20" Wheels - excessive road noise

[shortword]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Good info to hear, thanks. Can I ask what country you were/are in?

:wq

Ireland Greg. No concrete roads here at all. Mostly asphalt and tarmacadam.

Regards,

Paul

[FooMan]

Originally Posted by shortword

Just my 2C on this, I've done 200Km in my car since yesterday. Country, town, motorway (140kph) etc and I do not find any issue with road noise. I've come from a 2014 MY Audi A7 sports sedan on 20" rims also.

My XC90 is a T8 R-Design on 20" with Conti SUV tyres. it's an absolute dream to drive.

I have a T8 Inscription (20" ContiSportContact 5's with standard suspension). I've done 4000km since May in the UK and France on all types of road surfaces and I have to say that I don't find road noise an issue either, but I suspect it depends a lot on what you are used to.

My previous cars were Subaru Imprezza Turbo 2000, Subaru Imprezza WRX STi and three BMW 3 series M Sports. The XC90 is twice the price of anything I have had before so I am more than happy to accept that I am probably not the best judge of what to expect at this level.

[familymangreg]

Is there a pattern starting to show here, all those with T8's on 20" don't have an issue, and those of us who do are driving D5's?

:wq

[eax]

I'm afraid it looks that way. But remember all T8s have noise cancelling microphones to counter the effect of the electric motor din I believe.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by eax

I'm afraid it looks that way. But remember all T8s have noise cancelling microphones to counter the effect of the electric motor din I believe.

Good info, thanks. I kept badgering on about B&W, thinking it was that system that brought the active noise cancelation, but its a T8 thing... ah ha!

:wq

[eax]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Good info, thanks. I kept badgering on about B&W, thinking it was that system that brought the active noise cancelation, but its a T8 thing... ah ha!

:wq

Here: http://support.volvocars.com/forum/t....aspx#post2816

check the response by Lars Lagström - the topic expert on the forum.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by eax

Here: http://support.volvocars.com/forum/t....aspx#post2816

check the response by Lars Lagström - the topic expert on the forum.

Interesting, it suggests that the ANC (active noise cancellation) filters out the specific low frequency sound produced by the electric motor, but maybe it could also be filtering some of the road noise.

Or are there other differences in the T8 which lead to less road noise/better insulation.

Or have we taken the wrong turning here, are we sure that the road noise is only affecting D5 (and possibly T6) owners?

:wq

[eax]

Unfortunately my T8 Inscription isn't due for another 13 weeks (according to MyVolvo). Standard springs, 20" wheels. Hopefully we'll know before then. Otherwise I shall let you know.

But I'm also thinking this could be subjective too. The T8 is over 3 times more expensive than any car I've ever bought/owned. I was thinking the other day that my VW Touran would probably be too noisy to someone that had come from a luxurious premium vehicle also. It does have quite a lot of road noise, but I've just gotten used to it.

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Or are there other differences in the T8 which lead to less road noise/better insulation.

If part of the noise problem is because of resonance, then the extra mass of the lithium batteries could alter the resonant frequency of a part of the car to the extent that it's less noticeable/annoying. There's also the extra mass of the 2 electric drive motors plus all the other gubbins. The total mass added to the car is significant. Also, having all those batteries lining the centre tunnel might act as additional sound insulation.

Re ANC, this is actually quite a difficult thing to achieve, especially in a space the size of the XC90's cabin. ANC works best on regular, predictable sounds within a certain frequency range. I have Bose noise-cancelling headphones which I use on aircraft. They are amazing at reducing the background noise of the engines (that being a regular, constant sound) but I can still hear other, less predictable, sounds, albeit at a lower volume. It's also much easier to achieve ANC in a space as small as the inside of a headphone ear-pad.

So I can understand why the T8 gets ANC to reduce the sound of the electric drive as this sound is probably a good candidate for cancellation.
_

[aab203]

I have been reading this thread with interest as I am just putting down a deposit on a T8 Inscription (delivery Oct/Nov time).

I raised the concern with the dealer about road /tyre noise. He said that although Volvo wouldn't put 19" wheels at factory build time, he would be prepared to swap out my 20" ones for 19" he'd have on new Momentums they were ordering, which I thought was a nice offer. The dealership is over 100 miles away so I'm thinking of requesting this change prior to collecting the car (rather than collect, test the 20"s, possibly decide I want to change and then go all the way back to the dealer).

My question is whether I should request the swap straight away. Is there a definite reduction in noise with the 19" wheels? Does it afford better handling or anything too (I read somewhere that the narrower tyres were 'better')?