Cabin Noise Level
 

Hi guys,

I've had my Boxster (2001, 134k miles) for more than a year now . I find that my car is pretty noisy inside. Wind noise is relatively loud, plus all other noises from the road. I don't expect it to be a quiet ride, but just want to make sure if there are things (suspension) that I can improve to reduce the noise level. On a scale of 1 (very loud) to 10 (very quiet), I would rate my Boxster at 3, my '03 Honda Accord 8, '06 Lexus GS300 9, and my dad's 06' Odyssey at 6. How noisy are your Boxsters?

Damn near silent.

Bearings got rid of most "road noise". Then I tracked down each rattle. Now all I hear is the aspiration of the shocks. Very soft, quiet, smooth. Pretty sure my 17's are quieter than 18's too. The Pilot Sports are very quiet tires and that was night & day over Sumitomos.

Although I get a bit of an echo of the engine and wind inside, my previous convertible was a 1972 Pontiac Catalina with that god-awful GM sissortop. So by comparison, it's nearly silent at speed.

I'm guessing you mean with the top closed. I know my 2000 'S' had a fair amount of wind whistling noise because of the side view mirrors and the slop of the windshield at least compare to my 987 and 981 (which was very quiet). The cooler the temps the whistling was louder. Sometimes whistling can be caused by poor adjustment in the hood where it latches.

It sounds like you are hearing a lot of road noise, if it is constant on smooth roads then it is the tires (what brand and model tires do you have) or bearings. Bearings will often get louder when turning too. What is the mileage on the tires, some get nasty noisy with high mileage.

Is the road noise on bumpy roads and if you have never replace any suspension parts have them checked.

Over all my 2003 would be quiet (quieter) if it weren't for the exhaust and Air intake. What is the service history like 134K is a fair amount if the wheel bearings haven't been replaced. Then allot of rattle and creeks from dry/old control arm bushing and pivots.

Brand and type of tires make a big difference, as Timco mentioned.

I too find it a bit loud with the top up. The drone of the engine is right behind your ears and convertible tops allow more noise in as the whole things doesn't seal like a regular car. But most of the noise is from the wind and engine. It is meant to be driven with the top down. If you are driving a lot with the top up - might be worth while to get a hard top. Assume that would reduce noise.

With the top up, I have a lot of noise as well. I am pretty sure it is the control arms, probably time to change them. With the top down, it is a different car and is the way I prefer to drive it of course!

With my hardtop, it's noisier than a regular car but much, much quieter than the soft top. The difference is night and day. The best part is hearing the full force of the engine growling when you remove the hardtop after a few months.

Using your scale of 1 to 10:
7- Boxster w/ Hardtop
4 - Boxster w/ Softtop
-5 - Boxster w/ Top Down

Cabin Noise Level
 

With the hardtop I have noticed the car to be very quiet, aside from a small amount of wind noise from a lip on the hard top right behind your left ear. I have 18 inch p zeros though so even with the hard top, there is significant road noise.

Mine is fairly noisy too, I would agree with Hancock's assessment of the level. My service guy says it is the tyres, which are some Chinese brand I have never heard of (installed by previous owner). Trouble is they have too much tread left to throw away on account of a bit of noise. I have asked the service people to tell if anything else might be wrong, and they say it is normal noise other than the tyres, and I assume they would be happy to find something I could spend money on! I remember my old 2.2 911 was fairly noisy, reminded me of a washing machine.

I currently have front Yokohama S Drive (~3 years old) and new (3 months old) rear Hankook Ventus V12. There is no record of any suspension work for the last 5 years. I was under the car a few times and did check the suspension. The bushings seem fine, but I can't really tell how well they are performing.

I agree, I found the Boxster with the soft top up to be pretty noisy, around 3-4 on your scale. I think that there is a lot of wind noise and still a lot of noise comes through from the engine compartment and the rear suspension.

+ 1 on much quieter with the hard top.

01 was a particularly bad yr for rt rear wheel bearings on Boxsters.

I had a set of Conti DWs on my 07 Cayman S that cupped the fronts after 2 yrs. It was so loud you couldn't hold a conversation with a passenger at highway speeds. Since your fronts don't match your rears, you might want to consider a new set of fronts.

First thing I noticed about my 99 Boxster was how quiet it was inside given it was a soft top. Quieter than some hard topped cars I have owned. So, I think with that, mine is relatively quiet inside. Tires are a big contributor, air pressure. AND road surface. I drive on a gravel road, and then about 3 different paved sections of road that that surfaces are treated differently and the road noise in the cabin is different for every road surface.

After I replaced my complete suspension and wheel bearings all around I drove the car the first time and my jaw dropped over how quiet the car was.

That was 4 years ago and I'm back to noisy creaks, rattles and clunks. Going to DEs and leaving the track and spinning out can't possibly be the source of my problems, could it? :)

OP: Good quality summer tires will make your cabin a lot quieter on smooth surfaces, but if you need bearings, you'll hear that more because the tire noise is gone.