Just finished adding some Home Depot soundproofing to the Jag. The DB meter on my phone says it is 3-5 DB quieter. Too new to post pics so I didn't take any.
Used the 12" wide foam and aluminum roll that is sold in the Heat and Air section.
Removed inner door panel and covered the doors.
Removed rear seat and covered under the seat and behind the seat back
Removed the carpet on both sides of the "Trunk" ( I have a 2007 coupe) . Removed spare tire and battery cover. Applied the material to all the painted areas.
Covered the underside of the spare tire cover. I think it acted like a big bass drum.

Reinstalled everything and tested.

Also added a plug to the "Intake Noise Tube".

Much happier now. Most of the roads around here are chip seal and cause a lot of tire noise. Even 3 DB is noticeable.

 

Well done a 3-5db reduction should be quite noticeable.

Will the Home Depot stuff be able to dissipate moisture though...albeit you don't get much in your part of NM (with less than half the rainfall of the average fr the US)

Have driven a bit in NM (mainly Clovis and Albuquerque) and the roads were atrocious

What tyres are you running and what's their Db rating? I remember a few years back that Michelin Pilot Super Sports came in at about 67db where the noisiest were about 73, not sure what's quiet now though.

 

The OP's signature shows that he has a 2007 XK. If he had a 2007 XKR, he could have replaced that unwanted noise with symphonic music simply by removing Fuse 19.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkyUK

Well done a 3-5db reduction should be quite noticeable.

Will the Home Depot stuff be able to dissipate moisture though...albeit you don't get much in your part of NM (with less than half the rainfall of the average fr the US)"

Continental Extreme Contact. Previous owner put them on. They are a couple years old but only a couple thousand mile so I will be living with them for quite awhile.

 

I often have a 400 mile round trip to the Doctor. "Symphonic" music from the exhaust is great for short trips but grows old after a couple hundred. If you have ever driven on chip seal for a few hundred miles you would understand.

 

I now understand your plight, as I never heard of "chip seal" roads. I thought that paved public roads were either concrete or asphalt. I Googled "chip seal roads", read a few articles, and learned about the pros and cons of each type of surfacing. Cost and longevity are major considerations; chip seal costs less but has a shorter life. I noted that chip seal needs heavy truck traffic to sufficiently compress the slurry and result in a smooth surface. Because chip seal may not be as smooth as concrete or asphalt, it can be annoyingly noisy to drive on for extended periods of time. Sure, tires can make a difference, but there's only so much that a tire can do when the road itself is the big problem.

Hopefully, your added insulation will make a significant difference in the road noise so your XK will be more enjoyable.

 

I find run flat tires more sound absorbing.
I was toying with the idea of doubling up the wheel arch liners on a previous car but the moment passed when we decided to just play the music louder.

 

The drone from chip seal gives me headaches and I am very hard of hearing. I turn my hearing aids off on long trips. And yes, the insulation has made the cabin noticeably quieter. And the seat is amazing. It fits me perfect.

New Mexico has some weird politics. Most of the Revenue comes from oil and gas in South East New Mexico. Most of it is spent North of I-40. So we get chip seal. Normally the State waits until the semi traffic has already created ruts that ride rough and make a lot of noise and then they just throw an oil slurry and gravel on top of it to "Extend" the useful life of the road. Loose gravel causes a lot of chipped windshields and paint. But Northern New Mexico has nicer roads.

Back in the Early 60's, Johnson threatened Roswell that if the city voted Republican he would close the Air Base. We had a Large Strategic Bomber Base with a very long runway, We were designated an as emergency landing strip for the Space Shuttle. I'll give Johnson credit for being a man of his word. He closed Walker Air Force Base. It really hurt Roswell for decades. Recently Roswell was doing well because of oil and gas drilling and a new politician shut down oil and gas drilling on all Federal Land just a couple weeks ago. New Mexico's primary source of revenue is going away. Maybe now Northern New Mexico will also get chip seal.

Our Governor was just caught be a very Liberal Newspaper spending $13,500 taxpayer dollars on booze and other high end niceties during the Covid Lockdowns. She had staff over to the mansion while telling us to stay home.

 

Shakespeare was right.

 

I take this as a satirical comment and not a literal threat on any politician's life. With that caveat, you are a wise individual.
I'm not trying to turn this forum into a political forum. It's just the truth that Santa Fe ( State Capitol ) chooses to spend more money on themselves than Roswell (where I live). And the result of this choice is chip seal road noise, which brings us back to the original post.

 

I had always heard that run flats were noisier. I'll check into them when I replace mine. Thanks for the tip.
The radio has to be very loud to drown out chip seal. It is amazing how quiet the car is on good pavement.

 

To help you understand. Using a very non scientific app in my phone, the road noise is 89-90 DB before the sound proofing. It is now 85-86 or so with the sound proofing.

 

I’d never heard the term ‘chip seal’ either, but after googling, I see that those are the type of roads that existed where I grew up in WI. They were more flexible for the temperature extremes we had, didn’t heave and crack in the summer, but the heavy truck traffic did make for some interesting surfaces, as truck bounce would result in some rolly-polly riding. Didn’t notice road noise, as you couldn’t go fast enough and stay in control.

 

Of course, I wasn't threatening anyone. It was a timely joke, which was apparent from my intentional misquote of William Shakespeare to elevate politicians over lawyers on his hit list.

 

Didn't think you were serious for a second. But some people are able to find fault with just about any joke. Face Book fact checked the meme about the Amish not getting COVID because they don't have TV. It's a sad day when a joke gets fact checked.

 

Don't get me started about everything that's wrong today. It started in 1973, when the draft was abolished.

 

I do wonder what the sound difference is between coupe and convertable.
For Coups, most of the sound is from the back.

If you really want to step up the road noise as an experiment, drive without the rear spare tire cover.
That cover dampens a lot of noise, even if it still lets a lot pass.

 

I covered the bottom of the spare tire lid with the Home Depot stuff. I think it worked as a speaker for bass noises before covering it. When I held it up and struck it with a hand before it would quite a noise and even ring a little. Now it is a dull thunk. I also added soundproofing to the spare tire well.

 

Craniac, you're in Roswell? I grew up there! I graduated from Goddard and moved away in 1984.

You probably have the only XK in the whole town.

The last time I was there was in 2010. My wife and I took a road trip in the 2003 XK8 that I owned at the time. We stayed in Roswell just one night. It was cool seeing it again, but it was also disappointing. Roswell is really going downhill in my opinion.

 

First moved to Roswell in '86. moved away in '88 and back about ten years ago. You're right about me probably having the only XK in town. However, I have a yellow Chevy SSR. There are at least two in town but nobody knows there is more than one. People often say they saw me driving somewhere when it wasn't me.

We love Roswell. Plan to retire here. Wife is now teaching Special Ed at Goddard.