My experience of DIY Car sound insulation materials

Last weekend I finally removed the Fatmat (similar as Dynermat)on my 2004 Honda CRV.

Fatmat and Dynermat are car sound deadening/insulation materials. I bought my CRV new, when I test-drove it, I forgot to test it on Highway (maybe too excited as it was the first time buying a new car). It was very smooth on local, but the road noise turned out to be very loud on US highway as most of US highways are not covered by tar. So I decided to add the sound insulation materials myself: Ordered Fatmat online, spent 6 hours taking apart the door trims/panels, applied the sticky side to the doors and trunk, and intalled the panels back on. Verdict: Not very useful in reducing road noise,but very good at eliminating audio low bass sound rattling. You might like it if you are a fans of loud music in the car. All the rattling caused by the ultra-low bass disappeared.

The reason I remove it after 5 years is because of the tar smell from the sticky materials on the back of the insulation materials in very hot summer. It is not very strong but I just don't like it. (later Dynermat claimed that they have no such smell anymore, but Dynermat is far more expensive!!!).

So be very cautious if you want to install this kind of sound insulation materials. It is not easy to install, and it is super difficult to remove!!!. At one time I even want to trade in my car to get a Rav 4 just to get rid of the road noise and the smell all at once. But Rav4 has no flip-open rear window to let my dog stick out the head to enjoy the ride...