That not carboard....that polisteren... few factor why they use plisteren...easy/cheap to mold..to make sure thecsurface is flat enough due to the design of floor fam.

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what is tong ikan?
the thick styrofoam?

Renault Malaysia what do you have to say...

The fluence is not a cheap car, yet they skim on such things.

Would those air bag deploy during accident? Maybe being swap out with baloons.

Man, I would not even touch this car, even given fifty percent discount. Who knows what else they cut...

exactly..

I think he meant Styrofoam material. Cardboard fish tank. hahaha.

Where did you see it? Is that cardboard on your own car, assuming you drive the Passat?

not sure abt vw..but this kind of stuff can be related to rebadge version of some model..sirion/boon to myvi..or even ckd model.

buy cheap car like that laa, noisy. luckily potong car not soo noisy just heard engine roarrrrr

i dont think they meant to use it as sound insulation. just want to raise the platform a bit from the floor pan...
look at this http://bitumensheets.blogspot.my/2009/04/l...ndproofing.html

There is no rocket science as in "there is no ordinary cardboard". It's either a cardboard or not. The difference in terms of noise insulation between a vehicle that has cardboard and one that does not have one is very minimal. It won't reduce sound of the rain drops a lot, in fact negligible. It will however change the tone of the rain drops to the metal roof by altering the frequency, but the difference will not be tangible. To EFFECTIVELY reduce the sound from the ie. soundproofing the roof, you will need mass or sound deadening material which can be a combination of different materials in the roof.

The cardboard is cheap, and it will work, just a tiny bit. If the difference is negligible, it might be a better idea not to put anything on the roof. By putting something on the roof, the car manufacturer has already thought of soundproofing the roof, in some ways. For just a mere RM50-100 worth of material, that would bring more tangible improvements rather than RM5 cost of cardboard pieces that are stuck on the roof. Might as well don't put anything.

Very common. My 2006 smart forfour has corrugated cardboard and styrofoam as insulation. After few years, both will disintegrated into dust. Mine does. Now going to replace with wool or something similar.

Actually, the Fluence as with any other cars costing RM120k+/- being sold in Malaysia are cheap cars. They are only costly when they are subjected to taxes by the government when the cars are brought into the country either in CKD or CBU versions.

The distributor/dealer of the Renault *may* have cut the cost by omitting or replacing some things in the car, for instance this insulation material that is being used on this Fluence. Looks like nobody here knows if the Fluence models sold in the overseas market are on this same cardboard material .

common. Vios and Camry uses thin plastic boards to separate the back seat and boot. But the material is good for sound proofing... like using egg trays for room sound proofing.

Also, ask your car mechanic for most cars to remove bumper.... polystyrene inserts everywhere

This post has been edited by Anubis77: Nov 18 2015, 08:43 AM

Cardboard will not disintegrate. If it does, the material is likely a foam type, dense foam which is commonly used for soundproofing. It will deteriorate with heat and break into small pieces in time, turn to dust as you say. But not cardboard. Cardboard will stay the same for years. Cardboard is a material used for packing boxes, the same boxes that are used for LCD TV panels, amplifiers etc.

Different application you are citing there. We are talking about the roof, not some separation for back seat and boot or other parts of the car. Those can be introduced to reduce vibration or something else, other than noise.

was with an automotive company for a few months many years ago and during that time, saw the process of CKD of a Japanese make. basically, they have to follow the specs given e.g. if the floor lining specifies felt material and thickness 15mm, then they have to follow. only thing is, the quality that they can get locally. saw the difference in the carpet between local and japan and just visually and by feel alone, can see the carpet from japan is better quality. the Engineer told me there's nothing they can do as locally that's the best they can source.

You are mentioning that Renault using cheap materials right? well what I am saying is that all over the car, manufacturers uses cheap materials there you dont see it; especially where you dont see it. So its common to use cheap materials in car. And the other part is that like the egg tray example.... cheap material but good sound proofing.. just looks cheap and ugly. lol.

Well. Those examples you cite, they may be cheap, but it serves the application. But not in the case of the roof of the car, when it is cheap but it actually doesn't serve the purpose, it is negligible in terms of soundproofing. Those things you pointed out, they may be necessary items not only for separation but support of the fittings in the car (not necessarily solely for soundproofing). Whereas the roof, you don't need to put anything on it as it is just fine. If you want to put something on the roof, it is better to put something that is effective than something that is not. But in this case, it is a case of cutting-cost, introducing something that will bring minor or negligible effects. Other than the showing of the car manufacturer (or distributor of Renault in Malaysia, either one), cutting-cost to this extent, choosing to use a cheap and ineffective material for soundproofing when you can spend a bit more, likely not more than RM100 to use something that is more efficient and serves the purpose.

I guess then someone needs to do a comparison between with and without cardboard to find out. From the looks, it does look negligible. But who knows till its tested. Like those individuals selling light fibre cut out boards to attach into engine bays to dampen noise... not sure how effective are those. Material seems cheap but they sell it like RM100 and more. And if egg tray materials are good for sound proofing, may should put it into the cars.. cheap and effective... lol