Noisy tires, how to sound isolate Corolla TS?

[TonyHSD]

Perhaps Toyota does their cars like that to be slightly noisier or otherwise said not as refined as their Lexus, simply to differentiate themselves. If all Toyotas are as good and as quiet and refined as Lexus or Mercedes cars what would be the point of the premium brands., just my thoughts. 

[Spo2]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Perhaps Toyota does their cars like that to be slightly noisier or otherwise said not as refined as their Lexus, simply to differentiate themselves. If all Toyotas are as good and as quiet and refined as Lexus or Mercedes cars what would be the point of the premium brands., just my thoughts. 

Agree, also cars in a given brand in higher segments are generally more refined than cars in lower segments in the same brand. It is often wise (if refinement is the goal) to buy the lower/mid-trim of a higher segment car than the higher trim of a lower segment car unless you really want smaller vehicle footprint. 

[Persimmon]

Too bad the only Lexus model comparable to Corolla is Lexus UX, and it has no Apple CarPlay or Android auto, and generally inferior media and hvac controls 😞

[Hardy888]

The UX is much noisier than the corolla imo. I test drove one just before ordering the Corolla and the road noise was noticeably bad.

[Persimmon]

1 hour ago, Hardy888 said:

The UX is much noisier than the corolla imo. I test drove one just before ordering the Corolla and the road noise was noticeably bad.

Woah, I did not expect that at all. Haven’t test driven it myself, and now I’m curious. 

[Spo2]

10 minutes ago, Persimmon said:

Woah, I did not expect that at all. Haven’t test driven it myself, and now I’m curious. 

It also has a tiny boot. Don't think it compares with a typical C segment car. We looked at Lexus but could not find anything suitable- UX was small and NX was too big.

[Persimmon]

7 minutes ago, Spo2 said:

It also has a tiny boot. Don't think it compares with a typical C segment car. We looked at Lexus but could not find anything suitable- UX was small and NX was too big.

My Corolla is a 1.8 hatchback, so also a pretty small boot. 

[TonyHSD]

Lexus ux it’s based on Corolla hatchback and it’s exactly the same size even slightly bigger on the rear seats, boot space is the same. Corolla TS it’s bigger on the rear and the boot. Been in both cars in showroom only, never driven either of them and can’t comment on noise levels but most if not all reviewers are saying that Lexus IS quieter plus I can see it does have more rubber seals to the doors. 👍

[Gerhard_Corolla]

Recently I took the TS 2.0 for a wheel alignment and could saw the new NX being exhibited, it had indeed rubber door seals, unfortunately there's not a rubber seal produced by Toyota for the Corolla...

 

I've been pleasantly surprised with the noise levels, specially after reading a lot about the subject before we bought the TS, taking already into account that we're running the original Falken tyres. We bought the car in January, and until recently we could only drive the car with winter tyres, and did perceived a little bit of noice, but mainly produced by cross winds or while facing large vehicles in opposing traffic. 

 

We're driving substantialy more throughout the weekends, thanks to an improving weather but as well an already 'settled' new car, and can say that the noise levels are nothing out of the ordinary. We've heard and bear witness of the quality of Germany's highways and roads, and maybe that's an enormous percentage of the road noise component from our experience with the Corolla TS, but I have driven other cars within this 'price range' and can testify a well behavior from the TS. 

 

I think the majority of the noise come from the door trims and fittings, they're quite lame to be honest, and they do not fit properly, specially the pillar trims. I examined a GR Corolla to evaluate if those parts were better in a higher trim, but they are just 'nicer' and in a piano black finish; all of them have huge gaps that can produce exposed corners, and maybe that's the main issue...

 

 

[Obsidian Estate]

I think mine is really quiet actually.

Though my last car was a GT 86 on hard coil overs with a loud exhaust..

[Spo2]

58 minutes ago, Gerhard_Corolla said:

Recently I took the TS 2.0 for a wheel alignment and could saw the new NX being exhibited, it had indeed rubber door seals, unfortunately there's not a rubber seal produced by Toyota for the Corolla...

 

I've been pleasantly surprised with the noise levels, specially after reading a lot about the subject before we bought the TS, taking already into account that we're running the original Falken tyres. We bought the car in January, and until recently we could only drive the car with winter tyres, and did perceived a little bit of noice, but mainly produced by cross winds or while facing large vehicles in opposing traffic. 

 

We're driving substantialy more throughout the weekends, thanks to an improving weather but as well an already 'settled' new car, and can say that the noise levels are nothing out of the ordinary. We've heard and bear witness of the quality of Germany's highways and roads, and maybe that's an enormous percentage of the road noise component from our experience with the Corolla TS, but I have driven other cars within this 'price range' and can testify a well behavior from the TS. 

 

I think the majority of the noise come from the door trims and fittings, they're quite lame to be honest, and they do not fit properly, specially the pillar trims. I examined a GR Corolla to evaluate if those parts were better in a higher trim, but they are just 'nicer' and in a piano black finish; all of them have huge gaps that can produce exposed corners, and maybe that's the main issue...

 

 

Perhaps you could try to apply silicone grease to the rubbers around the doors - this plumps them up and prevents a bit of noise coming in the cabin.

[Trewithy]

3 hours ago, Spo2 said:

Perhaps you could try to apply silicone grease to the rubbers around the doors - this plumps them up and prevents a bit of noise coming in the cabin.

The side glass on my 1.8 Corolla is too thin.  I frequently check the windows are fully closed as the sound of passing traffic is so clear I think a window is not shut properly.

[bear807]

i manage to buy some rubber door seals from china which sticks on the side door engine bay etc, the door shuts seems to be better! seems slightly more solid. sound proof  wise i think it improves a bit.

[clix]

On 4/25/2022 at 7:54 PM, Trewithy said:

The side glass on my 1.8 Corolla is too thin.  I frequently check the windows are fully closed as the sound of passing traffic is so clear I think a window is not shut properly.

I also have this feeling. At higher speeds, I sometimes check if windows are closed..

I sound insulated lower portions of the doors last month, but apart from actually better sounding stereo (objectively, one door insulated, and the other not, and moving sound from left to right. lower frequencies definitely sound better, a bit quieter and less boomy, but there is still resonance present at one/some frequencies. I can now enjoy music at higher volumes and overpower the road/wind noise rather comfortably) I didn't notice any outside noise reduction. Even in the tunnels. It might feel like there is less noise coming trough the lower portion of the doors, but because the majority still comes from the window area, I was not able to perceive any difference.

I don't know if the window in itself is to blame, or the interface between the windows and the doors, window seals. These seals around all windows on the corolla do look and fit like they were designed with only the price in mind. One speculation that I have is that they designed the seals for the thicker, laminated side windows in higher trims, and they use the same seals for lower trims with thinner non laminated glass. This would imply, that the seal wound not be that great for thinner windows. Don't have any proof of it, tho. Maybe someone with access to both cars, could do side to side comparison of seals and also noise test? 🙂

Also, the lower outer seal on the side windows is just atrocious. It has this velvet type feel, but is useless at wiping water from the windows. If you roll down wet windows, they come back equally wet. Also, after wet days it take days until windows don't roll up wet any more...

For last few months, I was checking door seals on different cars, just to compare to the corolla. Honestly, most of the cars, in this class have very similar / same seal design around the doors. Same positions, same number of seals. no major differences. But I did notice, that the fit and finish on European cars looks better, seals fit better around and to the edges and panel gaps are smaller are usually smaller. My corolla has consistent, but quite big panel gaps. Maybe this has some influence? I don't know, but I still don't like driving it more than 115-120kmh indicated, due noise. And in the tunnels..

Funny thing is, that It it is also person dependent. To me this is the first car, in witch the noise actually bothers me, never had problems in cars before. My wife doesn't care at all. So I don't really discuss it with her, to not "break her bubble" 😀

[mjjferreira]

i have a 2.0 TS from 12/2021 (17" wheels, with michelin primacy 4)
 

I think the problem has to do with the low profile tires. Profile 45 on 17" wheels is not good for the corolla's chassis/suspension setup.

Even in the steering wheel, on bad tarmac roads, i can feel the vibration transmited by tyres/suspension/chassis. I can basically feel everything the tyres enter contact with. If the tyres step into a small ant, i can feel it. 😛

Toyota thinks this car belongs to race tracks. 🙂

i believe using tyre profile 50 or above would do a big difference regarding tyre noise...unfortunatly its not allowed here in portugal. Only if i switch to 16" wheels.

 

[Popama]

I have the 16" wheels on my 2.0 TS and can not imagine running 18" or even 17" on it.
I had rented the previous generation Corolla ( not the Auris ) and was surprised by its comfortable suspension behavior on the 15" steel wheels.

However this new generation TNGA platform is meant to be 40-50% more rigid and because of the 2.0 engine and its hybrid components the total weight of the car has increased significantly and a higher tire pressure is required on the 16" wheels.

On my previous car ( 2007 Megane ) I could feel the noise and comfort difference when inflating the tires(front) to the maximum 2.3 bars permitted. The Corolla's pressure starts at 2.5(front) and are permitted 2.8 bars. I think this causes extra road noise.

The reviewers do not complain as much about the noise because most of the test cars are the top trim and that one has acoustic glass all around. My trim only has acoustic windshield.

[Obsidian Estate]

My GR is on 18s I don't think it's uncomfortable or overly noisy.

[JoaoM]

On 4/29/2022 at 2:41 PM, mjjferreira said:

i have a 2.0 TS from 12/2021 (17" wheels, with michelin primacy 4)
 

I think the problem has to do with the low profile tires. Profile 45 on 17" wheels is not good for the corolla's chassis/suspension setup.

Even in the steering wheel, on bad tarmac roads, i can feel the vibration transmited by tyres/suspension/chassis. I can basically feel everything the tyres enter contact with. If the tyres step into a small ant, i can feel it. 😛

Toyota thinks this car belongs to race tracks. 🙂

i believe using tyre profile 50 or above would do a big difference regarding tyre noise...unfortunatly its not allowed here in portugal. Only if i switch to 16" wheels.

 

Olá Miguel, parece que temos carros iguais! (translation for non-portuguese readers: Hi Miguel, it looks that we have similar cars!)

Road feedback is very much appreciated by sporty drivers, reviewers and car  magazines/newspapers reporters. Having a very nasty press that pinpoint anything they think of (ugly, boring, not BEV, not sporty, no turbo, bla, bla, bla) they might have wanted to show off some more sporty attributes.

I don't think it's too much on our Corollas, specially if one misjudge a corner and arrive there clearly faster than one can negotiate it, which tend to be easy to do on a powerful hybrid, specially when I'm tired at the end of a long day. That nice feedback allows us to correct the path with no big drama.

I tried the 18" alloys and it's worst: less comfort is noticeable. If you ever drive a bimmer with 20" alloys, you'll see how bad it can get...

This car is completely "shielded" underneath wit some plastic panels to reduce drag. While this is a nice thing, I guess this may amplify road noise but had to test it to be sure.

That said, coming from a Diesel this is a very quiet car. In high speed, regular tarmac, radio on and I don't here nothing. In rougher surfaces, yes it's louder and comes from the tires, even though it's better with the Goodyear Asymm 5 than with oem Falken's.

One could add some wheel arch absorption material (it's quite cheap and easy to do it). I'll not try it because I don't have a space to lift the car and do a decent job. Or add some extra rubber to the door seals (that I might try if I find a proper fit one) that are not that bad, the problem is that at low speed the car is very silent and then we get used to that (Tesla owners complain from that also).

 

P.S: I recently drove a C3 aircross for 4 days on holidays and paid attention to noise: engine noise was terrible and intrusive, thought it was a diesel engine for the first hour I drove it at moderate speed on very nice tarmac; at our first stop I was shocked to see the "Unleaded only" label on the gas tank door! In less than perfect tarmac road noise was much higher than I'm used to at any speed. Tires were all weather Falken's (16" if I recall). Consumption on a very relaxed "see all the nice views" mode was terrible, over 6,4l/100km.