How so? Very often the quiet cabin of the Tesla makes it seem so much more clear when there is noise. Very curious about your observations.
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Cabin noise comparison: 12/2017 Model S vs 1/2018 Model 3
- Thread starter run-the-joules
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PungoteagDave
Member
How can it be RWD? Aren’t all current MS models dual motor? You did say this was an almost new MS.
I cannot explain it but it was marked as constructed in December 2017 but was a RWD S75. Even double checked the VIN against a decoder.
bnsfengineer
Active Member
They still had inventory RWD75 but you could not order... asked my sales rep.
Super interesting topic. Thanks to the OP and others trying to make objective comparisons. IMO, Tesla is not seizing a potential comparative advantage by building the quietest (as well as fastest) cars on the planet. Having an electric drive train is a huge head start toward quiet motoring.
Based on a sample of three Teslas I’ve owned, they each have too much road and wind noise. My 2016 S 75D also has a super-irritating motor whine that peaks around 50 mph (that has been deemed 'normal' by Tesla service).
Low speed noise is not great if you drive on older rough city streets like I do. In this case, the noise comes partially from a “loose-feeling,” noisy front suspension that all three of my Teslas have had. All are worse than our 2017 Chevy Volt.
I believe Tesla should create an optional “quiet package” for those of us who like relative silence.
Based on a sample of three Teslas I’ve owned, they each have too much road and wind noise. My 2016 S 75D also has a super-irritating motor whine that peaks around 50 mph (that has been deemed 'normal' by Tesla service).
Low speed noise is not great if you drive on older rough city streets like I do. In this case, the noise comes partially from a “loose-feeling,” noisy front suspension that all three of my Teslas have had. All are worse than our 2017 Chevy Volt.
I believe Tesla should create an optional “quiet package” for those of us who like relative silence.
SDRick
Active Member
While the Tesla is a relitively quite vehicle it will take additional weight to make it among the quietest.
Anyone measuring in the high 70’s or 80 dB range at 65 mph should first check their dB meter’s calibration. Any car really running in that range should be taken into service.
Anyone measuring in the high 70’s or 80 dB range at 65 mph should first check their dB meter’s calibration. Any car really running in that range should be taken into service.
So yesterday I noticed an odd noise coming from the air vents driver side in my Model 3 at high speeds over 75mph. It sounds like wind noise coming thru the air vents and into the hvac system. I tried recording it but the noise isn’t discernible from the road and wind noise in the video. It’s annoying because it sounds like a hamster wheel not just wind. Ie a small metal rattling noise. The wind is rattling some small metal component in the hvac vents. Anyone else noticed this?
Ulmo
Active Member
As always, I want to see the "motorcycle and ICE bus test compared to Mercedes". That is, all windows closed, motorcycle goes by in lane next to you. Same with bus. Typical in urban intersections.
The test could be better conducted with a loud motorcycle bike cooperating, attempting to illicit the same amount of noise each time. Buses are easy: go where they flock, and set yourself up to hear the same noise repeatedly.
Do same for each of Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Mercedes S550. (I had an E500 and would find that acceptable. I would not find lesser models (C, etc.) acceptable for this test.)
I'm not saying it's cheap or easy! But it would be informative.
Hint: I don't think MB would be opposed to you doing it in one of their new vehicles on the lot as part of an off-lot test drive. Tell them I told you this hint, and see how far it gets you. Even if they fail, at least they thought they wouldn't. (Likely, they'd win, from my personal experience.)
Queue all the Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Toy Piss owners who claim that "any vehicle will not be able to block out a motorcycle going by, and the ICE engine covers the noise of the motorcycle in the MB, so that's not a fair test" in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ... (by the way, dB is dB, so you're wrong. Some cars have worse sound insulation than others: deal with it.)
Ulmo
Active Member
Nope.
They also fail to test with a motorcycle and a bus going by.
To all the "ICE makes noise to cover up noise" fire with fire theorists out there: modern luxury car companies use sophisticated harmonics to reduce noise in their engines, and they put in sound insulating walls between the engines and the human. Those walls are often sophisticated themselves, bouncing noise out, padding, dead layers of air, etc. I don't actually know the details. Another thing those lux car makers do is actually design this in as a feature, something that some particular EV manufacturers don't bother with, since their EV cars are "inherently" quieter, so of course, none of this matters to their EV market segment, as long as they can fool EV buyers into not realizing that it's the noise from other cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, tires, tire noise, etc. that makes itself into the cabin; at this point, that's the noise that is higher than the lux engines tuned to be quiet for their own cabin.
Yes, noise is a thing. God darn it! There are actually some of us who care about elimination of that. And have for quite a while. It's not some new invention that we're using to attack EV manufacturers with. It's an existing feature (of quiet) that EV manufacturers did not implement.
In the case of ICE lux quiet feature cars, they have a lot of potential engine noise to contend with, and the outdated media rags are used to doing dB tests that check the engine noise bleed into the cabin, but fail to test the just as important other vehicle noise bleeding into the cabin. Or jackhammer. Or whatever. So, those rags use the same testing methodolgy you used. Insufficient, but apples to apples (or should I say corn to corn). The fact some of you are confused that "quiet EV" failed even in this insufficient test is not at all surprising to me.
I wouldn't be surprised if some fakers go get a quiet moped to do the motorcycle test with.
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bnsfengineer
Active Member
Alas, I no longer have the S or I'd happily go do this test with my sportbike. It might not be as loud as a Hardly Ableson with a straight pipe, but I coast away from the house as far as I can before I start it in the mornings.
Well , I think that's just a lie Tesla owners keep telling themselves, including me. Yes, it's quite at idle, but after 40mph, Model S is not a quite car. Actually, I find my Volvo S90 much quieter then Model S. I've found such a website: Auto Decibel Database not sure where this data comes from, but values look legit.
Well that's what I'm talking about buddy. Decibel database is what I'm looking for... my impression is that at significant speed, the model S is louder perhaps in part because of the flat underside would be a little better for amplifying tire noise. no?
I have no idea, but I think there are people on the forum that actually know if the engine and air suspension and all that are better conduct certain frequencies of sound. One thing I noticed last week between my model S (AP 2.0) and the loaner (AP2.5) 100d is that the windshield wipers sat lower on the windshield than my early 2017 car. On my car, the wiper brackets sit just above the hood line and would definitely cause more noise from wind. The new model S's wipers not only sat lower, there was also a different spout for spraying wiper fluid. I'm surprised it hasn't been noticed at some point by other people (maybe it has)
Kbra
Member
Kbra
Member
Thanks fr starting this interesting thread. The numbers in the original observations are surprisingly high. In the workplace 85dB is considered damaging to the ears if there is long term exposure of 8 hours, yet i don't think that driving a model S all day will cause hearing damage. I wonder if there is a setting in decibel X that shifts the scale for some reason? The YouTube videos above showing readings of 68-70 dB seem more intuitive.
My diesel Mercedes GL has lots of engine noise at low speeds, but at highway speed seems very quiet, as if the engine noise is somehow left behind. Without having taken measurements I would guess it is quieter than my X at 80mph.
Another factor to consider is tire wear. Tires with 30k miles are generally much noisier than new tires. I recently replaced front tires on my X and found a very noticeable hush in the cabin after the change.
My diesel Mercedes GL has lots of engine noise at low speeds, but at highway speed seems very quiet, as if the engine noise is somehow left behind. Without having taken measurements I would guess it is quieter than my X at 80mph.
Another factor to consider is tire wear. Tires with 30k miles are generally much noisier than new tires. I recently replaced front tires on my X and found a very noticeable hush in the cabin after the change.
