Hows your old barge compare with newer metal

[E65Ross]

2003 E65 (now sold a while ago) was very, very quiet and refined.

[LexyLex]

gizlaroc said:

Surely tyre noise is the main noise we hear these days?

Tyres can make/ruin a car for refinement.

Indeed but if there's less sound deadening being fitted, and thinner window glass then more noise will creep in.

The biggest factor is road surfacing. Try driving on a French Autoroute then a Belgian Motorway. The surfacing the Belgian's use makes a terrible racket - even in an LS460. On the French routes it's really very quiet - far quieter than driving here.

[Mogul]

I bought one of the last W221 S Classes to rack up some serious commuting miles (6yrs old, 60,000 miles + old shape = 80% depreciated but still Euro 6 / ULEZ compliant) and I was happy to go for the non-AMG trim to stick with 18” wheels.

It’s v.good most of the time and great at times but hugely influenced by road surfacing.

I run it on OEM conti’s (not runflats) and overall, I would say it is a bit less-cosseting than I had hoped for, but with the Logic7 on, it’s ace - but frustrating at the same time as it so clearly wants to cruise at 100mph or more...

Just don’t seek out that horrid concrete pinkish surface such as the A30 near Honiton. At 75-ish it sounds like you have just driven onto a belt-sander running in the opposite direction.

Edited by Mogul on Friday 3rd May 14:12

[ducnick]

Three things:
Narrower higher profile rubber
Softer suspension
Petrol engines

[underphil]

V6todayEVmanana said:

Bennet said:

V6todayEVmanana said:

I've started adding sound deadening material...

What car is it that you are doing this to?

It's a 2012 Alfa Giulietta, like how it drives but the road noise is starting to bother me, my other car is a v6 so I don't mind engine noise.

The 2014 models got improved sound insulation as early models noted for being bad hence I thought I could do something about it.

First thing I did was change all for tyres to a low decibel rated set. I was going to add sound insulation to rear wheel arches but they were already insulated under the carpet so just did the boot floor.

I read in other thread that double glazing is rare ( s class) and has a few disadvantages (weight, deicing) so often cars have laminated class to improve sound.

Good to read everyone's thoughts and car experiences.

Read the Audi Q5 and Lexus LS600 have felt wheel arch lines to absorb tyre noise. I agree with replies stating that's the biggest noise source.

Too bad I can't rent these older cars and try them on the m25. ( I also travel the nasty section near Leatherhead).

I've added sound deadening to a couple of cars with mixed results, in the end a lot of the noise, vibration & harshness is being transmitted into the car via the suspension components and there's not a lot you can easily do about that

[gizlaroc]

LexyLex said:

Indeed but if there's less sound deadening being fitted, and thinner window glass then more noise will creep in.

The biggest factor is road surfacing. Try driving on a French Autoroute then a Belgian Motorway. The surfacing the Belgian's use makes a terrible racket - even in an LS460. On the French routes it's really very quiet - far quieter than driving here.

Yeah, the French make the autoroute surface quiet, they are around 7db quieter than ours, which in turn also helps economy.

[AC43]

donkmeister said:

AC43 said:

longblackcoat said:

(BTW connect a £10 Bluetooth dongle via the aux-in socket in your glovebox and you're sorted for music/podcasts etc.)

I just did that on mine (albeit via a cable into the MMI socket rather that the aux in that my previous Merc had). It's basic but it works just fine.

For my 2004 E class I bought an apt-X HD Bluetooth receiver and plugged it into the RCA jacks on the AV unit in the boot. USB powered, I found a circuit that is live only with ignition on and powered it via an "add a circuit" fuse.
So, better quality Bluetooth audio than most new cars.
With a Bluetooth adapter in the Nokia-shaped phone socket I had Bluetooth telephony too (although that seems to have failed and I can't find a replacement)

Sorry OP, bit of a diversion.

I find that the latest E-class is quieter than mine (comparing just the tyre and wind noise), the suspension seems to absorb potholes better, but the older E has a more "magic-carpet"-like ride quality due to the rather wafty and soft air suspension So that's an inter-generational comparison of the same car!

My E500 (2010 W212) on 18's is quieter than my previous 211 E500 (2005 W211) was on 17's.

On 17's the 212 was almost S Class-like in terms of ride and noise.

There's an race car engineer over on Mbclub who points out that air suspension has natural advantages over steel in terms of cutting out the transmission on NVH into the cabin.


.

[WinstonWolf]

Riley Blue said:

I have a 2003 A8 4.2 petrol and the loudest sound heard in the cabin is tyre noise, the engine / transmission is very subdued unless I drop it into 'Sport' and floor it. It does have an infuriating little rattle from the centre arm rests that spoils the whole barge experience - curable by a wedge of paper stuffed between them; one day I'll investigate and fix it but CBA for the time being.

I've got a 2006 4.2 diesel, it seems far quieter than most modern cars to me. Don't read too much into that though, I'm pretty deaf

[sidewinder500]

Fully agree with all above.
The main difference between then and now seems to be that everyone wants a sporty car, even when it is only a family hauler. Nurburgring lap times matter over everything else, no matter what basis the car is. This translates to a crashy ride, where the only compliance comes from the tires, i.e. rubber and the air...
I recently finished my A124 and I'm genuinely surprised how soothing and compliant the ride is, without being wallowy, car concept is from the 70s... Nobody dares to offer a ride like this today, except maybe some french manufacturers - had a Citroen cactus last holiday in France, this was a similar experience.
But, lap times probably not as good as that ready-chaved BMW 1 series.

[CupMeister]

Couldn't agree more with this thread. I recently bought an E39 Alpina B10 as I'd always liked them, and was quite frankly staggered by the refinement for a 20 year old car. I also had a BMW 335D Touring (F31) at the time, and honest to god it was louder on the motorway and road terribly in comparison. You can blame the wafer thin 19" runflats for most of that, especially the amount of road roar their rock hard side walls let into the interior. Obviously the newer car did some things better; it was substantially quicker and more economical, and had more tech, but that stuff doesn't really bother me. I think the E39 was a high water mark for BMW where the factory output in terms of just selling the 3,5, and 7 series meant they really concentrated on building incredible cars and it really shows after two decades. I was so impressed I went out and bought an E39 M5 and I've not looked back since, for me it's utter driving nirvana.

[Bennet]

I would never again attempt to reduce the noise levels in any car by adding sound deadening. In my experience, you achieve nothing at all, apart from introducing more trim rattles after you've dismantled the interior and put it all back together again.

[biggbn]

CupMeister said:

Couldn't agree more with this thread. I recently bought an E39 Alpina B10 as I'd always liked them, and was quite frankly staggered by the refinement for a 20 year old car. I also had a BMW 335D Touring (F31) at the time, and honest to god it was louder on the motorway and road terribly in comparison. You can blame the wafer thin 19" runflats for most of that, especially the amount of road roar their rock hard side walls let into the interior. Obviously the newer car did some things better; it was substantially quicker and more economical, and had more tech, but that stuff doesn't really bother me. I think the E39 was a high water mark for BMW where the factory output in terms of just selling the 3,5, and 7 series meant they really concentrated on building incredible cars and it really shows after two decades. I was so impressed I went out and bought an E39 M5 and I've not looked back since, for me it's utter driving nirvana.

Fully agree re e39, I would argue it had been the most complete, best engineered, best built car offered to Joe public at 'affordable'ie not exotica prices. I had a grand worth of 525i se until recently and it was a fantastic car. Body control, handling, silky straight six, ergonomically bang on. Great cars

[davea18h]

mrbarnett said:

gizlaroc said:

Surely tyre noise is the main noise we hear these days?

Tyres can make/ruin a car for refinement.

This. I was driving over a road with mixed surfaces, and the change in the level of noise between the older tarmac and the new, smooth sections was stark.

Wider, lower profile tyres must surely suffer from tyre roar more than older, narrower tyres, so my vote would be for a perfectly restored XJ12 or similar V12 barge from 30 years ago.

What's happened to the tyres they were developing that had a layer of foam or whatever it was on the underside which was supposed to be a very good road noise suppressant? A lot of the cars have much larger alloys and lower profile tyre which invariably make the car look so much better and give it a better stance but at what cost? The other big thing (or was...) from many years ago, Lotus was developing some sort of electronic noise cancellation technology that basically speaking, was anti phase to the noise entering the cabin?

[BBL-Sean]

You gents should try mounting some Toyo R888s. I have them on my Caterham 7 and haven't heard any noise from them yet!

[anonymous-user]

Quietest most relaxed car I ever owned was a 2004 XJ8. Lovely place to be when wafting along. Stupidly chopped it in for a 2004 Merc CL... nowhere near as well built or refined.

[aaron_2000]

My 2002 735i was silent and smooth. Never felt or heard a gearshift, smoothed over bumps, it was silent inside and overall felt far more refined than anything I've been in today. Felt much newer and modern inside than 2002 as well.

[DJT]

Mk3 V70 D5 is pretty quiet cruising on the motorway. I think the 50 profile original fitment Efficient Grip tyres help a lot. It's over 10 years old, but passengers are often surprised how quiet it is.

[tgx]

The reasons probably have more to do with fuel economy than anything else.
Sound deadening can really pack on the pounds.

[Blue Oval84]

My 2015 S80 with laminated side glass is pretty quiet even with 18" wheels. It got even better when I put Dynamat in the front doors, it's frankly eerie now around town and probably better than my old E39 on the motorway.

[JD2329]

Fully agree on this - a disproportionate bias towards handling (more often than not just translating into grip rather than finesse) has reduced comfort and increased noise to a surprising degree.

Blame fashionable large rims & low profile tyres, high riding MPVs and motoring press reviews that place too much importance around on limit behaviour.

Consequently, few mainstream models, or marques, have stand out characteristics - i.e. a quiet and comfortable ride - as it might come at the expense of being 'well rounded.'