loud road noise
 

Well I recently purchased a 2001 S boxster last fall. Got a great deal I might add. I have about 36 miles on it from the 29k it had at purchase and did get the 30k service done to it after I got it home from the dealership. Nothing bad except replacing some cabin filter, wipers etc. Still forked 800 Canadian for it though.

The tires seem very new and I did store the car for the winter (indoor and covered) and forgot to occassionally take it out and keep it charged. Eventually found out what happens though. Dead battery and it an ordeal to get charged again. Ok my bad

Anyway my main problem is the car has excessive road noise which sounds like I am in a lumber truck at highway speeds. Not sure if the tires got a flat spot from standing all winter or if there is a bigger issue. Sounds like a repeating thumping noise with some other sounds mixed in. The best I could describe it is it sounds like a porsche when driving at low speeds but once you get past 35 mph it begins sounding like I am in a rig. Hard to distinquish between whether it is loud road noise with thumping or just an engine getting overworked and rattling the car to death. I don't drive excessive though but know there is an issue and this is not how a porsche would sound even with super inflated tires...yes I did check tires if inflated properly. They were...
Since I am trying to baby this one and a new to owning a porsche not sure if it is actually coming from the road(wheels) or if there is something more serious I should be looking into. From what I read bearings could be the culprit but I am hoping it isn't something to do with the engine.

Gotta say I love this car though...well when it sound like it is suppose to.

Any help would be appreciated.

Flat spotted tires can make some noise, but usually just give you some vibration into the car as opposed to noise. Very worn tires (close to, or at the wear bars) can significantly add road noise, and keep in mind some tires are simply louder than others.

My guess, however, based on what you've shared, is that you have a bad wheel bearing. The easiest thing to do is go to a large open parking lot, and drive the car around at say 40MPH making sweeping turns left and right- if it gets louder when turning left, its a bad bearing on the right (from the increased speed of the outer wheel) and vice versa. Its generally pretty easy to pick out a bad wheel bearing, unfortunately on these cars they're not cheap to replace.

If you can't get any useful new information by doing this, take it to a qualified independent for diagnosis. Noise like what you describe that is not a wheel bearing could indicate a much more significant problem.

Patrick

i had my 99 boxster for 4 months now. i had similar problem (noise was loud enough to heard over the engine noise) and thought it was bearing issue since tires seem to look pretty new from the exterior. i brought it to the shop and they told me that bearing was good but rear tires worn unevenly for some reason. inside section of both rear tires were worn to the blocks and that was the noise i was hearing. i replaced both rears and no more noise. :)

i read somthing about axels being off which makes boxster tires wear out unevenly. am i expected to have another uneven tire issue even if i realign the car? (sorry to change the topic)