Dealing with road noise & absence of a spare wheel

[SuperMazdaKart]

don't forget RAA membership for free towing

[Fatty]

geez, road noise is not THAT ofensive is it ?

anyway, before ruining your car's balance and handling by bulking it down with sound deadenning material, try a set of yokohama c-drives. i've found that since fitting these to my car, road noise is substantially decreased. it really has made an incredible difference.

remember tho, the mx5 is not a luxury cruiser where you are cocooned from the outside environment. there will always be noises of some sort getting into your cabin. if this bothers you, well maybe you have chosen the wrong car . these cars are great fun and the noise of the engine etc just adds to the fun, in my opinion.

[manga_blue]

I second what Fatty says about the C-Drives - soft, compliant, grippy wet and dry and amazingly quiet. Don't make them in 205/45x17 though.

[mickfred]

what is RAA or RAC??

[RRdstr]

Mmmmm . . .

We are a diverse group . . . but with a common passion . . .

Welcome to the passion . . .

[NMX516]

Road noise - sound deaden the car. Can recommend Dynamat Extreme - very effective and easy to install.

http://www.dynamat.com/

[Moggy]

I love the noise that comes from my car - I usually drive around with the windows down and top up during the day, and the combination of road, engine, exhaust and wind noise (plus the standard issue NA mx rattles ) are so loud you have to shout a little just to chat to your passenger.

It's just so raw - wouldn't have it any other way...

[AJ]

i think bob should have stayed away from a sportscar & bought a Fairlane Ghia instead

[Charlie Brown]

Bob, wait till you have tried the car. In 16 months of driving I haven't noticed road noise at all but then I do drive with the top down all the time.

Seriously, you sound like you have been on Miata net for a long time. It’s a good reference for many things but after a while you realise that there are a lot of wingers on there (10% or so but a lot in number compared to here) that have come from large soft cars and nothing is going to ride as smooth or as quite as a good old Buick or Cadillac on 70 series tyres. You would have seen the great out cry because their dealers didn’t adjust their tyre pressures from the delivery pressure. That they couldn’t check themselves such a basic item is beyond my comprehension.

The OEM Michelins are a great tyre. Run them at the correct pressure (29psi) and you wont have a problem. Mazda had their engineers and Michelin’s design the suspension to suit this tyre. I have unfortunately just swapped brands and I think it has been an expensive mistake. More on that in two weeks.

I’m glad you made your comment on the C-Drives. They are after all, a tyre designed for family sedans, on which they do well, but they are not a performance tyre, as their pricing indicates.

You should also join the MX-5 Club of WA. Call and have a chat with Simon the Vice President. Great bloke who circum-navigated Australia last year in his SE MX-5.

As for worrying about tyre problems. I’ve travelled from Sydney to Brisbane, down to Melbourne. Been on many Club runs and over coarse gravel forestry roads and done over 31,000 kilometres and had no problems.

Oh and welcome to the fantastic world of the MX-5.

[NMX516]

I too would wait until you've spent some time with the car to decide if you really want to reduce all the noise.

But anyway, Dynamat is available from most car audio specialists. Try Alberts over your way The jaycar stuff is not much cheaper but more of a hassle to install as you have to use spray adhesive or contact cement. Dynamat is self adhesive, and very easy to use. I've installed it in the doors of my car to improve the sound of the stereo by reducing panel vibration, which creates a surprising amount of noise.

[meanmx]

Fifth Gear did a test between the roadster Coupe and the soft top and found the soft top only one or two decibels higher which according to experts the average person would have trouble discerning. I have found that the American market likes to winge about a lot of things and in the end it is a sportscar. I recommend you drive it for a while as well. It might pleasently surprise you.

Ben

[Alex]

I'm interested in the sound deadening as well depending on how much weight it will add
also I don't think anyone should put you off an mx5 just because u want a quieter ride, everyone wants something different so if u want it get it
and NMX516 you have a PM