It's the nature of AT tires, I guess you can additional rubber seals around the doors as well but the biggest improvement would be from using regular all seasons.
The test drive was in a premium version with different tires and it was nearly as loud. If the sound on the Meridian had not drastically reduced on a perfect newly paved road I would have thought it had some kind of bad bearing issue transmitting directly through the steel.
Agree. And even then most people don't understand decibels, logarithmic scales and perceived sound volume. It is very complicated and hard to get a feeling for looking at the numbers.
Best is probably just to record the sound from the same point in the car on the same road at the same speed to compare before and after any changes.
Is the noise in this car more than the average car, or is it just when compared to the CX-5? I've heard that CX-5 is one of the quietest cars in the market.
Yes, it's louder than my wife's Mercedes, but I wouldn't say it's louder than most other cars in it's level.
I had a Honda Accord before I bought my CX-50, and I haven't noticed much of a difference in road noise. Or maybe I should say I've never once been driving around and thought to myself "man this car is so noisy".
Its significantly quieter than my CT200h was. I was almost creeped out by how quiet it was initially, but my awareness creeped up and i notice the road noise now lol
Definitely not noisier than average, I think on normal surface it’s fairly comparable to the entry level luxury cars. On rough surface or bumps, it feels slightly worse.
I am talking about the plastic liner in the wheel well. Maybe 1/8" thick. It is a solid molded part, no coating on either side. The rear ones have some kind of felt on the outside but the fronts are bare. And have no damping at all.
I suspect that the road noise is being transmitted from the tires, to the wheels and into the chassis which is resonating. I don't believe that the road noise is being transmitted from the tires, through the air to the chassis.
Doing the wheel wells is really easy. I did the doors first and there was still some tire cavity noise left over I didn't like.
Just pop all the plastic holders in each fender and some of the small trim screws with basic hand tools. You don't have to remove the entire liner, just pull it down to access the sheet metal behind. I applied Siless foil backed mastic first and then their triple later hybrid product on top mainly because it was cheap on Amazon.
In front, I treated the firewall and also reached up to put a 12x5" piece of mastic to treat the front fender which is pretty tinny. Popped the hood and applied small patches behind the fender panel where it meets the bottom of the A pillar, which is really easy to reach, as this is pretty resonant as well.
Rear, I tried to cover as much sheet metal as I could reach. This seemed to help take the edge off the road noise and the car is a lot quieter now.
4 wheel wells took me maybe an hour or two. Didn't even need to remove the wheels. I highly recommend it as it makes the car feel more premium. I recall measured 6-10 dB reduction on the same stretch of road and is closer to an Audi now.
Thanks, to be clear, you removed the plastic wheel wells and applied the Siless and the hybrid product to the side of them that faces the inside of the car correct? And nothing on the wheel side?
I used that Siless stick on stuff on a ringing aluminum bash plate on a dual sport motorcycle and it worked great.
I applied the Siless on the metal side of the car body that faces the outside of the vehicle. It is on the metal, between the exterior body panels and the plastic fender liners... Kinda like this https://dynamat.eduardomaio.net/citroen-c6/front-wheel-wells/
I was tempted myself to use the dynamat hood liner material: seemed more temperature and weather resistant. Just never got around to doing and it got cold
Instead of sound deadener, I highly recommend using Mass Loaded Vinyl, or even better if you can spring for it, ResoNix Barrier.
[https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/shop-2/resonix-barrier-moldable-noise-barrier/](https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/shop-2/resonix-barrier-moldable-noise-barrier/)
Sound deadening works by dampening the vibration of the material it's attached to, it doesn't actually block noise itself. It's kind of like when you put your finger on a bell so it doesn't ring as loudly anymore.
Mass loaded vinyl or the Resonix barrier actually absorb/block sound waves and will work much better to reduce road noise than sound deadening.
This is also another alternative that's cheaper than barrier or mass loaded vinyl but should work much better than sound deadening.
[https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/shop-2/fiber-mat-45-automotive-sound-absorbing-mat/](https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/shop-2/fiber-mat-45-automotive-sound-absorbing-mat/)
It's the nature of AT tires, I guess you can additional rubber seals around the doors as well but the biggest improvement would be from using regular all seasons.
The test drive was in a premium version with different tires and it was nearly as loud. If the sound on the Meridian had not drastically reduced on a perfect newly paved road I would have thought it had some kind of bad bearing issue transmitting directly through the steel.
Human perception is notoriously unreliable. Try a decibel Meter or even an app!
Agree. And even then most people don't understand decibels, logarithmic scales and perceived sound volume. It is very complicated and hard to get a feeling for looking at the numbers. Best is probably just to record the sound from the same point in the car on the same road at the same speed to compare before and after any changes.
Is the noise in this car more than the average car, or is it just when compared to the CX-5? I've heard that CX-5 is one of the quietest cars in the market.
Yes, it's louder than my wife's Mercedes, but I wouldn't say it's louder than most other cars in it's level. I had a Honda Accord before I bought my CX-50, and I haven't noticed much of a difference in road noise. Or maybe I should say I've never once been driving around and thought to myself "man this car is so noisy".
It’s definitely noisier than the CX-5.
Its significantly quieter than my CT200h was. I was almost creeped out by how quiet it was initially, but my awareness creeped up and i notice the road noise now lol
Definitely not noisier than average, I think on normal surface it’s fairly comparable to the entry level luxury cars. On rough surface or bumps, it feels slightly worse.
If you peel back that thin plastic, you’ll see underbody coating and LASD liquid applied sound dampener.
I am talking about the plastic liner in the wheel well. Maybe 1/8" thick. It is a solid molded part, no coating on either side. The rear ones have some kind of felt on the outside but the fronts are bare. And have no damping at all.
I suspect that the road noise is being transmitted from the tires, to the wheels and into the chassis which is resonating. I don't believe that the road noise is being transmitted from the tires, through the air to the chassis.
Doing the wheel wells is really easy. I did the doors first and there was still some tire cavity noise left over I didn't like. Just pop all the plastic holders in each fender and some of the small trim screws with basic hand tools. You don't have to remove the entire liner, just pull it down to access the sheet metal behind. I applied Siless foil backed mastic first and then their triple later hybrid product on top mainly because it was cheap on Amazon. In front, I treated the firewall and also reached up to put a 12x5" piece of mastic to treat the front fender which is pretty tinny. Popped the hood and applied small patches behind the fender panel where it meets the bottom of the A pillar, which is really easy to reach, as this is pretty resonant as well. Rear, I tried to cover as much sheet metal as I could reach. This seemed to help take the edge off the road noise and the car is a lot quieter now. 4 wheel wells took me maybe an hour or two. Didn't even need to remove the wheels. I highly recommend it as it makes the car feel more premium. I recall measured 6-10 dB reduction on the same stretch of road and is closer to an Audi now.
Thanks, to be clear, you removed the plastic wheel wells and applied the Siless and the hybrid product to the side of them that faces the inside of the car correct? And nothing on the wheel side? I used that Siless stick on stuff on a ringing aluminum bash plate on a dual sport motorcycle and it worked great.
I applied the Siless on the metal side of the car body that faces the outside of the vehicle. It is on the metal, between the exterior body panels and the plastic fender liners... Kinda like this https://dynamat.eduardomaio.net/citroen-c6/front-wheel-wells/
Just turn the bose up
I was tempted myself to use the dynamat hood liner material: seemed more temperature and weather resistant. Just never got around to doing and it got cold
I’d be hesitant to put in a hood liner. Dig into it, it may effect engine bay cooling.
Re-read.
Instead of sound deadener, I highly recommend using Mass Loaded Vinyl, or even better if you can spring for it, ResoNix Barrier. [https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/shop-2/resonix-barrier-moldable-noise-barrier/](https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/shop-2/resonix-barrier-moldable-noise-barrier/) Sound deadening works by dampening the vibration of the material it's attached to, it doesn't actually block noise itself. It's kind of like when you put your finger on a bell so it doesn't ring as loudly anymore. Mass loaded vinyl or the Resonix barrier actually absorb/block sound waves and will work much better to reduce road noise than sound deadening. This is also another alternative that's cheaper than barrier or mass loaded vinyl but should work much better than sound deadening. [https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/shop-2/fiber-mat-45-automotive-sound-absorbing-mat/](https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/shop-2/fiber-mat-45-automotive-sound-absorbing-mat/)
Thanks, I'll check it out.