Hello all,
As were all well aware, given the cars market and price point, sound deadening is minimal on the little Micra. In my own I have removed the rear seats entirely and have a built a small folding cargo floor (dog is pretty large), which seems to really increase the level of road noise. I suspect simply the mass/material of the seats absorbed much of the sound being bounced around the cabin.
To me, a ton of the noise at highway speeds seems to come from a few key areas; the rear wheel wells, the rear hatch, and the ledge between the floor/hatch where it is open to vent (of course the firewall, floorboards, glass and roof all contribute).
There is a ton of information and opinions around regarding sound deadening materials (Dynamat/Hushmat/Fatmat vs hardware store flashing vs a full treatment of deadening material/decoupling/mass loaded vinyl etc) and I'm not looking to get into that debate. I am wondering if anyone has experience with our cars as to what methods/areas made the most difference in reducing overall road noise? The obvious place to start to me is the hatch, which acts as a large metal drum, with the only sound abatement being the thin particleboard interior panel, and something over the rear wheel wells. I'm not trying to make it Cadillac quiet, just enough to prevent driver fatigue for some road trips I'm planning
Any advice or experience on this? I was thinking a Dynamat type product on some of the hatch skin, and a denser closed cell foam or even carpet-underlay applied to the back of the factory trim might help cut down the noise a bit, but this may be entirely useless. While maybe not the most 'correct', I was thinking about trying a bit of deadening on top of the wheel wells, followed by some carpet underlay. Main concern is anything not closed cell will absorb water, should water get anywhere.
Just thinking aloud and wondering if anyone's done some noise reduction on their Micra. Cheers.