Speaking of being spoiled by old cars, I still own a 2001 Opel Astra and I'm pretty sure there's less road noise coming in too. I believe the recent trend of making cars very light means they use thinner sheet metal, and this leads to uncontrollable vibrations and resonances. If I tap the rear of my superb eatate, above the wheel arches or by the boot windows, it sounds just like a drum, thin and hollow. If only it didn't take so much dismantling to get to it from the inside and I would also stick some butyl sheet on there...

3 hours ago, pcspinheiro said:

Speaking of being spoiled by old cars, I still own a 2001 Opel Astra and I'm pretty sure there's less road noise coming in too. I believe the recent trend of making cars very light means they use thinner sheet metal, and this leads to uncontrollable vibrations and resonances. If I tap the rear of my superb eatate, above the wheel arches or by the boot windows, it sounds just like a drum, thin and hollow. If only it didn't take so much dismantling to get to it from the inside and I would also stick some butyl sheet on there...

 

Cars are more efficient now, part of that is weight for sure hence our very thin sheet metal in parts.  Where the rear number plate is attached s paper thin.  I tapped the door of an old S-Class recently, it was like knocking on a solid oak door!

This is my Passat B8 (heater module for A5 camera on the windshield) ... that's terrible 😞

 

 

Edited 18 October, 20196 yr by Enriquez

10 hours ago, Enriquez said:

This is my Passat B8 (heater module for A5 camera on the windshield) ... that's terrible 😞

 

 

 

At least you can fix it with a strip of gaffa tape

It’s fixed now, but day to day there is new rattle ... somewhere 

Edited 19 October, 20196 yr by Enriquez

I have some sort of rattle in left doors and I can't get rid of it. Took door apart and couldn't find the source. So annoying. 

This weekend I applied noico soundproofing material to the boot floor (similar to dynamat but cheaper). The immediate, unexpected result was a more "solid" thump when closing the tailgate. I still get a fair bit of tire noise/drone, but in a bad tarmac stretch it was definitely quieter, way less rumble. With time I'll do the hood and probably rear wheel arches from the inside. Maybe the larger, hollow pillars too. I most likely won't do the doors, too much trouble to disassemble and reassemble. 

 

I meant to get some before/after dB readings but forgot to do it on the way home over the bad tarmac, and felt lazy to do quite a distance to get those values. It was also a busy weekend with the kids, picking mushrooms in the woods 🙂

If you do the rear arches from the inside please post details with photos, that is next on the list. Cheers.

I done rear wheel arches on my one on Saturday with dodo mats, while i replaced all 4 shock absorbers, it took 8 sheets per side. The result was amazing from my point of view, no one new what i done and on Sunday ok had a lot of runs to do covering speeds up to 60 mph, 3 different persons who knew the car asked me if i changed tyres or something as is quieter... I still did not say what i have done...

 

I did not see the point to do the arches from inside as it already gave some foam for that purpose which do to the shape could not do the proper job as has a lot of cuts and corners.

 

Sunday evening i did the boot spare wheel space from inside but run out of mats and i did not manage to cover the last bit towards the rear bumber where the spare lives ( this took the last 14 sheets i had...i would of needed 4 more sheets to finish it).

 

Test drive yesterday after the boot almost 80% insulation ... I could not see, hear any differences.... At least not from driver seat...

 

As note, after 55mph 90km/h, wind wil make itself present as noise factor... Also after 55mph i am not bithered about engine noise as wind speed/drag kind of make it not relevant.

 

Under 55mph however i need to look into noise insulation from engine noise to dampen it a bit... So i might go with bonnet insulation as i do not see any need for front wheel arches and firewall already pretty much done as standard..... Ehhh life with a tractor like diesel engine....

 

Ps: you will add some weight to rear end by doing what i done at least 10kg, i will give a acurate measure when i order another box of 30 sheets...

On 24/05/2019 at 00:38, JackySi said:

I have for winter BF Goodrich g-Force Winter 2 235/45/r18 supposedly 69db - they do feel very quiet until you start accelerating
for summer I bought Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric 3 which should have 69db too, but for some reason I think they're pretty loud. It is possible that the tyre shop put on 94W which are 71db. I have to check actually I just didn't consider that until now... Like u can hear them all the time while winter were pretty quiet until some speed. In general I some how feel my car is really loud with noise insulation almost every where except car floor. I felt Golf GTI 2006 is quieter... 

 

I'm generally unhappy with noise in my car, specially because I can hear wind noise on right rear doors somewhere around window at top but I checked every damn thing and it seems to seal well and no rubber is damaged or anything like that. I also checked alignment of doors (because I had really bad issues from factory because of that, like driver's doors didn't even seal.... it was like having open window all the time)... I dunno. I'm actually lately thinking to waste money and buy A6 instead (used ofc). 

I also have noise coming from rear left headlight, yeah.... Weird... It seems like the mounting plastic was broken and the light is moving bit up down on holes. It may even been hit from some object (there is small damage on the light outside) but insurance company won't cover that... And I'm not paying 200€+ for that crap... I also have very loud suspension, some is bushings which were replaced twice now and some is idk what, I can actually hear every hole inside the cabin, like the suspension is not doing its job correctly. In friends A4 u can't hear any potholes or anything like that inside his car. No idea really truly noise wise this car is pain in my ass... Ow didn't mention I also have noisy glovebox (fixed by adding additional rubber to make it more "stable" and some  thing behind glovebox or inside dashboard, not sure... Noises after noises. I fix one 2 appear... So tired... Middle console where you rest your hands, also plastic is still not quiet after adding various materials and even spraying silicone spray....

Found these for my Superb 67db

 

 

https://www.kwik-fit.com/tyres/search/details/hankook/hankook-k115-ventus-prime2/t1016441

41 minutes ago, A1cos said:

Found these for my Superb 67db

 

Another very quiet tyre is the Sava intensa UHP 2, 67db, also quite a bit cheaper than the Ventus Prime.

35 minutes ago, Steviedakota said:

 

Another very quiet tyre is the Sava intensa UHP 2, 67db, also quite a bit cheaper than the Ventus Prime.

I looked at that one also... The question to answer is how performance is deteorating when thread gets to 4 mm... On the paper looks spot on for the 17" rims on s3 reviews seem a bit gray tho....

I have the Savas on the back, super quiet and no traction issues at all. 

I finally got around to swapping the Conti Sport Contact 5 (235/45R18) OEM at 4500 km with Michelin Primacy 4 (235/45R18) - Both inflated to 230 kpa / 33.5 psi.

 

The difference on coarse chip roads is subtle but noticeable back-to-back. Mainly in the high frequency range (I assume tread noise) and some less resonant droning (mid to lower frequencies) with the Michelins.

 

This video is best with good quality Headphones. If you watch it full-screen you can see which tyre is which and speeds indicated on the time-line. Conti top, Michelin bottom. 50 and 100 km/hr all on coarse chip road (worst case for tire noise).

 

 

Recorded with a Sony PCM-A10 Stereo Recorder Internal Mics XY config

 

On smooth roads, similar story. However, it was not a massive change to NVH but a step in the right direction. 

Edited 13 February, 20206 yr by digifish

1 hour ago, digifish said:

I finally got around to swapping the Conti Sport Contact 5 (235/45R18) OEM at 4500 km with Michelin Primacy 4 (235/45R18) - Both inflated to 230 kpa / 33.5 psi.

 

The difference on coarse chip roads is subtle but noticeable back-to-back. Mainly in the high frequency range (I assume tread noise) and some less resonant droning (mid to lower frequencies) with the Michelins.

 

This video is best with good quality Headphones. If you watch it full-screen you can see which tyre is which and speeds indicated on the time-line. Conti top, Michelin bottom. 50 and 100 km/hr all on coarse chip road (worst case for tire noise).

 

 

Recorded with a Sony PCM-A10 Stereo Recorder Internal Mics XY config

 

On smooth roads, similar story. However, it was not a massive change to NVH but a step in the right direction. 

 

 

You are running 235 on 18 compared to me on 215 on 17... Not sure if relevant but also seems as thread goes down on the primacy 4 gets noisier. I noticed this as i had a lot of thread on rear and was not worth getting a full 4 set, and i replaced with the some type only fronts that had close to 2mm and as soon i drove off the garage with brand new primacy 4 on fronts the difference was obvious.

 

I noticed on your recording the same rumble/droning that i get also on my one that is very similar but not as loud as a bearing noise... Never experienced this on any car before with goodyear and dunlop, but again i do not know if is resonating from the tyres or the body itself.

 

Next time i will try something with 67db rating but i do not expect much difference over the curent 69db primacy4 ( obviously if A rated for grip)

 

Since i used the dodo sheets to do outside or rear arches and the spare wheel boot area noise reduction was quite massive with the downside of weight of the dampening sheets. I can say now i am not hearing the rear tyres over fronts anymore, and when i can i hear all tyres.

 

What i could improve in noise department is wind noise but... That is not possible unless i replace all side glass with the double laminated (to much cost involved and work); i know is possible since this was a extra option on l&k trim besides wind/draft noise is present but not as much as tyre roar only over 100kmph or 60mph.

1 hour ago, SpAwNtoHell said:

 

I noticed on your recording the same rumble/droning that i get also on my one that is very similar but not as loud as a bearing noise... Never experienced this on any car before with goodyear and dunlop, but again i do not know if is resonating from the tyres or the body itself.

 

 

 

I am fairly sure this is coming from the sheet metal flooring and sils I think. Its body resonance. The course chip surfaces rumble through the body and make most of the noise.

 

When I get under the car and rap your knuckle along the underside of the sils they resonate. Same with the under-floor metal work.  It really is abysmal in terms of basic body damping. 

 

FWIW on a smooth (hotmix) road there is absolutely no - to little - noise, positively serene. The difference is startling. 

 

Re front to back, since I did the boot and arches, most of the noise I hear is coming from around the front seats, doors etc. I really have to get into those front door cards and put come matting in the outer door skin. After that, I am looking at putting the car on a hoist and seeing what I can do from the under-side, after removing the plastic shields.

Edited 13 February, 20206 yr by digifish

On 19/05/2018 at 20:06, alf.onso said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How much of a gap is there under these bonnet strengthening beams, if any?

14 minutes ago, Bigeater said:

 

How much of a gap is there under these bonnet strengthening beams, if any?

 

Enough, but not enough to affect vibration 60% of surface deadening is enough for stopping the noise vibrating through, you still need to put back the acoustic absorbent/ heat isolation inner lay though.

Hi all, If you get your passenger to run a db meter app on their phone what sort of numbers are you getting at a steady 60mph on mway /dual carriage way ?

 

32 minutes ago, MiniEggs said:

Hi all, If you get your passenger to run a db meter app on their phone what sort of numbers are you getting at a steady 60mph on mway /dual carriage way ?

 

 

You won't get any meaningful answers really. Wheel size, tyre make, type of asphalt, phone type, the app, etc. Far too many variables. 

Best thing is to record yourself on a particular road, then repeat on the same road when you have done your mods to measure any gains.

Yes sure

 

My own 06 Golf hovers around the high 80's varying 1-2db (which is obvious quite a bit with 3 being double) 

 

Some premium cars I have hired seem to hover around the low 80s 

 

I'm guessing the Superb will be in the middle somewhere

Here is my car at 60mph on the motorway. 1.4tsi, 17" wheels, low dB tyres, ACC on and I've done a lot of soundproofing to the car. The two spikes at the end are cats eyes, changing lanes. 

Hi, 

 

Have bonnet and most of boot well done(waiting on another delivery to finish).

 

Next on list is B pillars. How much closed cell would be needed to stuff bottom section? Have people just shoved it in?

 

Thanks.

28 minutes ago, kindalen said:

Hi, 

 

Have bonnet and most of boot well done(waiting on another delivery to finish).

 

Next on list is B pillars. How much closed cell would be needed to stuff bottom section? Have people just shoved it in?

 

Thanks.

I just squeezed foam for normal seats (cheap as hell) to anywhere it would fit in B pillar. And noise from pillar was 0. If at the time foam solution in aerosol wouldn't be as expensive, I'd go for that and fill all gaps. Its probably still expensive. TEROSON PU 9500 foam that's probably far top solution.

5 hours ago, JackySi said:

I just squeezed foam for normal seats (cheap as hell) to anywhere it would fit in B pillar. And noise from pillar was 0. If at the time foam solution in aerosol wouldn't be as expensive, I'd go for that and fill all gaps. Its probably still expensive. TEROSON PU 9500 foam that's probably far top solution.

 

Yes, you don't need a lot about 2x blocks around 30 x 30 x 5 cm (cut up) would be enough.