2008 Yaris sedan ‘S’ sound deadening project.

[Herbicidal]

First off I would like to say thank you to DerickVeliz2, SQComp, Swidd, Talnlnky and countless others I have learned from in just the last week alone!

So I’m sure some of you are thinking, Oh no! Not another sedan sound deadening project! When I started mine, I didn’t even realize there are several other ‘works in progress’. My goal is not the same as theirs regarding the level of deadening they are going to achieve. I’ll be a couple of steps down. Nor am I going to upgrade my sound system to their levels either. I’m staying with the stock head unit and only upgrading the speakers. I need to draw the $$$ line somewhere.

Before I started, I wanted to scientifically document the difference of my sound deadening efforts. I bought a small digital decibel meter and took some readings inside the car under full acceleration with the windows up and the radio off. I was a little surprised by the readings! See pictures below for more info.

I’m starting in the trunk and working my way forward. I guess it all started after I had my custom center exit exhaust installed. Even after a muffler and two straight through resonators, the sound inside the car under acceleration is still a little too loud for my tastes. However, the exhaust note outside the car is just right!

To begin, I pulled all the plastic panels from the trunk, trunk mat, spare tire, etc. It all came out quite easily. Then I wiped the metal surfaces down with rubbing alcohol. My sound deadener of choice is from www.RAAMaudio.com. More specifically, RAAMmat BXT II. It comes in 15” x 15” squares with soft foil on one side and a peel and stick adhesive on the other. This product is VERY easy to use and does not cut you. I can cut it with a pair of scissor I keep in the garage. I use the left over backing as template material for those oddly shaped spaces. I also bought 9 square feet of Ensolite foam that is also peel and stick. At the moment, I plan on using the Ensolite in the door panels when I get to them. I realize now that I probably don’t have enough.

At this point I have completely deadened the truck and trunk lid. I’ve removed the rear seat and subframe and the plastic parts that cover the wheel wells. Tonight I removed the rear speaker deck and the plastic pieces along the back of the rear seat. I would like to stuff some kind of foam up the “C” pillars.

I figured while I was tearing into my car, now would be a good time to upgrade the speakers. After a bunch of quick research on Crutchfield I found speakers that I like and were given high marks by previous buyers. I was pretty much ready to buy from Crutchfield when Swidd posted up a link to www.SonicElectronix.com. The rear speakers were $60 LESS then Crutchfield. So that’s were my money went. For the rears I ordered up a pair of Alpine SPR-69C for $99.99 . For the fronts I agonized whether to go with a straight replacement or get a pair with separate tweeters. Separates mean that I will need to cut the door panels. The separate tweeters won out in the end. I ordered a pair of Kicker KS60.2's for $109.99.

Here’s some pics of where I’m at so far.

Getting started: RAAMmat, Ensolite foam (both are peal and stick) with a digital decibel meter.


Closeup view of the mini decibel meter.


Taped to the rear seat to get a baseline sound reading.


Highest sound I recorded in the cabin, 84.7 db.


Removal of the trunk "stuff". When was the last time you checked the air pressure in your spare?.


Rear "stuff" removed and the metal surface wiped down with rubbing alcohol.


Partially done trunk. Right hand side.


I used the leftover backing for template material.


Figured out an easier way to remove those, those, pluggy, clippy things. A ziptie fits through the head and now you can pull them out with out prying the head off or damaging them.


RAAMmat in the trunk lid. I’ll make sure to deaden the license plate and frame too.


Trunk and deck lid about 95% done at this point.


Pretty much done with the trunk. This is the drivers side. I may have to put some foam over the vent to dampen the sound, but still allow air movement.


Trunk, passenger side.


Inside the car, facing the left rear corner, taking the picture from behind the passenger side front seat. I've finally uncovered the wheel wells!


Rear seat, subframe and wheel well panels removed. You can see where I stopped from the trunk.


Now I can pretty much work up to the back of the front seats after lifiting up the carpet.


Inside the car looking towards the trunk. The rear deck topper and the factory sound deadener is flopped over on the right laying in the trunk. Kind of hard to get the depth perspective in this picture.


From the front seats looking toward the back. You can see the left wheel well that I want to deaden too.


A semi-closeup of the rear deck minus the deck material, etc. The speakers are reflecting in the rear window. All of that bare metal I want to deaden.


Should be interesting to get another db reading after I'm done. I may take some other readings, like before and after doing the doors. Also, like the others are doing with their projects, I’ll post up as I go.