General Hows the sound proofing in the Fiat 500

[inoicangp]

Hi guys this is my very first post on this forum
im thinking of getting a fiat 500 as I just fell in love with it the first time I saw it.

I dont mind the bumpy ride but 1 thing I really must have is a nice quiet cabin,so just wondering hows the sound proofing in the 500 specifically the 1.4 pop.

I have test driven it but over a very short distance at low speeds its fine not perfect but reasonable.Just wondering on the motorways where you have to increase your speed a little?

Thanks in advance

 

[jrkitching]

I'd describe the cabin noise level as adequate rather than good. There is a guide on this forum to fitting additional sound insulation if you want to go that route.

My suggestion is to take the car for a longer test drive where you can run it up to motorway speeds & decide for yourself. To make certain, you could hire one for a day - much cheaper than buying a car you subsequently find hard to live with.

 

[306maxi]

Not very good boet

 

[inoicangp]

Ok guess I need to arrange a longer testdrive then,another thing will there be any changes to the 2011 model?

 

[Mark Elvin]

Much depends on the wheel size.Ihad a 500 on 15's and it was pretty quiet, not perfect, but certainly not that bad.

My current 500 has 16's fitted & the noise is VERY dependant on the road surface. Roads that are dressed with tar with chippings chucked on top are quite noisey, similarly potholed roads are bloody awfull. But on good, smooth roads, there is no problem in my opinion, the noise is perfectly acceptable.

Another variable however is tyres. The Conti's that were on my current 500 from new were very bad, transfering a lot of noise into the cabin, the Bridgestones I have now are a good deal better, and as a bonus have way more grip & are wearing better.

All of the above is subjective, I like my cars to be a little "raw" if you get what I mean, I don't like being too isolated from the driving experience, preffering to feel & hear what's happening.

 

[306maxi]

Much depends on the wheel size.Ihad a 500 on 15's and it was pretty quiet, not perfect, but certainly not that bad.

My current 500 has 16's fitted & the noise is VERY dependant on the road surface. Roads that are dressed with tar with chippings chucked on top are quite noisey, similarly potholed roads are bloody awfull. But on good, smooth roads, there is no problem in my opinion, the noise is perfectly acceptable.

Another variable however is tyres. The Conti's that were on my current 500 from new were very bad, transfering a lot of noise into the cabin, the Bridgestones I have now are a good deal better, and as a bonus have way more grip & are wearing better.

All of the above is subjective, I like my cars to be a little "raw" if you get what I mean, I don't like being too isolated from the driving experience, preffering to feel & hear what's happening.

Which Bridgestones have you got? Mine are Potenza RE050A's and I'd say they're noisy. My winter tyres being a little narrower were quieter though on roads which were a bit more abrasive they were noisier. Whilst lateral grip and traction are important I wonder if there's a tyre that's grippy AND quiet I'd hate it if my Potenza's were the quiet end of the scale! 18k and I'm only down to about 6mm so it's going to be a while before I'm purchasing new boots though......

 

[Mark Elvin]

Which Bridgestones have you got? Mine are Potenza RE050A's and I'd say they're noisy. My winter tyres being a little narrower were quieter though on roads which were a bit more abrasive they were noisier. Whilst lateral grip and traction are important I wonder if there's a tyre that's grippy AND quiet I'd hate it if my Potenza's were the quiet end of the scale! 18k and I'm only down to about 6mm so it's going to be a while before I'm purchasing new boots though......

I'm a nobber, I was thinking Yokohama's, but my hands were typing Bridgestones, just to pi55 me off.

I have Yokohama S-Drives, forgive me for being a c0ck.

 

[306maxi]

I'm a nobber, I was thinking Yokohama's, but my hands were typing Bridgestones, just to pi55 me off.

I have Yokohama S-Drives, forgive me for being a c0ck.

I did wonder for a moment. I remembered you buying some S-drives but thought you must have been a bit enthusiastic on them and have bought another set How many miles did you get from your original tyres and how are the S-drives looking now? You've had them for a year or so haven't you?

 

[Mark Elvin]

I did wonder for a moment. I remembered you buying some S-drives but thought you must have been a bit enthusiastic on them and have bought another set How many miles did you get from your original tyres and how are the S-drives looking now? You've had them for a year or so haven't you?

9000miles from the original Conti's, now at 15,000miles on the YOKO's and only just swapped them front to rear, so the wear is way better, and i've had 3days tw4tting arounf on the Nurburgring on the Yoko's.

 

[306maxi]

9000miles from the original Conti's, now at 15,000miles on the YOKO's and only just swapped them front to rear, so the wear is way better, and i've had 3days tw4tting arounf on the Nurburgring on the Yoko's.

Jeez! 9k for the Conti's is not a good effort. I was thinking of buying a set of Abarth rims from shop4parts as they seem to come with Conti's but I might not now!

Might try Michelin Pilot Sport 3's when I come to replace them as Costco do decent prices on them and quite often have 20% off deals

 

[Mark Elvin]

Jeez! 9k for the Conti's is not a good effort. I was thinking of buying a set of Abarth rims from shop4parts as they seem to come with Conti's but I might not now!

I'm thinking the same, thing is, they come with a free Abarth 500 & cost £14,500

 

[volxstu]

The milage you get on a set of tyres when you first pick up a car is unlikely to be comaprable to that o the second set.
It doesn't matter how mature you are you will always be that bit quicker off the mark when you first get a car. Why shouldn't you, everybody wants to give it some beans, work out what she has in her. Most people have calmed down and a bit more economical on the throttle at crutial tyre wearing speeds.

 

[306maxi]

The milage you get on a set of tyres when you first pick up a car is unlikely to be comaprable to that o the second set.
It doesn't matter how mature you are you will always be that bit quicker off the mark when you first get a car. Why shouldn't you, everybody wants to give it some beans, work out what she has in her. Most people have calmed down and a bit more economical on the throttle at crutial tyre wearing speeds.

Well I've had 18k miles out of mine with only 3mm of wear so what does that say about me?

 

[DraigFlag87]

Well I've had 18k miles out of mine with only 3mm of wear so what does that say about me?

It says you can turn any topic into an off topic "tyre" thread in around 4 posts!

(joke)

 

[Thumper]

Hi guys this is my very first post on this forum
im thinking of getting a fiat 500 as I just fell in love with it the first time I saw it.

I dont mind the bumpy ride but 1 thing I really must have is a nice quiet cabin,so just wondering hows the sound proofing in the 500 specifically the 1.4 pop.

I have test driven it but over a very short distance at low speeds its fine not perfect but reasonable.Just wondering on the motorways where you have to increase your speed a little?

Thanks in advance

Any dealer worth his/her salt will be perfectly happy to take you out for another longer run involving a motorway (or 70mph A road at least). I'd say its pretty essential you're happy with it at all speeds before committing. Many people only test drive a car for a few minutes - my dealer was happy to spend a total of 2 hours testing three cars at different speeds.

If your dealer doesn't want to give you a longer test drive involving a motorway/70 zone then I'd go to your next nearest one instead.

 

[RobinPJ]

Road noise is one of only two areas where I think the 500 is disappointing (the other being driving position). Mind you, it did get a bit better when I reduced the tyre pressures from the 3.5 bar that the dealer's semi-trained monkey had pumped into them...

 

[inoicangp]

The thing is im hooked on this car I have a feeling even though I hate the road noise issue Im still gona buy it.No other new car has this type of appeal to me!!

Another issue im concerned about are rattles??after a few thousand miles of ownership do any annoying rattles develop.I have a 2000 Audi A3 1.8T and the rattles are killing me I cant find them and if you open up stuff to look more start to develop.

 

[RobinPJ]

With things like rattles it is a question of probability. I would suggest that the chances of a Fiat developing rattles is probably less than that of an Audi doing so - but you have an Audi that has done just that.

So whilst you will find plenty of people on here who have experienced rattle issues, you may not. And any other car you buy may (or may not) be worse.

One solution might be to buy used from a dealer and insist on speaking to the previous owner and ask him/her of they have had problems. (I have done this before when buying a suspiciously cheap Mercedes C320 and was put in contact with the previous owner who was only too happy to chew the fat with me).