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.

 

[Heckraiser]

^beginning to think that might be right

 

[XPsionic]

All this extra insulation is useless. When it comes to noise there is no easy solution when you can cover 1% of the body and get noticeable effect. You should understand that the whole car body (metal structre) retranslates the road noise. And thats is why luxury cars have thick (inches) of insulation everywhere. And moreover they don't have open glass roofs that reflect sound without any dampening. So safe you time, money, and rivets on plastic panels - enjoy your model 3 as is.

The result aren't all or nothing! There are many guides on how to effective reduce noise of cars, and I've done so in a few of my previous vehicles. Some of the results were so good that even my family noticed the difference without being told what was done or even asked if they hear a difference.

Sure, can't ever turn a Model 3 to a S class, but that doesn't mean there's no improvements to be had.

 

[m73b54]

Yes, you can get some results if you turn your car inside out but if you believe that you can make a difference by stuffing bolsters with insulation, you are living in a lalaland.

 

[enemji]

Not sure if I'm off to the wrong track with this thought, but would a better approach to noise reduction than just putting on dynomat everywhere be 1. Look at the noise on a spectrum analyzer to find the peaks 2. Test the panels to see if they vibrate in those frequencies (is that possible to do at home?) 3. If they do, add dynomat, if they don't, add sound absorbing materials?

I find it a bit curious why so many of these Tesla sound proof videos focus on dynomat type materials, I thought this method is most effective for reducing resonance from giant sub woofers blasting 2000w, and not very effective in reducing road noise since they're usually higher frequencies.

I used my ears for that. As my post#1 reads - I focused my ears on finding the areas where the noise was more than normal, and then focused on reducing them to balance out and to make a pleasing experience.

 

[enemji]

Yes, you can get some results if you turn your car inside out but if you believe that you can make a difference by stuffing bolsters with insulation, you are living in a lalaland.

It does make a difference. People expect that additional dynamat will make it like a coffin. It will NOT. Y’all need to set your expectations right. What I have done makes it not just bearable but pleasing. Decibel meters are a joke, just like statistics. Unless you know how to read and use that data, you are fooling yourself.

Anyone in Dallas is free to come and ride with me in either of the two M3 I have.

 

[enemji]

Here is a funny side effect of my work. I now find that vehicles especially large trucks (it is TX) are easily heard along my side when they are near the blindspot area. The rear window glass is not soundproof like front. Removing the presence of road noise by applying the 2” fiber behind the seat bolster now created this bit of an imbalance. But I can live with it.

 

[m73b54]

It does make a difference. People expect that additional dynamat will make it like a coffin. It will NOT. Y’all need to set your expectations right. What I have done makes it not just bearable but pleasing. Decibel meters are a joke, just like statistics. Unless you know how to read and use that data, you are fooling yourself.

Anyone in Dallas is free to come and ride with me in either of the two M3 I have.

Yep, and every time I change the oil on my old ICE car I feel how works quieter and accelerates faster...

 

[enemji]

Here is a situation I would like y’all’s feedback. When you are driving at 65+mph and drive under a bridge, do you hear road noise amplified , bouncing and wrapping all around you?

 

[enemji]

Yep, and every time I change the oil on my old ICE car I feel how works quieter and accelerates faster...

Only when switching from Mobil1 to Pennzoil Platinum

 

[enemji]

Anyone in Dallas is free to come and ride with me in either of the two M3 I have.

Even better, bring your unmodified M3 and we can drive over 5 miles of road and compare and contrast the road noise quality.

 

[XPsionic]

Here is a situation I would like y’all’s feedback. When you are driving at 65+mph and drive under a bridge, do you hear road noise amplified , bouncing and wrapping all around you?

Just a little in the Model 3. In my convertible with the top down, YES, it's extremely loud, especially if you happen to drive next to a semi.

 

[GermanGuyUS]

Yes, you can get some results if you turn your car inside out but if you believe that you can make a difference by stuffing bolsters with insulation, you are living in a lalaland.

I think we have a troll.

 

[enemji]

I think we have a troll.

Probably one that has used a ton of dynamat to line all the sheet metal of his/her car in the past with not much appreciable difference.

Surely if dynamat was the answer wouldn’t you find it layered in all luxury vehicles? But you don’t because that is not the answer.

 

[XPsionic]

Installed 32"x16"x1" of the ceramic fiber insulation in the rear wheel well and seat area. It made a small difference, road noise from the driver's seat seem to be about the same but where the noise is concentrated seemed to have shifted forwards. It's like pressing +3 on the audio fader setting for music. The insulation definitely did something, but the overall impression of noise level doesn't seem to be much lower. By sheer luck the insulation took some slack from the rear interior panels and got rid of a small rattle.

Unfortunately with LA traffic I can't get a good steady reading of dB before and after at a constant speed, without traffic around, or on the same road surface.

My car is a 2021 with the dual pane front windows

 

[slease]

For those of you that added OPs insulation fix, can you post your model years? Earlier Model 3's are known for loud road noise.

 

[enemji]

Installed 32"x16"x1" of the ceramic fiber insulation in the rear wheel well and seat area. It made a small difference, road noise from the driver's seat seem to be about the same but where the noise is concentrated seemed to have shifted forwards. It's like pressing +3 on the audio fader setting for music. The insulation definitely did something, but the overall impression of noise level doesn't seem to be much lower. By sheer luck the insulation took some slack from the rear interior panels and got rid of a small rattle.

Unfortunately with LA traffic I can't get a good steady reading of dB before and after at a constant speed, without traffic around, or on the same road surface.

What speeds? What wheel size & tires?

The NVH balance is tricky and if your tires are noisy, it will make it appear to shift forward a bit.


At slower speeds, the difference is also just as small. But as the speed goes up, that noise level stabilizes at around 50mph.

So even if you are driving 80mph, it sounds like the noise level at 50mph.

It might also help to push more into the open cavity area above the wheel well & the fender. That seems to be the noisiest region.

 

[XPsionic]

What speeds? What wheel size & tires?

The NVH balance is tricky and if your tires are noisy, it will make it appear to shift forward a bit.


At slower speeds, the difference is also just as small. But as the speed goes up, that noise level stabilizes at around 50mph.

So even if you are driving 80mph, it sounds like the noise level at 50mph.

It might also help to push more into the open cavity area above the wheel well & the fender. That seems to be the noisiest region.

Oh yeah the whole cavity is filled top to bottom, removed the seat cushion to fill even more than shown.

OEM MXM4, 18", got up to 70mph for a little bit today

 

[enemji]

Oh yeah the whole cavity is filled top to bottom, removed the seat cushion to fill even more than shown.

OEM MXM4, 18"

Yea…Those are the worst. Even after all this, the Hankook Kinergy GT are better at noise than the MXM4. The MXM4 are like 20 year old tech. Seriously. While this ceramic thing helped both, the difference was felt a ton more with the Hankooks.

 

[enemji]

l;ook what I found....Audi E-tron uses a ton of PU foam for the sound absorption. Not dynamat or Kilmat.

 

[enemji]

Acoustics of the Audi e-tron (animation) - Audi MediaTV

The Audi e-tron creates a new sense of mobility. The only sounds are from its tires and the gentle hum of the electric motors. Its body has special soundproofing and sealing in all zones that could transmit noise interference. The wind noise barely gets through to the occupants.

www.audi-mediacenter.com