Leon Cupra 2019 and sound level?

Ashead

Active Member
Dec 29, 2018
11
2
So I had a 2014 Leon ST 1.4TSI on 17" wheels (not FR) and moved to a Cupra ST on 19" wheels and was also surprised.
I've since added DIY soundproofing to rear bench, boot and doors which slightly shifted the sound balance but not massively.
I then switched to 18" and PS4s which did soften the ride a tad and reduce the noise a little but not as much as I'd hoped.
I'm still amazed at the sound difference given it's only a little stiffer and bigger wheels.

So by all means try different tyres, they do make a difference. but don't expect miracles.

I now wonder if it's the aero floor picking up road noise or something.
 
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RCampbell1

Active Member
Jan 8, 2017
70
24
UK
These are the before and after pics when I installed the sound deadening stuff. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't cancel out all noise. But it muffles a lot of noise nicely. It's literally a case of 'see the exposed metal, stick some sound deadening on it!'. I used Dynamat Extreme in my last car, and this one.
8a904c393d09ee885ed334a87ae54a66.jpg
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Gave the soundproofing a go. I bought 20 sheets of silent coat off Amazon for about £40 and had three sheets left over. Does make a significant difference, I don't have to have the stereo volume anywhere near as high now. Tyre roar still there obviously but fairly diminished, Once I wear out the Contis I'll get some quieter rubber
 
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Laurbach

Active Member
Jan 22, 2019
49
23
Gave the soundproofing a go. I bought 20 sheets of silent coat off Amazon for about £40 and had three sheets left over. Does make a significant difference, I don't have to have the stereo volume anywhere near as high now. Tyre roar still there obviously but fairly diminished, Once I wear out the Contis I'll get some quieter rubber
How much did you do with 20 sheets? I've bought 20 sheets of silent coat as well (roughly A4 size). But I'd like to do all 4 doors and under the rear seat and the boot. I also bought some deadening foam to stick on top of it and acoustic foam to fill out the doors with. I'm thinking my 20 sheets might be a bit too little ??
 

Norbert

Active Member
Oct 16, 2018
395
98
Really depend you want to cover fully or not.unfortunately i dont remember how may used.the boot and rear seat need a lot and some for wheel arch inside.(not sure this is proper name of that section)
 
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RCampbell1

Active Member
Jan 8, 2017
70
24
UK
How much did you do with 20 sheets? I've bought 20 sheets of silent coat as well (roughly A4 size). But I'd like to do all 4 doors and under the rear seat and the boot. I also bought some deadening foam to stick on top of it and acoustic foam to fill out the doors with. I'm thinking my 20 sheets might be a bit too little ??

I managed to do the spare wheel well and under the rear bench with the box of 20 sheets. Well 17 sheets really as I had 3 left over. Mines the 5 door hatchback however
 

NorthBlue

Active Member
Sep 13, 2018
26
13
To properly soundproof car from road noise you need to use 2 or even 3 layers. First layer should be something like STP Gold which will stop vibrations, second layer closed cell foam 6 or 8 mm, and than final layer acoustic canvas.

The best is to isolate all 4 doors, all 4 wheel arches, complete boot and floor of the car. Than you eliminated road noise completely.

Unfortunately, that is not a cheap and one day option. But generally, for road noise is always better something like this : https://www.deadening.co.uk/products/silent-coat-isolator-6-large-sheet

It will have more impact than this :
https://www.deadening.co.uk/products/silent-coat-2mm-mat-volume-pack

I'm planning to do mine in September, the material cost is around 1000 GBP, labor will be another 500GBP and 3 days work.

I bought my car without lease and planning to keep it for 6-7 years so I have opted for expensive solution.
 

Laurbach

Active Member
Jan 22, 2019
49
23
Is it necessary to cover the panels completely? Some say that any more than 25% cover is not giving much difference....
I bought some 10 mm closed cell foam to put on top of the silent coat and acoustic foam to fill out the doors.
 

Betts-4

Active Member
Jul 11, 2019
620
206
I've had my Cupra for about 3weeks now and I'm actually surprised how high the road/tire noise is in the cabin compared to my Leon X-perience 2017.
The X-perience was running 205/55-17 wheels while the Cupra has the standard 235/35-19 with tires rated to 72dB.
I'm thinking of changing down to 18" and run 225/40 for a "smoother" driving experience and also getting tires rated to 67-68dB.

Has anyone else done this to a Cupra or any Leon?
Was there a big improvement?
Is it worth doing or just a waste of money?
Is this in general or motorway ?

I drive a bmw i3 at work with 19inch wheels and the drone is unbearable on the motorway,I thought it was the cheap recycled nature inside and because it was electric.

I’m worried now so many people complaining,I don’t do to much motorway but my wife’s patents live a good few hours away and I’d like to take my cupra when we go as it’s in country.
 

Norbert

Active Member
Oct 16, 2018
395
98
I had nissan leaf and the cabin noise was much better.used low rolling tyre mean less road noise.
Leon was really bad but after better tyre and lot of insulation far better and the music big deference.
Proper quality mp3 or youtube sound good now.
 

NorthBlue

Active Member
Sep 13, 2018
26
13
Is it necessary to cover the panels completely? Some say that any more than 25% cover is not giving much difference....
I bought some 10 mm closed cell foam to put on top of the silent coat and acoustic foam to fill out the doors.
Basically you should use silent coat as stripes, not covering whole surface but with closed cell foam you need to cover whole surface to achieve maximum possible isolation from noise.

See on the picture how Seat engineers used stripes to stop metal from vibrations. Unfortunately they didn't use anything else

Noise is never ending story, you isolate complete floor it comes from wheel arches, you isolate wheels it comes through the windows. And for windows you can't do nothing. Some car manufacturers are using double glass with isolation layer in between.

But with approx. 1000GBP you can make car more silent than anything on the market in this segment.
d66b8daa19ba0c54d47ed0491bbb3e87.jpg
 

Laurbach

Active Member
Jan 22, 2019
49
23
Basically you should use silent coat as stripes, not covering whole surface but with closed cell foam you need to cover whole surface to achieve maximum possible isolation from noise.

See on the picture how Seat engineers used stripes to stop metal from vibrations. Unfortunately they didn't use anything else

Noise is never ending story, you isolate complete floor it comes from wheel arches, you isolate wheels it comes through the windows. And for windows you can't do nothing. Some car manufacturers are using double glass with isolation layer in between.

But with approx. 1000GBP you can make car more silent than anything on the market in this segment.
d66b8daa19ba0c54d47ed0491bbb3e87.jpg
The strips is what I've been told as well. But seen so many "how to videos" where people cover the whole car from top to toe in silent coat :shrug:
 

NorthBlue

Active Member
Sep 13, 2018
26
13
People are usually to lazy to explore subject in details and than you end up copying what was originally wrong.

The whole idea of silent coat is to add mass to metal so it will not resonate with specific frequency. If you put your music volume to max, metal will vibrate on low frequency (bass).

Closed cell foam is better for noise insulation. It's not ideal, but best what you can get for car noise isolation. Other options will be too expensive or impossible to install.

Some manufacturers are producing 3-layer solutions, mass butyl - some type of fabrics - foam to have all in one.
 
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Zer0

Active Member
Jun 22, 2019
522
242
Noise is never ending story, you isolate complete floor it comes from wheel arches, you isolate wheels it comes through the windows. And for windows you can't do nothing. Some car manufacturers are using double glass with isolation layer in between.

This is true. I have double glass windows in my company car, makes no difference at all as the Michelin Primacy 4 tyres are very noisy. In my experience the tyres make the biggest difference in road noise. My wife has run-flat tyres on her BMW, they're next to unbearable.

As for sound proofing I might install some in the boot when I get my Cupra ST. Did not think about the the noise during my test drive, was grinning like a cheshire cat :happy:
 

Betts-4

Active Member
Jul 11, 2019
620
206
Is it really this bad ?

Does it effect general driving ?

I test drove and never noticed anything

Why do people not complain and Seat do something,this seems extreme.
 
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