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Loud wind sounds at 55mph or more

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When I am driving 55mph on the highway, the sound of the wind seems pretty loud. Not sure if it is coming from the rear right window or roof or just the back in general. Is that common on the Model 3? I had read that the car does have louder wind noise than similar cars.... but not sure if this is the case. Any suggestions?
 
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Download a decibel application to your phone and use it to determine the precise level of sound.

With the absence of engine & transmission noise, people sometimes hear things that were currently masked.
Or you could have an issue causing excessive wind noise
Or you could just be hearing the regular wind noise.

You won't really know until you measure to actual level of sound.
 
rimless windows are louder. The glass roof has no insulation, by definition, so its louder.

So yeah, the 3 is noisier than a comparably-priced sedan. (Tesla even recognizes part of the problem as they have a patent app for quieter roof glass.)

But the idea of a sound meter is good. You could have a bad rubber seal that is making your car particularly noisy.
 
Mine is surprisingly quiet.

Start with the simple things. Check if the windows are all pressed well against their seals. My back right window required adjustment from the factory.

You can take a business card while sitting in the seat with the door closed and make sure it's a tight fit all the way around the window seal. If there are any air gaps, you're definitely going to have a lot of wind noise.
 
Model 3 performed in the bottom 50%, citing an average noise of between 68 and 69 decibels. The quietest vehicle tested was the Audi e-Tron, scoring a 62.9 dB level.


Tesla improves Model 3's interior cabin noise in latest production cars

Our Audi A3 is also in the low 60's, per edmonds below.

Based on our instrumented decibel testing, our A3 posted a 61.5 db reading during 70-mph cruising. That's fantastic.

Quiet and Enjoyable on the Highway - 2015 Audi A3 Long-Term Road Test
 
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When I am driving 55mph on the highway, the sound of the wind seems pretty loud. Not sure if it is coming from the rear right window or roof or just the back in general. Is that common on the Model 3?

Yes, pretty much.
Between having the multi-pane glass roof (sub-optimal for sound insulation), and multitude of additional roof panel gaps around the glass panes, Model 3 is noisy.

If you think 55mph is bad, I hope you never cruise at 75-85mph.
It's not fun.


I had read that the car does have louder wind noise than similar cars.... but not sure if this is the case. Any suggestions?

I haven't heard of any validated remedies.
If someone does, please do share.
Some sell rubber strips to pack into the gaps between glass panels, but I am not sure how well that works.
 
Yes, pretty much.
Between having the multi-pane glass roof (sub-optimal for sound insulation), and multitude of additional roof panel gaps around the glass panes, Model 3 is noisy.

If you think 55mph is bad, I hope you never cruise at 75-85mph.
It's not fun.




I haven't heard of any validated remedies.
If someone does, please do share.
Some sell rubber strips to pack into the gaps between glass panels, but I am not sure how well that works.

Lots of quiet luxury cars/SUVs have full glass roofs these days. Our gas guzzling king of the road Range Rover Sport is very quiet and has a full glass roof, including a moveable sun roof section.

Now if you compare the thickness of the glass between a Model 3 and a luxury car, you'll notice a big difference in thickness, which I believe is a big cause of the extra road noise and why none of these cockamamie aftermarket solutions are yielding significant results.

The thing that kills me is when anyone ever says that Teslas have more road/wind noise because you don't have an engine to drown out the noise. That may be true on your straight piped muscle car or your 80's Cavalier with a rotted out muffler, but no serious premium car/SUV is making any significant engine noise at highway speeds. They may as well be electric cars at cruise since their engines are so well muffled. It's a complete cop out to give a pass to an electric car for loud noise at highway cruise.
 
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Mine has same problem. Took it to the service center. They replaced some rubber. Still made noise. Happens going 65+ so it was hard to replicate for the tech. Almost like an electric hum sound.

There is a aftermarket kit for this. Search YouTube. It doesn’t bother me that much but service center sucked so much that’s the route I’ll go if needed
 
When I am driving 55mph on the highway, the sound of the wind seems pretty loud. Not sure if it is coming from the rear right window or roof or just the back in general. Is that common on the Model 3? I had read that the car does have louder wind noise than similar cars.... but not sure if this is the case. Any suggestions?

The M3 is one of the noisiest EV’s. In that regard its comparable to an average ICE. Bjorn has a comparison video online. The M3 MY2020 should be a bit quieter. Searching this forum you’ll find various tips to reduce noise.
 
The thing that kills me is when anyone ever says that Teslas have more road/wind noise because you don't have an engine to drown out the noise. That may be true on your straight piped muscle car or your 80's Cavalier with a rotted out muffler, but no serious premium car/SUV is making any significant engine noise at highway speeds. They may as well be electric cars at cruise since their engines are so well muffled. It's a complete cop out to give a pass to an electric car for loud noise at highway cruise.

Yea.. it's soo annoying hearing the same talking points. My GFs Range Rover Sport is pretty quite on the highway. Also you don't really hear the engine on luxury cars (normal driving) anyway. Also what's even more interesting is that my Corvette Z06 (current gen) is much quieter than the model 3. It has a stealth mode which completely eliminates the engine/exhaust noise - this allows me to compare the noise vs the model 3. This is a 650HP car with a removable roof and the fattest tires you can find on any production car - and this car is much quieter than a model 3. It's a little mind boggling.
 
Yea.. it's soo annoying hearing the same talking points. My GFs Range Rover Sport is pretty quite on the highway. Also you don't really hear the engine on luxury cars (normal driving) anyway. Also what's even more interesting is that my Corvette Z06 (current gen) is much quieter than the model 3. It has a stealth mode which completely eliminates the engine/exhaust noise - this allows me to compare the noise vs the model 3. This is a 650HP car with a removable roof and the fattest tires you can find on any production car - and this car is much quieter than a model 3. It's a little mind boggling.

I can imagine a meeting at Tesla at some point where they were deciding on design priorities, and at the end of that meeting, cabin noise was so far down the bottom of that list that no one at Tesla thought about it again. It was clearly way below fart noises.

These auto designers know how to make a quiet car. Tesla hired a bunch of them, but their suggestions were ignored.
 
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My model 3 (August 2018)has a lot of windnoise sounds like coming from right above me and to the left of me while driving 50+. My dad’s 3 (September 2019) has basically no wind noise. I’ve looked at both cars super closely and every seal looks exactly the same no idea whats different. maybe door alignment or panels slightly off
 
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My model 3 (August 2018)has a lot of windnoise sounds like coming from right above me and to the left of me while driving 50+. My dad’s 3 (September 2019) has basically no wind noise. I’ve looked at both cars super closely and every seal looks exactly the same no idea whats different. maybe door alignment or panels slightly off

If its coming from upper trim area where the window seals - it's probably a mis aligned window. I know this because I had the window re aligned and the noise went away.
 
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I noticed my wind noise on the drive home, at purchase time. too late to reject the car. but so many cars have this issue, not sure that rejecting it would be a good option.

the SC tried to fix it, once. had the car a whole day. nothing changed. for now, I've given up. I don't want them messing with it unless there is a known fix.

the wind noise is just part of it. the body hum and vibration is the biggest part (well, the tires and suspension, too).

no amount of rubber can fix THAT. it has to be fundamentally addressed whole-car wise. they have to make a priority from the start. you can't 'fix' noise problems like this after the fact.

I can't hear the stereo unless I turn it up to cover the road noise, and after enough driving on the 'wrong' kind of pavement (thanks, santa clara, for making rt101 such a bastard to drive on) - my ears are fatigued. I can't imagine having to drive on this kind of pavement and endure that kind of road/tire/body noise for hours and hours (my commute is 1/2 hour or less).

maybe the model 4 (grin) will have all the noise issues worked out. I don't expect any generation of the 3-body to have any serious noise changes (for the better).
 
In the rear left window, I can almost slip my index finger between the window glass and the rubber seal. How can I adjust this myself so the glass sticks to the seal? Or do I have to take it to the SC?