Road noise, How loud is too loud?

[OCD_Eng]

Hello all,
Just got my spares or repair clio 182 purchase on the road. It came with the rear seats removed and ktr fitted matt.
There is a ton of road noise above 40ish mph. Over 75db on phone meter, stereo over 20 to hear it. This evening I've done a load of sound deadening, not complete yet, but it hasn't made much difference to the road noise so far. I'm starting to think something else is up with it. wheel bearing, tyres, alignment, etc...

What's other people's experience of noise once seats are out?

 

[hipwell]

Removed my rear seats once to transport some bits.

I couldnt believe the amount of noise the rear seats soak up.

 

[imprezaworks]

It’s load but bearable. Checked your wheel bearings lol

 

[White16valver]

If it stays that loud, get earplugs, because 75dB for any reasonable length of time will cause hearing damage.

 

[imprezaworks]

I ran a caged clio in all weathers, was fine.

Having the seats removed is not your issue, imo.

 

[npt]

I've removed everything from the rear and yip the road noise is very loud also

 

[Brigsy]

It will be louder with no rear seats but shouldnt be too bad. Check wheel bearings and also old knackered tyres can be noisy. If your running any kind of semi slick expect loads of road noise.

 

[Greeny.]

Unfortunately I used to own a track car that was also my daily, the road noise was very bad along with the louder exhaust tone, of course when it rains it makes it even worse, in fact a lot worse, I wouldnt advise it unless you're young enough to not care coz race car. Thankfully my current track car lives in the garage now!

 

[OCD_Eng]

Bit of mixed opinions here, i guess that happens when you ask for opinions on noise
Its got nearly new ContiSportContact 195 tyres. no play in wheel bearings, but think I will change them out anyway.
It's not exhaust in this case, i done a couple checks for that.

funny that I'm daily-ing the Clio this week cos my Audi has a whining wheel bearing.

 

[flebay]

There is a ton of road noise above 40ish mph.

If you find a nice bit of that black smooth tarmac and the noise goes away then you know its the tyres.

 

[JB21]

Tyres can make a hell of a difference, I changed from PS4's to Conti sport 5's and couldn't believe the difference. I cant wait for them to wear to go back to the Michelins.

 

[Louis]

It'll be the rear seats. I notice a difference just by removing the rear parcel shelf.

Refit and come back to us

 

[OCD_Eng]

Finally got around around too changing the rear wheel bearings. And it seems everyone was right this time!

So the new bearings have got rid of the loud hum that was there on all road conditions. Now I'm left with general road noise that is only slightly quieter (73db @70mph) in general but does get significantly better on a nice bits if tarmac. I would say this is down to removal of rear seats.

Btw the car didn't come with the seats, so I can't just pop them back in. And I like having a massive boot

 

[R3k1355]

Could put in some removable sound deadening material, even something simple like a layer of foam would absorb quite alot of noise.

Can buy big sheets of the stuff online, then trim it to fit.

 

[Goodj]

If you want silent running:

Tape up your windows and passenger door.
Fit zero-rolling resistance tyres (Any eco-warrior one will do) to 14" wheels
Soften off all suspension components.

Rear seats and parcel shelf would help a lot too, but if you've not got them, you've not got them.

However, it's an old French hatch, not a V8 Jaguar, refinement is never going to be its strong point.

 

[OCD_Eng]

Yer I've come to the conclusion that it's not easily going to be quiet.

Playing around trying to improve NVH can be a bit of fun, but material costs add up, and either through mass or other reasons it usually subtracts from performance and handling. Not what I brought this car for, so I won't be going much further down this road.

 

[Goodj]

If there was a sporty clio with magic-carpet ride and silent-running, I'd be all over that.

Until it came out of warranty