Before you can even think about how to soundproof your car, you’re going to need to pick up some material to use for soundproofing. You have no shortage of options but, let’s be honest, not all of them are going to be great. Of course, unless you know what you’re looking for then you’re going to get quite a headache trying to determine which ones are worth paying attention to. Luckily, you’ve got us. Let us take a bit of that weight off your shoulders. Our goal is to walk you through the best material to soundproof a car.
Here, we’re going to mention the things that you need to think about when buying vehicle soundproofing (and there are a lot of things to think about). We’re then going to provide a recommendation for what we genuinely believe is the best sound-deadening material you can buy for a car.
Since we have a lot to cover, and you’re probably itching to pick up some quality sound-deadening material, let’s jump right on in, shall we?
The Importance of Getting a Good Sound-Deadening Material
Before we talk about buying sound-deadening material for your automobile, we should probably take the time to tell you why it is so important that you get things right.
Cars are loud. Yes. We’re stating the obvious here, but they really are. While modern cars can be quieter than their ancient counterparts, the sound can still be quite unbearable at times, particularly if you are driving for longer distances. The best way to tackle this intense sound (other than not driving, of course), is to use some material to deaden the sounds of both inside and outside the vehicle.
When you add sound-deadening material to your vehicle, you’ll be reducing the sounds that you hear on the inside. Sound deadening material will not only reduce the awful sound of the engine, and the various vibrating components, but will eliminate the sound from passing vehicles, etc. It makes the drive much more pleasurable. It can even protect your hearing if you have a particularly loud vehicle.
Now, don’t get us wrong – it probably isn’t going to be the end of the world if you don’t have sound-deadening material in your vehicle. Plenty of people who drive don’t have it installed (although, some manufacturers may add it as standard), but if you had a vehicle loaded up with sound-deadening material, you wouldn’t regret it.
You probably know all this anyway. After all, you’re on a page dedicated to helping you decide the best material to soundproof your car, right?
How to Choose the Best Sound-Deadening Material for Your Vehicle
As we said before – when you’re looking for car vehicle sound-deadening insulation, you have a ton of options to choose from. Unless you know specifically what you’re looking for, it is insanely tough to buy a quality material. That’s why we want to help.
In this section, our goal is to go through some of the major considerations for choosing a sound-deadening material for your vehicle. In the next major section, we’ll even let you know which material fills all these criteria. So, if you want to save yourself some time and go right ahead and buy the best sound-deadening material for your vehicle, then skip this section. However, we do think that the following information is essential.
Type of Material
Over the years, we’ve seen all sorts of materials used for car soundproofing. Some people have even ditched the idea of using proper materials completely and opted to lay blankets on their car floors which, while it does work, probably isn’t recommended.
Since our goal here is to tell you what the best material to soundproof a car is, we’re not going to go through every single type of material that has ever been used. Instead, we want to drill down onto the more popular materials that are effective, although one option is clearly better than the others.
Fiberglass Composites
Fiberglass composites are up there with the most popular soundproofing materials for vehicles. They are made from a combination of fiberglass blanket, and some sort of film cover (normally made from polyester, but there are other options). It is affordable, and most fiberglass composites should be very easy to install.
The downside is that fiberglass isn’t always the best soundproofing material. While it will reduce sounds a little, if you want more ‘complete’ silence (or close to it), then the fiberglass needs to be quite thick. We see this as more of a material for light sound deadening on a budget, more than something to cut out the loudest vibrations.
Foam Composites
Insulating foam is a staple in music studios around the world due to how fantastic it is at reducing noise, and it works almost the same in vehicles. Obviously, vehicles cannot benefit from the same sort of thickness of foam that you would find in buildings that require sound deadening, but the vehicles that use foam material can come close to a decent level of noise reduction.
Foam composites can be quite thin, and they are often easy to apply. The problem is that the cost is often on the higher side of things, and they do not provide any sound deadening that something much cheaper would provide.
Most of the ‘top’ sound-deadening mats for cars on the market will have foam composite at their core.
Mass Loaded Vinyl Barriers (MLV)
While there are some people who will use MLV as sound deadening in their vehicles, it isn’t something that we would necessarily use. There are a few reasons for this.
Firstly – it is because of what MLV is made of. MLV is made of a combo of sand, metal, and some salts. This can be quite weighty and can be quite tricky to install. Some MLV is flexible, though. You just need to buy from the right manufacturer. It probably won’t be cheap, though.
The major issue, however, is the fact that MLVs are not great at absorbing sound. They can block some sound, but they won’t absorb it. So, you aren’t really deadening the sound at all. You’re just making things a little bit quieter (yes, there is a difference). The only way that MLV works properly for sound deadening in a vehicle is when you combine it with other materials. By the time you start combining MLV with other materials, it gets quite costly and thicker.
Sound Dampening Spray
There are a variety of sprays on the market that can be sprayed directly onto the areas that need soundproofing. So, the application of them is incredibly easy. However, they are insanely expensive, and we don’t think we have found a single sound-dampening spray on the market that even comes close to the level of dampening that the other materials offer. So, this is something that we would really avoid unless you know that no other option is suitable (which is unlikely).
Butyl Sound Proofing – THE BEST CHOICE
All the best car vehicle sound-deadening insulation options on the market will be made of butyl rubber. In fact, it is commonly used for other sound-based applications too. For example – you’ll now find butyl rubber used in speakers to help even out the sound. This is a job that foam used to do, but butyl rubber just did things so much better.
In multiple studies, butyl rubber has been proven to be better at deadening sounds (particularly in automotive applications) than other types of material. One study found that butyl was 60% better at reducing sound than competing options.
Not only this, but butyl rubber lasts a long time. While some other sound-deadening materials will deteriorate over time (especially those that are foam-based), or are impacted by extreme heat or cold, butyl isn’t. Once butyl soundproofing is installed in your vehicle, you’re never going to need to replace it.
Thickness of Material
As you can probably imagine – the thicker the material, the more the sound is deadened. Obviously, you have a limited amount of space to work with in your vehicle, so you can’t really get something too thick. At the most, you’re going to want something 5mm-10mm thick. This does rule out many foam-based products since they need to be on the thicker side to provide any reasonable sound dampening.
In our opinion, butyl rubber is the best sound-dampening option here. Thickness as low as 50 mil (around 1.27mm) can provide the same level of sound dampening as something 5-10x the thickness. So, install butyl rubber in your vehicle, and you’ll have the same sound dampening at a fraction of the weight.
How the Sound Deadening Material is Supplied
Assuming that you are ignoring the sprays (which will only be delivered in spray form), you’ll need to pay attention to how the material is supplied. After all, it needs to be installed in your vehicle and you want to make life as easy as possible for yourself. Of course, this is something that is only going to impact the car sound proofing installation. It isn’t going to have a huge impact on the sound-dampening qualities.
We prefer it when our dampening is provided in sheets. It is much easier to install like that. It means that we must do less cutting and, in many cases, end up with far less wastage.
The Installation of the Automotive Sound Deadening Material
When buying sound-deadening material for automotive applications, only ever buy something with an adhesive backing (incidentally, this is the only way butyl is supplied). An adhesive backing will make it so much easier to install. You just need to stick it in place, and then roll it down. Simple!
It is also worth knowing that butyl rubber is very flexible. This makes it easier to get it to fill all the nooks and crannies in your vehicle. This means even better sound deadening!
The Cost
Soundproofing a vehicle, particularly a larger vehicle, can be quite costly. You want to soundproof for the lowest possible cost, while also ensuring that you’re getting the best sound deadening possible.
As you have probably guessed by now – butyl rubber is incredibly cheap. It is produced in such large scales for so many industries that the price is incredibly low. You are not going to get better bang for your buck than butyl rubber.
Our Recommendation for The Best Sound Dampening Insulation for Your Vehicle
When you are looking for sound-deadening material for cars, you will be spoiled for choice. You have options from the likes of Dynamat, Kilmat, Fatmat, and Noico. All these companies offer tremendous sound-deadening material, but we don’t think they are quite ‘there’. Each has its downsides, with some materials being difficult to install, others being too thick, and others being way too expensive.
We’ve done our research here, and we genuinely believe that if you’re looking for the best sound-deadening material for automobiles, then you can’t get much better than the Canopus Sound Deadening Mat, and there are a few reasons for this.
It’s Butyl Rubber
As we’ve said several times – the best material for soundproofing a car is butyl rubber. Fact. There is no material that will provide better automotive deadening. In fact, it is so good that many vehicle manufacturers are trying to get butyl rubber installed as part of the design.
By now, you already know that butyl rubber is built to last (you’ll never need to replace it), and very easy to install.
Thickness is Perfect
The Canopus Sound Deadening Mat is 50 mil thick (about 1.27mm). This is the perfect thickness for butyl rubber. It keeps the material nice and lightweight, while also providing superior sound deadening. Yes, there is thicker butyl rubber mats out there (sometimes as high as 80 mil thick), but you genuinely do not need that extra thickness. When you buy something thicker than 50 mil, you’re just spending money on nothing. You get no major benefit.
Easy Installation
The Canopus Sound Deadening Mat is supplied in sheets of around 1 square foot (depending on the amount of mat that you purchase). This means that when you are installing the mat in your vehicle, you need to do minimal cutting. This is a stark contrast from the rolls of deadening material where you spend more time cutting the material to size than putting it into place. Buy this sound deadening mat, and you could easily save yourself hours.
Affordable
Finally – it is affordable. As we said, there are some pretty big competitors when it comes to butyl rubber sound deadening mats for the vehicle. However, many of them are vastly overpriced for what you get. You’re pretty much just paying for the brand when you buy them. Pick up the Canopus Sound Deadening Mat, and you’re getting the same sound deadening qualities for a fraction of the price.
Final Thoughts
While there are plenty of sound deadening materials that you can install in your vehicle, none of them even come close to the quality that butyl rubber provides. While there are tons of butyl rubber mats on the market, we suggest that you buy the Canopus Sound Deadening Mat. It is the right balance between quality and affordability. Even the big brands can’t beat this mat when it comes to price and sound-reduction capabilities.
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