Make the Supra quieter on highways

digicidal

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Just did an informal test on mine on the way to the office... it was raining, but with limited traffic (I work nights) and DBMeter Pro on my iPhone showed:
MIN: 63dBA MAX: 74dBA AVG: 66dBA

That was at 80 MPH (cruise set @ 82), on 38PSI tires, stock interior over 5 minutes. It included a lane change, which was where the 74dB peak occurred. I know it's quieter than my RC-F was by a fairly decent margin as well... because when I'm on the phone, no one can tell that I'm driving normally. In the RC-F (and my G37S prior to that) - road noise was the first thing anyone commented on.

I plan on going "full @tadda" re: interior treatment soon... but that's more for squeaks and rattles and to increase clarity of the audio system. If it were just road noise, then I'd never bother with it at all. I doubt it will make more than a very slight difference anyway since most of the road noise seems to be transmitted through the glass - not the chassis itself.
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michaeljeff

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Just did an informal test on mine on the way to the office... it was raining, but with limited traffic (I work nights) and DBMeter Pro on my iPhone showed:
MIN: 63dBA MAX: 74dBA AVG: 66dBA

That was at 80 MPH (cruise set @ 82), on 38PSI tires, stock interior over 5 minutes. It included a lane change, which was where the 74dB peak occurred. I know it's quieter than my RC-F was by a fairly decent margin as well... because when I'm on the phone, no one can tell that I'm driving normally. In the RC-F (and my G37S prior to that) - road noise was the first thing anyone commented on.

I plan on going "full @tadda" re: interior treatment soon... but that's more for squeaks and rattles and to increase clarity of the audio system. If it were just road noise, then I'd never bother with it at all. I doubt it will make more than a very slight difference anyway since most of the road noise seems to be transmitted through the glass - not the chassis itself.
That sounds about right, iPHone apps like DBMeter pro measure about 3-5 db lower than the Watch, which is much more accurate.

So while there's nothing wrong with my car, my tolerance is much lower than others. I will do some coding with bimmercode and see if I find any improvements or just, not drive this car on road trips.
 

digicidal

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You are correct about the difference in DBMeter Pro - I have mine calibrated to a +6dB on A-weighted measurements - which is what the difference was between the app on my phone and my Reed wand (naturally there's some vairance in the adjustment I'm sure so that's probably still a +/- 3dBA at best).

One of these days prior to doing all the sound mods, I'll do a run with a laptop and my UMIK-1 so there will be more coherency to the level data. It's likely there's some specific frequencies which you are more sensitive to that are possibly higher in the MKV than in other cars you've driven.

City traffic (outside of a car) is usually rated at 80-85 dB - so just being in traffic will put almost all cars into the 70's at any speed unless they're insulated with a ton of damping material and/or foam filled body panels.
 

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So while there's nothing wrong with my car, my tolerance is much lower than others. I will do some coding with bimmercode and see if I find any improvements or just, not drive this car on road trips.
I deactivated ASD with Bimmercode, and immediately found the cabin so much quieter.

Itā€™s now been about 2 months since and Iā€™m starting to notice more road noise especially when going over badly paved roads. I used to drive a soft top, so Im not expecting a silent ride, but the tire noise can get pretty loud. I also hear a fair bit of wind noise from the top of the window.

im contemplating reactivating ASD just to see how much it distracts from other noise.
 

XtremeMaC

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Just for scientific accuracy. As we all know state to state, heck even city to city, the road, asphalt, re-pavement differs immensely. So A to B with uncalibrated/synced equipments won't be that accurate....
 

MyCorolla

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I did a test today, using the Apple Watch as @michaeljeff suggested. Driving on a Southern California freeway, at 70mph, noise fluctuated around 66-68dBA most of the time. On a few rough patches it peaked at 75dBA and on smoother patches it dropped to 65dBA. As I mentioned previously, I do have ASD turned off; everything else is stock.
 

Tsar

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Just drove somewhere and made my fiancƩ take some measurements. She thought I was weird but whatever lol

Nicely paved road her iWatch read 62 decibels

Rough road 67-69 decibels

This was in normal mode asd untouched (its not active in normal mode anyways).
 

digicidal

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Without a doubt, the biggest variable in this equation (assuming stock wheels and tires that is) is going road conditions and tire wear. Some tires get louder as they wear and others get quieter. I'm not sure where the PSS sits in that regard... but mine are 14K miles in... so definitely getting closer to the worn side.

Also with all the rattles and squeaks I've got to track down (and I still think it's quiet) - I can only see that improving with work. ;)

Get more beefy tires.
On some nice 18" wheels with softer tires - I'd bet it would be 3-4dB quieter. Of course, it would also no longer corner as well... but as a cruiser on rougher roads, or drag car - that'd be my solution too. :thumbsup:
 

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As was previously stated you may be in the wrong car for your taste. Its a sports car, designed for canyons and track not a luxury sedan. Most people who buy the car want to hear the engine and the road noise with wind noise are a by product of aero and tires for the most part.
 
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michaeljeff

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As was previously stated you may be in the wrong car for your taste. Its a sports car, designed for canyons and track not a luxury sedan. Most people who buy the car want to hear the engine and the road noise with wind noise are a by product of aero and tires for the most part.
When youā€™re driving on cruise control for 8 hours, you donā€™t want to hear anything except your music and podcast in any car.

I donā€™t drive this Supra much, but if itā€™s just going to be a weekend car, I might rather have an LC convertible or 911 targa instead.
 

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When youā€™re driving on cruise control for 8 hours, you donā€™t want to hear anything except your music and podcast in any car.

I donā€™t drive this Supra much, but if itā€™s just going to be a weekend car, I might rather have an LC convertible or 911 targa instead.
A convertible and targa are going to be a lot noisier than a Supra.
 

Ankaragu

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When youā€™re driving on cruise control for 8 hours, you donā€™t want to hear anything except your music and podcast in any car.

I donā€™t drive this Supra much, but if itā€™s just going to be a weekend car, I might rather have an LC convertible or 911 targa instead.
Again, it comes down to you choosing the wrong car, that is not designed as a cruiser. Comparing a Lexus LC and a Porsche 911 is a complete swing and a miss. Both of those vehicles price tags dwarf the price tag of Supra and have a heavy emphasis on Luxury. You cannot compare a $55k car to vehicles that range $100-140K for an equivalent model/year.
 

gtshnzr

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Only read couple of respodses above so this might be duplicative. I find that tire noise level really depends on the road surface. There are times the supra is so quiet that I think you can put a sleeping baby in it and it wouldn't wake up during a trip - other road surfaces, I practically need to yell to talk to my passenger.
Yes, it was noisy the other day in 45-50F temps until the tires warmed up (winter Goodyear Eagle A/S tires). Then OK. Iā€™ll have to play with the Apple Watch to find that dB function.
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