For a Luxury Car my Model S sure is noisy

[wdolson]

LOL I didn’t mean THAT old. I was thinking more like wheel sizes today compared to 20 - 30 years go. For example, here is a ~2000 Chevy Caprice vs a current day Chevy Impala. Look at how large the sidewall on the tire is on the older car versus today’s low profile tire on large wheels with the current Impala (even though the Caprice was actually a bigger car than Impala I think);

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I guess automakers have fallen victim to the my wh**ls are bigger than yours phenomenon.

I think that's the 1991-1996 Caprice. I had the Buick version of that car, a 92 Roadmaster. That was the last rear wheel drive large sedan made by GM. They sold OK, but they determined they could make more money building trucks instead. According to this
Stopping times - Chevy Impala SS Forum

The stopping time for the Impala SS (sportier version of the same car) had a stopping distance 60-0 of 125 ft.

Motor Trend found the 2014 Impala could stop in 115 ft
2014 Chevrolet Impala 2LZ First Test - Motor Trend
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/impala/2014/2014-chevrolet-impala-2lz-first-test/
The Caprice/Roadmaster had drum brakes in the back and discs in the front and the wheels were 15 inches with good sized sidewalls. Most cars today are discs on all 4 wheels. Doing a bit of looking at what's available for the current Impala, the base model wheels are 18 inch, but you can get 16 inch aftermarket wheels for the LT trim package cars. That means the brakes are not significantly larger than the old 15 inch wheel Caprice.

The Model S is a heavier car. My Buick was a larger car than the Model S (same wheel base, same width, but longer overall) and weighed in around 4000 pounds. The Model S is in closer to 5000 pounds and the Model S's stopping distance 60-0 is 108 feet according to Edmunds. To stop a heavier car in a shorter distance requires massive brake calipers.

Some cars have large wheels for fashion and you can downsize the wheels if you want, but the Model S/X need the massive wheels due to the size of the brakes.

 

[Lobo-1]

My 2013 model S is somewhat noisy. We ended up getting the entire glass roof replaced due to a leak over the rear passenger seat. The new glass roof did cut down on the noise somewhat, but there's still wind noise from the drivers-side window. I know there's no perfect vehicle, and I just learned to live with it as it's not that big of an issue for me. I still enjoy driving and not having to buy gas.