Focus II is a great car. However other Focus II owners will know that at motorway speeds there is a lot of noise which I would characterise as roaring. Noise from the 1.6 petrol engine isn't a problem, but soundproofing does seem to be.
I tried changing the tyres for a softer set (Contis) but it made no difference.
I can live with it but on the other hand, if adding some material to under-insulated areas is fairly easy DIY, I'd consider it. Wouldn't want to remove any panels but the boot floor (it's a hatch BTW) and front footwells don't seem to have much soundproofing material against them.
Has anyone tried this DIY? What were the results and what materials were best? I've considered stuffing in some foam sheeting I've got knocking about (goes under laminate floors I think); not very scientific!
Incidentally I understand Focus III is designed to be quieter - have they added more soundproofing material?
Cheers,
Jim
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I have an '07 Focus ST, it has some tyre noise on rough surfaces though is other wise not bad in road noise terms.
If by Focus III you mean the current model then it is not a Focus III, it is a facelifted Focus II, I understand that HJ intends to amend his listings to reflect the fact that Ford and the broader industry refer to the new Focus due in 12 to 18 months as the Focus III.
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Jim
I've got an 05 Focus II with the 1.6 VTi (115) engine.
You're right, road noise at speed is a bit excessive and slightly spoils a good car.
I had toyed with the idea of buying a kit from these people:
www.noisekiller.co.uk/
There's been discussion about it before on this forum if you do a search, and I'm pretty sure someone else with a Focus II has tried it.
Steve
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It is worth considering that it's the resonance of the metal that causes the noise and not simply the apparent area of un-damped metal. A smallish square of deadening material strategically applied can reduce the noise made by quite a large panel (see inside almost all car doors for proof - barely 20% of the surface is covered).
The manufacturers probably spend quite a bit of time working out how little sound deadening material they need to reduce noise below a certain threshold - and of course too much material would add weight, with attendant mpg / co2 penalties.
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I sound proofed a Fiesta: used a kit. A lot of proofing around the gearbox made a big difference as did the rear wheel arches..
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Funny this should come up as we tried a 2006 Fiesta in our recent car search and one of the negatives was intrusive (to me) road/drivetrain noise from the front footwell area. A noise that isn't present to any degree in the C3 we eventually chose.
Back when I was running 1960 & 70s cars many needed extra soundproofing so I would go to the scrapyard and take the felt from Rovers/Jaguars/etc. Made a huge difference to the likes of a Triumph Herald, Cortina, Capri and so on.
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I'm really not trying to annoy anybody here but I've driven dozens of Focus' and apart from the huge difference in quality between many of them I've yet to drive one that I think matches a Golf for refinement. At current prices, even allowing for discounts, I think Focus is overpriced. It's a good car and a decent handler, but hardly class leader for quality and refinement. To even have to discuss aftermarket sound deadening says it all really.
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