Howiiieee

I love my GS F-Sport RWD with LDH. It is fast, smooth, roomy, agile, and very fun to drive. However, I just wish the road noise is not so intrusive on the highways, especially over concrete roads. At times I feel like I am in a Honda instead of a Lexus. I almost wanted a LS for the quietness, but the LS is just too big and heavy for my kind of driving.

I looked in the forums and search the internet for ways to make the car more quiet. There are actually a few discussions on this topic already (actually more on the IS forum). However, there is no definate answer I found.

Since this road noise issue is driving me nuts, I decided to follow some of the suggestions I found and implementing them to see if I can get the LS quietness in a GS F-Sport. I started this thread so I can share my own experience directly instead of hijacking someone else's thread.

What does the LS have for quietness that the GS does not? Extra sound installation it is. So I figured if I put in more sound insulation materials, the cabin should be much more quiet. I researched a bit and found that Dynamat extreme is the most popular and highly recommanded auto sound insulator around. So I decided to give it the first shot.

I went to my local car audio specialist store and they do carry Dynamat. They quoted me $300 on the material and 5 hours of labor. The total bill comes out to be $650 just to do the floor, no doors. It is a bit expensive and I can probably look around and bargain hard to around $500 if I really try. However, they generally do good work and I want to keep good relationship, so I left the car and got the work done in one day.

Was it worth it? Well, it felt a bit quieter on local road, but once it got on the freeway, especially the concrete surface, the road noise roared as usual. It is a bit less noise as I don't have to turn the stero as loud to cover the noise (like volume at 36 instead of 39). The fedelity of the ML audio is a bit better, too. I think it is better at keeping the sound inside than preventing the sound from outside. So if my goal is better stereo inside the car it is worth it, but keeping the road noise down, it is more to be desired. Maybe I will spend another $350 to do the doors next month when the credit card free up some room and hope it will block out more road noise.

The next culprit I think of is the huge 265/35/19 tires on the rear wheels. The widest tires ever on a Lexus is good for acceleration, but not for road quietness. I had a 3rd gen GS350 that came with Kumho tires and it was noisy as hell. I got so fed up with it, I spent $1200 to get a new set of Bridgestone Turanza Serenity tires to replace them. Well, the difference was so great, I did not have to do anything else for road noise. I felt like driving a Luxury car again. However, the GSFS is an odd size that only Ultra High Pewrformance tires (very expensive) will fit. The Dunlop Sport Maxx is not a cheap tire and still have some good threads left. Will replacing the Dunlop with Michelin solves the road noise problem?

Let me hear what you think?

SW17LS

The road noise is coming from the tires. The best way to reduce that is to change the tires. I can tell you that I have noted a substantial difference in noise between the Dunlops and the Michelins on the cars I've driven, and on other vehicles I've owned. Those were not F Sports.

If noise is more important to you than style or performance, you could always reduce the wheel size down to the 18s and put non-staggered Michelins on it.

You probably should have gotten the Luxury model instead of the F Sport.

mso4

iTrader: (1)

Agree that road noise can be significantly reduced with just tires. I've had Michelin Super Sport and they are super quiet. Continental ExtremeContact DW also very good.

With regard to cabin insulation I found this website very informative.

http://sounddeadenershowdown.com

SoCal350

Continental DWS will give you a great combination of low road noise and performance. They are great tires and last a long time too. Not very expensive.

The Michelins are good until about 1/2 swear...they start to get noisy about 1/2 way through their life.

Alantjai

I don't agree, it is michelin which is good for the whole lifetime without reducing its performance and increasing noise. The other brands are getting noisy instead...

Alantjai

I would try michelin pilot sports, they should reduce road noise compared to the oem tires ( OEM tires are Always more durable, but producing more road noise)

Instead of dynamat, you should also use a barrier and noise absorber.

I did that with the is250, which reduced the roadnoise from 69db > 63 db @ 120kmh

jtrue28

Looks like Pirelli has a new AS Touring tire out, to stay in the same size as OEM (235/40/19). It doesn't have many reviews on TireRack yet, but the few that it has are outstanding...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Might grab those.

Howiiieee

Thanks for the recommandations.

I did think about getting the Luxury model for more quietness. However, the F-Sport is such a special and fun car, I just have to go for it. The thinking was that I can easily find ways to make the F-Sport more quiet, but it will be a lot more difficult to make the Luxury model more performance handling oriented. So here I am.

Howiiieee

Here is my quick review on the Dynamat.

It is a relatively thin but heavy vinyl compund sandwiched in aluminum sheet. It is sticking to the sheet metal part of the car to work as a sound barrier and vibration dampener. I think it is a bit too thin to block much of the noise from outside coming in; however, it is good at keeping the audio sound inside the car's cabinent. It is also very good at reducing the unwanted metal vibration when the bass is pushing the air. I could not smell it even on hot days, which is important.

By wraping dynamat around the car's green house, the end result will be clearer sound from your audio with less distortion and conversation will will easier to hear inside the car's cabinent. However, if you turn off the audio system and not talking, the constant humming from the road and passing traffic are still there. Maybe a bit less, but hard to tell. That's why some reviewers feel it is a great sound improvement, while some reviewers said they can hardly hear or feel the difference.

Some people used Dynamat in more complete coverage (even on roof, trunk, and under the hood) and even multiple layers to block more noises from the outside. Of course the more and thicker sound barrier the better. However, Dynamat is not light and can add 30lb to 80 lbs to the car, whic is defeating some of the hard work the engineers did to take some weight off the car for better performance. If performance is still a concern, I would recommand just to do the lower part of the car, like just the floor and the doors. This will keep the center of gravity low and not hurting the performance of the car much.

Of course, if you are putting big amps and huge subwoofer on the back of the car, they are super heavy already. Dynamat is a must in the rear deck and the trunk just to dampen the metal vibration from the bass. A much heavier car will definately hurt the car's dynamic, but different people have different priorities for their rides.

In conclusion, I think Dynamat is great for better audio sound in the car, but not as effective at blocking the road and traffic noise from the outside. More extra padding will be needed to make the GS as quiet as the LS.

sydtoosic

whatever road surface you are driving on (freshly paved, concrete, etc.) will determine the noise coming from the tires. i have Continental Extreme Contact DWS and they are great tires, although if the road is smooth then i here nothing, if i'm driving on concrete then i hear a small amount of road noise. if you're driving on a rough, semi-rough road surface, i don't care what type of tires you have you will hear road noise, IMO there is no way around it unless you're driving all day on freshly paved smooth as cooking oil roads. the dynamat, (which now comes in black) will not stop the road noise from seeping into the cabin. if you take out the seats and carpet and dynamat the frame, rip out all the carpet in the trunk and dynamat the trunk, you may be able to reduce some of the noise but not all. i had a car fully dynamatted (floor, roof, doors, trunk and under the hood) and the road noise was reduced but i used to have the system up so loud that it really didn't matter. My LS is quiet as a tomb until i get on certain roads, so the tires really don't matter... "BUT", get some good tires.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

michelins are hands down the best tires made but they're also hands down the most expensive.

the wheel well liner can also be sound-insulated which can help to stop sound intruding in the car so much, but nothing will make as big a difference as quieter tires.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Like everyone is saying, the tires make alot of road noise. This is why i switched out the bridgestones which were giving harsh ride and emitted alot of noise. My michelin primacy mxm4 tires are smooth and quieter. I would not do any insulation or all that until getting better tires.

Howiiieee

Update on the Dynamat review.

I had some room in the credit card freed up, so I went ahead and have the same shop that did Dynamat for my floor to cover the 4 doors with Dynamat as well. They did a very clean job, but it was not cheap. It cost me $1010 ($650 floor+ $360 doors) to cover the floor and doors with Dynamat extreme. About half of them are material and half for labor. So if you know how to do it yourself and buy the Dynamat online instead, this can cost less then $400 and around 8 hours of work.

The updated result - slightly better on road noise blocking, but big improvement on cabinet audio quality.

The road noise on slow speed is very quiet, but on cement freeway, the tire roar loudly and into the cabinet still. It is hard to tell the difference if the audio is off.

However, once the audio is on, especially with ML audio, the sound quality is much clearer. I do not have to turn the volume as loud as before to enjoy the same level. What really helped, is the rattling noise from the doors when the bass is booming is mostly gone. The result is a much cleaner bass and the mid. I can hear more details on all kind of music, too. I can use the louder, clearer audio the mask most of the road noise, so it is a better driving experience and satifaction over all.

One extra issue I had was the rattling switch panel on the driver's door. I put a strip of Dynamat on the panel's end and the surrounding area and that rattle noise is mostly gone, too. When I have time, I will open up the panel and put Dynamat underneath the panel and inside the housing so it will look factory clean again.

Conclusion - Was $1010 worth it? If you like me, who love your music while driving and plan to keep your car for a long time, yes!!! It is a bit pricy, but the enjoyment and satisfaction of owning a LS quality sound in a GS FS will last for years. There are ways to reduce the cost if you know what to do or bargain hard.

There is still the road noise issue. Especially in the morning when I mostly like to listen to the news radio instead. I will next replace my tires with Michelin PSS and update the difference when it is done.

larryinWA

It would be ineteresting to use a device to capture measurements and actual improvements with each change you make. I like statistcs. Any idea what it would cost to buy an instrument for this purpose?