Noise Level Without Engine Bay Sound Deadening
 

Insite mentioned a while ago that the sound deadening inside the engine bay is pretty thick and heavy. He also mentioned that it's glued in. So I assume it's not an easily reversible operation.

I'm itching to remove it but doing similar things on other cars in the past got me some very annoying transmission noise. Much different from the sweet sound of the exhaust system. On the other hand, I've run without the firewall and top covers before, checking for leaks, and the car sounds awesome.

So my question for those who've removed this stuff, what new sounds do you hear? Annoying or good?

Why don't you just put the top into the service position and temporarily remove the insulated metal cover that is fixed above the engine compartment?
Or you could could remove the carpeted insulation behind the seats and remove the access port.
If you drive around with those out of the way for a few miles you should have some idea about the sound, but I think there would be more engine noise than exhaust noise.
Not that I would do it, but whatever rows your boat.....

I removed mine and there was noticeable valvetrain noise. This was with all the carpeting removed as well and the stock exhaust. No data points with the firewall and top covers on.

I now have what is essentially a straight pipe as an exhaust so I only get sweet flat six sound.

It was a pain to get it all out and clean up all the glue residue.

As I wrote, I drove around with the covers off. But that's not necessarily an indication of what the engine bay sound deadening masks.

Valvetrain, huh, how about transmission? Any whirring?

I've never detected any transmission whine. Being farther away from the passenger compartment I'm sure helps subdue it.

I'm pretty tolerant to normal mechanical noises and all my cars have aftermarket exhausts. Compared to the whine from the two diffs I have for my M3 racecar the boxster is really quiet in the cockpit.

I have driven without the carpets over the engine and the carpets behind the seats. The car sounded horrible while driving.