[mobike008]

Well, it was a lazy sunday morning and i had nothing better to do. So i thought why not blow some dough on the car and ventured out of home with a plan to just getting a horn and a nice floor mat to be fitted. I headed straight to my favorite outlet Sprocket in Ameerpet.

When i reached the outlet, he told me that they have finally gotten dampening material from Bangalore ( same folks have an outlet in bangalore too). unfortunately, Hyderabad car accessories folks are not so educated, i think this dealer alone has heard and fitted dampening on cars. Sadly, others just gaped at me when i said dampening. I was really tempted since i had decided to get the dampening material from US and only get it fitted here.

But, then i realized there is a small amount of risk fetching it from US so i decided to go ahead with the dampening. He showed me three different brands Flexmat, Playmat, Dynamat Extreme and was quoted 4.5K 6K and 8K respectively. Out of the 3 "Flex Mat" seemed quite nice for its price ( thick and sturdy).

With a lot of persuasion i got him down to 3.5K along with installation for 8 sheets that would suffice for my entire car ( front two doors and boot). Whereas the other one Playmat looked more like a carpet and not like a dampening material and Dynamat extreme, everybody knows how it looks and performs.

There were a couple of other elements that was also contributed to some extent to the rattling. Namely, my stock rear speaker boards which were sagging due to the weight of my JBL GTO937's so decided to replace it with a strong "MDF Board" and got my number plate triple stickered with 3M and Boy, am i happy now!!!

After the installation, rattle has reduced to almost 90%, this i could identify by testing vigorously by playing varied kinds of music from hard rock to hip-hop like "Another one Bites the Dust ( Queen), Heavy Fuel ( Dire Straits), MFN ( Dire Straits), Turbo Lover ( Judas Priest), Lay Low ( Snoop Dogg) etc, there is a very very faint rattle that i am willing to overlook. However, i think now the only solution for 100% rattle free is to chuck the rear number plate and get a "stickered" number plate instead and only then me and my music will be completely deadened !!

And, along with dampening, i got Roots Windtone horn fitted and nice thick Biege floor mats as well. When i exited from there shop,i was poorer by about 6K.

Here are some pictures of dampening:-

[BUSA]

Congratualions mobike - Your another one of those ICE Maniacs on the forum.

Damping is a essential part of ICE, sadly not many people realise that.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by BUSA

Congratualions mobike - Your another one of those ICE Maniacs on the forum.

Thanks, i been thinking about getting it done for sometime but had other priorities and yesterday was a pure impromtu decision

[vnabhi]

I'd surely like to listen to those songs you have listed--I like 'em a lot too. Must be sounding deadly now in you car, right??
BTW, what is dampening? Does it have something to do with adding an insulating layer on the doors and body for preventing vibrations?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Does it have something to do with adding an insulating layer on the doors and body for preventing vibrations?

These are vibration deadeners. They come as thick aliminium sheets that you stick to all car body parts from where you tend to get the vibrations. It's not a 100% solution but the rattling reduces to a large extent.

[Sam Kapasi]

Good man!

[kpzen]

Nice work mobike.
I'm looking forward to get that done in my Baleno too.

[hydrashok]

Good going, Mobike! So you finally got it done!

BTW, "Playmat" sounds very frisky

[speedzak]

Good job.
Many people don't understand the importance of proper sound damping in a good install. Man! You're lucky to get the whole thing done for 3.5k!!

[Ford_madhan]

Will dampening help in reducing the external/tyre noise coming inside the vehicle?

My ikon is kind of an ICE itself considering the external/tyre noise. :-)

[rocksterraghu]

Good job there mobike! Congrats!

[mobike008]

Thanks to all. I was educated and encouraged by all you people

[satish_appasani]

congrats mobike. Next time you come to Sprocket, give me a call. I live in the road parallel to DK road.

[m4ugr8]

Congrats On a very important upgrade to your system.

Damping is a very very very important part of the ICE setup and i can say that a thousand times.I remember when my install was done.

My install started around 12 and got completed by 4.I was on cloud nine during these 4 hours because my car was getting Hertz treatment.But when played the track Just a Lil bit by 50 cent...There were tears from my eyes..The system was sounding horrible.I felt my hard earned 50k wasted.I was finding my corolla's OE setup better.But then the guy at driven told me to get damping.So when the damping was done next morning.The system was sounding completely different.It was like the best thing.

Everybody should get damping.I feel it is as important as an HU or Amp in the setup!!!!

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by satish_appasani

congrats mobike. Next time you come to Sprocket, give me a call. I live in the road parallel to DK road.

Sure thing Satish, will keep that in mind

M4, glad to know that you too got damping done. I agree with you, there is a huge difference before and after the damping is done and feel its worth the money.

I may go for a second round of damping later just to get it completed maybe use a couple of sheets more in places where i think the vibs may still be around