s a lot happening underneath you as you drive, and the one of the results is noise. The exhaust is purring, the drivetrain is spinning, the wheels are rolling, and don’t forget about the sound traveling down from the engine and the turbo. The job of these parts is to help propel your car forward, and generally speaking the more powerful they are at that job, the louder they become.

Porsche Targa 911 Stripped and Cleaned

Remove everything, and we mean everything. Start with the seats, and then carefully disassemble the center console. Use this opportunity to vacuum and find those headphones you dropped under your seat last year. Next, slowly remove the carpet and disconnect wiring as needed. Pay attention to how far your carpet extends, this will determine how much of your trim or paneling you’ll need to remove. Lastly clean the space thoroughly, there’s probably a lot of gunk or loose change that’s gotten trapped underneath everything.

PRO TIPS

Thoroughly wipe down and clean the sheet metal with denatured alcohol. Damplifier Pro™ is very sticky on its own, but doing this step will increase the bond strength of your sound deadening material.

Since sound is ultimately just vibrations, a car or truck sound deadening material works by damping those vibrations. The parts underneath and around your car are moving a lot, which causes vibration, The stronger the vibrations, the stronger the sounds waves that travel through the metal and inevitably into your ears. Applying the Damplifier Pro™ sound deadening mat to the floor of your car will stop those vibrations, and cut the noise from the car's floor.

If you’re driving a much older vehicle you might have a nice flat floor to work with, but most likely at this point you’re staring at a car floor full of curves, divots, and bumps. Obviously this is done to accompany the mechanics, but it makes your job a little bit harder. Leave your material out in the sun for a few minutes to make it more pliable. Then, apply firmly to as much as the floor as possible with a hand roller. You want to cover at least 60% of the metal, with a focus on the flatter, less structurally sound surfaces.

Sound Deadening Mat Alternative

Seeking an alternative to sound deadening mats? Our Spectrum™ Spray On Deadener is an easy-to-use alternative for those who prefer paint. Just apply 2-3 1mm layers for results you just can't beat!

Now that you’ve minimized the noise coming from your car, the next step is to keep noise from getting in with an MLV sound barrier. Mass loaded vinyl is a dense material designed to keep sound from getting through. You want to cover as close to 100% of the floor as possible w/ Luxury Liner Pro, our best automotive noise barrier. Seal all gaps with foil tape to keep sound from leaking through any gaps in your barrier layer.

Since the sound blocking material is thicker, clearance may be an issue around certain areas like seats or mounting points. If you run into this, you can trim down the foam side to thin out the material. DO NOT cut away from the vinyl, as that’s what’s blocking all the noise.

HOW TO INSTALL MASS LOADED VINYL

Bring Luxury Liner Pro™ as far up the cabin side firewall as possible to add firewall soundproofing and block out engine noise. Luxury Liner Pro™ has a high r-value, too. So, it'll also add heat insulation to keep out engine and exhaust heat.

We call them our Vehicle Build Kits. And they contain all the material you need to completely insulate your car or truck floor. Start with a sound deadener to stop those structural vibrations. Damplifier Pro is the best there is. Then get your noise barrier in there to block airborne noise. Luxury Liner Pro will block all those remaining unwanted noises coming up through the floor. Also, grabbing some foil tape to seal all the seams is a great additional benefit.

• Damplifier Pro should be applied with 60% coverage across the entire floor, cabin side firewall, and trunk (if you have one). If you have extra material, you definitely need to get those doors.
• Luxury Liner Pro should be installed on the cabin side firewall, floor, and trunk. If you have a truck, the back wall can be done as well!