Make the Supra quieter on highways

[michaeljeff]

I did a road trip in my ‘21 and it was not enjoyable. Cabin measured about 70-75db on my Apple Watch on highways.

Is there a way to quiet the car down (road and wind noise)? If not, I will take the $10k loss since I’d rather have a convertible if I wanted a noisy weekend or track car.

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[Andrew4Supra]

Use BimmerCode to eliminate the engine noise from be piped throughout the speakers to start.

 

[Dannyvandelft]

I did a road trip in my ‘21 and it was not enjoyable. Cabin measured about 70-75db on my Apple Watch on highways.

Is there a way to quiet the car down (road and wind noise)? If not, I will take the $10k loss since I’d rather have a convertible if I wanted a noisy weekend or track car.

You're fully stock? Normal mode, highest gear, cruise, shouldn't hear much. If that still bothers you, then something electric might be better suited.

 

[michaeljeff]

You're fully stock? Normal mode, highest gear, cruise, shouldn't hear much. If that still bothers you, then something electric might be better suited.

Yes, stock. It's the road noise from the tires contributing to most of the noise (and some wind noise I think).

Are there quieter/better tires than the Michelin PSS?

 

[digicidal]

Not going to be a cheap, easy, nor quick fix I'd say... but multiple benefits to be had by following many of the suggestions in @tadda 's audio hacks thread. Ultimately most of what you're describing would be somewhat mitigated by damping material lining all of the interior metals and doing the doors as well.

Those highways you were driving on may be pretty bad... but ~73dB for a stock car at highway speeds is pretty tame IMO. Definitely not Dodge Ram quiet or MB S-Class quiet... but quite a bit better than many.

Some examples from this article (converted from sone to dB) at 130kph (~80.7mph):

• Classic VW Beetle: 87dB
• Mazda Miata: 84dB
• Audi R8: 78dB
• BMW 4-Series: 74dB
• VW Golf: 75dB
• Audi A3: 74dB
• Rolls Royce Ghost: 72dB
• Mercedes S500: 71dB
• Dodge Ram: 67dB (claimed)

Unfortunately, unless you want to drive a Tesla or Prius (and at no faster speeds than the posted limit) - this is about as quiet as a stock car offering gets within a few dB's at least. Of special note on the Dodge Ram mentioned - they offer a specific option for active noise cancellation within the cabin (just like many headphones do)... so it's basically just using the audio system to make the noise harder to hear... it's not actually that much quieter - it just seems like it to you.

EDIT: If you haven't already, you might try one of the wind buffeting mitigations as well.... even if your windows aren't down, reducing the turbulence against the glass might drop ~1-2dB worth of perceived noise. I personally almost always have my music at a level that is higher than the road noise so I've never been bothered. I thought the MKV was actually a pretty quiet car overall.

 

[MCSeverino]

Quieter? In normal mode, this is the quietest, smoothest highway cruising car I've ever owned.

 

[michaeljeff]

Not going to be a cheap, easy, nor quick fix I'd say... but multiple benefits to be had by following many of the suggestions in @tadda 's audio hacks thread. Ultimately most of what you're describing would be somewhat mitigated by damping material lining all of the interior metals and doing the doors as well.

Those highways you were driving on may be pretty bad... but ~73dB for a stock car at highway speeds is pretty tame IMO. Definitely not Dodge Ram quiet or MB S-Class quiet... but quite a bit better than many.

Some examples from this article (converted from sone to dB) at 130kph (~80.7mph):

• Classic VW Beetle: 87dB
• Mazda Miata: 84dB
• Audi R8: 78dB
• BMW 4-Series: 74dB
• VW Golf: 75dB
• Audi A3: 74dB
• Rolls Royce Ghost: 72dB
• Mercedes S500: 71dB
• Dodge Ram: 67dB (claimed)

Unfortunately, unless you want to drive a Tesla or Prius (and at no faster speeds than the posted limit) - this is about as quiet as a stock car offering gets within a few dB's at least. Of special note on the Dodge Ram mentioned - they offer a specific option for active noise cancellation within the cabin (just like many headphones do)... so it's basically just using the audio system to make the noise harder to hear... it's not actually that much quieter - it just seems like it to you.

I will try some audio tuning and using bimmercode to remove the piped in sounds, but it is a bit weird.

For reference, I need to crank my music to near 80db (as recorded by my Apple watch) to drown out the highway roar of the tires, drone of the engine and wind.

My last car before this was a BMW 435i convertible and it was quieter on the highway than this car by far. Previous to that I had an Audi A7 and Honda Clarity and both were super quiet doing highway speeds.

Currently I also own an Toyota hybrid SUV which is hits about 65db on the same highways. I think after owning quiet cars all my life, my expectations may be skewed. I only want to hear the engine revving, pops and crackles, not road noise, wind noise, or droning.

 

[digicidal]

If your MKV is truly much louder than your FR-S and the 435 vert then I'd wonder if something is wrong somewhere. I've driven both and they were (subjectively at least) much louder than the Supra at highway speeds.

Now I wish I'd measured them for some objective analysis - because chronologically distant subjective comparisons are basically worthless.

 

[digicidal]

Quieter? In normal mode, this is the quietest, smoothest highway cruising car I've ever owned.

Same here... it's certainly at least seems comparable to my 2020 RX350 in that regard, maybe even a bit better. The Supra has a bit more of the road (naturally) and a bit less of the wind (also naturally)... but overall it's pretty quiet.

I'll have to take some measurements just to see now... will post in this thread later with both.

 

[michaeljeff]

If your MKV is truly much louder than your FR-S and the 435 vert then I'd wonder if something is wrong somewhere. I've driven both and they were (subjectively at least) much louder than the Supra at highway speeds.

Now I wish I'd measured them for some objective analysis - because chronologically distant subjective comparisons are basically worthless.

The FR-S was over 10 years ago so that is very possibly misremembered. The 435 convertible was VERY quiet on the highway, that was my last car. Anyway, this is an easy test - if you guys have an Apple watch take your Supra out for a spin on the highway around 70mph and report back what decibels it shows.

 

[Bundy]

I don´t buy a sports car with the expectation it is going to be the quietest ride I have ever experienced.

You might be in the wrong segment of cars to meet your expectations.

 

[XtremeMaC]

So, we're skipping the obvious solution of sound deadening?

 

[VA90]

OP, you should probably just sell the Supra now. With spring and summer coming, you'll get a good price. Take the proceeds and get a luxury sedan like an LS or an E-class, something along those lines. Those will be bank vault quiet, which seems to be what you're looking for. I wouldn't even bother with trying to swap out the stock PSSs for quieter tires. I doubt that will get you where you think you need to be.

 

[Supraboi7]

Yeah this doesn't sound right. It should be fine but I would say drive in normal mode with windows up, bimmercode out the active sound design fake noise, put on wind buffeting fix for mirrors and she should be silky silent. Other than that either something is wrong with your tires or the road

 

[tadda]

My Supra is by far the quietest "sports" car I've ever owned (and I've owned many)...The main emphasis here is on "sports car"...

And of coarse sedans and SUVs will have much quieter rides...All my past sedans and SUVs always had much quieter rides as expected...

Just turn up the music and enjoy the ride...That said, there are relatively inexpensive ways in which to reduce cabin noise in the Supra further such as adding some sound deadening, turning off faux engine noise, implementing wind buffeting fix, keep in normal mode, and recalibrating your expectations on how quite a sports car interior should be...

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