Solved: Road Noise & Front Wind Noise

Through the last few months, I have been watching and reading up the various posts regarding the many ways many of you all have attempted, as well as the various kits available online, to reduce if not eliminate road noise and wind noise from the Model3. After reviewing all those posts and review of the kits, I figured that since none of you have been able to achieve that elusive goal, let alone even come close to reducing the noise, made me ask the question: What are we missing?

So as I kept driving my M3, I attempted to focus on finding those missing sources ie where is the noise emanating into the cabin from. Turns out they are the 4 corners of the cabin ie the A-Pillars and C-pillars. More specifically, the A-Pillars for wind noise and C-Pillars for road noise.

#1 - The solution for wind noise is the following - Z Weatherstrip down inside the leading edge of the front door, and foam block at the top triangle where the front fender, windshield and door meet.

Z-Weatherstrip

Foam at the junction

#2 - The solution for road noise is the following - 2" Fiber insulation behind the rear seat side panels that cover the rear wheel wells.

I hope this helps everyone who have been pursuing this goal. Thanks for all the contributions and many thanks to @XPsionic for his constant engagement and interest.

 

[XPsionic]

I found a very nice article from a a mechanic about the sources of road noise. It seems right to the point. No matter how much dynamat you add to the whole car, you may fight acoustic road noise, but the majority is the conductive road noise from the suspension coming to the chassis. Just before reading the article I was driving my model 3 on rough asphalt and the vibrations were felt to my feet, the pedals and the steering wheel. The whole car was dancing to the sound of the rough asphalt. THIS IS A LOST BATTLE.
the only thing that will save us is th right set of tyres. Whoever finds the tyres that are the most silent, literally saves the (tesla) planet.

A Crucial Element Needed For A Truly Quiet Car: Subframes

Guest post by Doug Tews Numerous posters on this site have expressed the desire for finding quiet, comfortable cars for driving

elevatingsound.com

The article is bang on. After my sounds proofing treatments the car is a little bit quieter, but when the road surface gets rough it is still very loud.

Surprisingly the single best noise decrease for my taste is a big piece of foam behind the rear seat backs, that has stopped all the small ticking and rattling sounds and reduce the road hum from the trunk a little.

The article is very much correct about conductive noises, when i sit in the back of the model 3, most of the road noise is coming from the the shock towers.

 

[atsimeri]

The article is bang on. After my sounds proofing treatments the car is a little bit quieter, but when the road surface gets rough it is still very loud.

Surprisingly the single best noise decrease for my taste is a big piece of foam behind the rear seat backs, that has stopped all the small ticking and rattling sounds and reduce the road hum from the trunk a little.

The article is very much correct about conductive noises, when i sit in the back of the model 3, most of the road noise is coming from the the shock towers.

The model 3 HAS suspension subrfames the same ones which hold the electric motors and are connected to the chassis with rubber bushings.
This means that the shock towers are not the culprit and your perception of noise from the shock towers is subjective.
But the choice of the rubber bushings is crucial! This is a sporty handling car, so tesla chose somewhat harder bushings for a crisper feeling. This is a traditional tradeoff. Sharp handling and harsher ride versus spongier feeling and quieter ride.
If anyone has the technical skills to replace the subframe bushings, then this may be interesting!

 

[Adam3]

I picked up the ASY KIT, NVH COWL TRIM, LEFT HAND DRIVE part from Tesla service center. Part # 1504932-00-A, cost $9. Have not installed yet.

Has NVH in the name so I hope it helps.

 

[XPsionic]

I picked up the ASY KIT, NVH COWL TRIM, LEFT HAND DRIVE part from Tesla service center. Part # 1504932-00-A, cost $9. Have not installed yet.

Has NVH in the name so I hope it helps.

View attachment 965709

View attachment 965710

Let us know if it does anything. Also, how did you find out about these parts?

 

[Adam3]

Let us know if it does anything. Also, how did you find out about these parts?

Saw new cars being delivered with them so checked the online parts catalog. Hopefully it fits older cars

 

[enemji]

I found a very nice article from a a mechanic about the sources of road noise. It seems right to the point. No matter how much dynamat you add to the whole car, you may fight acoustic road noise, but the majority is the conductive road noise from the suspension coming to the chassis. Just before reading the article I was driving my model 3 on rough asphalt and the vibrations were felt to my feet, the pedals and the steering wheel. The whole car was dancing to the sound of the rough asphalt. THIS IS A LOST BATTLE.
the only thing that will save us is th right set of tyres. Whoever finds the tyres that are the most silent, literally saves the (tesla) planet.

A Crucial Element Needed For A Truly Quiet Car: Subframes

Guest post by Doug Tews Numerous posters on this site have expressed the desire for finding quiet, comfortable cars for driving

elevatingsound.com

That is exactly what I have also been saying. If you want less road noise then You will need to soften the suspension, as well as improve the mounting so that the suspension is not able to transfer the vibrations over to the body. That will result in a dead ride, with no road feel.

At this time, the Kinergy GT 18” are the softest tires and also the quietest, but at the expense of crisp steering response.

 

[Adam3]

Installed. Fit perfect on my 2019. Have not driven the car yet.

VIEW INTO FRUNK FROM WINDSHIELD (BEFORE)

VIEW INTO FRUNK FROM WINDSHIELD (AFTER, hard to tell but it's now "blocked" by the winglets)

 

[kpanda17]

Installed. Fit perfect on my 2019. Have not driven the car yet.

VIEW INTO FRUNK FROM WINDSHIELD (BEFORE)
View attachment 965844

VIEW INTO FRUNK FROM WINDSHIELD (AFTER, hard to tell but it's now "blocked" by the winglets)
View attachment 965848

View attachment 965841

View attachment 965842

View attachment 965843

View attachment 965845

View attachment 965846

View attachment 965847

Do these apply to a 2023 model?
Do they actually make a difference?

 

[Perscitus]

We have discussed these (and their impact on rain runoff, wind noise and general NVH) since 2021 or so when they first appears on MiC Model 3s.

There are a few OE flavors now (for 3s and Ys) and a few non-OE flavors too. Different pattern of the blocked off holes on hoods of the last few model years.

Many people have all of these installed now on 2017s-2023s. Some reviews on here wrt wind noise and nvh.

 

[Caboose3]

I really appreciate this thread and everyones' comments. I bought a new 2023 Mode 3 Long Range on June 15, 2023 and have recently noticed some amount of other vehicle noise coming in from the driver's side window, more so at local driving not high speed. It's a little annoying and wondered if I needed to take to to my Tesla Dealer for fix'n. I thought it might be the door latch needs adjustment or something to prevent the outside noise. But from reading these postings, the Dealer might not be able to do anything to tighten the glass panel's pressure on the door seal. I don't really notice any bad road noise anyplace else, so far! Has anyone tried to get the Dealer to fix the driver's door or other doors window pressure to eliminate the road noise?

 

[enemji]

I really appreciate this thread and everyones' comments. I bought a new 2023 Mode 3 Long Range on June 15, 2023 and have recently noticed some amount of other vehicle noise coming in from the driver's side window, more so at local driving not high speed. It's a little annoying and wondered if I needed to take to to my Tesla Dealer for fix'n. I thought it might be the door latch needs adjustment or something to prevent the outside noise. But from reading these postings, the Dealer might not be able to do anything to tighten the glass panel's pressure on the door seal. I don't really notice any bad road noise anyplace else, so far! Has anyone tried to get the Dealer to fix the driver's door or other doors window pressure to eliminate the road noise?

Yes. The Tesla team does replace the seals if you take it to them.

 

[XPsionic]

I really appreciate this thread and everyones' comments. I bought a new 2023 Mode 3 Long Range on June 15, 2023 and have recently noticed some amount of other vehicle noise coming in from the driver's side window, more so at local driving not high speed. It's a little annoying and wondered if I needed to take to to my Tesla Dealer for fix'n. I thought it might be the door latch needs adjustment or something to prevent the outside noise. But from reading these postings, the Dealer might not be able to do anything to tighten the glass panel's pressure on the door seal. I don't really notice any bad road noise anyplace else, so far! Has anyone tried to get the Dealer to fix the driver's door or other doors window pressure to eliminate the road noise?

yeah some people have taken the cars to the service centers to fix wind noise with mixed results.

I just watched a great Youtube video about how to find out EXACTLY where any wind noise comes from: by using an air compressor with a nozzle attached, have someone sit inside the car and another person blow compressed air along the window seals. It's super easy to pin point the locations of any inadequate sealing this way, and very useful since the culprit for wind noises aren't always the same car to car.

 

[Caboose3]

Okay, appreciate the comments!

 

[Adam3]

Do they actually make a difference?

I couldn't really tell but hopefully it's doing something haha

 

[atsimeri]

Ha! I had an idea this morning. What if instead of changing the tires (Michelin pilot sport 4 235/45/18 T1), I exchanged the air inside with pure nitrogen?
Well, I did it and it seems to do the trick!
Much quieter ride!

 

[kpanda17]

If they have the silver caps from rhe factory, they already have nitrogen inside. My M3RWD arrived with silver caps. My MYP I could not tell for it did not have silver. Therefore o converted it
But the official statement is:

 

[atsimeri]

If they have the silver caps from rhe factory, they already have nitrogen inside. My M3RWD arrived with silver caps. My MYP I could not tell for it did not have silver. Therefore o converted it
But the official statement is:
View attachment 966476

You can't be serious about silver caps! Common air is 78% nitrogen and that's what your image says.
Pure nitrogen is over 95% nitrogen and yes there are numerous advantages of using it such as thermal stability, pressure loss prevention but what's more important is this : the frequency resonance between the Tyre and the rim is dependant in the cavity filling material. Nitrogen shifts the frequencies a little higher which in theory,combined with the foam lining in the acoustic T1 Michelin tyres,reduces the vibrations sent in the cabin through the chassis coupling.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260312450_A_study_of_tyre_cavity_and_rim_coupling_resonance_induced_noise

 

[kpanda17]

Thanks for pointing it out

Costco uses silver caps when they fill with nitro, new tires

Now I’ll have to convert the 3

 

[rajivloonia]

Really appreciate the solutions posted on this community, i recently got a used model 3 2021 variant which had 19 inch sports wheels with Continental Pro Contact tires which are factory.
The NVH of the car was terrible, the ride was harsh and noisy.
As the first step i replaced the wheels and tires to 18 inch aero without hub-caps which i was able to get online for a reasonable price and were just 10k miles driven on 2023 model 3. The tires on these are Kingery GT and i can report that the ride is way smoother and quieter at highway speeds now.
Before with 19 inch wheels on rough concrete freeways the noise was intolerable but is much quieter now. Wife also approves and noted an immediate difference
The bumps felt in the car are well rounded and reduced exceptionally well.
I have yet to try the trunk treatments mentioned in this thread but i have ordered some material and hopefully in a week or two will give it a shot, what remains to tackle mainly now is the thumping sounds the trunk makes its like a subwoofer and certainly needs some treatment.
But with just by replacing the wheels and tires it could reap the highest benefits i believe.
Posting dba measurement is futile i believe as its catching only the highest of frequencies and i dont think will be very accurate judge for vehicle environment given the lack of correct equipment.
To me it seems like tesla has designed these vehicles around their default configuration of 18 inch wheels and those provide most comfort and nvh benefits.
I will also try adding the hub-caps to see if it changes aero dynamics of the car and in turn helps with any further noise reductions

 

[richyrich]

Really appreciate the solutions posted on this community, i recently got a used model 3 2021 variant which had 19 inch sports wheels with Continental Pro Contact tires which are factory.
The NVH of the car was terrible, the ride was harsh and noisy.
As the first step i replaced the wheels and tires to 18 inch aero without hub-caps which i was able to get online for a reasonable price and were just 10k miles driven on 2023 model 3. The tires on these are Kingery GT and i can report that the ride is way smoother and quieter at highway speeds now.
Before with 19 inch wheels on rough concrete freeways the noise was intolerable but is much quieter now. Wife also approves and noted an immediate difference
The bumps felt in the car are well rounded and reduced exceptionally well.
I have yet to try the trunk treatments mentioned in this thread but i have ordered some material and hopefully in a week or two will give it a shot, what remains to tackle mainly now is the thumping sounds the trunk makes its like a subwoofer and certainly needs some treatment.
But with just by replacing the wheels and tires it could reap the highest benefits i believe.
Posting dba measurement is futile i believe as its catching only the highest of frequencies and i dont think will be very accurate judge for vehicle environment given the lack of correct equipment.
To me it seems like tesla has designed these vehicles around their default configuration of 18 inch wheels and those provide most comfort and nvh benefits.
I will also try adding the hub-caps to see if it changes aero dynamics of the car and in turn helps with any further noise reductions

Good info @rajivloonia - if you got lots of road noise and feedback, the things connected to the road are definitely the first place to start!