V12S Vantage Road Noise

[Del1970]

I am very new to the vantage world, just having my V12S for 4 months now, but due to atrocious weather since I took ownership I have only completed around 400 miles.
Obviously loving it and still getting used to the car, but I am a little surprised at the general road noise within the cabin, when not pressing on. Granted, the roads around where I live are in a pretty, no extremely poor condition.

Since the car has been tucked up in its garage for the last 2 months, I took advantage of today's lovely, dry afternoon and went out for a good long drive.
On some of the worst road surfaces, the cabin noise was so loud that it was impossible to have any type of conversation with my good lady.
When we found the occasional smooth road the cabin noise wasn't too bad and probably at an acceptable level.
I was planning to do a few road trips this year when lockdown limitations ease, but with the noise levels we are experiencing it may be with ear plugs.

As I mentioned, still very new to the car, but is this one of those 'they are all as loud as that' type of things?

I was driving the car on standard/normal suspension settings, tyres were quite warm and are Pirelli Pzeros (not Corsa's). Just checked the tyre ages, one is 2015, two are 2017 and one is 2018. I have lightweight seats and there is a fair bit of carbon in the cabin (not sure if that would make a difference or not).
I am sure the car is running as standard with no exhaust mods. There was a slight noise reduction when not in sport, but not that significant when pottering around at the speed limits.

So, is this level of cabin noise normal, or do I have a potential suspension/tyre issue?
Any advice/comments are very welcome

[ds666]

What are you comparing it with /against ?

[chesby]

I have a V12s with lightweight seats and I don’t find the car too noisy when cruising. I am able to have hands free phone conversations in my car without any trouble.

[AdamV12V]

Mine is not that noisy when cruising either and I have fuse 15 pulled and a cat bypass installed.

What kind of noise is it that is bothering you? Engine noise or road / tyre noise?

[Del1970]

My previous car was a Jaguar XFR with sports exhausts and running on 20" rims with 285/30 tyres.
Internally this car had quite a bit of sound deadening, so was a really pleasant, quiet place to be in when cruising and a great engine/exhaust noise when pressing on.

The Aston is obviously a totally different beast being a sports car, so I didn't expect it to be as quiet as the Jag.

When pressing on in the Aston, the engine/exhaust noise is great and as I would have expected, the problem I am experiencing is more like a huge amount of road/tyre roar. I just didn't expect to not be able to hold a conversation when on rough surfaces.

I fitted a dash cam during the winter, so this was a first trip out with it on. The dash cam was beeping on every bump in the road, so I had to stop and turn the G sensor to low. It still recorded a huge amount of incidents.

I suppose I am a little worried in case I have a suspension issue, active dampers and/or bushes. The car is a late 2015 (so just 5 years old) and only 14k miles. Definitely no knocking noises and the handling feels nice and tight.

I might just carry on and enjoy the car on my own and possibly look to get the car into AM Edinburgh at some point while there is still warranty left.

[Dewi 2]

A few years ago, I was driven nuts by the road noise in a Mercedes Coupe. The 3.2 litre V6 petrol engine is so quiet, that road noise is by far the dominant sound. I took decibel readings and found that the greatest noise occurs where road surfaces have been coated with a granite chipping surface. Unfortunately the road makers in my home county are chippings mad.
The sound intensity variation between fine tarmac and chippings, can be enormous.

I solved the problem eventually by changing to different tyres. I was doubtful about the db figures quoted in adverts and wondered if I would even notice any difference. The improvement was remarkable. Going from a 74db tyre to 68db, made such an improvement. The figures must be true and I am happy now. The tyre I am using, only lasts half as long as the OEMs, but worth it to me.

I have not been so concerned by the noise level in my Vantage. Perhaps being a sports car, maybe we probably expect a higher cabin noise level than daily transport. The road noise alone is not as dominant, which perhaps is why it is more acceptable to me, and easily drowned out each time the 'loud' pedal is used, which is a much more pleasing sound.

What the various Vantage tyre db numbers are I don't know, but if any are markedly lower than your current tyres, that might something worth investigating. The tyres are of course very wide, so bound to create higher sound levels.

Anyway a few thoughts, which hopefully might be of some assistance to you.

Edited by Dewi 2 on Sunday 21st February 21:30

[BlackTails]

There are some road surfaces which I find make an intolerable racket in my V12VS. Most memorably parts of the M20 heading to the coast, and parts of the M1/A1(M) between Leeds and Wetherby. They're surfaces that are noticeably noisier than normal in any car, but the AM seems to be more able to amplify the road noise such that you wonder whether the car will be all right (it is)!

But generally it is fine. Perhaps it has a knack with some road surfaces of being noisier. The solution surely is to raise the RPM to drown out everything else.

ETA: I had PZeros when I noticed this. I have since moved to MPS4Ss, but haven't been back to those bits of road since the change.

Edited by BlackTails on Sunday 21st February 21:26

[cornershop]

My v12v was bought with old Corsas - they were terrible for noise.

I swapped pretty quickly for Michelin ps4s - they started off much quieter, but within 500 miles or so were a fair bit louder but not at the level of old Corsas.

[quench]

It's noisy. LOL you should try it with Cup 2's and a secondary decat.

If I recall correctly one of the highlights of the 'S' was improved sound deadening over the original V12. I certainly never noticed it, and in fact I think the cabin is worse than the original for resonant frequencies when on certain road surfaces (tar and chip as alluded to above). Definitely not a long distance car IMO.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your XFR. I ran one (and an XFR-S) back in the day and they were superb daily drivers.

[CitySlicker]

I wouldn't be running any car with 6 year old tyres. Change them all in one go, grip and comfort will improve massively and so should tyre noise.

[mogg]

quench said:

Definitely not a long distance car IMO.

I did the NC500 last September and I have the full performance pack. It was no problem and the noises were generally epic ones
However, I guess long distances in Canada are a different ballgame to the UK !

[TR-Spider]

Try tires as recommended above, Michelin PS4s seems the most comfortable/quiet of the lot.

Larger carbon trim pieces may contribute to noise amplification/distribution - you could temporarily cover them with soft blankets to see the difference.

The insulation on the front wheel arches are still in place?

[Tremelune]

I happen to be running P-Zeros on my V8, and the car sure does seem loud to me. Mine are quite new, and it only gets louder as time hardens the material. I look forward to putting new tyres on this car, and I hope this is what our problem is.

I second the notion that it's time for you to buy four new tyres. 6 years is pushing it, and since they were all replaced at a mish-mash of times...I dunno, go for a fresh start!

If you do this and noise levels improve, please let us know!

[Forest Way]

V12S owner hear also, and yes on certain road surfaces I find the road noise can be quite intrusive, other surfaces no worse than any other car with low profile tyres, but normally I’m having way to much fun to notice....a cat bypass helps drown out the road noise.

Ridiculously high reverse gear and crap DAB receiption.

But Isn’t it totally epic though in every other aspect.

[BlackTails]

There is a section of the M25 between the A320 junction and the A3 junction (going in that direction) which has a sand-coloured surface and is incredibly noisy in the V12VS. Alarmingly noisy.