Silence is golden...?

[HebdenHedgehog]

I was cruising along a motorway the other day and I got to thinking, like you do...

...is / has there ever been made a car which is silent?

I mean properly silent - no wind noise, no tyre / road roar.

The car I was in was very comfy to sit in for 400 miles and rode reasonably well (but in no way is it a PH-approved car so will keep model to myself ) but although it had a quiet engine the tyre / road noise became ever more intrusive / apparent.

Not unique to this car either - I was in a limo earlier in the year and was surprised at the poor ride but especially how noisy it was.

So, is there such a thing as a comfy, silent car - ideally one with a bit of poke for times when you're on your own!

[kambites]

Not completely silent, no. It's close enough to impossible that it will never happen.

Some are pretty good, though.

[anonymous-user]

Yes, many. From personal experience the Bentley Arnage, like sitting in a ridiculously fast sofa.

ETA probably not 100% completely free of noise, but close enough as to not matter.

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 15th November 10:13

[Dave Hedgehog]

my car is silent

parked up and off

[Krikkit]

kambites said:

Not completely silent, no. It's close enough to impossible that it will never happen.

Some are pretty good, though.

Certainly impossible with current tech.

[big_boz]

Did Lotus not try something to do with noise cancellation using the car speakers to oppose all road/engine/etc... noise?

In theory that could be made to appear "silent"

Toyota tried noise reduction in 2008 on the Hybrid Crown:-

http://www.techradar.com/news/car-tech/noise-cance...

Looks like BOSE are having a crack at it in the states too on Caddys and Buicks:-

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/autosblogpost...

Edited by big_boz on Thursday 15th November 10:16

[geeks]

New Merc S class LWB is almost silent, its pretty eerie!

[kambites]

Krikkit said:

kambites said:

Not completely silent, no. It's close enough to impossible that it will never happen.

Some are pretty good, though.

Certainly impossible with current tech.

The only way I can see to do it would be to somehow suspend the passenger cell in a vacuum.

[AA88]

When I was at the Brighton speed trials this year I saw a strange occurence.

Whilst watching and hearing cars roar up the strip, there were also two Teslas there.

It was a very strange phenomenon seeing a car doing a 12/13sec quarter mile whilst not making a sound!

[Big Fat Fatty]

HebdenHedgehog said:

The car I was in was very comfy to sit in for 400 miles and rode reasonably well (but in no way is it a PH-approved car so will keep model to myself )

I bet it was a Prius.

[Fitz666]

I remeber seeing a program with some boffin from one of the big tyre makers who said they could easily make a tyre that was completely silen on the roads....but it would only last 500 miles, so not really feasable...

[TheHeretic]

I can't tell if my Vit is silent or not, as I can't hear anything over the racket.

[Trikster]

The A8 Hybrid that took me back to the airport yesterday was as near as makes no difference - funny, it was the first time I ever remember feeling a bit car sick - seem some feedback is important

[big_boz]

AA88 said:

When I was at the Brighton speed trials this year I saw a strange occurence.

Whilst watching and hearing cars roar up the strip, there were also two Teslas there.

It was a very strange phenomenon seeing a car doing a 12/13sec quarter mile whilst not making a sound!

I nearly got run over by a Tesla as i didn't hear it coming, worse, Leeds have Prius style hybrid buses now so they can creep along silently....

Queue the barrage of abuse for not using my eyes to cross when crossing the road.....

[Matt UK]

I just wear heavy duty ear defenders on every trip. Much cheaper than a new S Class.

[simonej]

On a related note, how come there are occasionally sections of tarmac where tyre 'roar' seems to almost disappear but then after a few hundred yards or so it reverts back to the standard noisy stuff? Why don't they use it everywhere?

The cynic in me thinks it's because people would drive a lot faster over the quieter tarmac.

[Matt UK]

Because concrete is cheap

Edited by Matt UK on Thursday 15th November 10:53

[14-7]

If you want a silent journey leave the wife at home .

[Muncher]

Matt UK said:

Becasue concrete is cheap

The planed concrete around here is amazing, it's so smooth and virtually silent to drive over.

[loose cannon]

knight industries 2000