GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have a 2009 AWD Vibe and I love it. My main complaint is that the cabin noise is horrendous and I can hear everything the car does, especially going over certain types of roads. Are other people experiencing loud cabin noise?

Consider yourself a bit lucky with just 17" tires. Us 2009 Vibe GT owners have the lower profile 18" performance tires where you REALLY hear & feel every bump on the road. I jokingly say that's why we have the better sound system & sub woofer so that we can drown out all the road noise. On a serious note though, insulation just about everywhere will help the noise problem a bit. A time consuming job (seats, door panels, trim pieces, etc.) would need to be remover to properly apply any/all insulation.

Noise control is difficult and or expensive.
1. Tires: they can make a huge difference. I replaced the original Goodyear RSA's with Michelin Defender. These are know to be quiet, but pricey.
2. Sound deadening: that's different from insulation. You can use Dynamat or similar products that are mass loaded vinyl. These are also expensive and time consuming to install. There are brush-on/spray-on products that dampen the vibration of sheet metal. Same problem: expensive and time consuming. Or you could use "peel and seal" roofing material. This is metal foil backed rubber stuff, not asphalt. I used it and I have no odor issues from it.
3. Insulation: that would be fiber material that swallows up sound waves. You can stuff that under the plastic panels in the trunk area.
4. Use all of the above.

If you use all methods you can significantly improve on the noise issue. But don't expect vault like silence. The real quiet cars use rubber bushings on the sub frames that insulate the cabin from the road noise. Our sub frames are mounted metal to metal.

As much as I like my Vibe, I accept that it is a cheaply made economy car. A quiet cab is going to cost you a lot more money than the Vibe.

vibrologist wrote:The real quiet cars use rubber bushings on the sub frames that insulate the cabin from the road noise. Our sub frames are mounted metal to metal.

This is what makes the Vibes/Matrix/Corollas the best cars ever.

This is what I did :

- Sound deadened all doors.
- Pulled the carpet off to the side on the pass & driver side, put the largest peice of sound insulation that would fit without removing the carpet.
- Rear cargo hatch carpet is a must. Helps A LOT with all the road noise coming from the rear of the car.
- Quietest tires you can find.
- Doubled up on floor mats. Be very carefull with this one and make sure the diver side is with the SECURE with the hooks !!!! ( I got a lil flack with this one from members )
- Next is to remove the spare tire & use my scrap sound deadening for that area.

Everything I did REALLY helped but its not perfect. Its much quieter that stock but still noisey to me. You just have to accept that this car is just a economy car