Road noise

Faults and Technical chat for the Ford Puma
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Jawmcneill55
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Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:47 pm

Post by Jawmcneill55 »

St lines first edition plus.

Alot of road noise on good and bad surfaces

Spearmint
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Location: Herts

Post by Spearmint »

Shows how quiet the car is :)

Yep, 18” and 19” wheels both produce quite a bit of noise. Thought it might be the brand, but Goodyear’s appear to be at least 2db quieter than others. Good tarmac seems quiet, concrete a big no no.
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Wdf76
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Post by Wdf76 »

I've not found the road noise intrusive at all. Wet and cold tyre grip (lack of) has caught me out on the odd early morning start but they are an ecocontact tyre so I would assume that's a harder compound for lower rolling resistance.

The brochure states that 205/40r18 tyres are fitted to the st line x. I have 215/50r18. That extra 10% of profile makes all the difference. Perhaps the smaller tyre didn't look right on the 18" rim.
Peddy
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Post by Peddy »

Jawmcneill55 wrote: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:40 pm St lines first edition plus.

Alot of road noise on good and bad surfaces
Yes I agree very noisy
Jawmcneill55
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Post by Jawmcneill55 »

After having a kuga which was a smooth ride, itll take a bit of getting use to the road noise the 19" wheels produce
PaulD
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Post by PaulD »

I think the 19 inch wheels acount for the extra road noise.

I have the 18 inch wheels and i think there,s not a lot off road noise at all
Ford Puma St-Line X first edition full options
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rke11
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Location: East London

Post by rke11 »

I have to say my only negative so far with the Puma is road noise ...maybe it's the terrible roads here in London, but I can hear it at all speeds...and of course it increases with intensity as you pick up speed ....it certainly seems a little better on the super smooth surfaces, on the rare occasion I find one, so I guess it is probably just tyre noise...I've got the 18 inch wheels with Conti EcoContacts...I was fully expecting more tyre noise at speed on the lower profiles compared to my previous Golf on 16 inchers, but I am surprised to hear tyre noise even when moving really slowly...on a slow roll (with engine cut off) I can still hear a slight hum until the car stops....have you guys noticed this?

Anyway, as with all these things, once you've picked up on something you tend to keep noticing it don't you...and agree with an earlier comment it could just be because the car is so quiet in other respects...my previous Golf was a diesel with no start/stop, so that could be case closed!...I guess if it's normal I'll just turn the stereo up until tyre change time, and move to a quieter brand like Goodyear:)
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Wdf76
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Post by Wdf76 »

@rke11 All good points. I can't comment on the Goodyear eagles on the 19's. I have the 18's with Ecocontacts. I don't find the noise intrusive.

Pre lock down I was intending to have a play with tyre pressures and see if +/- 3 or 4 psi made a difference. Perhaps the Ecocontacts harder compound creates the noise and iffy cold temp grip. I do like the 50 profile, much less thwack over potholes.

They're not cheap to replace 215/50r18 doesn't appear to be a common size.
rke11
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Location: East London

Post by rke11 »

@Wdf96 thanks - I think you're right, lots of comments on Ecocontact reviews about it being a harder compound summer tyre therefore noisy and winter grip not the best :(

When I took delivery I had the common issue of tyres being left at showroom/transporter pressure (45psi) , took me a few days but I soon realised the rock hard ride and jumpy grip just wasn't right! - it was only after I reduced the pressures to recommended that I really started to notice the noise, which figures with more rubber on the road - the ride felt a lot softer after though! - and just before lockdown I tried dropping lower still -2psi front and back to 31/28 and although I've not driven much since the ride seemed even more super smooth but also the noise somehow less obtrusive - go figure eh! - I might keep them like that for a while, there's no harm really as I'm not a motorway mile cruncher

On the subject of noise i also noticed an empty megabox was like a megaphone to the engine of the car behind when stopped in traffic! .... but filling it up with all the usual boot odds and ends seemed to help that :)
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Wdf76
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Post by Wdf76 »

@rke11 I've dropped a couple of psi all round today. Didn't have anything better to do... I'll be happy if I get the same feel you do.

The quietness will take some getting used to for you. Especially coming from that oil burning golf. It's almost silent when you're stopped but the engine is still running.

I hadn't noticed the noise from behind through the megabox, are you sure your drain plug is in place? :D
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