Northern Auto Tech - ECU and Blue & Me Repairs

General Wind Buffering Noise

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General Wind Buffering Noise

Zanadoo

Zanadoo

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Hi - have had my brand new A500 since March and have noticed that when travelling on motorway at speeds of around 70mph (hard to keep to, obviously) I notice a 'buffering' noise coming from the rear of the car. Has anyone else had this? Is this normal? Should I ask my dealer to investigate or is this something I just have to get used to and turn the music up higher? Any comments gratefully received. Thanks
 
What does a buffering noise sound like? I've noticed something knocking from the back when I hit the same speed, I thought it might be the boot not closed - but I think it's the parcel shelf.... Only happens at that speed lol
 
Zanadoo said:
Hi - have had my brand new A500 since March and have noticed that when travelling on motorway at speeds of around 70mph (hard to keep to, obviously) I notice a 'buffering' noise coming from the rear of the car. Has anyone else had this? Is this normal? Should I ask my dealer to investigate or is this something I just have to get used to and turn the music up higher? Any comments gratefully received. Thanks
Click to expand...

Think you mean 'buffeting'. Is your hatch closing and sealing properly? At that speed it's probably just the vacuum you've created behind the car trying to suck the hatch off...;)
 
Last edited:
Zanadoo said:
Hi - have had my brand new A500 since March and have noticed that when travelling on motorway at speeds of around 70mph (hard to keep to, obviously) I notice a 'buffering' noise coming from the rear of the car. Has anyone else had this? Is this normal? Should I ask my dealer to investigate or is this something I just have to get used to and turn the music up higher? Any comments gratefully received. Thanks
Click to expand...

If you DO mean "buffeting", yes, we have had same problem.(n)
We bought a new TwinAir plus that has 16" alloys with 195/45-16 Continental Premium Contact 2 tyres.

From almost new there was a buffeting noise much like you can get when one window is open.
Sort of a "fluttering" sound.
Came in around 60kph.
The wife could hear it but I'm part deaf so it was a case of only maybe if I tried real hard (to hear it). Just an annoyance and it nearly drove her nuts.

Took it to the dealer but as expected he couldn't hear anything apart from a turbo noise which we also asked them to check. Turned out to be an "O" ring not fitted properly, so that got sorted.

Rotated the tyres and had a wheel alignmentbut it didn't change. Adjusted the boot (hatch) lock plate to put a little more pressure on the rubber seal - fact is there is no further adjustment as the bolts are at the end of the slotted holes. Didn't change and not being able to find anything we just had to put up with it. :(

Now 12 months and 24,000kms later, just fitted new tyres.
Had some niggling thought that it might be the tyres themselves so went for a different brand. Hey presto "flutter" gone. :D

For a while just prior to replacing the tyres there was a very slight vibration that I could feel when I put my hand on the driver's window - ever so slight, and thinking on it, the "flutter" probably HAD gotten abit worse towards the end.

Anyway now all seems quiet and tyres seem OK in the dry, haven't been in the wet yet.

So the question is, was it the tyres ?
Simply a slight imbalance on one of the wheels -
or more than one wheel - or some combination ??

Based on this my advice would be to get the wheels balanced.
No guarantee of course but at least it will eliminate that as a possibility
Let us know how you get on
 
Aussie500nut said:
So the question is, was it the tyres ?
Simply a slight imbalance on one of the wheels -
or more than one wheel - or some combination ??

Based on this my advice would be to get the wheels balanced.
No guarantee of course but at least it will eliminate that as a possibility
Let us know how you get on
Click to expand...

Intriguing! I was talking (complaining might be too strong a word) about tyre noise here a few weeks back. I didn't describe it as 'buffeting' but at the next opportunity to get up some speed I'll re-assess the sound. I have Bridgestone Potenza tyres on the 16" alloys (don't recall the exact spec.).
 
Bridgestone Potenza RE050A's in 195/45 R16 (same as Conti's above).

Tbh I don't find mine especially bad.
 
Hi all - Many thanks for all the suggestions and time & effort for all the replies. I'm not sure that it's a balancing issue as I have no vibration, however I do agree with the 'fluttering' noise description. It's certainly something that I will have to look into further. I was more concerned that I was about to lose my spoiler!!

I will let you all know what I find out & what cures the issue when I can
 
Zanadoo said:
Hi all - Many thanks for all the suggestions and time & effort for all the replies. I'm not sure that it's a balancing issue as I have no vibration, however I do agree with the 'fluttering' noise description. It's certainly something that I will have to look into further. I was more concerned that I was about to lose my spoiler!!

I will let you all know what I find out & what cures the issue when I can
Click to expand...

Final conclusions

I was hesitant to refit the same tyres in case they WERE the problem, and as the Twinair might be sold mid next year I will get the same price when I sell it with top spec tyres or mid range. Hesitantly, the decision was to go with "mid range "and fitted a set of Nexen SU1 tyres.

Buffeting gone, and tyres are very quiet, nice ride etc etc
Cost a lot less than top brand and they handle almost as good as the Contis - very little in it.
So we are quite pleased with them

Regarding the buffeting, as mentioned, we had the "problem" from new and at that time there was no discernible vibration at all.
After resetting the hatch locking plate and rotating wheels, then getting the wheel alignment checked there was little else to do, so we just had to put up with it.
I made the assumption, perhaps incorrectly as it might seem, that it wasn't a balance issue as there weren't any vibration(s).

By comparison, our son got a new Lounge just after we got the Twinair and it has had no noise problems at all.
In fact it is a totally different car to drive and the only difference is that it has15" wheels and not Continental tyres. Both our cars have the 2 cylinder engine with Dualogic gearbox.

The 16" rims with the Contis made a huge difference to sound, as in roadnoise, handling (better) and ride (firmer)

Actually one other difference was the spoiler on the Twinair.
Infact, he (son) had ordered an aftermarket spoiler from Greece, had it painted but hasn't fitted it because he was worried the fluttering might be associated with the spoiler and once fitted couldn't be removed as you have to drill holes in the top of the hatch.

Now after a couple of weeks my thoughts are that the noise was definitely tyre related
Possibly a balance issue and maybe as well combined with some tread issue given the extra "quietness" that the car now has with the Nexen tyres
And somehow this "tread" issue got worse with wear and/or the worsening imbalance

Will never know for sure but happy that it has been resolved

For the OP
There was one other "test" I was going to do but never got around to trying it out.
As mentioned by others, if it is a pressure differential across the seal on the hatch,
this can easily be proven by using a good quality masking tape to completely seal around the edge of the hatch to see if it makes any difference.

Would have been "no" in our case
But at least you would know

BTW - I am not in the tyre business and have no shares in Nexen
 
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