Impact of sound deadening kit on the 2.0

[mpt]

I've just had the soundproofing kit and wind noise fix from the 2.5 added to my 2010 2.0.

The job took two days to install; it's all labour!

The kit comprises;

• Sound deadening pads under foot, under the seats and behind the seats
• Sound deadening cushions behind the seats, behind the dash on the left and right & in each door.
• Fibre mat wheel arch liners

The tech measurements are listed below but the effect seems to exceed the numbers. I have a 2.0 which is already better than the 1.5; I can't the imagine the effect on a 1.5. But on the 2.0 the biggest change is the sound of the car; the gearbox is muted, the clunk from the drive/overrun change is muted and the sound the car makes when crashing over potholes has changed from "clack-clack" to "duh-duh".

Numerically, it's only a couple of DB. As you can see from the attached images taken before and after on my iPhone using the FFT app the impact is across the spectrum. The FFT iPhone app is a pretty clever piece of software, I was surprised at how accurate and linear it was when compared to my reference SPM. It was certainly good enough for a before/after comparo.

Overall, looking at three situations:

35mph on the flat, good road quality; overall reduction from 69.9dB to 67dB
35mph down a long hill held on regen, good road quality; reduction from 68.9dB to 66.3dB
65mph poor, loud road; reduction from 77.4dB to 76.0dB.

I've attached combined images from the app to show the difference.

Net-net; I'd do it again; it makes the Roadster feel more refined.

[DaveD]

I wouldn't call a couple of dB small. A 3 dB reduction is roughly half the sound level. It's a logarithmic scale.

[doug]

Except the ear's response is also logarithmic. In practice, it's difficult to perceive an actual factor of 2 change in amplitude (this is of course frequency dependent).

[shark2k]

You smart people and knowing how stuff works . MPT, did you mean 1.5 in your first paragraph, second sentence after the last bullet? You put 2.5.

-Shark2k

[TEG]

I dabble in sound measurement too, and a 3dB change is typically noticeable, but not dramatically so.
Perhaps the changes also improve the timbre of the noise, not just the amplitude?

Lots of good stuff here:
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_...ise_basic.html
http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/dB.htm

...Note, too, that a doubling of the power does not make a huge difference to the loudness...

...One decibel is close to the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) for sound level...

When I drove a 2.5, my thought was it felt more "of one piece" than earlier Roadsters I had been in.

[vfx]

Might be worth mentioning the noise abatement package they came up with after the fact is $3K.

That's a thousand dollars a decibel.

[Alan]

Might be worth mentioning the noise abatement package they came up with after the fact is $3K.

That's a thousand dollars a decibel.

How about 26dB for $2 !

[mpt]

did you mean 1.5 in your first paragraph

I did, fixed; thanks.

[mpt]

When I drove a 2.5, my thought was it felt more "of one piece" than earlier Roadsters I had been in.

That's it; that's exactly it. The clack-clack as you glance a pot-hole is now duh-duh as though the car is more screwed together.

Wind noise is lower as well; the fan on position three is now louder than the wind at 65mph, that wasn't the case before.

VFX; steady on mentioning the price, my wife may read this!

[tdevince]

MPT, where did you find out about the sound deadening kit? I have a 2.5, so I don't need it, but was wondering if there was a location on Tesla's website that lists upgrade kits available.