Corolla Soundproofing

Has anyone had their Corolla TS professionally soundproofed ? UK North East England preferably. 

If you have,  was it worth the money and effort?

Thanks. 

There's a huge thread on that very topic, with some highly experienced forum members giving sound advice.

What year is your TS and which areas are the noises coming from?

On 1/9/2024 at 8:19 PM, drykoke said:

There's a huge thread on that very topic, with some highly experienced forum members giving sound advice.

What year is your TS and which areas are the noises coming from?

Thanks for the reply,  apologies for the delayed reply. 2022 trek edition . Tyre roar is my main 'moan' , I don't mind the engine noise.

Oh yes, there is a lot of discussion regarding noise on Corolla Trek. Some suggest Michelin tyres might help. There's also a link for professional sellers of materials https://www.deadening.co.uk/

Can't comment on pre-facelift Corollas but my MY23 excel TS is quiet, more so than my previous Skoda. 

Reading up on the facelift Corolla Toyota made an effort to improve refinement. There is tons of insulation under the dashboard, carpets and in the boot plus it has acoustic glazing as standard. A few of the car magazines have commented that the facelift Corolla is a quieter car than many of it's rivals such as the mk8 VW golf, Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra.

Very little wind noise. There is some tire noise but I'm putting that down to the stock falken eco tires which are frankly, s**t.

From past experience tires make a huge difference to refinement in cars.

My one complaint on the refinement of my 2020 Corolla TS is tyre noise, in every other respect its quieter than the Avensis that it replaced. I gather that the only effective way to reduce that is to try different tyres.

If considering different tyres, just be aware that the noise rating of the tyre labelling system is a measurement of noise taken outside the car, and may not bear much relation to noise inside the car.

On 1/11/2024 at 6:58 PM, cea said:

Thanks for the reply,  apologies for the delayed reply. 2022 trek edition . Tyre roar is my main 'moan' , I don't mind the engine noise.

Fellow Trek owner here too 🙂 Is yours still on the original Falkens? I have switched to Michelin Cross Climate 2 and it made some difference to the road noise, especially at motorway speeds. 

12 minutes ago, JayCee88 said:

Fellow Trek owner here too 🙂 Is yours still on the original Falkens? I have switched to Michelin Cross Climate 2 and it made some difference to the road noise, especially at motorway speeds. 

Hi, yes still on the Falkens. They have only done about 8000 miles unfortunately so I'm loathed to replace them at the moment. Be interesting to know who has replaced tyres with what to get a good knowledge base. If I was I.T. savvy I'd try to concoct one of those survey things.

27 minutes ago, cea said:

Hi, yes still on the Falkens. They have only done about 8000 miles unfortunately so I'm loathed to replace them at the moment. Be interesting to know who has replaced tyres with what to get a good knowledge base. If I was I.T. savvy I'd try to concoct one of those survey things.

Mine were on about 12,000. Still ok as the fronts have around 4mm. However found cracking deal for CC2 at CostCo so went for it. 
 

Also have CC2 on the Kodiaq and they are decent all year round tyres, in my opinion suitable for UK weather. 

I recently did 24 hours test drive on a 2023 Lexus ES300H f sport 19 inch tires. I didn't like the F sport for its hard suspension, the Corolla has a smoother drive. Love the ES300h though and want one for myself, but definitely not F sport

However, I was expecting the Lexus to be a lot quieter car, and it indeed is almost silent at low speed up to 30-40 mph. Once I hit the motorway, however there was quite a lot of tyre noise which wasn't as bad as the Corolla, but not as good as I expected it to be - might be the big tyres

I did use a noise meter app and the Lexus did an average of 72db vs 74db with my Corolla. Tried to do the same speed, pretty much the same conditions, same 30 miles route. 

I've got sound deadening in all 4 doors and boot in my Corolla, and Good Year EGP2 205/55/16 tyres

Kinda like my car even more now😀

I finally decided to install a hood insulation pad on my 2022 1.8 TS. Bought one from eBay for £30ish, which according to the listing wouldn't fit the TS, but never the less I decided to give it a go. Not very professional job, but with a bit of adjustment I manage to fit it in place, and I am happy with the result.

The engine's roar is a bit softer when pushing the car over 3.5k revs, and generally the car is a bit less noisy on the motorway, once again as the noise from the engine is a bit softer. I wonder why don't Toyota fit those as standard???

So far I've got all 4 doors + most of the boot insulated with Noico 2mm sheets, all 4 corners with GoodYear EGP2 tyres and now the hood insulation pad. 

Next project is to add door rubber seals. Few people here have done this already. Can someone tell me which shape will be most effective, please. There are so many of them I got no clue which one to go for

Generally the noise is much improved already, but because of that the wind noise around the door's windows is more present and quite annoying. 

19 hours ago, Niky said:

I finally decided to install a hood insulation pad on my 2022 1.8 TS. Bought one from Ebay for £30ish, which according to the listing wouldn't fit the TS, but never the less I decided to give it a go. Not very professional job, but with a bit of adjustment I manage to fit it in place, and I am happy with the result.

The engine's roar is a bit softer when pushing the car over 3.5k revs, and generally the car is a bit less noisy on the motorway, once again as the noise from the engine is a bit softer. I wonder why don't Toyota fit those as standard???

So far I've got all 4 doors + most of the boot insulated with Noico 2mm sheets, all 4 corners with GoodYear EGP2 tyres and now the hood insulation pad. 

Next project is to add door rubber seals. Few people here have done this already. Can someone tell me which shape will be most effective, please. There are so many of them I got no clue which one to go for

Generally the noise is much improved already, but because of that the wind noise around the door's windows is more present and quite annoying. 

Thanks for the reply.

Did you soundproof the doors and boot yourself ? 

On 1/29/2024 at 11:25 AM, cea said:

Did you soundproof the doors and boot yourself ?

Yes. Fairly easy DIY job

On 1/28/2024 at 3:41 PM, Niky said:

Next project is to add door rubber seals.

That's also done. Bought 6m D-shape rubber seal from Amazon for £6.99 - 10mm wide, 2.5 to 6mm gap. This was enough to do both sides as seen in the pictures below. Result isn't amazing as it's still a Corolla, but wind noise from the windows/doors is definitely reduced!!!

1 hour ago, Niky said:

Next project is to add door rubber seals.

I’m also planning to install rubber seals , but I think you have missed the vertical gap between front and back doors. IMHO it’s the main source of wind noise. Unfortunately I can’t find suitable seal shape that would fit there 😞 Wonder if any higher spec Corolla does not have them from factory as I would buy them from the dealer. Can anyone with higher spec confirm if there is any rubber seal there? 

14 hours ago, Tomv said:

I’m also planning to install rubber seals , but I think you have missed the vertical gap between front and back doors. IMHO it’s the main source of wind noise. Unfortunately I can’t find suitable seal shape that would fit there 😞 Wonder if any higher spec Corolla does not have them from factory as I would buy them from the dealer. Can anyone with higher spec confirm if there is any rubber seal there? 

Think the same one I've used will fit perfectly there. I'll buy one more roll and will let you know what the result is. Its definitely improved even with the current fit only

On 1/11/2024 at 8:27 PM, Chainbreaker said:

Can't comment on pre-facelift Corollas but my MY23 excel TS is quiet, more so than my previous Skoda. 

We test drove a Touring Sport in 2020 (it was a 2 litre and pretty sure it was a Trek) and it was way quieter than the Octavia's we had tried previously and never bought. The estates were unbearably loud to the point of pain, the hatches were better (just). But the TS was still noisier than the Superb we had at the time but it would have been acceptable if it had not made both myself and the wife feel like we had broken ankles after a few miles.

We drove a Golf 1.5 eTSi (mild hybrid) last August and it was very refined, the Seat Leon we had form 2013 to 2017 never gave us any reason to complain about noise. Even the Fabia we have owned for nearly 6 years is perfectly acceptable even on rubber band tyres (you could not get the more powerful engine option without the 45 profile tyres at the time). The Octavia must really lack soundproofing.

From 2010 to 2015 we had a Kia Ceed SW and that was pretty good (very good compared to the Focus C-Max that preceded it). But fill the boot to go on holiday and it totally silent, showed where the noise was coming from.

On 1/30/2024 at 5:46 PM, Tomv said:

I’m also planning to install rubber seals , but I think you have missed the vertical gap between front and back doors. 

Done 

Don't think there is much of improvement though. The first seal on top of the original going all the way to the rear door had an impact on wind noise, the second one not soo much. Still better than before though 

Had a bit of seal left over and added it on the tailgate - this made a bit of a difference too. Think lots of noise comes from the tailgate - big gaps there

8 hours ago, Niky said:

Done

Thank you for the information. Actually my plan is to place the seal at the edge of back door to seal the gap between the door which imho should have bigger impact on the wind noise. But I’m still struggling to find the right seal shape. 

On 1/9/2024 at 6:48 PM, cea said:

Has anyone had their Corolla TS professionally soundproofed ? UK North East England preferably. 

If you have,  was it worth the money and effort?

Thanks. 

Found a company called Noise Killer Group (close to Manchester) that offer that service

https://www.nkgroup.co.uk/product/car-soundproofing-full-kit-no-engine-blanket/

I had my 2023 Touring Sports Gr 1.8 fitted (£425 in total). They used my car to prepare templates for other TS owners, if you are interested in fitting it yourself.

The internal acoustics have been massively improved. Note that they won't soundproof your doors  - but provide you with some material to do so yourself. I haven't done that yet.

The noise from outside has only been reduced a little so far. I assume that's due to the doors not having been done and issues others describe in this thread and elsewhere (GR has noisy tyres, 1.8 doesn't have the acoustic windows fitted, etc).

Photos attached from the NK fitting, before and after (shocking how little had been added by Toyota).

Having the Speakers replaced soon and the doors soundproofed at the same time 🤞

Thanks for the very comprehensive reply, brilliant. A few questions if you don't mind.  Did the £425 include the fitting and what sort of tyres (I have 18" Falkens which are reputed  to be noisy) have you got? I downloaded a dB measuring app and at 70 mph it reads low 70s, undulating, not half loud especially compared to my 2017 Avensis diesel estate which I had previously.

Thanks

Carl 

8 hours ago, cea said:

Thanks for the very comprehensive reply, brilliant. A few questions if you don't mind.  Did the £425 include the fitting and what sort of tyres (I have 18" Falkens which are reputed  to be noisy) have you got? I downloaded a dB measuring app and at 70 mph it reads low 70s, undulating, not half loud especially compared to my 2017 Avensis diesel estate which I had previously.

Thanks

Carl 

Hi Carl,

Yes, £425 was for material and fitting which I thought was a competitive price. Some other companies I researched charged 2-3 times that, but maybe also included more material/coverage. Can't remember. It took them around 5h to fit but that was also because they created templates for future TS customers. Should take less time now if you decide to go for it. 

I also have 18" Falkens 😞 which I wasn't happy about as the spec had changed when I ordered the car (previously 17") and the dealer didn't let me know.

It's a shame as on lower speed and some roads the car just seems to glide with little to no noise 😎

But we have some stretches of A road around here in Lincolnshire where at 70mph the db measuring app I used gave me a reading of around 80dB (little difference before and after fitting). But the frequency spectrum has improved and subjectively, it feels more quiet than before. Plus the car is definitely less boomy.

That's interesting what you write about your Avensis. The 2019 Kia Niro hybrid I had before seemed also more noisy.

Corolla is as quiet as any other car in its class if not even quieter. Especially the top trim excel cars, all these added pads help almost nothing. The noise comes in through different places, like suspension, door seals, roof, boot etc and adding extra sound proofing will not stop this from happening. Also on those empty metal panels, there is no need to be fully covered to reduce noise, all they need is one tiny pad and job is done. The only benefit from all that is to the traders who are happy to sell sound proofing materials or work on your car. The biggest problem here in uk are the roads , very bad and rough surfaces, and then the oem tyres , types, sizes . 
Just buy all season v shaped tyres on your original wheels or swap for smaller sizes , new 16” wheels and touring summer tyres or all season. The car will transform for better. 

The road surface makes up most of the noise. There’s an “A” road locally where the surface has been re-done for about half a mile. As soon as you hit this section it suddenly goes quiet, the comparison between the old and new  is amazing. You then realise how quiet the car should be.

Lincolnshire roads are really bad, poor surfaces and pot holes everywhere.

In my case it's definitely not road noise as I also experience the same noise when stationary, depending on which direction the wind is blowing. Needless to say the main dealer can't hear anything, except the service manager before last, or the one before that? Had 4 different ones in the past year!