NVH in the A3/S3 compaired to rivals

New S4 Man

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Had a couple of test drives in S3's now (before putting a deposit down on one yesterday, yay, go me :) ) and one of the things i've been impressed by his how quiet the car is when on the move.

In comparison I hired a new BMW 3 series recently which i found really quite noisy at motorway speeds, lots of tyre roar basically which surprised me as I thought it would be much more refined. Kind of put me off the m140 a bit as i'm guessing that's probably going to be even more noisy, given the 3 series is supposed to be above it in the model range.

Anyway I found this interesting article:
"in search of the worlds quietest car"
https://www.bksv.com/en/about/waves/WavesArticles/2014/in-search-of-the-worlds-quitest-car

The A3 does really well in the test, beating both the golf and the 1 Series. Anyone else noticed better refinement in comparison to other rival cars?
 
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Take with a pinch of salt, different ways of testing give different results. Did any cars have sports suspension standard suspension etc. The new A4 is
'apparently' the second quietest after a Rolls Royce. According to that test the Rolls wasn't even the quietest so go figure.
I wouldn't imagine the S3 would replicate the A3 used in this test anyway.

Main thing, if your happy that it's quiet for you. Don't bother with these sort of articles
 
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I can tell you one thing.
An M2 is a whole lot noisier than an S3 in every respect - including tyre noise.
 
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A good bit quietier inside with road noise than my old TT, but that might have been the frameless windows the TT has. Does the A3/S3 come with an acoustic windscreen? I'm sure my old A3 (8V) had it as part of the comfort pack...?
 
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The issue with a lot of BMs is the runflat tyres are much noiser than standard tyres!
 
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The issue with a lot of BMs is the runflat tyres are much noiser than standard tyres!

Yup, and I absolutely hate them.
Wifes Z4 had them and on a car that already had hard suspension the run flats made it "interesting" on corners with the rear wheel drive when you encountered manhole covers and the like. Vowed I'd never buy a car which had them ever again.
 
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Yup, and I absolutely hate them.
Wifes Z4 had them and on a car that already had hard suspension the run flats made it "interesting" on corners with the rear wheel drive when you encountered manhole covers and the like. Vowed I'd never buy a car which had them ever again.

19" wheels, run flat tyres with 255 profile, yes... been there done that with a Z4, very hard ride indeed. Also had a bad reputation for cracking. As you say, never again.
 
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Of the 3 competitors I tested I found the S3 to be the middle ground in terms of NVH. The MB CLA 45 seemed the quiestest to me, the S3 next, and the BMW M240i last. Having had 2 BMWs previously, it is definitely the runflat tires that contribute to noise and impact harshness.
 
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The main thing I noticed with quietness is the 7th gear on the facelift. Doing just over 2000rpm at 80mph is whisper quiet!
 
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I have a FL saloon with conti 5s and the road noise is close on unacceptable. Wonder if its the combination of the saloon and the conti's. Its a good bit noisier than my 8P RS3, so much so I intend to sound proof the car and change tyres. Other than that its a cracking car.

When I hit smooth tar the car is almost silent.
 
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I've come from a Golf R and the silence in the S3 was the first thing I noticed.
Both on 18s and normal suspension.
 
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I have a FL saloon with conti 5s and the road noise is close on unacceptable. Wonder if its the combination of the saloon and the conti's. Its a good bit noisier than my 8P RS3, so much so I intend to sound proof the car and change tyres. Other than that its a cracking car.

When I hit smooth tar the car is almost silent.

I've had Conti 4s on previous car and they weren't very quiet either. The Pirelli's on my A3 are outstanding in comparison. Goodyear F1's were also just as noisy as the Conti's!!
 
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I've had Conti 4s on previous car and they weren't very quiet either. The Pirelli's on my A3 are outstanding in comparison. Goodyear F1's were also just as noisy as the Conti's!!

I read that the latest Pirelli's are very good. What type of Pirelli do you run?
 
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