Noise ratings by car

Fair enough, never been in an e39 but the e46 isn't very quiet. You certainly have to speak up loud to have a conversation with someone in the back seat at motorway speed.
 
^ Unpossable, atom bomb = 180Db! :p
v0n said:
Kind of wrecks my world order, because if 1995 E39 is as quiet as car can get, then one of the main criteria in my car search is out of the window. I don't find E39 noticeably quieter than new Mondeo or new Superb. Which means if I don't notice that +4/-4 dB difference then no matter what I choose as my future car I will still have to raise my voice above comfortable level during conversations when travelling on M25. :(
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You won't notice a +/-1db noise difference, but a 3db difference is definitely noticeable.

Also, it depends what frequency these sounds are at, the human ear is most sensitive around 2-4Khz. Are there any sites showing frequency curves?
 
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v0n said:
Kind of wrecks my world order, because if 1995 E39 is as quiet as car can get, then one of the main criteria in my car search is out of the window. I don't find E39 noticeably quieter than new Mondeo or new Superb. Which means if I don't notice that +4/-4 dB difference then no matter what I choose as my future car I will still have to raise my voice above comfortable level during conversations when travelling on M25. :(
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Couple of things to bear in mind.

A 1995 E39 will be one of the very first - we didnt get them in the UK until mid 1996 - so a 95 523i will be an SE on 15 or 16 inch wheels. The best spec for ride quality and lack of cabin noise but the worst spec for bling. So you've probably gone out and driven a Sport on 18's which of course is going to be noiser.

Secondly, the current model Superb is a fantastic car which punches far above its weight. I have no trouble at all believing its as quiet inside as a big Merc or BMW. It's certainly a brilliant car.

Mk4 Mondeo is huge - bigger than E39 - yet a bit noisier :)
 
Tested mine on the way home with a android app that measures Db's so by no means scientific but reached a max of ~75db's
Thats for a 2.2 4th gen prelude with a reasonable big exhaust. Not as bad as i thought!
 
BigglesPiP said:
Given that volume doubles with each 3dB increase, you certainly will notice a 1dB difference.
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You may be getting mixed up here, you need to double power into speakers to achieved a 3db increase in volume, but the human brain and ears perceives 3db as a small volume increase. Db is a log scale because of way our ears work.

1dB is barely noticeable, if you have an amp with a digital volume control, increase/decrease the volume by 1dB, and see how much difference it makes. ;)
 
I'm not confused at all; a rise of 3dB more means twice the amplitude of the sound in the air when you use one of these meters with a mic on it. It's a logarithmic scale.

dB being piped into a speaker electrically is a different measure, since dB can measure any alternating signal. This will not match the dB coming out of the speaker as noise.

One click on a standard radio is less than 1dB in the air.
 
Interesting read, I'm not surprised to see the e38 high on the list, my old one was wonderfully quiet (had to open the windows to really hear the engine for example) yet it ran on 18's.

I wonder where a double glazed 750iL Scores....?
 
BigglesPiP said:
I'm not confused at all; a rise of 3dB more means twice the amplitude of the sound in the air when you use one of these meters with a mic on it. It's a logarithmic scale.

dB being piped into a speaker electrically is a different measure, since dB can measure any alternating signal. This will not match the dB coming out of the speaker as noise.

One click on a standard radio is less than 1dB in the air.
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You should be talkign about db(A) anyway as that is all that matters when you are talking about the human ear
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
Interesting read, I'm not surprised to see the e38 high on the list, my old one was wonderfully quiet (had to open the windows to really hear the engine for example) yet it ran on 18's.

I wonder where a double glazed 750iL Scores....?
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I have downloaded a level meter to my iphone, when the snow clears up i will be testing the levels in my (double glazed obv) S-Class which given that it is on 19's and RFT's, will be comparable to the double glazed E38 i would have thought :)
 
Might have to dig out my SPL meter and measure mine now :) I've never really been in any "proper" luxury cars like S classes, 7 series', Jags etc, so I can only imagine how much quieter they are :)
 
Mine has been quite a bit quieter at motorway speeds since changing from PS2 to Sessanta tyres I found although the PS2s were fairly quiet anyway, quiet enough to be able to hear the stereo at volume 5 anyway which is good going - now can hear it at 3 :p
 
mrk said:
Mine has been quite a bit quieter at motorway speeds since changing from PS2 to Sessanta tyres I found although the PS2s were fairly quiet anyway, quiet enough to be able to hear the stereo at volume 5 anyway which is good going - now can hear it at 3 :p
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Ah yes that reminds me, my new Continental Premium Contact 2s are a lot quieter than the crappy Goodyear NCT5s I had before :cool:
 
Trouble with this is the tyres and road surface will cause a huge variation.

I had an old Civic like the one on the list, that could be either shape though as 1995 was the change from EG to EK/MB.
 
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