V2Rocket

This thought came to me last night on a long drive as I was trying to lalalalalala away the exhaust and wind noise at 80mph.

Anybody ever made a panel of sorts, that fit snugly in the opening between the rear seat top and the metal roof, that would effectively separate the cabin from the "trunk"?

For those with a rear seatback it would be easy, just attach something to the wood backing. For those without, would have to get creative (would be interesting with a roll bar).

It would have to be clear on top of course so you could see out the back, and easily removable in case you have big cargo. I am thinking some sort of metal frame with that roll-cage padding on it would help it fit snugly and not look too out of place.

The benefits of such an item would be:
1) slightly more protection to passengers from shifting cargo
2) noise reduction if you built it thick and tight enough, the resonance of the trunk floor would bounce off the hatch glass and hopefully bounce off the "center window" and keep the sound back there
3) help climate control, by basically reducing the interior volume by at least a third

anybody done such a thing? any ideas on making one? i think i might give it a shot this holiday.

fwb42

Spencer, I don't think this would be a good idea. Reason being, our hatches are very large and move a lot of air when closing. If you "sealed off the rest of the cabin you would trap all that pressure in the hatch area. How would this pressure relive itself? Thru the weakest path. Maybe helping to delaminate our hatch glass. I have seen my sunroof lift slightly when doing this when quickly closing mine. I think the door pillar
vents are there to help with this. What say you?

V2Rocket

well, there are the vents around the hatch area that exit in the doors, and my hatch is already completely delaminated, and the glass is about 1/4" away from the frame, electrical tape is what keeps me dry!

catamount

There's a pretty good chance that such a panel would be a safety hazard for rear seat passengers because of the chance they could hit their heads on it.

V2Rocket

not a problem, if you never put someone in the back seat (or don't have one)
unless the driver/passenger are both under ~5'8, lets not kid ourselves and call this car a real 4-seater.


re: hatch moving air, that largely depends on how hard you close your hatch. if you slam the thing down then there will be a sudden rush of air. but if you just close it like any other trunk lid, then a good push to latch it, shouldn't be a problem.

fwb42

My car is a garage queen with just turned 60K on the clock. It is still very tight which it probably why I noticed the hatch movement. While most times slowly closing the hatch is the right thing, we do close with more force on occasion. Just thought I would offer some insight.

V2Rocket

maybe some sort of pressure flap like some radiator shrouds for highway speed bypass...

phlfly

try to find top gear episode where they do this trick. So sunroof will pop up about 1 inch.

adrian_jaye

Get the "PORSCHE" 944s2 cabriolet wind deflector.

It "Should fit", in and out in 5 mins. it also lays down, for easy visibility (you can do it without getting out of the driving seat,

it also has a fine mesh, so you've not SEALED it

you will get zero road noise

V2Rocket

Can you show me a picture? Don't know if I've seen such a thing before.

*edit* found it by searching, very neat, but the prices mentioned were scary!

acorad

I like the idea of reducing by 1/3 the volume if air that needs to be cooled in the summer.

Butters944

This would do most of the trick

V2Rocket

right? the hatch area has to be a sun-collector and if youre trying to cool the passenger area off, the hot air back there kills ac effectiveness...

not to mention you could take the hatch off for carrying large items and not have wind on your neck!

ive looked at those in the past, but they cost $500000000000000 to buy if you can find one, don't really look that great from all angles, and you give up the tremendous visibility which makes a 944 super easy to drive.

Butters944

Agreed, just playin'

Arominus

Get some BXT Rammat and do the hatch area, it will be a LOT quieter.