So Much Noise!

[NxJohn]

2 minutes ago, Delta01 said:

There are “special” tyres against road noice, with foam inside. 
Think Goodyear has them maybe that can help with the problem. 

Yes, I looked at them.  Silly prices and suspect repairability.  Some owners said they made little difference, but I suspect their cars were already quiet.

[shufman]

1 hour ago, NxJohn said:

I don't think they can.  I read a lot of reviews of "quiet" tyres where owners complained of noise.  To choose, I selected several A-category tyres and checked lots of owners' comments.  Of all of them, only Yokohama had consistently good owner experience.

Now mine have done a few miles, it's clear just what a difference they've made.  They're supposed to be the same rating as the Falkens, but they're chalk and cheese.

I think also, I was right that the vast majority of the noise comes from the front, and even with Falkens still on the back it's clear the biggest bang for buck is changing front tyres.  

Looking at suggestions for soundproofing, you could spend a fortune for limited benefit, so my advice would be to change front tyres and accept that's as good as it gets.

I ordered through Blackcircles and got them fitted locally, which was a massive saving over garage prices, never mind dealers.

I changed all 4 for Michelins and it made a big difference. Because I’m a bit sad I measured the noise with my phone before and after (same phone, app, roads and speed) and on rough surfaces in particular the difference at motorway speed was 3 ish db. 

It’s still quite noisy sometimes but no worse than other cars on similar tyres/wheels. The Mercedes A class is much harsher imo. 
 

Plus sound deadening is useless as most of the noise in my car comes from the tyre up through the chassis, not through the floor/doors etc. My partners Yaris Cross actually measures only a slight increase in noise over mine but there’s a lot more general noise like wind and wheels turning type noise at motorway speed. 
 

A few weeks ago I went up the M6 towards Manchester twice in 2 days, once in mine and then in hers and there was quite a big difference with overall noise levels with mine (Corolla) been noticeably quieter and more relaxing. 

[dcweather]

Interior noise has always been a bit of an obsession with me. I'm now finding my Cross Excel bearable after the initial shock. The sound proofing the boot has helped I think. In the UK there will always be some road surfaces that no tyre can keep quiet.My gripe is when I pop out to the shops in my wife's 10 year old Yaris Icon hybrid and think what a lovely quiet car it is, both engine, tyre wiseand suspension. The Cross engine noise would be liked by boy racers as it is a throaty raw when accelerating like the exhaust manifold is blown. Ten years down the line I was looking forward to at least as good not a step backwards. I'm not going to spend any more on it and as soon as I think I've got some positive equity on my PCP plan I will most likely go all electric anyway. Just thankful I didn't buy it outright as would have been big loss.

[Niky]

I think most of the noise on my TS was coming from the rear tyres. The fronts(tyres) have more insulation compared to the boot - it's almost plain metal only. Soundproofing the boot made a good difference for me, but now I hear more wind noise from the side windows😀. I've added a bit of self adhesive rubber door seals which also helped, but there is still a bit of "shhhhh" which I think is coming from the smaller triangleish glass, or the column between the smaller and the main window on the front door. Think sorting this out will make a huge difference- not sure how though. 

 

[Trewithy]

The door glass on the Corolla is thin, part of the weight saving measures, resulting in increased noise transmission.  Sometimes when a car goes past me I think that the door or window is not shut properly, but no, its just the thin glass.  

They used the same thin glass in the mk4 Yaris and YC but in the recent facelift thicker glass has been used in an effort to improve refinement.  Also they have improved the soundproofing on the engine bulkhead for the same reason.

 

[shufman]

The Excel has acoustic front glass which seems very good, moves some of the noise rearward I guess. I don’t know how it compares to normal glass.
 

Yeah the noise in the Cross was louder than I expected - a bit like the mk3 Yaris I had .. in the wet you thought that a door was open! My partner isn’t bothered about the noise really as she doesn’t go fast or very far but it’s a bit noisy for me. I don’t think the pan roof helps tbh. 

[J2024IE]

I have a 23 TS with the 17 wheels, and road noise is much higher than other cars that I have owned.  I drove one with the 16 wheels, and the comfort was much better.

with the 17 wheels, I can feel every little bump on the road. 

[sportse]

On 4/7/2024 at 6:43 PM, Trewithy said:

The door glass on the Corolla is thin, part of the weight saving measures, resulting in increased noise transmission.  Sometimes when a car goes past me I think that the door or window is not shut properly, but no, its just the thin glass.  

They used the same thin glass in the mk4 Yaris and YC but in the recent facelift thicker glass has been used in an effort to improve refinement.  Also they have improved the soundproofing on the engine bulkhead for the same reason.

 

My 23 facelift is fairly quiet, not as quiet as previous VW Golfs I've driven but still pretty good compared to other cars.

I do have the boot liner, that might also cut down the rear noise a small amount.

I'm on the standard 16 inch wheels with ecopia tyres.

[JasonM]

I have a 23 TS on 17” wheels and as has been said by others on smooth surfaces it’s absolutely fine compared to similar or even premium cars.  The problem comes on rough tarmac where at higher speeds it is pretty noisy.  That said I test drove a Kia ceed estate and that was even worse.  It was the same on my previous mk3 Skoda Octavia estate and once I fitted quiet tyres (Goodyear efficient grip) and self installed some noise deadening pads to the doors/boot etc it was much better and perfectly acceptable on long runs.  I’ve just ordered 4 Michelin Primacy 4+ tyres as good deals around online at the moment around £90/corner.  The Faulkens have only done 2.5k so will put them on gum tree.  I think the sound deadening pads do help reduce road noise as the vibration transfers through the body and the door panels are very thin and act like amplifiers.  Once it’s done I will report back.

[NxJohn]

16 minutes ago, JasonM said:

I have a 23 TS on 17” wheels and as has been said by others on smooth surfaces it’s absolutely fine compared to similar or even premium cars.  The problem comes on rough tarmac where at higher speeds it is pretty noisy.  That said I test drove a Kia ceed estate and that was even worse.  It was the same on my previous mk3 Skoda Octavia estate and once I fitted quiet tyres (Goodyear efficient grip) and self installed some noise deadening pads to the doors/boot etc it was much better and perfectly acceptable on long runs.  I’ve just ordered 4 Michelin Primacy 4+ tyres as good deals around online at the moment around £90/corner.  The Faulkens have only done 2.5k so will put them on gum tree.  I think the sound deadening pads do help reduce road noise as the vibration transfers through the body and the door panels are very thin and act like amplifiers.  Once it’s done I will report back.

I looked at fitting some dampening pads, but it looked like a lot of hassle to take the door cards off.  Did you do it yourself, and how was it?

[JasonM]

Not done it yet but have on other similar cars.  There are some good videos on e.g youtube and looks to take around 30min per door.  You only need to cover around 25-30% of the outer skin surface which you can access through the access openings.  I use Kilmat pads you can buy on Amazon.  Worth also getting a trim removal tool kit for £7.