Wind Noise

[scottm]

I can induce wind noise at the triangle window easily by poking my finger between the glass and where it meets the rubber seal on the door frame. A millimetre gap there will roar!

Probably one fix was to provide more backing pressure behind the rubber seal for that portion. And is something you can try yourself without the hassle of taking the car to a service center.

To rule out wind noises, do this: hop in the car and get a friend to tape off body gaps in a suspect area using masking tape. Go for a drive.

Since this thread is called wind noise, and is not specific to an area of the car... I can report I do get a strange noise in high cross winds coming from the rear of the car and is probably pano roof or rear hatch related. I don't think it is rear seat windows. It sounds like something is loose and rattling against the outside of the car, like a fluttering strap whipping against a panel. Cross-winds only, not related to forward direction speeds. Maybe the wind blowing across a surface is creating lift that pulls either a glass panel or whole rear hatch upward against some stops or rests.

Anybody nailed this one down?

 

[mknox]

Since this thread is called wind noise, and is not specific to an area of the car... I can report I do get a strange noise in high cross winds coming from the rear of the car and is probably pano roof or rear hatch related. I don't think it is rear seat windows. It sounds like something is loose and rattling against the outside of the car, like a fluttering strap whipping against a panel. Cross-winds only, not related to forward direction speeds. Maybe the wind blowing across a surface is creating lift that pulls either a glass panel or whole rear hatch upward against some stops or rests.

I believe the car has body vents behind the rear bumper fascia where it wraps around the side of the car. Many cars have these to exhaust cabin air and they look kind of like a clothes dryer vent on the side of your house. You can often see them on cars with the bumper skin removed. Maybe the noise is coming from there???

 

[scottm]

Good call! on the vent flappers, which we assume are there.

I'll take comfort in thinking that is the cause, even if it's not. Plausible. Pacifying.

Better than thinking my pano glass is about to let go!

 

[blackmanta]

wow.. just picked up my car and drove it on the highway.. this is the loudest car I've ever owned. I'm spoiled with my Mercedes can't hear anything inside... this is very loud. Kinda disappointed in that.

 

[scottm]

I have Mercedes too, and the Tesla S kills it on quiet.. but then again, it's 1987 300D diesel! Which, by the way, creates a sound I love and can imitate nearly perfectly using my mouth... comforting rattle.

Anyway...

I guess it's all relative to what you're used to.

But ya, the S is not the quietest car interior out there... Lexus is super quiet too. I was in a Lexus SC at a car show, shut the doors, windows up.... radio off. I thought I had gone deaf! I could see peoples' mouths moving outside the car and not a sound to be heard.

Model S, as far as WIND NOISE is concerned is very good IMHO. No whistles or rushes at decent hiway speeds... they've done a great job! Probably part of the benefits of creating a super low Cd package of body design for EV efficiencies helped with that.. slips through the air.

I notice wheel/road noise first and foremost before anything else as speed climbs... but have yet to do even the simplest of improving the dampening in the rear hatch area that would yield big payback, I'm sure. When the car is fully packed with stuff in the rear for a trip... it's correspondingly quieter.

Get onto a newly paved road... and WOW... silent gliding on glass feel to the car. So road surface matters a lot too. This is when you notice the sound contribution of the car itself versus the environment. And this is when you realize the S shines in "running gear" silence. Unparalleled!