Corvette Noise and Sound Solutions

Do you love your Corvette and hate "Corvette Noise" making driving it on long trips fatiguing. Maybe you have an aftermarket exhaust system that sounds like its plumbed into the car and causes it to resonate at a certain RPM.

Its a fact that fatigue is caused by extreme temperatures, loud noises, stress and lack of sleep.

Everything in life has trade offs. Loud exhaust and high performance tires bring your car to that next level of performance but increase Corvette Noise. This reduces your comfort as vehicle interior sound levels increase. Compromise no more!

Click here for the DIY Corvette Noise Solution Kit

About Corvette Sounds

Corvette sounds are developed by tires against the pavement, bumps, expansion cracks, wind and maybe a significant others displeasure.

Corvette sounds from engine and exhaust pulses reverberate through the car and its structure.

The technical term for this is "NVH" Noise Vibration and Harshness.

Corvettes are more susceptible to "NVH" problems since the types of materials used in Corvettes don't slow down sound waves. They may even amplify certain frequencies from uses of composite materials like fiberglass.

Corvettes are engineered to be light weight and easy to build. Consequently little or no attention was made to "NVH" or any modern techniques for battling "NVH" applied.

The sources of noise in a vehicle are many, including the engine, driveline, tire contact patch and road surface, brakes, and wind. Noise from cooling fans, HVAC, alternator, and other engine accessories is also fairly common. Many problems are generated as either vibration or noise, transmitted via a variety of paths, and then radiated acoustically into the cabin.

These are classified as "structure-borne" noise. Others are generated acoustically and propagated by airborne paths.

Structure-borne noise is attenuated by isolation.
Airborne Noise is reduced by absorption or through the use of barrier materials.

How to Eliminate Corvette Noise

Popular Online Resource Wiki States there are three principal means of improving "NVH" AKA "Corvette Noise":
1. Reducing the source strength, as in making a noise source quieter with a muffler, or improving the balance of a rotating mechanism.
2. Interrupting the noise or vibration path, with barriers (for noise) or isolators (for vibration).
3. Absorption of the noise or vibration energy, as for example with foam noise absorbers, or tuned vibration dampers.

Number one is pretty much done at the engineering level and manufacturing stages. We cant change this unless someone makes a quiet exhaust system for a Corvette. We doubt they sell well! Consequently Camshaft profiles and engine modifications can increase "NVH" levels from factory specs thus increasing the sounds you hear.

Now #2 and #3 we can change. The technology exists today to improve the quality of your driving experience

About Decibels

For Corvette Noise comparison we use decibels (db). Decibel is a logarithmic unit that indicates the ratio of a physical quantity (usually power or intensity) relative to a specified or implied reference level. A ratio in decibels is ten times the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio of two power quantities.
0 db is a power of 1
10 db is a power of 10
20 db is a power of 100
So every 10 db add X 10 Power to the base
Normal Speech is 60 db
Toilet Flushing 75 db
Jet engine at takeoff 140 db

Eighty-five decibels (dB) is the level above which hearing protection is recommended, to avoid hearing loss from the cumulative effects of exposure to noise over time. How can you tell if the noise level is 85 dB? Here's a quick test: If you have to raise your voice to talk to someone who is an arm's length away from you, you are likely in an environment with a sound level of 85 dB or more.

The relative loudness that we perceive is a subjective psychological phenomenon, not something that can be objectively measured. Most of us perceive one sound to be twice as loud as another one when they are about 10 dB apart; for instance, a 60-dB air conditioner will sound twice as loud as a 50-dB refrigerator. Yet that 10-dB difference represents a tenfold increase in intensity. A 70-dB dishwasher will sound about four times as loud as the 50-dB refrigerator, but in terms of acoustic intensity, the sound it makes is 100 times as powerful.

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