Quiet Saloon Cars (Cabin Noise)

Currently thinking about what my next car is going to be. A quiet cabin whilst on long motorway journeys is top of my priority list, as I suffer from hyperacusis and spend plenty of time driving around the UK with work. I’ve been thinking along the lines of the below cars and was wondering if anyone had any experience of owning or driving these cars:

> Audi A6 (2004-2011)
> Mercedes E-Class (2002-2008)
> BMW 5-Series (2003-2010)
> VW Passat (2005-2011)

Obviously things like tyre choice, road surface, wind speed, etc. will all affect cabin noise at any given speed but I just wanted to gather people’s opinions and experiences of these cars from a cabin noise POV. Open to any suggestions on any other cars that people think may fit the bill.

Cheers in advance for any info/suggestions. Ta

can tell you the Eclass wont be quiet unless its had its wing mirrors changed

anything above 60 and my parents whistles like hell – its an 09 e class

3k to change out the wing mirrors for the quiet improved model….apparently its not a warrenty issue ….

Thanks for the advice TR – this is exactly the kind of info I’m after. 3K for wing mirrors is ridiculous!

If you look at Autocar road tests they provide road noise db at 70mph. That must be a good non subjective measurement. I own a 2008 S211 Merc and have had a passat as a previous car. As long as you miss the 18inch wheel/sport models the eclass is an extremely quiet car.

my colleague has a Passat CC (we drive all over Europe in our cars for work) and it is really quiet, surely thanks to the sleek shape.

real life economy is quite excellent too.

Thanks Tony – I’ll have a gander on Autocar the nou!

My 2006 Passat is fairly quiet-ish. The engine is silent when cruising.

However, by far the best way to get a quiet car is to remove the door and roof skins and stick dynamat on the inside. You could pay a car audio place to do this if you like. It would almost certainly work out far cheaper than going for a luxury car, and probably be quieter too.

Check out the later model Prius too if you want it to be extremely quiet round town.

Generally, the wider the tyre, the more road noise.

Molgrips idea of dynamat is a good bet. You could also try roof flashing tape which is what I applied to the panels in my van.

If you’re looking for a quiet car take a test drive in a Jaguar XF. They do a 2.2 diesel that’s very economical 🙂

I drove my bosses 11 plate Volvo v60 to Austria. It’s seriously quiet inside!*

* this is compared with 02/03 plate vw’s though.

whatever you get, make sure it doesn’t have WANLI tyres. I’m sure my MTB tyres make less noise for a given contact area

Thanks for all of the replies! I would absolutely love an XF but a bit out of price range at the moment. I’ll certainly look into the dynamat and roof flashing tape solution though. I’ve currenty got an 04 plate passat and its by no means over the top noisey (especially with the petrol lump) but its getting on a bit now with 110K on the clock and I fancy something new. Just need to make sure I’m replacing it with something quieter I guess. Will look into the Passat cc too as I’ve certainly been impressed with VW so far. I’d never considered the V60 as I’ve always felt estates are comparatively noisier than saloons given the rear arches aren’t as isolated from the cabin – maybe I need to test drive a newer estate than my mates old v40!

Cheers

I’ve driven BMW, Merc & Audi, I’m now on my 2nd A6, 2006 SE & 2010 S-Line Avant. Go for the SE if you want a bit more comfort but I do 30 – 40k/yr and have no issue with the S-Line. Tyres can make a difference, Dunlop SP Sport I find are a good.

I find the BMW a better match but I cannot get on with the cabin layout and the I-Drive unit.

You could always test the saloon equivalent!

Thanks KS – TBH from a looks PoV the A6 was the one I was leaning towards but was wondering what the others were like. I guess I need to do some test-driving after my initial research phase.

SOY – I might have to look at the S60 and bring this into the shortlist too.

Cheers

The Art of Noise

Perhaps I’d avoid the 911 🙂

I drive Rolls-Royces every day – they’re pretty quiet 🙂

I’ve had a modern Passat and Mondeo recently.

Can’t fault either, though the Mondy has an ‘acoustic windscreen’ supposedly to make for a quieter ride. Can’t say as I noticed much difference TBH.

My 12 Passat 1.6tdi is a lot quieter than my 08 A4 2.0tdi, although the 10 A6 I test drove at the weekend was probably a little quieter again. My A4 is noisy due to the quite harsh engine and the large 18″ 245 tyres.
I reckon the A6 was as quiet as my friends 11 plate E250 merc.

Hope that helps in some way!

Thats the Porsche out the window then!

A RR Phantom would be pretty sweet – that one didn’t make the shortlist because it would be hard to manouvre around the work car-park…

I hadn’t heard of the accoustic windscreen mind – will have to google this!

Used to use an e-class of that age in a previous job, very quiet, very deceptively fast – thought we were travelling much slower than we really were. 320 cdi Avantgarde spec as it could pretty near match the previous E55 AMG

Guy at work has a current A6 estate, was running really noisy, dealer tried different wheel sizes, dampers and all sorts – turned out to be the Pirelli tyres, was fine before on Conti and is now fine on Dunlop.

Not being funny, but if looks are not an issue, how about these? (OK, it may raise a few eyebrows at the traffic lights, but £6?)

Or splash out on the high tech version. You could drive a Massey Ferguson with dodgy timing and a hole in the exhaust with one of these beauties and futt-futt-pop-bang along in perfect silence:

🙂

I ran the older 5 series than you list, and it was very, very quiet. Had to open a window to even hear the engine (3.5i V8), but it was also the SE model which had normal wheels/tyres.

A friend had a 2006 530d on big wheels, it was both noisy and harsh.

Now have an X-Type, its quiet, but not as quiet as the Beemer was.

Have been driving a new e class cabrio (rental whilst on tour of the alps) for the week last and was amazed by the refinement despite the lack of a roof.Would imagine the saloon would be very good.

Saab 9-5 – lovely on long cruises. done cross europe trips in ours and the car eats the miles. Some of the best seats installed make long journeys a breeze and very quiet inside.

Thanks for the continued info ppl. I’ve actually got the Sony equivalent of the BOSE noise cancelling headphones but I’m not too sure what the constabulary would have to say about me cruising around with those bad boys on…

The mighty Mondeo is not silent on the mway but it doesn’t have any irritating noises.

There are no whistles or roars or drumming noises it just sort of wafts along. A distinct lack of noise vibration & harshness.

anything above 60 and my parents whistles like hell – its an 09 e class

My old man had 2 E classes of that vintage and neither had that problem. I think the preceeding 5 series may have been even quieter though.

I’m not a big fan of these myself, but my step dad has a lexus and it’s eerily quiet. Can’t remember which one he has, its the big luxury barge one! Whenever we go anywhere I can’t quite believe the engine is on when we pull off. The silence continues right the way up to license loosing speeds. Its also uber comfortable. Might be worth a look.

I’m on my second Passat estate, I had the old B6 model and now I have the B7, both in the 2.0 Tdi SE. They are extremely quiet on the motorway; a Volvo-driving pal was really amazed at how quiet. The B6 Passats are becoming popular as taxis now thanks to the huge legroom and boot and the reliability and fuel consumption. We’ve had 2 adults, 2 kids and 4 bikes in our estate and 3 + 3 is routine. 52 mpg is achievable on the motorway. The long wheelbase also makes Passats extremely stable at speed.