Legacy Road Noise

Today I had a 403 mile round trip to visit one of my projects. As I am waiting (now impatiently) for the delivery of my first Subaru (’08 spec B), and as my company Suburban is on the block at eBay, I rented a car from Hertz for the trip to save the 14 MPG that our 4WD company pickups return.

 

I’ve done this before, and have been pleasantly surprised with a Toyota Camry or Mazda 6 from Hertz. Today I got a Mercury Montego. The road noise and ride was TERRIBLE. Not 10 miles into the trip did I begin to wonder if I’ve made a mistake ordering the spec B.

 

After my multiple test drives of LGT’s, I think I am going to enjoy the spec B around town. I was a little hesitant about the 6MT at first, but it was mostly the coffee drinking mobile phone talking issues within me – a few lifestyle changes and I should be fine.

 

After today, I am really concerned about enjoying or tolerating the LGT on lengthy highway trips especially since a read a review saying the LGT could use some more isolation from the road. Please respond with your comments (good and bad) about the stock and modified LGT highway manners.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c315/KYLiquid/Forum%20Pictures/21d1j06.jpg

 

Its fine on the HW I dont get how a Mercury Montego would make you think the LGT is going to be loud...

I guess I'm just used to my sound deadening material lined Suburban, and am a little leary of cars as highway cruisers.

Still waiting, eh?

 

Still have the 2 Mercs?

just hogzaust it. alll the exahust snoise twill drowned out the noise

The spec.B is tolerable on the highway. I prefer my wife's 2007 Outback LLBean to my 2007 spec.B in terms of quietness, but neither car is as quiet as it ought to be. My former 2006 spec.B was noisier than the 2007, which has six-speeds and a taller top gear. By the way, I rented from Hertz this week a 2007 Infiniti M35; both my wife and I thought that car had too much road noise and engine noise, but we like the car. There's always a Lexus or a Buick, but you did infer that you want a car that's fun to drive.

I guess I'm just used to my sound deadening material lined Suburban, and am a little leary of cars as highway cruisers.

 

Why not take the Mercedes E63 in your sig? I've never ridden in ANY vehicle that was silent. You can always hear either wind, engine, or tires. The Spec is plenty quiet...it makes a great cruiser. However, I came from an STi....the Spec is night and day compared to that.

A significant percentage of the road noise is the result of tires. I just dumped 50+ sq. ft. of sound deadening material but it barely made a difference because I have tires that have very stiff sidewalls (more road noise is transmitted to the chassis). I wanted this because the whole reason I had to get new tires was the result of a pothole. I can live with the noise.

 

Bottom line, the lower the series (stock LGT tires are 45 series) of the tire, the more road noise you can expect. Sure you got a nice quiet ride in your suburban. You probably had nice, thick, squishy tires on there, and the dynamat didn't hurt either. This is a completely different animal. Be prepared for increased road noise, but my regular LGT with stock tires was perfectly fine at highway speeds, even while doing 75+ with a bike rack on top!

with my stock tires, i had no road noise whatsoever. when i went to my kumho's, there was an increase in noise, but when properly inflated and rotated, it's not an issue for me.

A significant percentage of the road noise is the result of tires. I just dumped 50+ sq. ft. of sound deadening material but it barely made a difference because I have tires that have very stiff sidewalls (more road noise is transmitted to the chassis). I wanted this because the whole reason I had to get new tires was the result of a pothole. I can live with the noise.

 

Bottom line, the lower the series (stock LGT tires are 45 series) of the tire, the more road noise you can expect. Sure you got a nice quiet ride in your suburban. You probably had nice, thick, squishy tires on there, and the dynamat didn't hurt either. This is a completely different animal. Be prepared for increased road noise, but my regular LGT with stock tires was perfectly fine at highway speeds, even while doing 75+ with a bike rack on top!

 

What kind of sound deadening material did you use? Something like dynamat? I hope you made use of the interior forum either here or on nasioc.

 

Second, I don't think that the largest factor in tire noise is that of the profile. Just yesterday, I saw a nissan sentra or something similar driving down the road and I could hear the tires from a 1/4 mile away. And it did not have any low profile tires. Tire noise is mainly a function of the tread design.

 

Anyways, to the OP, the LGT is a relatively quiet car. I think it would be comparable to a camry or mazda 6.

Raamat (sound deadening) in the doors helped for me. And here's the result: I no longer forget my turn signal is on because I can now hear the clicking.

 

I can also hear the dash rattles better. Oh well.

What kind of sound deadening material did you use? Something like dynamat? I hope you made use of the interior forum either here or on nasioc.

 

Second, I don't think that the largest factor in tire noise is that of the profile. Just yesterday, I saw a nissan sentra or something similar driving down the road and I could hear the tires from a 1/4 mile away. And it did not have any low profile tires. Tire noise is mainly a function of the tread design.

 

Anyways, to the OP, the LGT is a relatively quiet car. I think it would be comparable to a camry or mazda 6.

 

I used RaaMMat BXT. Pretty good stuff as far as everybody else is concerned. I thoroughly researched both the walkthroughs on this site, and the instructions that were on the manufacturer's website when installing. Since it's all about adding mass to the panels, its kinda hard to screw up.

 

I never said that sidewall stiffness was the most important factor regarding noise in all tires, just the specific ones that I chose.

I can also hear the dash rattles better. Oh well.

 

Touche. First concern should be squeaks and rattles before road noise.

I used RaaMMat BXT. Pretty good stuff as far as everybody else is concerned. I thoroughly researched both the walkthroughs on this site, and the instructions that were on the manufacturer's website when installing. Since it's all about adding mass to the panels, its kinda hard to screw up.

 

I never said that sidewall stiffness was the most important factor regarding noise in all tires, just the specific ones that I chose.

 

Was your main emphasis on reducing road noise or something else. My first thought regarding road noise would not be to just add mass, but to absorb the sound with something like fiberglass. Raammat is like dynomat, no?

Was your main emphasis on reducing road noise or something else. My first thought regarding road noise would not be to just add mass, but to absorb the sound with something like fiberglass. Raammat is like dynomat, no?

 

Not to get too OT here, but yes RaaMMat is akin to Dynamat. I also used a significant amount of Ensolite foam on top of the RaaMMat, but that doesn't seem to have helped much either. I'm going to try a slightly less-aggressive tire in the future (ContiExtreme Contacts) and see if that helps.

How's this. I gave my wifes friend a 300+ mile ride in my 05 LGT. When the trip was over. She commented on how quiet the car was. She drives a 300M and BMW Z4.