Tbf we drove back from Kent not long back and some of the road noise was pretty loud, some of the concrete slab sections on the M25 in particular were horrendous?OK,
Went on a 100k round trip today. I think it boils down to road surface noise. Some of the roads I drove on were extremely quiet.
I think all is well after all.
Jesus H Christ!!
- Thread starter vectra
- Start date
Yup, also if you have a VZ - any use of the soundaktor on the motorway becomes a monotonous drone as the engine is under load against the wind.
It needs one more line of code in the software to fade out to nothing over 3 seconds if RPMs / torque / throttle stays fixed, but can fade back in quickly if any increase in RPMs / torque / throttle is detected.
Then add a toggle under the engine sound options called "comfort cruise" etc that reduces the soundaktor if over 50mph - which is often where wind noise starts to take over the cabin.
It needs one more line of code in the software to fade out to nothing over 3 seconds if RPMs / torque / throttle stays fixed, but can fade back in quickly if any increase in RPMs / torque / throttle is detected.
Then add a toggle under the engine sound options called "comfort cruise" etc that reduces the soundaktor if over 50mph - which is often where wind noise starts to take over the cabin.
Wiki tells you about this device.... I don't have it but I'd disconnect it if I did ?.
en.m.wikipedia.org
Soundaktor - Wikipedia
My VW has a soundaktor. I hate the fake engine noise but I have the option to reduce its volume in the car’s driving mode selections. Within ‘individual’ driving mode, I have three options for engine sound; sport, normal or eco; selecting ‘eco’ reduces the soundaktor volume to a level that IMHO isn’t at all obtrusive and I don’t even notice it (it’s the only thing that’s set to ‘eco’ in my car ? - did it on the day I got the car three years ago and it’s stayed that way ever since!)
@vectra - According to the owner’s manual, the Formentor also has selectable driving modes and it’s possible to adjust / turn down the soundaktor volume; see screenshots of the relevant pages (226-227) from the June 2021 version of the owners manual (maybe different page numbers in different print versions of the manual). Turning the volume down - or if it gives you the option in the Formentor, switching it off completely- is the answer to your prayers!
@vectra - According to the owner’s manual, the Formentor also has selectable driving modes and it’s possible to adjust / turn down the soundaktor volume; see screenshots of the relevant pages (226-227) from the June 2021 version of the owners manual (maybe different page numbers in different print versions of the manual). Turning the volume down - or if it gives you the option in the Formentor, switching it off completely- is the answer to your prayers!
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Given that it seems to be general cabin noise that @vectra is on about, and tyre pressures have been checked, what Brand / Version of tyres have you got? They can make quite a difference?
Guy
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Guy
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Mind you I'd disconnect the Soundkator so I could enjoy the cabin noise. Perhaps a crafty way of covering the cabin noise. ?.
In The Netherlands we have different sorts of asphalt. The newer types are really quiet.OK,
Went on a 100k round trip today. I think it boils down to road surface noise. Some of the roads I drove on were extremely quiet.
I think all is well after all.
All tires are the same brand and type/model? And they are mounted properly?
The size of the rim and tire thickness can also affect the noise level.
I have 19 inch rims with Bridgestone Turanza T005 for the summer.
Road noise in my vz2 hybrid is pretty bad too. T005's from factory, 16k miles in.
On the M11 it's louder than my 2001 hzj105 landcruiser - and that's quite something. Given the lc is on bfg ko2's 285/75r16 that have done 50k miles, running off a 4.2L donkey diesel engine.
I would even say, the road noise inside the formentors is about twice as loud as what's going on inside an XC60. The Volvo is very nice, the formentor sounds like a wind tunnel.
It's not the soundkator, because the hybrid can be driven entirely on electric,.and the sound persists. It's road noise. Unfortunately I have only driven two formentors, both hybrid. So I don't know what the situation is with other models.
It feels like there is more to it than just the tyres, it definitely feels like some of the formentors have sealing issues or leaking/poor insulation.
On the M11 it's louder than my 2001 hzj105 landcruiser - and that's quite something. Given the lc is on bfg ko2's 285/75r16 that have done 50k miles, running off a 4.2L donkey diesel engine.
I would even say, the road noise inside the formentors is about twice as loud as what's going on inside an XC60. The Volvo is very nice, the formentor sounds like a wind tunnel.
It's not the soundkator, because the hybrid can be driven entirely on electric,.and the sound persists. It's road noise. Unfortunately I have only driven two formentors, both hybrid. So I don't know what the situation is with other models.
It feels like there is more to it than just the tyres, it definitely feels like some of the formentors have sealing issues or leaking/poor insulation.
That bit was said by one one of the disillusioned early posters on the Formentor. It reminded me of the early Alteas where there was a rustling wind noise above 50 or so. It was a foam insert they didn't get right in the wing mirror / door assembly. For that they fitted an insert which stopped the vortex building up within the door / mirror assembly. I know I bought the Seat part and fitted it myself. Not all dealers knew about that. It was subsequently factory fitted as they were built. Interesting one. But if not a rustle won't be that...
What tyres do you have ? The bridgestones on my VZ3 are well noisy on some less than perfect road surfaces.OK,
Went on a 100k round trip today. I think it boils down to road surface noise. Some of the roads I drove on were extremely quiet.
I think all is well after all.
I had bridgestones on an Octavia rs some years back and found them noisy as well.
On this I have Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 6, 245.40.19
Main reason for car noise is the road surface quality, secondly is the tire itself, performance tyres are generally noisier due to lower and rigid walls and ofcourse their width. A car with a 245 mm width, as mine VZ310, is noisier than a car with the same tire but 225 width and higher profile and so on. Also the lower the car sits the higher the road noise in the cabin. However although my 245/40/19s Turanzas are generally noisy as most roads are not of great surfaces, on good surfaces as in new highways I drive they are dead silent. So road quality and tire size really do matter the most, although we cannot overlook the fact that some cars are better sound proofed than others, usually more expensive upper market cars, the Formentor is not one of them otherwise it would have weighed and cost more.
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With you on that one my friend. Never liked the fake RS3 sound on the Formentor 310 and with a Scorpion exhaust coming the soundaktor noise had to go.
Easy enough to do with OBDeleven, the only thing of note is when setting the soundaktor volume value to 0 it had to be done in individual profile with the sound setting to Cupra as I found doing it with the sound in Comfort it was still present when in Cupra mode which I use all the time once the car is warmed up. Nice mechanical sound now, a bit of induction and a few pops and bangs even with the standard exhaust so clearly the valves are still open in Cupra mode.
In an ideal world, they would let us upload our own samples - as I have nothing against the concept, if done well.
After all we've been doing sound synthesis in simracing for years, currently with FMOD. The synthesis we have at the moment is like Live for speed era; 1 waveform played back at variable speed, which is why it sounds so fake!
Staged synthesis with onload and offload samples that are at least 2-3 seconds of looped V8 is where this technology needs to be!
After all we've been doing sound synthesis in simracing for years, currently with FMOD. The synthesis we have at the moment is like Live for speed era; 1 waveform played back at variable speed, which is why it sounds so fake!
Staged synthesis with onload and offload samples that are at least 2-3 seconds of looped V8 is where this technology needs to be!
Or just buy a V8 and stick some custom back boxes on for the aural experience like errrr, I did…
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