new xc90 first impression

[xc60ed]

I had a D5 Inscription with the 20" Contis and the road drone noise was terrible. My brother in law is looking to get an XC90 and asked my opinion. I told him to keep away from the 20s. Are the 19s much quieter as he cant find one locally to try?

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by xc60ed

I had a D5 Inscription with the 20" Contis and the road drone noise was terrible. My brother in law is looking to get an XC90 and asked my opinion. I told him to keep away from the 20s. Are the 19s much quieter as he cant find one locally to try?

Mine is on Michelin 19s and road noise is simply not an issue. It is quieter than any of my previous cars (Audi A6x2, Volvo XC70, Passat sport, Golf.....)

[gaby]

Originally Posted by LegGodt

I have the Momentum 19 inch and air. I find it a dream to drive - both noise wise and gliding.

I would like to know what tires your car came with.
You may have mentioned it elsewhere, but then I missed it.
Gaby

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Completely agree, the road noise level isn't good for this class of vehicle.

We first test drove an Inscription on air suspension and 21's, the first thing I picked up on was the road noise, and the slightly course feel on rougher road surfaces. Approx 1 week later we test drove an R-Design, again on air, but this time on 20's, and that seemed so much better, so my decision was made, we went for 20's on air.

When we picked the new car up last week, there was a slight sinking feeling as we pulled away from the dealer, as within the first 100 yards I could notice the road noise.

We've only done approx 100 miles so far, but on a ride out on Sunday, on a 50+ mile of mixed roads, it didn't seem too bad, maybe I'm just getting used to it!

Our previous car was a 2008 X5 on 20's, 285 at the front (I think) and 315's on the back, road noise was no where near as noticeable!

We also test drove new X5's and I've ridden several times in a new 2015 X5 on 22's, and none of them have the road noise of the Volvo. And then there is the Q7 we test drove, proper luxury car quietness, light years ahead of the Volvo in this respect.

Don't get me wrong, my new Volvo is a seriously nice car, and I'm very happy with it, I just wish it didn't suffer this problem.

We have a run down the A1(M) east of Leeds on Friday evening, where there is a section of very noisy concrete road surface, not looking forwards to the experience!

:wq

So having done approx 250 miles of motorway, I can confirm that I'm still unhappy with the levels of road noise. It wasn't as bad as I thought it could have been at motorway speed, in fact its almost more acceptable when you're doing the higher speed, as to me the noise level does increate much from what you get at 40mph, so its almost more acceptable at 80mph.

The concrete road surfaces (particularly that on the A1(M) east of Leeds, didn't increase the noise as much as expected.

Above 40mph the drone is just always there, and it bugs the hell out of me. Far less expensive cars and similarly expensive cars with even lower profile and wider tyres just don't suffer the problem.

:wq

[neon]

I see still total radio silence from Volvo. I am in a bit of a dilemma now as I have a D5 Inscription with 20" wheels and standard suspension on order.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

So having done approx 250 miles of motorway, I can confirm that I'm still unhappy with the levels of road noise. It wasn't as bad as I thought it could have been at motorway speed, in fact its almost more acceptable when you're doing the higher speed, as to me the noise level does increate much from what you get at 40mph, so its almost more acceptable at 80mph.

The concrete road surfaces (particularly that on the A1(M) east of Leeds, didn't increase the noise as much as expected.

Above 40mph the drone is just always there, and it bugs the hell out of me. Far less expensive cars and similarly expensive cars with even lower profile and wider tyres just don't suffer the problem.

:wq

I am not in a position to assist here with answering this I am afraid, but for the sake of most on the forum we could do with answering this question:

Is the 20in wheel noise issue a consequence of the profile/size of the tyre only, or related to the continental tyres fitted to the 20in wheels? Therefore do those wanting to get rid of the noise have to go to 19in wheels, or just swap the contis for something else and stay on 20s...?

[Oop north]

I think it is worth bearing in mind that we don't all hear the same thing when we talk about road noise:

1. 3-4 years ago I had a BMW 330d on test for a few days and decided not to get one because I could not live with the road noise. Colleagues who I gave a ride didn't know what I was talking about...
2. I test drove an XC90 about a year ago, and was appalled at the tyre noise from very, very low speeds (at 20mph it was very noticeable to me, unlike any other car I have been in - and that was irrespective of the road surface). I think the demo car had 20" wheels (it was a Momentum with larger than standard wheels) but I took no notice of the tyre brand etc at the time. I got a LR Disco4 instead because of the noise - but there is a chance I will get an XC90 next time round if I can be sure I won't have road noise problems

I conclude therefore that I have an annoying tendency to notice more tyre noise than other people. I think it is likely that we all have hearing a bit different from each other.

I am pretty sure that both the wheel/tyre size and the spec of tyre will influence the level of road noise

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by Oop north

I think it is worth bearing in mind that we don't all hear the same thing when we talk about road noise:

1. 3-4 years ago I had a BMW 330d on test for a few days and decided not to get one because I could not live with the road noise. Colleagues who I gave a ride didn't know what I was talking about...
2. I test drove an XC90 about a year ago, and was appalled at the tyre noise from very, very low speeds (at 20mph it was very noticeable to me, unlike any other car I have been in - and that was irrespective of the road surface). I think the demo car had 20" wheels (it was a Momentum with larger than standard wheels) but I took no notice of the tyre brand etc at the time. I got a LR Disco4 instead because of the noise - but there is a chance I will get an XC90 next time round if I can be sure I won't have road noise problems

I conclude therefore that I have an annoying tendency to notice more tyre noise than other people. I think it is likely that we all have hearing a bit different from each other.

I am pretty sure that both the wheel/tyre size and the spec of tyre will influence the level of road noise

Absolutely agree with your points. What I am doing is comparing (with the same set of ears!) my new car against other cars I've owned and other cars I've ridden in. These are:

2007 A6 Avant Le Mans, low suspension, quite hard ride, 19" 255 x 35. Similar levels of road noise at motorway speed, but quieter than the XC90 at lower speeds.

2008 X5 xDrive35d M Sport on adaptive suspension, 20" 285 front, 315 rear. Way way quieter than the XC90 at lower speeds and a reasonable amount quieter on the motorway.

2015 X5 M50D - 22", 3xx rears, not sure about front, all v low profile. Again, way way quieter at all speeds.

2016 Q7 272PS - this was a car we test drove, not sure about the wheel size, but whey certainly weren't small... Unbelievable levels of refinement, very very low road noise.

2016 X5 M Sport - again on test drive, lowish profile tyres but don't have the size, as above M50D.

VW Touareg 2013 - 19" wheels, very quiet and refined compared to XC90.

I appreciate one persons perception of loud road noise is different to another, but all I can say is that my XC90's road noise levels just don't seem to be at one with the rest of the package. I guess more than anything its the way the noise builds so quickly, even at relatively low speeds.

:wq

[PerfidiousAlgernon]

I think it's worth pointing out that some of the XC90 magazine reviews commented on the difference in perceived road noise between steel and air sprung cars. That was certainly my experience when I road tested 4 or 5 different XC90s, including an R Design with steel springs and 22" wheels. Personally, I didn't see a whole lot of difference in road noise between the XC90 and any other similar car (I also have a Disco and a BMW 330d) but there was quite a difference between that R Design and an air sprung Momentum with 19" wheels. That's nothing to be surprised about. In comparison to my air sprung Disco, my XC90 First Edition gives a very smooth, comfortable, controlled ride - as you'd expect from a car that is significantly lighter and technologically more advanced. I don't think any forum user awaiting delivery of a new XC90 should be overly concerned. We've all bought a great car that's streets ahead of anything comparable.

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

Is the 20in wheel noise issue a consequence of the profile/size of the tyre only, or related to the continental tyres fitted to the 20in wheels? Therefore do those wanting to get rid of the noise have to go to 19in wheels, or just swap the contis for something else and stay on 20s...?

I guess we won't have a (definitive?) answer until someone swaps their 20" Contis for 20" something else. What we do know is that based upon the official noise rating for the 20" Contis (73dB) they are much noisier than the equivalent 20" Dunlop (69dB), Goodyear (69dB) or Michelin (70dB). Being a log scale, a 3dB difference is a halving of the noise level. (But as I've said in other posts, this doesn't directly equate to what you actually hear.)

On my Merc I changed from Contis to Dunlops and there was a noticeable improvement in noise and ride comfort. Of course, the Merc is a very different car with different sized tyres so I'm not saying there would be the same improvement on an XC90.