I am having Dynamat installed on the doors and trunk of my 2012 Honda CR-V as part of a sound system upgrade. I was wondering if anyone had experience with Dynamat installations and how well they worked to reduce noise and vibration. The installer is a real pro and has been building custom sound systems for many years, so his skills are very good. I am wondering about the effectiveness of the material when applied properly.
I’ve heard good things about it. See how you like it, you may end up wanting it under the carpet, too.
It’s very effective. It deadens road noise by quite a bit if, as you said, it’s properly installed.
Your main problem is that the CRV is already fairly well sound-insulated, so you wont’ see as big of a difference as, say, the kid in the 1990 Civic.
The effectiveness is surprisingly good. I gutted my interior from the B-pillars back, lined the steel with Dynamat, and also added fiber matting. It made a huge difference. I’d definitely use it again.
Great product. Works for sound vibration and heat reflection!
My son uses it and he likes it, but I looked into it for my truck once and at several web sited dedicated to automotive sound systems, there were a lot of recommendations for other products that were better and cost less, at least in their opinions. It seems that dynamat is asphalt based, just like that membrane they use under shingles on hose roofs. The better products are rubber based. I don’t know how true all that is but you might try some of those sites. Google for them.
That’s house roofs, not hose roofs. I can’t edit.
Pretty sure it’s not asphalt-based. Here’s what their web site says:
"Description: Dynamat Xtreme is a patented, lightweight elastomeric butyl and aluminum constrained-layer vibrational damper. Dynamat Xtreme conforms and fuses easily to sheet metal and other hard substrates. Material performance is optimized for temperature ranges between 14°F and 140°F (- 10°C to +60°C). Material can withstand temperature extremes between -65°F and +300°F (-54°C to +149°C) and is highly resistant to aging. "
Dynamat is not asphault based. It’s a rubber with an aluminum skin. It actually converts vibration into heat energy.
Ther are actually other brand names that sell structural dampening material that’s exactly the same as Dynamat under their own brand. I began my project using a different brand and finished with Dynamat. Both were exactly the same stuff except for the labeling on the aluminum.
Oops, I did a little checking. Dynamat Extreme dies not contain any asphalt. Many of the low cost alternatives do however, and asphalt will give off an odor. My apologies to Dynamat.
One more thing, even though I have not used the Dynamat door and trunk liners, I do use the Dynamat speaker kits when I install aftermarket speakers. The heavier aftermarket speakers can cause the door panels to vibrate and the Dynamat stops that. Before Dynamat, I used to use double sided foam tape between my speakers and the mounts for isolation.
The installer told me that one of the major differences between expensive cars such as Acura and cheaper models such as Toyota is the sound proofing. He told me that the more expensive cars use Dynamat or an equivalent all over the body of the car to achieve almost complete elimination of noise and vibration.
The installer is partly right. There’s a bit more acoustical engineering that goes into it, and things such as hydraulic engine mounst, air suspension, and different types of damper technology as well as aeronautical tricks like rippled belly pans (Lexus), but a large part of what makes luxury cars quieter is structural dampening materials.
I like Dynamat’s product. It works very well. There’s other, very similar,looking mat out there that is said to not work quite as well, according to friends of mine.
From personal experience I recommend it.
JayLenosGarage has a video on Dynamat.