Uncomfortable Road Noise

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woodyleaf

New member
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
2
The road noise in my Leaf is very noticeable when I drive on pavement that has been chewed up by studded snowtires and I am driving at speeds over 30 mph. Since I commute on such at road for 9 miles each way at speeds between 45 and 60 mph, my ears ring terribly every time I get out of the car following this commute. This is due to a hearing loss problem I have. I have solved this in my Volvo by adding Dynamat and Dynapad insulation to the car. Before trying this expensive fix in the Leaf, I would like to know if anyone else has such a problem and if he or she has found something that reduces road noise in the Leaf. I have already swapped out the tires to the most quiet I can find with little benefit. Thanks.
Woodyleaf
 
You could try lowering the pressure in the tires, it may increase the wear on the tires and decrease your range.

How about some custom molded silicon ear plugs or active sound canceling headsets?, such as target shooters use.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Radians-Custom-Molded-Earplugs/13023898
 
woodyleaf said:
I have already swapped out the tires to the most quiet I can find with little benefit. Thanks.
Woodyleaf
Does playing music - and thus shaing the sound you hear in a different way - help ?

This is what I do to forget about the motor whine or the road noise.
 
I must have a different leaf than you guys. Mine is fine and quieter than either of my ICE cars (BMW and Acura)... I will admit that it DOES seem unusually loud on some road surfaces, however... I don't know whether this is tire related and/or due to a lack of suspension isolation, however...

raghuram said:
Hi the information you have given is correct....road noise is really unbearable but we can't stop it....
 
Unfortunately road noise is something that seems to be unavoidable. I will say my own personal experience is that the Leaf has much less road noise than my previous car. But if you're transitioning from a high-end luxury car then your experience might be different. One solution is to play some music while driving down the road. Just stick in your favorite CD or pug in your iPod.
 
This is to follow up on my post. I went ahead and put in Dynamat and Dynapad around the wheel wells and in all 4 doors. This reduced the noise somewhat. However, the truly bothersome pounding noise still will occur on really chewed up pavement (asphalt or concrete, usually torn up from studded snow tires and in need of resurfacing). Unfortunately, this is the condition of the road for my daily commute. At low speeds this is not so much of a problem. On decent pavement, the leaf is as smooth as glass. I have discovered that if I open the windows just a bit, the deep rumbling sound is less and it is not so painful on my ears.
All in all, the modification with Dynamat /Dynapad resulted in only a modest benefit, did not solve the problem, and probably was not worth the cost. (The same modification with Dynamat / Dynapad did shut down the noise from the same rough road surface in my Volvo S60 and that car is much quieter than the leaf even with the combustion engine.)
I think the acoustics in the leaf make it function more like a sounding board - such as in a guitar or drum - for the lower frequencies. This may be something the Nissan engineers may want to address at some point if marketing wants to make the quietness of the leaf a really strong competitive advantage. The car is otherwise whisper quiet. Higher frequencies are not a problem, there is only a breathy whistle when the pavement is smooth, and the motor produces a quiet high pitch hum at the most. People such as myself with hearing problems (and experts project that baby boomers will have a lot of hearing problems as they age) will find the low frequency noise in the leaf a serious dis-satisfier.
Woodyleaf
 
I think you're right. The Leaf might inadvertantly be 'tuned' to resonate to the noise frequencies caused by the road conditions that you encounter, perhaps due in part to the mass of the batteries and the structure of the car's floor to support that mass. Cracking the windows can affect the resonant frequencies.

Maybe some suspension adjustments could help, to minimize the transmission of the offending vibrations from the tire-road interface to the body of the car?

woodyleaf said:
I think the acoustics in the leaf make it function more like a sounding board - such as in a guitar or drum - for the lower frequencies.
 
When I drive over roads with cracks in the pavement, around 30 mph with the window down, I hear both tire noise smacking the crack and a metallic clack as I drive over each crack. Maybe I should keep my window closed.
 
Without the roar of an internal combustion engine to drown things out (admittedly my ICE cars are quite loud), I am definitely more aware of road noise in the Leaf, but only because it is more apparent due to the relative silence of the drivetrain. Overall it is a much quieter car than any other I drive, at least in my perception. I am a baby boomer with a hearing disability as well--exostosis (surfer's ear), so maybe I just can't hear what you're experiencing, and don't drive roads that are chewed up by snow tires.

TT
 
Our local freeways have some fairly long sections that have been ground down for smoothness,
and that reduces the noise a bit, and removes the thump-thump sounds. :D

Other long sections have a noise-dampening (recycled rubber tires and
walnut shells?) "asphalt-type" coating of some sort that almost eliminates
the tire noise. These sections are a REAL JOY to drive the LEAF on ...
very quiet! :eek:
 
The hardest road surface (concrete) will be the loudest and have the lowest drag, the softer road will decrease your range and noise level. Like walking on wet sand.
 
There is a section of the 710 that always sounds like barking dogs from the way the tires interact with the pavement.

Also, I think there was a section of the Pearblossom Highway that had grooves put in it to play "Happy Trails To You" if you drove the correct speed!
 
emsik1001 said:
I can confirm my Nissan Leaf is also noisy at 60-70mph. Here are my dBs test results.
So, basically you say this:
In summary, Nissan Leaf is not as quiet as you may think, and it is not just my perception! It actually is quite noisy on motorways and certain city road surfaces.

From what I see on your page, I take it as..
When the noise from outside is loud enough to be louder than an ICE engine (driving fast, bad road, rain, etc), then the Leaf is as loud as an ICE car..
To me, that's exactly as quiet as I might think... That's kind of what I would expect.. ;-)

But good to see the numbers to back it up..

Thanx,
desiv
 
You want loud roads ... from Stateline to Las Vegas has to be the loudest road I have ever driven on. I am guessing it's the grooves they have in the road surface for rain/flash floods, regardless it's ear piercing loud !
 
When the noise from outside is loud enough to be louder than an ICE engine (driving fast, bad road, rain, etc), then the Leaf is as loud as an ICE car..
To me, that's exactly as quiet as I might think... That's kind of what I would expect.. ;-)

I was hoping Nissan would pay extra attention to noise reduction, and I would get fewer dBs at high speed compared to a 10 year old ICE car.

I've read somewhere the headlights reduce wind noise, it's a bit of a shame no special attention was taken for motorway speeds, but I suspect they focused on city driving experience and not money saving motorway driving :)
 
DesertDenizen said:
When I drive over roads with cracks in the pavement, around 30 mph with the window down, I hear both tire noise smacking the crack and a metallic clack as I drive over each crack. Maybe I should keep my window closed.
Absolutely love the phrase: "...smacking the crack and a metallic clack..." Could easily be the beginnings of Pitbull's next major rap hit. I'd reach out to his agent and make an offer.
 
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