Anybody apply noise dampening (like dynamat) to reduce cabin noise? Any tips on where and what to apply?
I applied Dynamat to the exposed metal under the top of the trunk. I bought a large pack of Dynamat and a large roll of Fatmat and as soon as the weather warms I’m going to do the inside of all 4 doors and behind the front seat wheel well carpeting. There may be more to do in the trunk behind the wheel well carpeting too. The noise in the Clarity is road noise from the tires transmitted into the cabin, so any dampening related to that is useful. I will probably also see if the hood and firewall could use more sound dampening too, for the rare occasions the engine runs.
Dynamat physically weighs down your panels to stop rattles. Using it alone won't do a lot to decrease road noise. If you really want to block sound intrusion into the cabin you need a noise barrier and decoupler. I think the Clarity is already a very quiet car already -- I expected people on this forum to try lightening the car to increase MPG instead of going the opposite direction.
You have reiterated what a difficult tightrope Honda's engineers had to walk. Battery bigger and gas tank smaller? Gas tank bigger and battery smaller? Battery and gas tank bigger and trunk smaller? Aerodynamics to the detriment of aesthetics? Expense of exotic steels and aluminum or a more affordable, less-efficient car? Additional sound-deadening materials at the expense of weight and fuel efficiency? Wheel-mounted resonators to reduce road noise or wheels that a run-of-the-mill tire shop won't screw up when changing a tire? How many times did the engineers ask marketing, "Who the hell are we making this car for?"
Not yet. The main help will be using anti-resonance like Dynamat and insulation like Fatmat on the wheel wells inside the car. The Clarity is quiet except for tire noise on rough roads. I’m aiming to dampen road noise.
It’s a synthetic (plastic/rubber?) part on the inside rim of the wheel that’s supposed to reduce road noice by resonantly cancelling some of that noise out. Whenever you replace the tires or have a tire off for any reason, be sure to warn the mechanic that they are present and can be damaged easily. We have reports that they are not replaceable, so any damage would require a whole new and very expensive wheel. FWIW, my Clarity is eerily quiet on smooth pavement but has a surprisingly loud amount of road noise on older coarser asphalt. Edited plastic part to synthetic part based on @jdonalds observation below in post 9.
I saw the wheel mounted resonator when they changed my tires. Ken said it was plastic. I didn't touch it but it looked like rubber to me.
Unfortunately, unskilled tire-changing mechanics can damage the resonators if they're not careful. Here's what they look like:
I've got a couple of spare wheels. The material is a thin soft plastic (would bend and deform instead of breaking), and reiterate that it would be easily damaged.
