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Customers want quieter vehicles. They also want cars and trucks that have better fuel economy. Until now, the two goals were mutually exclusive because making a vehicle quieter meant adding more layers of heavy insulating materials. The weight of these materials might run from 55 lb. on a smaller vehicle, to as high as 135 lb. on a luxury sedan at a time when engineers are chasing ounces elsewhere in the car. If that isn't enough, larger pieces-like dash panel sound insulators--are often so heavy (15 to 20 lb. isn't unusual) and flexible that it takes two people and multiple fasteners to install them on an assembly line.

"Our Ultra Light technology," says David Westgate, president and CEO of Rieter Automotive Systems' Americas business unit (Farmington Hills, MI) "can take an average of 30 lb. out of a vehicle, and lower the weight of a typical dash panel by as much as 70%." (Rieter claims weight savings of between 15 lb. and 90 lb. on the 20 production vehicles currently using the system.) He proves the point by putting the current dash panel from a new Japanese midsize car, and its Ultra Light replacement on a scale. The formed Ultra Light pad weighs 12 lb. less than the 17 lb. standard insulator, and needs five fewer fasteners. "The current unit takes two people to lift into place and secure," says Jeff VanBuskirk, v.p., Systems Engineering and Development, "while ours can be fitted by one person in less time, which frees that worker to perform other tasks."

Reducing the weight of the typical sound barrier material increases the amount of noise that is transmitted to the vehicle interior. "Conventional materials are designed to smother unwanted sounds," says VanBuskirk, "and they need the mass to do that." Ultra Light, a patented multi-layer material, absorbs sound and makes cable runs and other noise infiltration paths--including windows--less critical. "You don't want to build a sound-proof box," says VanBuskirk, "because any sound that does leak through turns the interior into a reverberation chamber. The idea isn't to keep sound from entering the cabin, but to absorb it as quickly as possible so that it doesn't become an annoyance." Anything that can cut weight and noise infiltration in this manner must be pretty special.

# posted by Medical Information : 5:45 AM