Dear All,

Adding my review of Autofoam to this active discussion as well.
My car was recently Autofoam-ed & had some soundproofing done to my Proton Saga LMST 1.3 (M) in July 2011.
My car is almost 4 years old now, Dec 2007, with my mileage around 55,000, running on Hankook V2 Blackbird tyres (185/60/14) that have been used for around 20,000 kms. My tyre pressure for all 4 tyres is usually 250kpa.
My front bonnet also has the RM50 cheap soundproofing material affixed previously.

The package done to my car was as follows:-
1) Autofoam Luxury - Full package with roof treatment, however C pillars was not foamed to ensure proper cabin pressure
2) Soundproofing - Total Rear Package (Boot Lit & Butt Package Treatment) & Floor Package
3) OMITTED FOR LATER - Total Door Package + Front Tyres + Front Bonnet / Engine Treatment

Here's my review of the products offered as per benefits stated on KL Auto's website:-

A) Strengthen & Stiffen the cars structure and improve Torsional rigidity.
This will then drastically reduce chassis twist & flex. A stronger chassis will also transfer more energy away from the cars body. Thus you will enjoy...

~ Tighter & Tauter Ride.
~ Sharper & more Agile Handling.
~ Reduce Body Roll & Hop.
~ Improved Steering Response.

=> I personally feel the car is much more stiff & rigid, resulting in a more tighter ride with sharp agile handling. However, I do feel that the car's comfort levels are stiffer compared to the floaty mattress like feeling it had previously. An example of this is that on very bumpy old roads, kampung roads, untarred roads as well as damaged roads with a lot of potholes and uneven elevation, the car feels like you're driving a very quiet rally car instead of a noisy road car. This makes my stock suspensions & springs work harder as all the energy & load is being transferred to these components instead of being absorbed by the chassis flex. Even when taking to 30km/h speed bumps, you can feel the car taking the bump as an entire car without the chassis flexing as compared to previously, I could feel the front half of the car absorbing the impact of the bump before the read end takes over. With the above being said, I would say Autofoam is beneficial, but you will need to be prepared to upgrade your stock suspension & even springs perhaps to better quality ones since the chassis has been stiffened quite dramatically and thus changing the dynamics of your vehicle as previously highlighted by one of the forummers in this forum previously. This maybe a good thing or a bad thing for some people, as this is very subjective for each driver, as some prefer keeping their cars stock condition with stock parts, while some aim to improve every aspect of their car compared to the factory set-up.

B) Seals off hollow sections, NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) is blocked out & absorbed.

~ Absorbs road Vibrations & Harshness for a drastically improved Ride.
~ Blocks out Noise, Dust & Moisture.
~ Absorbs Structure Borne vibrations & noise for a luxury comfort.
~ Helps reduce Body, Drivetrain Creaks & Groans.

=> In terms of NVH, I do feel that my car is much more silent compared to previously before doing any Autofoam. I have also done an apple to apple comparison as my mom owns the same car in stock factory condition. Whenever I'm back in Ipoh, I always leave my car in the car porch and use my mom's car instead, to feel out the differences. I always find myself wishing I was driving my own car instead due to the better NVH levels which makes me feel more relaxed when I'm driving. But enough with the subjective opinion above; here's my objective opinion:-

~~ On normal roads and highways, the car is much quieter. Outside sound is reduced, especially from the road and other vehicles (big lorries, trucks with containers, express buses, town buses, cars, and motorcycles). When I wind down my windows when the car is stationary, I can definitely feel the difference in sound levels. And when driving in the same road conditions with my mom's stock car, I always feel that her car is noisier in terms of this.

~~ On very bad road conditions & off-road, just one sentence. The car feels like a silent rally car. There's still some harshness & bumpiness in terms of the way the car & the suspension absorbs the impacts of the drive, but I still feel that the car is better compared to what it was in stock condition. But of course, this is my personal opinion and the new set-up suits my driving styles.

~~ Overall cabin / cockpit noise, creaks and groans - The noise levels in the car has been reduced significantly as I notice I'm able to listen to clearer music at lower volume levels at any speed. In terms of creaks and groans, my car hardly had any creaks and groans before this, and it remains the same. However, due to the car much more quieter than previously, the small sounds that didn't annoy me previously ended up nagging me now, but I went back to Desmond to troubleshoot this, and all sounds have been eliminated. I still do hear very strong wind sounds at high speeds, but my car doors have yet to be treated and my car has those window visors which help to create louder wind sounds as well.

Summary:-

PRO(s)
1 - Improved Ride & Handling
2 - Reduced NVH Levels
3 - Stiffer Chassis Feel

UN-TESTED / UN-PROVEN
1 - Stronger Chassis (Invisible Roll-Cage) which will help protect passengers in a car accident?
2 - Rejected Insurance Claims by Insurance Agencies when car is involved in an accident
3 - 10 Year Warranty Period. What does this mean?

CON(s)
1 - Very steep pricing of the Autofoam packages + soundproofing
2 - My wife has been complaining of being car-sick during long journeys in the car, which never happened before this.
3 - Sometimes I feel my head to be heavy + head-aches during long journeys in the car.

For now, this is my un-biased review of the products being offered by Desmond.
For CON(s) 2 & 3, I have yet to address this with Desmond as I've been busy driving all across the country with my car and clocking up more mileage to experience the differences of Autofoam, and will do so this month. Will update everyone on the outcome once I meet up with Desmond.

Would I recommend this to a friend or come back with my next new car for a repeated treatment; Hmmmmmm, well, this would be a YES or NO answer as it really depends on what an individual wants for his / her car. I was thinking about doing this treatment for more than a year, since buying my car in June 2010. I finally decided to do so because I'm planning to keep my car for the next 5/10/15/20 years without selling and I find this a worthy investment (RM4k). Desmond offers a 12 month easy payment scheme through Maybank credit cards (0% interest & service charges). Also, I considered the 3 in 1 aspects offered by the treatment (Improved NVH, better ride & handling & invisible roll-cage / stronger chassis).

Trust everyone knows the 'milo tin' feeling of any Proton Saga, and Desmond's treatment really helped do wonders to my car. And since I've seen parts of my car interior being opened up previously, I have no qualms about having my entire car interior & boot stripped naked for the Autofoam & soundproofing package. However, if it was still a new / virgin car that has yet to have any interior parts opened up, I'd rather have my car remain stock. This does not mean Desmond's team does not perform an outstanding job of stripping the car bare. They do it amazingly well, as though it was their own car, and even take the time to clean up all the accumulated dust and debris that is hidden under all the plastic and fabric in the car.

In terms of service levels & quality, I would rate KL Auto a 10/10, however, this expensive Autofoam treatment may not be everyone's cup of tea, especially if you're the type of person who changes cars every 5 years.
But for a person planning to use their car for more than 10 years - 20 years, or maybe even longer, I think it's worthwhile as I believe it will help to preserve the chassis and also reduce metal fatigue in my car. This can only be analysed and proven in the long run, as I've yet to personally meet an owner of an Autofoamed car that has aged so long and past Desmond's 10 year warranty period.

Will continue to keep everyone updated after my next visit to KL Auto.

Why spray water into the chassis?

Yah... Agree with the above statement. Peace of mind is important for something this is cannot be undone. For all those other foam sellers out there, time to market your products properly and not just hide behind your PM messages in the automotive forums...

1) Yes, that's true. KL Auto's marketing / advertising strategy is very the keng.

2) Agreed, and most forummers have already advised KL Auto's foam is actually Wurth (from Germany also)

3) It's not about getting big corporate companies and expensive car owners to try their foam as compared to Autofoam, it's more about being open in the marketplace when it comes to giving information on your product. If you google Autofoam, there's an official website + so many forums discussion the pros & cons of the product. Information is readily available. That's not the case with other alternatives (Profoam, EAFoam, etc, etc). We want to hear unbiased reviews from the owners who've tried it and the seller as well if they get a bad comment / review, which is hard to find for other brands.

4) Yes, the price range is super huge, and of course most of us rather not pay more for a product that's can be bought cheaper, but the other sellers are still not up to par in marketing their product and convincing us to buy it. Rich car owners wouldn't care much about this, because in most cases, after 5 years, they will be switching cars and thus don't care about the long term effects of the foam. But some owners, who are planning to keep the car long term (more than 10 years), have to really think this through, like myself, and that's why we end up going for something tried & tested, where the product has minimal complaints. I've combed through all the Autofoam forums, and I even noted that Desmond even sometimes offers free upgrades for his customers whenever he has a new product.

5) Maybe at the start, yes, we can't tell the difference. But what happens to the two competing products after 1 year? 2 year? 3 - 5 years? 8-10 years?

Competition for chassis foaming is good. I think it would benefit all car owners out there as it will bring down the market prices as it's becoming more and more popular and proven as well. But seriously, KL Auto's competitors, have yet to prove themselves to steal the big market share from KL Auto.

I'm also curious, why alternative brands are still not able to offer full foaming packages for the car like what Autofoam is offering...
Mostly is undercarriage & certain pillars... Is it because they don't really examine the individual chassis structure of the cars like KL Auto?

Those that are trying the alternative brands, do please share photos + reviews on Lowyat... These will help future potential buyers or those considering foaming their chassis...

Honestly, you need to take into consideration, when you foam your car, you're stiffening up your chassis. It will no longer flex as before.
When that happens, the load needs to be transferred somewhere, and it will mostly go to your absorbers & springs.

So original shocks, if they are not new, will start to wear and tear faster. I'm also experiencing this with mine as well. The car feels like a silent rally car, it's great, but you also need to upgrade your supporting parts as well. Cause & effect of autofoaming your ride.

When you go for better handling & ride, you will sacrifice some comfort... Once you upgrade your shocks to those with better rebound rates (can take the stronger burder of a stiffer chassis), it will be back to normal.

There's two types of foam. One is whitish & the other one is blueish...
I have both done to my car (full package).

1) The white one is softer, and inserted in all the crumple zone areas, so that it does not become rock solid hard.
2) The blue one is harder, and inserted at the undercarriage of the car, they have to strip open the carpet and all.

I've kept samples of the foam injected into my car, and I can say that it's the same as the samples displayed by KL Auto at his shop.
So what I would suggest if for you to bring back your car to Desmond for him to personally check.

It's been a while since I posted an updated review of my Autofoamed + soundproofed car. I'm super happy with the results, yesterday a few kaki(s) from the 4G1 Series Forum test drove my car, and even they were blown away by the handling and reduced NVH.

Desmond had a RM10 package recently, which I visited his shop and got this fine-tuning done. He took 3 dilligent hours working on my car, which is just a Proton Saga LMST, mind you, and after that, driving back home, the engine noise from my car was reduced even further.
Just imagine, I'm revving at 4k - 5k, and the car sounds like it's running at 2k - 3k... It's the best RM10 ever spent to mod my car!!!

For those considering the alternative foams and soundproofing out there, Desmond & KL Auto is definately the best. They can guarantee their work and they won't make you spend an extra dime unless they can deliver solid results for your ride. I tumpang my friend's Lexus LS460 recently, and I dare say, my car is around 70-75 as good as that car, and I believe that can be improved further once I return to Desmond for the final saga, which is 4 doors soundproofing + front wheel arches.

Who's doing the projector retrofit bro? HID lights ah?

Proton SAGA - Safety, Achievement, Greatness, Ability.
Although my Saga chassis & engineering is dated back almost 28 years ago, it's still able to finish on the podium.

I managed to achieve 3rd place / 9 cars in Ultra Racing Labour Day Gymkhana @ The Mines (Class 2, 1001 - 1300 cc). Super tuning done by Mitch Chong while Ride & Handling provided by Autofoam.

Just imagine what proper tuning & handling can do for your car if you invest in the right tuner & specialist in cars.