Appbiz New Foil Backed Engine Pad

[t6dpilot]

Any real world experiences from you guys on this? Looking for some decent sound deadening in the engine compartment and the "standard" foam pad won't cut it. Has anyone installed their new iteration of the engine sound pad and what are your opinions? Thanks.

[brads911sc]

I have it. Its nice. light. Seems to work fine.

[JeremyD]

Worked fine in my old 1987 with the 3.4 - even in track conditions.

[Gogar]

I put one in, and it looks nice.

Sound deadening? Yeah, right.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by t6dpilot

... the "standard" foam pad won't cut it. ...

I seriously doubt this will give you better noise isolation than a NEW stock pad.

Did you try one? or are you meaning your old rotted out pad?

if the former, you need to address the engine itself & the cabin side of the buldhead

[t6dpilot]

Well Randy, here is the deal... My lightweight has absolutely zip for sound deadening. The only thing inbetween the engine and my delicate little ears is thin gauge metal and a lightweight carpet layer. Like riding in an 55 gal oil drum with a boxer six bolted to one end. Do I like it raw? Yes, but this is my road trip car and I was planning on trying a few things, step by step, to see what they do to attenuate the engine noise. Without ripping out all the carpet and laying down pounds of Dynamat (if I can avoid that). Road and wind noise is not the first priority since I drive with the windows open anyway.

I thought I would try an engine pad first to see if that helped any. Probably won't though - just curious... I did try a new pad on my T and it was marginal at best.

[RWebb]

Scott - the R bulkhead is vibrating like a big drum head; you'll have to deal with that

I have not collected my thoughts on how to do light wt. sound attenuation in any one spot, but if you search on some key terms you'll find ideas.

Good Luck!

[Fritter]

Scott if you put the light engine pad in and also some Bquiet under the carpet on the inside it would probably dramatically help the drumming.

You could also throw blankets or pillows back there on extended trips. Or get better earplugs.

I put the Appbiz foam black pad in my '68, and it has the stock soundproofing on the inside....car isn't too bad with my M&K two in one out muffler contributing some of the sound at high RPM, but most of the noise is mechanical in nature due to the air cooled engine and noisy 901 gearbox. There ain't any getting around that i think.

[Canada Kev]

Keep us in the loop on what you try and what works. I love the sound of mine, with the exhaust and mechanical noises... Except on a long highway cruise. It makes me want to gouge out my eyes sometimes.

[KNS]

As far as the factory sound insulation is concerned, It does a fair job and can certainly be improved upon. As 'nineball' has pointed out though, you don't need wall-to-wall sound deadener to absorb vibration. You will notice that the amount the factory put on the floor of the Carrera was actually less than the SC that came before it.

I've also found that compared to modern materials, the original 20-30 year old sound mats in the rear of the cabin do a pretty good job. If anything, I would add to them or increase the amount of material to better insulate the interior. Where and what materials is the trick. Of course this adds weight but that is exactly what the factory did with the 964 and it is a much quieter car. Light weight or quiet you can't have both.

You can do a complete tear-out and start over as 'jhub' had done (search his extensive post) but even he admitted that the improvement was nice but small.

[Jim Garfield]

Scott, I have one. Much better (thinner/lighter) than the old foam one, but still has the look of the oem pad in the engine compartment. I ran for a while without one, and the appbiz pad definitely takes the edge off the oil drum effect.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by KNS

... the factory sound insulation ... can certainly be improved upon. ...

how exactly?

[Jerome74911S]

I took out the rotten original factory pad and installed the fancy Appbiz foil backed pad. It looks slick, but I don't notice any important difference in noise attenuation. It might reduce heat in the cabin coming from the engine, but it's fall weather now and I'm running the heater anyway, so I can't comment on that.

[KNS]

As I mentioned in my post: Where and what materials is the trick (question). I wouldn't tear out any of the existing stuff. I think some of the newer closed cell foam and mass loaded vinyl *added* in the right places would certainly help. The 964/993 has foam blanketed throughout the interior for example.

[brads911sc]

I am not sure it deadens sound better than stock. What if you used two of them back to back. Glue them together with JB Weld. I know it sounds crazy... but they are very light and thin and that probably would work better than the stock one...

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by Jim Garfield

Scott, I have one. Much better (thinner/lighter) than the old foam one, but still has the look of the oem pad in the engine compartment. I ran for a while without one, and the appbiz pad definitely takes the edge off the oil drum effect.

Jim,
Did you install the higher priced Appbiz pad? I have one that I'm going to install during my upcoming engine drop. The pad I have has the foil facing the firewall, then a layer of thick felt, and then a layer of black foam which makes it look like the factory one.
What adhesive did you use? I don't want to install it only to have it "droop" like the factory ones do over time! Having to drop the motor to reglue the pad would surely P**s me off!

[MrScott]

If the foil is in direct contact with the firewall is it still effective as a heat insulator?

[t6dpilot]

Thanks for the replies guys. I do realize that I can't have both lightweight and quiet. And yes, I do wear ear plugs on long trips. On my last trip back from RITV, I got to thinking that maybe it is the mechanical engine noise versus sport muffler noise. I'll probably try the Appbiz pad when I pull the motor to install my short ratio gear box.

Anybody know what these various sound pads weigh per square foot?

[KNS]

t6,

I have a relatively quiet, stock muffler along with an M&K pre muffler. Sitting in the driver's seat cruising at 50 MPH, I hear some exhaust noise but what I mostly hear behind my head is the engine noise. At 80 mph, wind noise starts to become more of a factor as well as the increased engine noise, not so much the exhaust noise.

One of the reasons the 964/993 are quieter is of course the increased sound insulation. However, Porsche put a lot of thought into making the engine itself (as well as the exhaust) much more quiet.

[Fritter]

I have the black Appbiz pad and I didn't have to glue it at all. It's semi rigid and when it's input into the shock tower channel and the tabs under the front of the engine lid opening it stays put nicely.

I guess if we want total quiet we would have to buy water-cooled 996's and later, right?