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When I drove my new 911 home from the dealer I couldn't believe the road noise. I had turn up the radio to almost full volume to hear it. I immediately called the dealer and asked what him what was wrong with the car. He said on some surfaces there is a lot of noise. Most of the time I can stand the noise but on some roads you need ear plugs. Very disappointed with this.
I also had a noisy ride home from the dealer last week. I checked the tire pressures which were over 45 PSI on the rears. I checked on a decibel app and was north of 80+. I asked the dealer to reduce the tire pressure to comfort levels at 38 PSI rears. Massive difference! The car is now much quieter (72/73 decibel range) and I also have the noise-insulating glass which helps. Sure I am not expecting S-Class quietness but it is not any noisier than a GT-type cruiser like an SL550 I had. Quite happy now.
The 911 family is not, and never has been, quiet. If there *was* a quiet 911 it might sell to a few ppl coming from S class and the like, but I think very few seek 911s for silence. My wife is also an audiologist - she has never mentioned these cars as being 'loud' in terms of dangerous for hearing (she is fastidious about hearing protection while shooting, listening to headphones, and the like). I think the loudness of the 911 range is an intrinsic element of its appeal. But then I have drank the 'louder is good' kool-aid, with a GT3 Touring allocation in wait...hoping.
The TTS is pretty quiet as long as you have comfortable tires that aren’t over pressurized. Maybe too quiet. Love it when the turbos kick in. That sounds fun. But there aren’t many reasons to do that responsibly. These cars have so much low end torque and overall performance you can easily keep it under 3000rpm with a passenger.
Just did back to back drives of 2020 4S at Irvine P on Wed, with and without NIG. Astonished how much quieter the car is with option added.
Zero loss of PSE which comes from behind you.
Reduction in below noise moderate but lateral noise reduction is astounding.
It is well worth the $1200 if its offered in 2022.
Sold me.
Just did back to back drives of 2020 4S at Irvine P on Wed, with and without NIG. Astonished how much quieter the car is with option added.
Zero loss of PSE which comes from behind you.
Reduction in below noise moderate but lateral noise reduction is astounding.
It is well worth the $1200 if its offered in 2022.
Sold me.
good to hear. My current build with an expected deliver date of 6/18/21 has noise insulated glass. Hope it doesnt get cancelled as others here have commented about this.
For perspective, below are charts for a couple of different standards for duration of noise exposure at various SPL before risk of permanent hearing loss. I'm in a noisy environment and have been off and on for years. I carry an SPL meter with me and have ear plugs to try and stay below 85db, the consensus ear damage threshold over an 8 hour span. The majority of my family members have some hearing defect ranging from articulation to barely any hearing at all. But many play a musical instrument, some professionally. Musical passion and hearing deficiency can be a tough combination. We learn sign when we learn to speak.
That's BS. Get the noise insulated glass, and it is virtually non-existent.
Tire roar is not coming through the glass (primarily), it is travelling through the uninsulated wheel wells and into teh cabin which turns into an echo chamber. Noise insulating glass might take an 80 db drive @ 60 mph down to say 78, but in the end, these cars suffer from high interior noise levels, like most other sports cars. I'd say the best way to get away from it is to get a cab and drive with the top down. That way the roar doesn't just bounce around.
What can I tell you....I have lightweight & noise insulated glass, and there is minimal (or no) road noise.
It is a TTS, so there may be other insulation, but no road noise, unless it is real bad pavement.
Tire roar is not coming through the glass (primarily), it is travelling through the uninsulated wheel wells and into teh cabin which turns into an echo chamber. Noise insulating glass might take an 80 db drive @ 60 mph down to say 78, but in the end, these cars suffer from high interior noise levels, like most other sports cars. I'd say the best way to get away from it is to get a cab and drive with the top down. That way the roar doesn't just bounce around.
At the end I think the 'complaint' of road noise is really just an excuse (to you not getting one). There are so many day to day things that generate more noise than the interior cabin on most cars. Tell her to use the same phone sound pressure meter app 6 inches from her hair dryer (for example) and then complain about cabin noise. Spending 3 hours watching Avengers End Game in the theater will have a greater average weight noise exposure than 3 hours in the 911.
The real issue with cabin noise is when you turn on the radio. In order to actually hear music etc, you then have to raise the volume even higher which is where the real damage may occur. Also, the phone SPM apps are notoriously inaccurate and in most cases over estimate the actual SP by at least 3dB (which is a 10 fold magnitude of SP). Similarly make sure that the app is set to A weight (pink noise - more accurately reflects useful human hearing range)) not C weight (white noise), as there can be a difference of up to 40dB in some circumstances. Better yet get a real SPM (barely $20 on Amazon), to get accurate readings both A and C weighted.
Looking at the measured specs from C&D : https://hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/fi...1546886941.pdf the Turbo barely hit 85dB at WOT (wide open throttle), and was at ~75dB at 70MPH cruising. So unless you are driving at full throttle for hours on end, along with the radio blasting with the windows partially down causing a lot of wind buffeting, I would not worry about any NIHD (and yes I stayed at a Holiday Inn so I know what I am talking about, lol).
If that does not work, you could always instead say you plan on buying a GT3 (RS hits 108 dB WOT at 9000RPM) instead. But you could be 'persuaded' to settle for the Turbo in order to 'save your hearing'.
Tire roar is not coming through the glass (primarily), it is travelling through the uninsulated wheel wells and into teh cabin which turns into an echo chamber. Noise insulating glass might take an 80 db drive @ 60 mph down to say 78, but in the end, these cars suffer from high interior noise levels, like most other sports cars. I'd say the best way to get away from it is to get a cab and drive with the top down. That way the roar doesn't just bounce around.
Actually, it is far worse to have the top down, and the dB levels are damaging. Hearing loss from driving a convertible: reality or myth? (swedish.org). Wind deflector and windows up help immensely, but it is not even close to a coupe and at that point the actual car you drive has almost no impact on noise levels.
I frequently see truck drivers with unilateral hearing loss (L ear), and the primary reason is that they would drive with the window down. Convertibles are far worse.
2018 M5. I was never a BMW fan, but I love it. I rarely use the back seats, so when the lease is up I'll be getting back into a Porsche.
I miss the quietness and smoothness of the S500 Coupe especially on long highway drives. However I love the c4s in a different way. I was thinking to buy a 2018 M5 (non-competition) as a second car. How would you compare the M5 to the S Coupe? Is M5 also quiet on highway drives?
I miss the quietness and smoothness of the S500 Coupe especially on long highway drives. However I love the c4s in a different way. I was thinking to buy a 2018 M5 (non-competition) as a second car. How would you compare the M5 to the S Coupe? Is M5 also quiet on highway drives?
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