Noise...in particular road noise !!! - Page 2

Tony Harrison · Aug 11th, 2020, 19:05

Welcome back! We too had a grandparents' weekend. Great fun, cockapoo Lulu fell in the canal, etc etc. We all survived.

Your good news is that you are on 18s. So lots of scope for different tyres when the time comes to change them. I've never been impressed by Pirelli tyres and even Lewis Hamilton might agree with me now.....

I had the Goodyear All Seasons fitted on my 18s for £648 including a geometry check all round. And as I said I'm very happy with them.

Tyres make a lot of difference to refinement in my opinion. The difficult thing is picking the right ones because it depends on your performance preferences.

I've also bought a car without road testing it but I did know the model well.

Onwards and upwards.

Dulcise · Aug 11th, 2020, 20:42

I will probably change tyre brands when the time comes. The ones that are on still have several thousand miles left in them.
I may try some Avons as they are made in UK.
Never had an issue with road noise in any other vehicle I don't think, so I'm not sure why this car is noisy.
I'm wondering if the transverse leaf spring at the rear has an influence...maybe the way it's mounted ?
There doesn't seem to be much information online about Volvos period.
The last noisy car I had was a Land Rover Discovery 2 which was quite noisy, but mainly transmission noise and it was a 2004 car so quite old. You would expect some noise from an old 4x4 .

airforced · Aug 12th, 2020, 09:31

I am VERY fussy when it comes to tyres and road noise. The only suggestion I can make is to ensure that your tyre pressures are set to COMFORT pressure and that the most likely cause is this and/or tyre brand. I have (OEM) Michelin Primacy which I haven't had cause to moan to myself about. I am happy and will choose them again when the time comes irrespective of price.

sshooie · Aug 12th, 2020, 12:03

I feel your pain, I bought my 2019 s90 without driving it as I have done the past 5 or so cars (200 miles away) and miss the silence of my A7.

The noise is compounded by the 4 pot, 20' wheels (A7 was 19's) and the lack of acoustic side glass imo.

Getting used to it after a week or so but very noticeable.

airforced · Aug 12th, 2020, 16:02

I think much depends on the tyre size. That is why I would never buy anything with 20" wheels. My last car was a 4 pot E Class on 17" wheels and the S90 is the same but Dulcise, on 18" wheels, should be able to get an acceptable ride with comfort tyre settings. Not too sure about that possibility on 20" wheels though.

My E Class had an excellent and quiet ride (one of the reasons I chose it), but the S90 is just as good on the smaller wheels.

ergonomist · Aug 12th, 2020, 17:15

It's also not just related to wheel size - there's a history of an odd interaction between wheel size and tyre make which the early SPA XC90's were susceptible to. For some reason one particular tyre (Continentals) on 20" rims was extremely noisy, and yet 21" and 22" didn't seem to be a problem. So don't necessarily dismiss a particular wheel size. On the other hand - who has the ability to keep trying different wheel/tyre combinations till they find the right one...?

Dulcise · Aug 12th, 2020, 20:46

Just looking at some US quotes and these seem to back up my concerns....I have included one below from Canada on a slightly different model, but similar issues. Don't think that the cars are very well insulated due to the obsession with weight savings and emissions for the EU.

[Hi all,

Bumping an old thread. Has it it been determined what the main factor is for cabin noise? I picked up my 2019 XC90 T6 Inscription (in Canada) yesterday and love it with one exception: the road noise. We had a 2016 Acura MDX prior that we did not find overly quiet, but it was definitely quieter than the new XC90, which is quite disappointing.

Drove about 175 km of highway (120km/h) from the dealer to my house and found it louder... I was hoping it was attributable to rain on the roads or something. Got home, and on Saturday, when driving on the highway with my family, my 4 year old daughter asked if it was really windy outside. The road noise made it sound that way. My wife also mentioned that she thought it was really loud. At this point I had not mentioned anything to either of them and they came up with that on their own - my wife never notices anything so for her and my daughter to notice it's clearly not just me. Been having a bit of buyer's remorse on this topic...

I went out last night with an SPL meter app on my phone and did some comparisons of my other vehicle at same highway speed on same roads, etc. My other car is a Mercedes AMG C43 - while it's a Mercedes it is not known to be S-class quiet or anything like that - it's an AMG with a loud exhaust. Plus it has 3 year old winter tires on it right now versus the brand new Pirelli all-seasons on the XC90 (21 inch wheels). My Benz was about 2 db quieter at same speeds on same roads... This should NOT be the case, especially with winter tires on the Benz.

Has anyone done metered comparisons with SPL meter to determine if Pirelli's are to blame?

Are the door seals adjustable?

For those that added sound deadening, was before after SPL measured to see if it actually helped?

Thank you

I know a phone app based SPL is not accurate in itself, but it should give a nice relative comparison between vehicles when done from same phone.]

AirCooled · Aug 24th, 2020, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dulcise

I will probably change tyre brands when the time comes. The ones that are on still have several thousand miles left in them.
I may try some Avons as they are made in UK.
Never had an issue with road noise in any other vehicle I don't think, so I'm not sure why this car is noisy.
.

On my previous car, and also my wife's car, I found switching to Dunlop SportMaxx RT2s made a welcome improvement (replacing Michelin Primacy 3, and Michelin Energy respectively)

uksteve · Aug 24th, 2020, 18:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by airforced

I am VERY fussy when it comes to tyres and road noise. The only suggestion I can make is to ensure that your tyre pressures are set to COMFORT pressure and that the most likely cause is this and/or tyre brand. I have (OEM) Michelin Primacy which I haven't had cause to moan to myself about. I am happy and will choose them again when the time comes irrespective of price.

I am with airforced on this , this has been my experience also. When I drove a loan car with 19" tyres I couldnt believe how noisy they were compared to my bog standard 17" tyres ( OEM Michelin Primacy) On Uk roads smaller wheels may not look so macho but my ears tell me this is the way to go to defeat road noise.

airforced · Aug 24th, 2020, 19:11

Yes uksteve. The majority ignore wheel size to their cost and then complain about road noise and comfort when most of these problems can be avoided by choosing smaller wheels initially and setting tyre pressures for most comfortable ride. Tyre brand can make quite a difference too and, to be honest, they do vary from car model/make to car model/make. What brand of tyre is good on one make doesn't mean that it will work on every make of car.

It can be a bit hit and miss unfortunately. But the basics are the same whatever. Smallest rim size and comfort tyre pressures are the place to start.

Aug 11th, 2020, 19:05	#11
Tony Harrison Member Last Online: Jan 22nd, 2024 16:10 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Ashbourne	Welcome back! We too had a grandparents' weekend. Great fun, cockapoo Lulu fell in the canal, etc etc. We all survived. Your good news is that you are on 18s. So lots of scope for different tyres when the time comes to change them. I've never been impressed by Pirelli tyres and even Lewis Hamilton might agree with me now..... I had the Goodyear All Seasons fitted on my 18s for £648 including a geometry check all round. And as I said I'm very happy with them. Tyres make a lot of difference to refinement in my opinion. The difficult thing is picking the right ones because it depends on your performance preferences. I've also bought a car without road testing it but I did know the model well. Onwards and upwards. __________________ MY2017 Volvo S90 Inscription D5 PP AWD, Onyx Black, Winter Pack and retro-fit rear parking camera MY2020 Volvo S90 Inscription Plus D4, Osmium Grey, Winter Pack and other bits and pieces

Aug 12th, 2020, 09:31	#13
airforced Member Last Online: Oct 7th, 2021 19:40 Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: North Yorkshire Coast	I am VERY fussy when it comes to tyres and road noise. The only suggestion I can make is to ensure that your tyre pressures are set to COMFORT pressure and that the most likely cause is this and/or tyre brand. I have (OEM) Michelin Primacy which I haven't had cause to moan to myself about. I am happy and will choose them again when the time comes irrespective of price. __________________ MY18 S90 D4 Momentum Mussel Blue + Park Pilot Assist

Aug 12th, 2020, 16:02	#15
airforced Member Last Online: Oct 7th, 2021 19:40 Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: North Yorkshire Coast	I think much depends on the tyre size. That is why I would never buy anything with 20" wheels. My last car was a 4 pot E Class on 17" wheels and the S90 is the same but Dulcise, on 18" wheels, should be able to get an acceptable ride with comfort tyre settings. Not too sure about that possibility on 20" wheels though. My E Class had an excellent and quiet ride (one of the reasons I chose it), but the S90 is just as good on the smaller wheels. __________________ MY18 S90 D4 Momentum Mussel Blue + Park Pilot Assist

Aug 12th, 2020, 17:15	#16
ergonomist Member Last Online: Apr 9th, 2024 16:33 Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Reading	It's also not just related to wheel size - there's a history of an odd interaction between wheel size and tyre make which the early SPA XC90's were susceptible to. For some reason one particular tyre (Continentals) on 20" rims was extremely noisy, and yet 21" and 22" didn't seem to be a problem. So don't necessarily dismiss a particular wheel size. On the other hand - who has the ability to keep trying different wheel/tyre combinations till they find the right one...? __________________ XC90 D5 Inscription MY16 - white + blond/charcoal, and got carried away with packs and options...

Aug 24th, 2020, 19:11	#20
airforced Member Last Online: Oct 7th, 2021 19:40 Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: North Yorkshire Coast	Yes uksteve. The majority ignore wheel size to their cost and then complain about road noise and comfort when most of these problems can be avoided by choosing smaller wheels initially and setting tyre pressures for most comfortable ride. Tyre brand can make quite a difference too and, to be honest, they do vary from car model/make to car model/make. What brand of tyre is good on one make doesn't mean that it will work on every make of car. It can be a bit hit and miss unfortunately. But the basics are the same whatever. Smallest rim size and comfort tyre pressures are the place to start. __________________ MY18 S90 D4 Momentum Mussel Blue + Park Pilot Assist

Aug 11th, 2020, 20:42	#12
Dulcise Junior Member Last Online: Oct 10th, 2020 16:10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: Stourbridge	I will probably change tyre brands when the time comes. The ones that are on still have several thousand miles left in them. I may try some Avons as they are made in UK. Never had an issue with road noise in any other vehicle I don't think, so I'm not sure why this car is noisy. I'm wondering if the transverse leaf spring at the rear has an influence...maybe the way it's mounted ? There doesn't seem to be much information online about Volvos period. The last noisy car I had was a Land Rover Discovery 2 which was quite noisy, but mainly transmission noise and it was a 2004 car so quite old. You would expect some noise from an old 4x4 .

Aug 12th, 2020, 12:03	#14
sshooie New Member Last Online: Jul 27th, 2022 08:30 Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: Barnsley	I feel your pain, I bought my 2019 s90 without driving it as I have done the past 5 or so cars (200 miles away) and miss the silence of my A7. The noise is compounded by the 4 pot, 20' wheels (A7 was 19's) and the lack of acoustic side glass imo. Getting used to it after a week or so but very noticeable.

Aug 12th, 2020, 20:46	#17
Dulcise Junior Member Last Online: Oct 10th, 2020 16:10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: Stourbridge	Just looking at some US quotes and these seem to back up my concerns....I have included one below from Canada on a slightly different model, but similar issues. Don't think that the cars are very well insulated due to the obsession with weight savings and emissions for the EU. [Hi all, Bumping an old thread. Has it it been determined what the main factor is for cabin noise? I picked up my 2019 XC90 T6 Inscription (in Canada) yesterday and love it with one exception: the road noise. We had a 2016 Acura MDX prior that we did not find overly quiet, but it was definitely quieter than the new XC90, which is quite disappointing. Drove about 175 km of highway (120km/h) from the dealer to my house and found it louder... I was hoping it was attributable to rain on the roads or something. Got home, and on Saturday, when driving on the highway with my family, my 4 year old daughter asked if it was really windy outside. The road noise made it sound that way. My wife also mentioned that she thought it was really loud. At this point I had not mentioned anything to either of them and they came up with that on their own - my wife never notices anything so for her and my daughter to notice it's clearly not just me. Been having a bit of buyer's remorse on this topic... I went out last night with an SPL meter app on my phone and did some comparisons of my other vehicle at same highway speed on same roads, etc. My other car is a Mercedes AMG C43 - while it's a Mercedes it is not known to be S-class quiet or anything like that - it's an AMG with a loud exhaust. Plus it has 3 year old winter tires on it right now versus the brand new Pirelli all-seasons on the XC90 (21 inch wheels). My Benz was about 2 db quieter at same speeds on same roads... This should NOT be the case, especially with winter tires on the Benz. Has anyone done metered comparisons with SPL meter to determine if Pirelli's are to blame? Are the door seals adjustable? For those that added sound deadening, was before after SPL measured to see if it actually helped? Thank you I know a phone app based SPL is not accurate in itself, but it should give a nice relative comparison between vehicles when done from same phone.]

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