[Chris914]

I’d like to get the 65 mph cabin noise in my RAV4 down to about what I hear at 35-45 mph, if it’s at all possible.

I’m wondering what the most efficient / simple / cost effective / impactful way to do this might be. In other words, the most effective per dollar.

Touring tires?

Underbody coating?

Paying a company to tear the car down and insulate behind all of the interior panels, under the carpets, etc?

Something else?

I would say putting felt in the doors made a big difference for me. It was cheap and easy to do, $40.

If you have a 2019 you can get the OEM 2020 engine hood insulation. $200-$300 and very easy to install.

Install sound deadening material like Noico throughout the entire interior. $100-$300. Very work intensive.

I've done all of these. If you pay someone else to do them the labor would be easily over a $1000.

I'm now very happy with my 2019 Rav4 Adventure. It now sounds and feel like a Luxury SUV. But still with all the fun of the Rav4.

The last impactful thing for me is to replace the Toyo tires that came on the vehicle.

For the felt you can look at this page with everyone else's sound deadening efforts.

The sound deadening project

You laugh but it made me think about what you could do to reduce the sound coming though the windows. Since Toyota didn't bless the Rav4 with noise reduction glass, which is two layers of glass with plastic in the center, I thought the next best thing would be to tint the windows. My Rav4 came...

www.rav4world.com

 

[BecauseICanTBH]

I would say putting felt in the doors made a big difference for me. It was cheap and easy to do, $40.

If you have a 2019 you can get the OEM 2020 engine hood insulation. $200-$300 and very easy to install.

Install sound deadening material like Noico throughout the entire interior. $100-$300. Very work intensive.

I've done all of these. If you pay someone else to do them the labor would be easily over a $1000.

I'm now very happy with my 2019 Rav4 Adventure. It now sounds and feel like a Luxury SUV. But still with all the fun of the Rav4.

The last impactful thing for me is to replace the Toyo tires that came on the vehicle.

For the felt you can look at this page with everyone else's sound deadening efforts.

The sound deadening project

You laugh but it made me think about what you could do to reduce the sound coming though the windows. Since Toyota didn't bless the Rav4 with noise reduction glass, which is two layers of glass with plastic in the center, I thought the next best thing would be to tint the windows. My Rav4 came...

www.rav4world.com

Thanks a bunch for this incredibly useful post.

Any comment on the sound reducing impact of the engine hood insulation?

Also, do you have any recommendations for “quiet tire” replacements? Did you put that last because it didn’t make much of a difference?

 

[Lindenwood]

Of note, the two quotes I received were $55/door and $75/door to install Noico sound-reducing mat on all my doors, including the hatch. Plus another $350 I'd imagine to do under the cargo floor. I needed ~$140 in materials to do it, so it would have been ~$500-600 had I had it done professionally, and I have no way of knowing how thorough they would have been. Plus, indeed, the OEM hood liner is several hundred dollars, so you certainly would approach that $1000 mark do have it all done professionally. The same Noico mat can be used under the hood, for about $15 and made a notable difference for me.

I did all my interior sound deadening work in around 5 hours, I believe.

I even stuck a big piece on the sunroof glass since I either leave it covered, or open it completely.

The doors, hatch, and under the cargo area made a significant notable difference to me. The piece on the sunroof glass knocked out a bit more of the remaining wind noise from the roof bars. I usually drive to work at 55mph, and listen to music at around "15" on the volume, if that tells you anything.

The last noisy thing for me are my tires. I didnt notice them until I did all the sound deadening, and now they are the loudest thing--not horrible, but a noticable whirring sound above 30mph. Unfortunately, they only have 5k miles on them, they otherwise perform great in rain, snow, and offroad, and I am already on my third set for this vehicle after two wheel changes lol.

Indeed, noise is the one complaint most have a out Ravs, but it certainly is fixable.

 

[BecauseICanTBH]

@Lindenwood Another excellent post, thank you very much! I'd definitely have it done professionally, so the $ figures are very helpful. I can't be bothered with DIY installations anymore unless they're portable and can be moved to my next vehicle, whenever and whatever that might be. I've actually made some pretty ******* portable-install innovations that I'm quite proud of. For soundproofing though, I don't think portable can be done.

 

[LostStick1]

Like many others, I tackled sound deadening of my car with Noico material. Of all of stuff I put in, the deadening to the rear wheel arches helped the most. It was straightfoward but I had to take apart some panels. I am sure there's a way you can apply material externally with a deadening spray. You would just take the wheels off and spray directly on the exterior of wheel wells.

 

[Chris914]

Thanks a bunch for this incredibly useful post.

Any comment on the sound reducing impact of the engine hood insulation?

Also, do you have any recommendations for “quiet tire” replacements? Did you put that last because it didn’t make much of a difference?

To me the engine hood insulation reduced 50% of the engine noise. Which I like. I can still here what the engine is doing.

I waited to last with the tires because I couldn't hear them over everything else. I also want to get my money's worth from them. I just have a little over a thousand miles on my vehicle. I just got it in February before everything happened. If you make a post in the Exterior Forum the Discount Tire guy will get back to you. It's sponsored by them.

 

[PenguinWingz]

I know you said you weren't interested in DIY installs, but +1 for the Noico style sound deadening. It was pretty easy to install on my '97 (although you do have remove some interior parts), except for in in the cargo area where the floor is corrugated - nooks and crannies are a bit tricky.

This article mentions that you can get a nearly identical product at construction/home-improvement stores sold 'Peel and Seal' for a fraction of the price. Budget Sound Deadening Alternatives to Dynamat

 

[Gnochi]

The peel-and-seal that you use for roofing etc. is only effective by adding mass. It doesn’t affect how long or strong a structure resonates, just lowers the frequency a bit. Looking at a resonance plot, especially if you include the time domain, makes it really obvious how much better butyl is than asphalt.

If you’re doing it yourself, you won’t want to deal with the dripping asphalt in a few months, and if you’re paying someone to do it, their labor is already more than the material. Just use the right stuff.

 

[PenguinWingz]

you won’t want to deal with the dripping asphalt in a few months

Oh, I didn't even think about that! Thanks for the correction - I'm glad I bought butyl-based before I learned about the Peel-and-seal!

 

[Gnochi]

Oh, I didn't even think about that! Thanks for the correction - I'm glad I bought butyl-based before I learned about the Peel-and-seal!

Good decision and excellent luck! Yeah the Noico is about the cheapest I’d go with. They skimp in a few areas, like there’s some asphalt in the stack - but it’s a pretty low amount so it’s more manageable. You just lose some heat resistance and performance at a fraction the cost.

 

[Sunken]

I’d be carefull with the homedepot peal stuff, they tend to not hold in the long run and can smell from what I researcg before I used noico. Sure some people showed the peel and stick stuff can work and last but I don’t know I prefered useing butyl. It’s been under my hood since august and it’s still perfectly in place. I’ll be adding recycle denim sometime this summer when I do my doors.

 

[Glideslope]

I've always found that keeping my Mother in Law out of the RAV yields the best results.

 

[Diversion]

Anyone have a rough estimate on added weight for say a ton of Noico applied everywhere? I have a Hybrid Limited /w Pano and it's crazy loud on the highway at 65+.. That's really my only complaint about the vehicle is how frickin' loud it is. I realize they probably cheaped out on one hand by not insulating the vehicle enough but the second part may be weight, especially for the Hybrid to achieve it's EPA numbers.

 

[LostStick1]

Anyone have a rough estimate on added weight for say a ton of Noico applied everywhere? I have a Hybrid Limited /w Pano and it's crazy loud on the highway at 65+.. That's really my only complaint about the vehicle is how frickin' loud it is. I realize they probably cheaped out on one hand by not insulating the vehicle enough but the second part may be weight, especially for the Hybrid to achieve it's EPA numbers.

One box of 36 sq foot Noico was roughly 15 lbs if I remember correctly. I did 4 doors and the trunk/rear wheel arch with 1 box. Important to note I did not do the hatch lid

 

[Chris914]

Anyone have a rough estimate on added weight for say a ton of Noico applied everywhere? I have a Hybrid Limited /w Pano and it's crazy loud on the highway at 65+.. That's really my only complaint about the vehicle is how frickin' loud it is. I realize they probably cheaped out on one hand by not insulating the vehicle enough but the second part may be weight, especially for the Hybrid to achieve it's EPA numbers.

I've done the inside and outside of all four doors, some under the back seat, the wheel wells, the back quarter panels, the spare tire area, and the back lift gate. I bought 4 boxes of Noico and have 1 box worth of scrap pieces left over. So in total I would say about 45lbs worth.

I've also put a roll of denim felt in each door and installed the OEM 2020 engine hood insulation on my 2019 Adventure.

My Rav4 now sounds like a luxury SUV.

 

[LostStick1]

I've done the inside and outside of all four doors, some under the back seat, the wheel wells, the back quarter panels, the spare tire area, and the back lift gate. I bought 4 boxes of Noico and have 1 box worth of scrap pieces left over. So in total I would say about 45lbs worth.

I've also put a roll of denim felt in each door and installed the OEM 2020 engine hood insulation on my 2019 Adventure.

My Rav4 now sounds like a luxury SUV.

Nice! good on you for going so far. After I did the trunk and wheel arches...my motivation diminished. Especially after I found some factory deadening under the seats already. It is now quiet and comfortable. One thing I wish I did was the roof, since the rain makes the car sound like a tin can.

I wish I thought of the denim though! I stuffed the backside of the plastic door panels and trunk with multiple layers of the Noico red material. It's a super light spongy foam material they sell. Definitely less effective than denim

 

[Chris914]

Nice! good on you for going so far. After I did the trunk and wheel arches...my motivation diminished. Especially after I found some factory deadening under the seats already. It is now quiet and comfortable. One thing I wish I did was the roof, since the rain makes the car sound like a tin can.

I wish I thought of the denim though! I stuffed the backside of the plastic door panels and trunk with multiple layers of the Noico red material. It's a super light spongy foam material they sell. Definitely less effective than denim

Thanks. I would like to do the roof. But the videos I've seen for taking out the roof liner makes it look like a pain.

 

[Lindenwood]

I put 75 pounds of sound deadening between the doors, hatch, cargo area, hood, rear outer fender wells, and along the bottom of the vehicle.

 

[toyodaornot]

I have a Hybrid Limited /w Pano and it's crazy loud on the highway at 65+..

Pano is where the noise leaks if you have cover opened. I kept it closed for that reason.