I wanted to share that yesterday afternoon I changed my cabin air filter and noticed the back of my glove box or glovebox (whatever it's called) has sound insulation. I know many people are always trying to quiet their cabins and this was an interesting find. I would imagine Honda found a significant decibel reduction and decided this was worth the additional costs. This was not on my 2015.
I will add a photo later. Previously I was not thinking this might make a good post so I didn't snap a pic.
Sorry for not removing the entire box... I had a short lunch break today and didn't have much time to mess with the car. This view is straight in with the box dropped down. 2nd pic is better.
Looking from the passenger door.
I think Rick tried sound deadening in his journal if u want to check that out.
Can you post a picture so we can see what type it is?
I have looked back in that cavity and I did not presume that insulation on the glovebox itself would have any effect - because the whole area back there is so much bigger - so if it does that's interesting.
I fully agree that the entire area is much larger, but it gave me an ah-ha moment because it is basically against the cabin side of the blower motor. Since sound travels in straight lines, I am sure there must have been some benefit to deadening the sound going toward the cabin and stopping it's echo off of other objects. I don't think they are looking to stop road noise or even wind noise, but for sure they wanted to reduce blower motor noise. Headed out to lunch and will get a pic while I am out.
Yeah.... I remember Rick doing his insulation project.
Honda stated that they improved the sound insulation for 2018, but I don't recall that they ever went into any detail as to what they did, other than mentioning switching to a more sound deadening windshield. I know there were complaints about road and wind noise in earlier models but in driving my 2018 around I have no issues at all with noise.
Incidentally. latest Consumers Reports magazine (Dec 2018) is out and they have an article on "Cars You Can Count On" based on latest data. Of the 10 most reliable cars they list, Honda only has one model listed - the Honda Fit. Toyota has 5 vehicles in that top ten list.
My 2015 LX 6spd to 2018 EX transition was so significant that it's hard for me explain without sounding like I am bashing the 2015. I am sure the glass does have a more insulating property since they bragged on that one. The largest change I can see is the belly pan. Previously these were plastic, like the one you encounter when you change your oil. The 2018 is the fiber material like the fender well liners that have drawn so much attention. Also I believe they did some unibody reinforcement, which could have reduced harmonics that create noise.
I agree, but it covers the entire exposed side and covers it very closely. I wonder if a generic decibel meter on my phone could tell a difference.. Cheap science may investigate this afternoon.
I wonder if I can something like that with some leftover felt or insulation material?
Maybe since it is Friday I can get some time in the garage to see if I can bring more science to this. Currently I am shocked with how easily this decibel measuring app changes it's reading. I don't have a way to know it's calibration, but it seems to be crazy sensitive. This app is called: "Decibel X: dB, dBA Noise Meter"
I ran out in the parking lot to my car and wanted to see what would happen.
I did 20 second averages. Phone held exactly the same way and in the exact same spot, just above the shifter. Air on mixed, vents pointed straight out.
My real world feeling inside the car is that this made zero difference between opening and closing the glove box all the way. The online calculators are saying that it's an 8% increase in noise pressure when I expose the blower motor unit.
To give this any validity, I would need to say I am using something beside an iPhone APP, although the reviews are awesome. Also I am guessing I need to repeat the test maybe 10 times and look for consistency.
Last edited by CyclingFit; 11-12-2018 at 10:59 PM.
how do you drop the box , does it snap out somehow ?
You can see rubber bumpers that help is open softly when fully open. Notice those can flex inward.
I took a peek and it doesn't look too hard to fab something in there to replicate the OEM sound dampening.