Do you find the F-Type generally noisy?

[jagseven]

A recent Autocar long-term test of a new P575 commented that one criticism of the F-type is noise levels on a cruise and I’m inclined to agree with them.

It’s the first thing I noticed when I picked up my 2019MY car a year ago - and whilst driving it again today I thought the same (tyres are newish Michelin PS4S if that matters). I think it’s mainly tyre noise that I can hear and I suspect it reflects the fact the car was originally launched in 2013 so is an old design. My F-Pace (a more modern design) is noticeably quieter on a cruise despite 22” wheels.

Do you find the F-type noisier than expected? The general road noise just means it’s harder to enjoy the noises I want to hear - either the exhaust or the Meridian surround sound system.

It’s not a major criticism but given how comfortable and luxurious the car is in other ways it’s the noise levels that prevent me from thinking it’s a great GT car (if I’m hooning about or “making progress” noise is not an issue).

[MajorTom]

Yep it's definitely noisy and there's a fair bit of road noise especially from the back but I doubt that any competitors would be much quieter. I don't think it's about the age of the design but that they just didn't put much insulation in it. An F-Pace has a completely different amount of sound insulation. I like quiet cars so the noise levels was something that worried me a bit when going from a rather quiet XF to the F-Type but didn't find the difference night and day.

Tyres and the road surface of course make a massive difference. I've never experienced as much noise in my F-Type as on UK roads. Not only B roads but for instance parts of the M25 past London are just mind boggingly loud. Not an issue in my part of the world thankfully.

[jagseven]

You are 100% correct about the south section of the M25 - the bits that look like they are made from concrete - ridiculously loud in any car but especially so in the F-type!

P.S. I was a big fan of the XF - a great car

[MajorTom]

Yes what on earth is going on with that part of the M25. The only thing nearly as bad I've ever experienced were some rather dodgy American highways. Otherwise the Swedish motorways are almost as bad... really coarse and noisy. That's one of the reasons to why the F-Type is the first car I haven't driven up to Sweden. Continental Europe is fortunately mainly very smooth sailing compared to all of that and no issue even with the F-Type's somewhat higher noise levels.

I was a really big fan of the XF too, especially the first X250 generation since I had two fantastic examples of those - one pre-facelift XFS and one facelift supercharged / AJ126. Great cars with so much character and such an important model in Jaguar's history.

[adrianw65]

The M25 junction 8 -- 11 with concrete expansion joints is just plain nasty. After applying dynmat to doors and boot, it is much quiter. A benefit of upgrading the sound system . Trust me the f type is a luxury ride after a TVR

[Jaguandy]

I dynamatted my doors for the sound system but didn't think to do the boot. Does doing the boot make a noticeable difference?

[WShudds]

We got the concrete up north near York and yes that's noisy regardless of the car. I don't find my F-type particularly noisy. At motorway speeds, I just leave in Dynamic but with the sports exhaust off and find it similar to my family SUV that has oversized side mirrors.

For comparison, I rode on a couple of Uber Teslas this week (Model Y new and S 1 year old) on Dubai's super smooth tarmac and at 60mph+ the road noise is extremely annoying without an engine running in the background to balance things off. At low speeds they're fine but you hear every interior creak and there's plenty of it.

[MikeM]

I don’t find my P450AWD noisy especially when compared to a previous 991S, although it had a much stiffer suspension. Think the SVR set up is also stiffer, so that may be a factor? My car is on Pirelli P Zero’s which have a +1 higher decibel rating over Michelin, hardly a factor. Any concrete surface however and when driving M25 section as already stated, any low profile tyre, any vehicle, just horrendous.

[jonm]

This issue is all about tyres, the mp4s and p-zeros etc are UHP (ultra high performance) tyres, there are trade offs, noise and harsh ride are the price you pay for this performance.
Fit some premuim touring tyres and your noise problems are solved! but you'll change the character of the car.

1st hand expirence, I used to have p-zeros and the concrete motorway surfaces were unbearably loud, could not wait to get off them, later changed to goodyear f1-a6 which is a HP tyre (not ultra hp) but also not touring a tyre, somewhere in-between, and the noise on concrete is gone almost the same as on tarmac which is also a little quieter, but it did come at the cost of slightly worse handing.
You can't have everything in this world, life is about compromises.

[DaddyDarren]

Don’t find my car particularly road noisy, even with very narrow section tyres. I do avoid certain roads including a concrete section of A46 between Nottingham & Leicester, which is brutal. Even tractors avoid the potholes here. Currently undergoing full surface upgrade.

Have never considered road noise excessive. Poor road surfaces more than the car itself.