Noise Issues

Any of you guys have problems with noise while driving? I've finally pulled the trigger of selling my weekend sports car. It's Japanese, not comparable to P-car of course. But one of the biggest problems for me is noise and I want to be sure it's not a nagging problem plaguing the 996's. I'm going to start the hunt for an early 996 soon...

Depends upon the kind of noise you dislike. My car has no cabin noise (rattles, etc). As for engine noise, that depends upon your taste. The Carrera is amazingly quiet in it's stock form. If you modify it you can produce may different tones. For example I have modified intakes (Evo V-flow) and B&B Exhausts.... to me that makes the most beautiful noise you will ever hear from a Porsche - a nice deep growl of a racecar. I never listen to the radio when I drive my car, I prefer to listen to the engine. I know many others feel the same way.

Road noise is a lot more than any jap car I have never owned, but thats how I like it. Tires have a lot to do with that I have a 00' and it has no cabin noise (rattles, etc).

I love my noise. Loud, flat-6 music........PSE!!!!

it's not engine/road noise that i'm worried about. my old sports car has tons of rattles/screeches. i've heard that hatchbacks have a tendency to do that... is the 996 particularly prone to rattles/knocking noises?

I don't have problems with noise and I have a cab.

You can quiet down the car, for whatever reason with noise supressing materials. Even a brand new car can get a pretty noticable noise decrease. I wanted to get the car as quiet as possible for stereo purposes. There are several versions of material in the stereo market. Dynamax has plastic or vinyl based and several others have the old asphalt based material. I chose the Tsunami asphalt based noise supression material panels (from circuit city, and NOT the stereo system , just the noise supressing material). They are adhesive backed, 12inch squares, about 1/4 thick. I actually found the same material on the inside of the rear quarter, when I removed the rear carpet and I have seen some on the inner side of door panels. You can remove as much of the interior panels as you want, and plaster the material as extensively as you like. I did all of the area under the rear carpet, engine cover and shelf, floor, front quarter/kick panel, and outside in the wheel wells which are covered by the plastic wheel well liners. It makes a big difference and is well worth the effort. To give an example; when you crank the engine with only the material applied, and not the rear carpet installed, and its as quiet as it was with the rear carpet. So you effectively double the sound insulation. The theory is to deaden the vibrations of the metal. Not necessarily to shield the sound from coming in. Whatever your motive, it works and is worth the effort.

Can you provide some more detailed insight as to how you removed the carpeting and and rear interior panels. Any tricks you learned to save the rest of us some aggrevation, and potential damage? Does the carpet and panels just pull off? What about the door panels, how did they come off? thanks

Man, I've never understood these questions. You're buying a sports car for chrissake. It ain't going to be as deadly quiet as a Mercedes or Lexus sedan. So, shy of a piece of metal dangling from the side of the car and dragging on the ground, I'm generally not that concerned about cabin noise. Frankly, most little rattles could probably just be fixed by adding a little felt to the underside to act as a dampening buffer if it really bothered you alot. What you ought to be more concerned about is the propensity of some Pcars to be abused by prior owners.

Theres a lot to removing the interior pieces. I suggest you buy one of the porsche workshop manuals on CD which gives a good general starter instruction on the whole car. You can find these sometimes on ebay for about $25 to $50. You can start removing the parts by the filler strip on the middle of the B pillar. It has a hidden screw. The rest of the panels will pull off by clips and maybe a couple of other hidden screws as you go. The carpet will pull out in one piece. But start with the seat belt bolts. Its like any other job, just get started somewhere and you'll figure it out as you go.

I've always fixed any rattles and noises in my cars by turning up the stereo and hitting the gas pedal harder......

I've got a cab...with the top down...perfect...but with the top up.....what a bucket of noises and squeeks...even a rattle in the top....so my solution is keeping the top down!!....I am to lazy to other with the noises...so bought a sport exhaust...and that is the best "noise" ever!