NickTee

Like he said, 3 decibel is half the SPL and 10 decibel reduction is cutting the perceived noise in half, ie 70 decibel is half as loud as 80 decibel.
Another thing to consider is that the microphone is designed to operate specifically some frequencies and the number shown is only an average. It may have had a higher impact on certain frequencies and less impact on others.
So what really matters in this case is the perceived difference in sound.

corradoMR2

Correct. The test was merely to show a relative drop in perceived and measured noise but in no way was this a scientifically accurate test with the basic equipment used. However, you can tell from the video with good speakers the after sound has less high frequency noise.

I expect a similar incremental drop in noise if I add the ECF in the door panels which I may do. But I'd love to tackle the more noticeable wind noise that still comes through the glass...

NickTee

If it's not wind noise coming through the seal, that's never going to happen and that's precisely the weakness of all sound deadening endeavors. The biggest improvement is if you can get thicker glass or the double-pane glass, which is ridiculously costly for the noise reduction.
Your best bet is to find out if there is a source of turbulence around the window, which would lead to the sound of wind. Air traveling smoothly past the window is not going to make much noise unless it's horribly turbulent to begin with. On the 2007 ES350, the issue was the size and design of the side mirrors, on the RX it was blamed on the roof rack. If you want to test wind getting in the seals, simply take painter's tape and tape around the entire window's edges(where it meets the seals) and do the same for around the door seals. Also do it on the horizontal chrome trim at the bottom of the window, as I have heard people talking about wind noise coming from here, and the black trim piece that is directly in front of the window(this was identified as the main wind source on the early LS460s). When you apply the tape, you need it to be as flat as possible so it doesn't disturb the airflow. The trickiest one will be the edges around the top of the window. Take it for a test drive and see if the wind noise that you've identified as disappeared. If it has, you know that you're having issues with one of the seals and you simply need to remove a section of tape at a time from the seal area until the sound returns. Once it's returned, retape and see if it disappears. If it does, that's your area and you can go to the dealership and have them perform the same test so that they can identify it and try to fix it. The easiest way to proceed is to tape the whole thing and pull over on the side of the road to remove each piece, rather than returning home.

If the noise does not disappear when it's taped, you know it's futile to blame the window seals or the black trim piece. You should also look underneath the car. On the body and frame of the car, there should be holes that were utilized to move the car along the assembly line and used for strapping purposes. These holes should have rubber plugs placed in them by the dealership upon arrival(PDI). There are a number of cars where these plugs fell out, were installed incorrectly, or were never installed to begin with. This caused wind noise around the a-pillar in the GS and the ES, which was solved by installing the plugs. If you have any open holes on the bottom of the car, you're probably missing the plugs.
See this thread for information on said plugs:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...r-diy-fix.html

A final thought on this would be in regards to what I read about the wind noise people suffered in their Honda Accord. They identified that the wind noise was actually caused by the air going through the seal at the front of the car's hood, where the grille and the front of the hood meet. So you can take the tape and tape along the front of the hood where it seals against the bumper, as I have indicated with this diagram. See if the noise disappears. If it does, then remove the tape one piece at a time until it reappears:



Here is a diagram that I made to indicate places to tape along when you do your testing(I couldn't find a good driver's side photo, so just do what I did here on the driver's side). Obviously you won't be able to enter the driver's side door after taping along the door seal, so go through another door. The different colors have no specific meaning, it was simply to show you to tape those areas and to avoid confusing you with overlapping lines of identical color:

corradoMR2

^^^Good writeup. I have implemented this test around the mirrors in the dedicated Noises thread here. Let's keep this discussion in there. I would love to get feedback from others.

NickTee

Posted over there. If you're thinking of opening the doors up, I would highly recommend adding CLD tiles at a minimum(those prevent the outside door from vibrating and causing resonation), MLV with the cork foam if you're willing to splurge. Since it has to be purchased in larger quantities, you can put the rest around the areas previously covered and you'll notice an even greater reduction in noise.

Dezoris

Once you get into the audiophile arena of sound insulation, baffling and deadening your head will explode! Think car people are ****.

Good link.

tresmith00

Corrado's video got me curious to find out how loud it was in my cabin. Especially, since I just changed out the loud summer tires to a vastly more quiet all season ones.

I've said this before that the new tires definitely made a huge difference in quieting down the cabin and now it was time to find out how much.

So I downloaded one of those decibel apps and turned it on during one of my errands. I did some local and highway driving.

And I was really surprised to find that on average app registered 55 to 59 decibels rarely going over 60.

Unfortunately I didn't take any before measurements but believe me it is very noticeable.

The only bad thing is that this was a $600 investment vs Corrado's $75. ouch!

corradoMR2

^^^ For sure, tires make a huge difference. Enjoy!