ST220 - Road Noise

[junglie]

I think I have finally found the car I wish to buy (a silver ST220 saloon with the 6 speed manual) and I am going to have a look tomorrow.

I have recently seen a few quotes regarding their noise at motorway speed - road noise not engine. Is this the case or not? I will be doing a 4 hour motorway drive twice per week so this is quite important.

I think it may well be a better buy than a 3 year older, leggier and less well equipped BMW 330i - thoughts?

[AngelNorthOfThe]

They're not that bad really. I've been in worse. A lot worse.

[Urban Sports]

It's just a Mondeo, aren't they all the same?

You must have been in one before?

[junglie]

I used to own an older Mondeo but this is a little different.

[AngelNorthOfThe]

Urban Sports said:

It's just a Mondeo, aren't they all the same?

You must have been in one before?

Things like tyres make a difference though, no?

I expect the sportier types will have tyres that resonate more. But from my (admittedly brief) experiences with one, they're not bad overall.

[rfn]

Tyres can make a huge difference.

I wouldn't say the road noise on my STD was any worse than any other car I've owned. It's not Limo-like but it's not horrendous. Much of it comes from the rear door area.

[GaryST220]

Depends on the tyres, but generally speaking, its not appalling. I've been in newer cars that are considerably worse.

[anonymous-user]

Depends a LOT on the surface, on that horrible concrete st you get on some M Ways it is VERY noisy, by memory louder than my Mk1 but they may be me! Mine has the factory Continental tyres on it.

[agentsmith]

Falken FK452's for me now, they're great.

[HellDiver]

ST220 should be quiet. My poverty-spec LX was noisy when I got it, but it had some horrible Kumho 4-seasons on it, and it has zero sound deadening.

Replaced the Kumhos with Hankook (the OE tyres), and it's pretty quiet. Actually quieter above 80 than it is at 70.

[anonymous-user]

Was your poverty spec running 18" alloys with wide low profile tyres?

[HellDiver]

Dave_ST220 said:

Was your poverty spec running 18" alloys with wide low profile tyres?

No, but a car that suffers road noise will suffer road noise no matter what wheels it runs. I run 205's, ST runs 225's - that's only 20mm difference.

The ST220 and ST-TDCI we run at work sound no different to my LX regarding road noise. Work cars run Goodyear Optigrip or Eagle F1-A.

[jon_80]

junglie said:

I think I have finally found the car I wish to buy (a silver ST220 saloon with the 6 speed manual) and I am going to have a look tomorrow.

I have recently seen a few quotes regarding their noise at motorway speed - road noise not engine. Is this the case or not? I will be doing a 4 hour motorway drive twice per week so this is quite important.

I think it may well be a better buy than a 3 year older, leggier and less well equipped BMW 330i - thoughts?

I don't own either of these but I have driven both and even ignoring value I slightly preferred the st220, it's a bit more raw & sporting somehow, but that maybe partly that more sporty revvy V6, or the fact the BM wasn't an Msport. Put age / mileage / price in and it becomes clear - to me at least.

Neither of them has much road noise