Incar noise levels

[Ratanui]

After taking out an MR-S for a test drive the one thing we found off putting was the amount of in car noise when driving at highway speeds. How much difference is there between the amount of noise that you get with the soft top compared to the ones with a hard top fitted. We found the automated manual a bit of a pain as well (we've got lazy driving autos) but could have looked past that. Car was comfortable for the sort of long highway driving we do, but the amount of wind noise put me right off. Turning on the stereo just added to the problem. A typical drive for us is 100 + km's of open road so at this stage we'll be sticking with our old SW20. Can't help thinking that sometimes you can't improve on perfection SW20's rule

[Lucas]

don't touch the smt ones. " automated manual "

they give nothing but issues and are expensive to repair.

as for the wind/road noise. i think your expectations are just a little too high.

[EssDub]

Its a rag-top 900kg go kart - I'd be expecting it to be noisy

[MRtoo]

Ooooohh! I'll be keeping an eye on this thread... had been thinking about getting a first-gen Spydee and am very close to saying "I'll take that!" to the seller...

In-car noise was never really an issue for me. I kind of like the noise. I rode in a friend's luxury VW SUV contraption with fancy heated seats and dual-zone climate control and all, and the minimal outside noise is a bit disturbing...

Had thought about the SMT vs Manual as well - I like automatic cars because I'm lazy, but SMT is errr.... not quite automatic and not quite manual. I can see how they might not appeal to either camps. If I do get a MR-S it'll likely be the traditional manual version...

Apparently the 2004 SMTs are better than the 2002 version - 6-speed and a faster shifting.

[Lucas]

All smt's are rubbish. Regardless of year. Trust me, stay away unless your super wealthy and like spending coin fixing cars

[Ratanui]

Its a rag-top 900kg go kart - I'd be expecting it to be noisy

Fair enough, but as mentioned, we do alot of 100-400km days mostly on main highways. That means hours of keeping it as close to legal as possible. I like a bit of engine noise when you put your foot down, but I'm just being realistic for my own situation. Trips to Wellington (about two hours from here down SH1) can be pretty boring as it is. Throw in a ton of constant back ground noise and you can see where I'm coming from.

The auto manual was good up to a point (can't comment on cost/reliabilaty). I'm just used to either driving a proper manual and changing gears normally, or driving an auto. One of our cars has steptronic so you can put it in "manual"mode. At that point you only have to do the up changes (it changes down automatically if the revs get to low for the gear). With the auto man in the MR-S it only changes gear by itself when it stops at an intersection etc. I'm pretty sure that there are other auto man cars out there with a full auto option (like with the BMW M3's), and this would suit us better.

Was really just wondering if the hard top fitted MR-S's were much quieter as that would make a huge difference to my veiw of things.

[MoNk]

Was really just wondering if the hard top fitted MR-S's were much quieter as that would make a huge difference to my veiw of things.

They sure look a hell of a lot cooler.
But make sure you get one with a hard top already. I think they cost 1-2k?

MR Spyder / Kaye has a yellow MR-S with hardtop. Hardtop purchased seprately i think. Send her a PM

[Benckj]

I always found SW20's noisy on the road especially from the rear tyres and wind noise for side mirrors. Would hate to think wht the Spyders are like.

On the subject of tyres, they make a huge difference to road noise. If you are keen on the Spyder I'd look into a quiet tyre and line the door panels with dyna mat on top of using the hardtop. Trouble is that you start with the hardtop on and the weather breaks into a brilliant day how do you do you go topless without having a trailer to carry the top? I still like the T-top design, practicle and efficient. One of the big differences which seperate our cars from the MX5 and many other rag tops out there. Let the flaming begin.

[Ratanui]

As far as I can tell, most of the noise is just wind noise, not so much the tyres. I've spent most of my life riding motorbikes, and most of that time wearing ear plugs because of all the wind noise. They did a test in one of the English bike mags years ago and found that the wind noise in helmets exceeded 100db at 100 mph. I know you don't spend that much time going that fast but it does give you an idea about how much abuse your ears get at 100 kph. The funny thing is that anyone that doesn't ride a bike would say when they saw me putting earplugs in "is your bike that noisy?". They had no idea that by the time you get up to 100 kph the noise of the motor is largley drowned out by the wind.

As Beckj points out, having a hard top fitted could be limiting in that you either go out with it on or off, but at least if you go with it off you can always put the rag top up if the weather etc turns nasty.

I'm really still thinking it may just be a better idea to just look at cars with a hard top convertable instead. Have always thought that to be a better way to go, but my partner and I still like the look of the hotted up MR-S's and wanted to stay with Toyota. There's the spectre of precat failure haunting the MR-S as well which doesn't help.

Good thing the SW20's still going ok so we don't have to make a rushed decision eh

[MRtoo]

The funny thing is that anyone that doesn't ride a bike would say when they saw me putting earplugs in "is your bike that noisy?". They had no idea that by the time you get up to 100 kph the noise of the motor is largley drowned out by the wind.

When at 100km/hr the wind noise is far greater than the engine noise that's for sure, and on my current bike (2008 Suzuki M50 - admittedly a quiet-ish bike) it's only when I push beyond 120km/hr that I would hear a substantial amount of engine noise over the wind.

I've never wore ear plugs when riding because I've never really thought too much of the noise level. Maybe I should start wearing ear plugs!

[Benckj]

I notice much of the noise in my SW20 from the rear tyres especailly driving around Central with our high course chip seal. Changes radically when I install my spare set on. Low profiles seem to be the worse. Next time I have the door and rear panel off I'm going to install some insulation like dynamat. When I had the seats and interior carpet out I ran some thin foam sheeting on the floor boards which made quite a difference. Its not bad but on a long road trip I'd like to get it much better. No sense turning the stereo up just to drown out the road noise.

[Rosscar]

Yes the wind noise above 100kmh in my MR-S shreiks at 120km as if a kettles boiling esp with the top down but disappears at higher speeds.I removed the wiper blade temporarily and the shriek stopped.Of course too inconvenient to leave the blade off.The noise acts as a speed warning though!

[Benckj]

Jeeeezzzz ...... talk about a thread from the dead. Nice to see some people use the forum search engine.