Adding seat padding and reducing road noise?

[alexdi]

I nearly bought this car, but two things held me back from the test drive.

The seat bottom, especially where it meets the backrest, is very firm. I have long legs and my thighs don’t touch the front of the seat no matter the incline, so I’m mostly supported by my sit bones. I could feel discomfort building within a half-hour. I want to road trip this car. Has anyone tried adding padding to this seat? The fallback is an external generic pad, but I really dislike the aesthetic and how they’re never attached well.

The other issue was a high noise floor at highway speeds, high enough that I have to raise my voice to talk to the person next to me. It becomes fatiguing. Oddly, I didn’t feel the A-Spec was nearly as loud; maybe it’s just tires? Has anyone had good results adding sound dampening material to the wheel wells or other areas?

I’ve test-driven BMW M240i, Golf R, Tesla 3, BRZ, and many others. The ITS is the most fun by a wide margin (BRZ is close, let down by a buzzy engine and even worse NVH), but I need to be able to use it for long trips. CTR’s boy-racer styling isn’t my thing, unfortunately, even if it has better seats.

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[bullitt]

Tires have a HUGE effect on noise. On my Mustang I went from the Michelin PS4S to Continental DWS 06+ and it's night and day how quiet the car is now without giving up any backroad fun, and gaining much better cold/snow performance.

 

[ABPDE5]

I've treated the hatch, doors, and under the rear seat with a combination of Killmat and Aggfoam (and I plan to do the floor of the cabin next). It's made a considerable difference in road noise, cabin acoustics, and the experience of interacting with the car.

The material is cheap, but the process can be time consuming. Treating the hatch should be the highest priority (interior of rear wheel wells and floor of the hatch). This area is almost entirely untreated by Acura / Honda; it is responsible for a ton of road noise and resonance. If I wanted to be efficient, I would buy 36sq. ft of both materials and treat this area only. From a road noise perspective, there is no point in treating other areas if you don't treat this one.

While treating the doors does not have as substantial an impact on road noise as the hatch, it does make a measurable impact on the performance of the woofers, due to reduced resonance and improved seal (this was an unintended benefit for me, but after doing the work, the improvement in upper bass was so substantial it motivated me to treat the subwoofer cabinet and throw in a new woofer to improve the lower bass, as well). It also makes them much more satisfying to open / close, etc.

 

[alexdi]

I've treated the hatch, doors, and under the rear seat with a combination of Killmat and Aggfoam (and I plan to do the floor of the cabin next). It's made a considerable difference in road noise, cabin acoustics, and the experience of interacting with the car.

The material is cheap, but the process can be time consuming. Treating the hatch should be the highest priority (interior of rear wheel wells and floor of the hatch). This area is almost entirely untreated by Acura / Honda; it is responsible for a ton of road noise and resonance. If I wanted to be efficient, I would buy 36sq. ft of both materials and treat this area only. From a road noise perspective, there is no point in treating other areas if you don't treat this one.

While treating the doors does not have as substantial and impact on road noise (compared to the hatch), it makes a measurable impact on the performance of the woofers, due to reduced resonance and improved seal (this was an unintended benefit for me, but after doing the work, the improvement in upper bass was so substantial it motivated me to treat the subwoofer cabinet and throw in a new woofer to improve the lower bass, as well). It also makes them much more satisfying to open / close, etc.

Great to hear. Would you consider this a good DIY project? I wasn't able to find service manuals (at least not without paying $30 a day for something I can't download), so I'm not sure how the interior is held together. I have mechanical skill and tools, but little practical experience disassembling cars.

 

[ABPDE5]

Great to hear. Would you consider this a good DIY project? I wasn't able to find service manuals (at least not without paying $30 a day for something I can't download), so I'm not sure how the interior is held together. I have mechanical skill and tools, but little practical experience disassembling cars.

100%. I've never done this before, and it was relatively easy. You can find videos on Youtube that show how to remove panels for these Integras or 11th gen Civics. Most panels are held in place with small green push clips, and you can just pull them off (each door has a single screw). Be careful when removing panels, as they are often attached to wiring harnesses (you'll want to pull them off gingerly -- a little bit at a time -- and unclip any harness connections before pulling the panel away from the vehicle).

I would recommend picking up some green clips in advance. I only broke one, but I did find that they didn't hold as tightly after removal, so I replaced a couple anyway. You can get some aftermarket ones here that perform as well, if not better, than the OEM ones (I bought some OEM ones, too, but these are cheaper and stiffer):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BHDP93J?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I cannot overstate how substantial an impact treating the car makes. Road noise and cabin acoustics were not a consideration for me when I bought this car. After a couple years, the drone on the highway started to bother me (and I found myself turning my radio down so much after getting off the highway it was concerning). The car is now relatively relaxing on the highway; after treating the interior panels, they feel solid, and the sound system performs much better in low frequencies. It takes time (budget a Saturday for each area and take your time), but it transforms the car.

Someone else posted this somewhere, so I can't take credit:
View attachment Interior Trim Area (Interior Moulding - Trim).pdf

 

[alexdi]

100%. I've never done this before, and it was relatively easy. You can find videos on Youtube that show how to remove panels for these Integras or 11th gen Civics. Most panels are held in place with small green push clips, and you can just pull them off (each door has a single screw). Be careful when removing panels, as they are often attached to wiring harnesses (you'll want to pull them off gingerly -- a little bit at a time -- and unclip any harness connections before pulling the panel away from the vehicle).

I would recommend picking up some green clips in advance. I only broke one, but I did find that they didn't hold as tightly after removal, so I replaced a couple anyway. You can get some aftermarket ones here that perform as well, if not better, than the OEM ones (I bought some OEM ones, too, but these are cheaper and stiffer):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BHDP93J?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I cannot overstate how substantial an impact treating the car makes. Road noise and cabin acoustics were not a consideration for me when I bought this car. After a couple years, the drone on the highway started to bother me (and I found myself turning my radio down so much after getting off the highway it was concerning). The car is now relatively relaxing on the highway; after treating the interior panels, they feel solid, and the sound system performs much better in low frequencies. It takes time (budget a Saturday for each area and take your time), but it transforms the car.

Someone else posted this somewhere, so I can't take credit:
View attachment Interior Trim Area (Interior Moulding - Trim).pdf

Thanks! That's encouraging and the link is very helpful. I found another one that describes how to dismantle the seat cushion (for the Civic anyway, I assume the Integra is similar), so it may just take some upholstery foam to bring the seat up to the par. Hard to say.

 

[s219]

Somehow this particular platform -- the Integra rides on a Civic sedan architecture converted to a hatchback, not the actual Civic hatchback architecture -- picked up many undesirable characteristics with road noise and resonance. It seems to manifest worst in the Type-S. I've driven the A-spec Integra and now own a CTR, and they are both notably less harsh with road noise (was very surprised about that with the CTR). So yeah, read many of the excellent threads on sound deadening on the forum, and go to town. I think noise echoing around in the hatch area is perhaps the worst offender.

I came to hate the ITS seats because of the bottom support, not firm enough for me and somewhat lumpy. Felt like I was wearing a diaper. I had mysterious tailbone pain over the summer that I couldn't figure out, but once I stopped commuting daily in the ITS, it went away completely.

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