Road noise

Anything in particular, tyres/road, wind, creaks or rattles etc causing you the problems?

What tyres (size and brand) are you running as that will have a big impact on the noise levels.

Alternatively you can start adding sound deadening such as used by the car audiophiles e.g. Dynamat Extreme to the chassis and firewall but that will require pulling up carpets and trim.

Did you not test drive a similar model before buying? I can't say I find the A3 a noisey beast and haven't seen many complaints before.

I remember a thread a while back about the choice of tyres making a difference on the 'noise' impact too.

I must say i don't find the tyres noisy on my car but am running Continental Contact 3 (or 2) if it makes a difference at all.

I went for a specifically quiet rated tyre (Vreidstein Ultrac Cento) but the car is still very noisy in terms of road and tyre roar. Borrowed a 207HDi yesterday and it's like driving a limo on the motorway lol soo quiet on the motorway. I can't imagine what an S-line or S3 with firmer suspension and bigger wheels is like!?

It's only quiet like any car on that smooth modern tarmac, but most surfaces it is below satisfactory with a rough "hollow" drone; I think it's the case that UK road surfaces have not been accounted for when sorting the acoustics of the car. It is an otherwise quiet(ish) car (noisy diesel engine aside at low speeds), but road surface changes can be horrendous sometimes and it is my main bugbear with the car. I found a MK5 Golf TDI to better in this respect somehow.

It's probably not the outright db level of the car that is particularly IMO, it's probably the type of sound.