5.0_SD
Village Idiot/Biermeister
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2017
- Threads
- 25
- Messages
- 1,136
- Reaction score
- 395
- Location
- Central Florida
- First Name
- Bill
- Vehicle(s)
- 17 GT Base Lightning Blue
- Thread starter
- #1
Apologies for the length...trying to be thorough...
Ed at TKO Performance had reached out to us in a thread started by a member here asking if people felt if a sound deading mat in the trunk area would help to eliminate some unwanted road noise.
Now some would say that the S550 is pretty darn quiet inside. I'll grant that the bone stock base model that I have was definitely less noisy inside than my '14 track pack in stock format. But, as many of you know and realize, after we tighten up the loose washtub out back, lower it a touch, put after market, wider wheels with lower profile tires, and after market exhaust, we now have aquired more noise which can become annoying...a TON more road noise comes in.
Some time passed after Ed asked in the thread and low and behold, one day I got a PM from him. He introduced himself and what he was about. He politely asked me if I'd be willing to test a prototype mat for the S550, no strings attached other than providing him with feedback. He sent me a mat in a long box, rolled up. The write-up said to lay it out in the sun or in a warm trunk. I put it in very late Saturday and knew I wouldn't drive the car until late Sunday afternoon. That day came and I drove it a short distance to the grocery store later that Sunday afternoon. When I put my grocery's in the trunk, the wrinkles were all gone like the write-up said would happen. Now the roads to and from the grocery store are pretty good. I did notice less road noise, but that wasn't the real test. An added benefit to the mat is that my grocery's didn't slide all over the trunk on the drive home like they used to! So today, on the way in to work, the roads on the route in aren't as well maintained and are of varying surfaces of concrete and asphalt that have varying roughness and smoothness. I noticed a significant decrease in road noise than I always get when driving to work. Did it completely get rid of it, no, but it reduced the in-cabin road noise by an amount that was quite noticable to my ears...the mat made a big difference for sure. I did not notice a chnage in my exhaust note (with what I have, there isn't a lot of shrill sounds coming from it).
I then spoke to Ed on the phone today and gave him my feedback. He told me of how he started in his business, the materials they use, and the construction of it. ALL the materials are sourced in the United States as well as the manufacturing and construction of it. There is ZERO glue holding the diferent layers of foam together; they are put through a bonding process instead...that means no odors in cabin from the mat. He also said in their research designing these for the Corvette and Camaro that it was high and mid frequencies that were the main culprit in road noise and exhaust shrill. We also discussed price point and what he wants to sell them at which I think will be very, very reasonable. He said he would join soon and he can then go more in detail of everything. All in all, a very good experience and Ed is a very nice person to deal with.
Here are some pics...first one is direct out of the box into the trunk. In the other pics, you will notice the right side of the trunk has a piece attached via those triangle wedges...I do not have a factory sub so I would put the extra piece there. If you do have the sub, you eliminate that extra piece and trim the triangle wedges.
Ed at TKO Performance had reached out to us in a thread started by a member here asking if people felt if a sound deading mat in the trunk area would help to eliminate some unwanted road noise.
Now some would say that the S550 is pretty darn quiet inside. I'll grant that the bone stock base model that I have was definitely less noisy inside than my '14 track pack in stock format. But, as many of you know and realize, after we tighten up the loose washtub out back, lower it a touch, put after market, wider wheels with lower profile tires, and after market exhaust, we now have aquired more noise which can become annoying...a TON more road noise comes in.
Some time passed after Ed asked in the thread and low and behold, one day I got a PM from him. He introduced himself and what he was about. He politely asked me if I'd be willing to test a prototype mat for the S550, no strings attached other than providing him with feedback. He sent me a mat in a long box, rolled up. The write-up said to lay it out in the sun or in a warm trunk. I put it in very late Saturday and knew I wouldn't drive the car until late Sunday afternoon. That day came and I drove it a short distance to the grocery store later that Sunday afternoon. When I put my grocery's in the trunk, the wrinkles were all gone like the write-up said would happen. Now the roads to and from the grocery store are pretty good. I did notice less road noise, but that wasn't the real test. An added benefit to the mat is that my grocery's didn't slide all over the trunk on the drive home like they used to! So today, on the way in to work, the roads on the route in aren't as well maintained and are of varying surfaces of concrete and asphalt that have varying roughness and smoothness. I noticed a significant decrease in road noise than I always get when driving to work. Did it completely get rid of it, no, but it reduced the in-cabin road noise by an amount that was quite noticable to my ears...the mat made a big difference for sure. I did not notice a chnage in my exhaust note (with what I have, there isn't a lot of shrill sounds coming from it).
I then spoke to Ed on the phone today and gave him my feedback. He told me of how he started in his business, the materials they use, and the construction of it. ALL the materials are sourced in the United States as well as the manufacturing and construction of it. There is ZERO glue holding the diferent layers of foam together; they are put through a bonding process instead...that means no odors in cabin from the mat. He also said in their research designing these for the Corvette and Camaro that it was high and mid frequencies that were the main culprit in road noise and exhaust shrill. We also discussed price point and what he wants to sell them at which I think will be very, very reasonable. He said he would join soon and he can then go more in detail of everything. All in all, a very good experience and Ed is a very nice person to deal with.
Here are some pics...first one is direct out of the box into the trunk. In the other pics, you will notice the right side of the trunk has a piece attached via those triangle wedges...I do not have a factory sub so I would put the extra piece there. If you do have the sub, you eliminate that extra piece and trim the triangle wedges.
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