Rockminster

I've owned my A7 for about 3 months now. While I'm very pleased with the car on virtually all accounts, the car makes or transfers into the cabin an excessive amount of road/tire noise. I have the 20" sport wheels and even at lower speeds there is a howl inside the car that materially diminishes my enjoyment of the car. I've measured the noise at about 78-80 db (at 65MPH), which is extremely high for a car that is built around refinement.

I've had the car into the dealer twice and it has been inspected by an Audi NA chassis tech who acknowledges the noise but says it is how they all are. I did drive another A7 that is an Audi NA car w 20" wheels and it does sound basically the same as my car. The Audi team was very professional and courteous with me but they have said their is no defect and as such there is nothing they can do.

I would encourage anyone planning to acquire an A7 to be sure to take their car on an extended test drive on the roads they will travel to be sure they are OK with the level of noise that comes from the tires/road.

I would also be curious to know if other owners have experienced this same issue and perhaps may not have reported it. "Excessive road noise" was mentioned in a May 25, 2011 LA Times article on the A7.

mdernst

I think the issue is not whether or not others experience it or not but rather "...one man's excessive road noise is another man's music..."

Point being, I have the A7 with the 20" sport package and I don't find the road noise to be excessive at all. But it's probably the same as yours - I'm just not as sensitive to it. Or it could be that I turn up the B&O sound system to the point where I no longer notice it.

Mike

aquarian

Actually, my A7 is extremely quiet, and I am on 20" as well. Have you checked your tire pressures? One thing you can try is find a set of wheels that are 19" with good tires and see if you notice a difference. That route is the only way you can do make the car less noisy. You know, borrow a set of wheels from your Audi dealer, so on and so forth.

AFS8733

Road type / quality has a great deal to do with it IMO. Unfortunately if you have to drive on concrete pavement then the noise factor increases dramatically for all cars.
No car out there with 20" wheels and sport tires is going to be "quiet".

bootnet

believe me its no "one mans music" Ive had 4 -5 audis now and they are all the same..problem isnt really the car..problem is the tires..those directional tires once they wear a little they produce excessive honing noise . Your only choice is to either to get new tires more often OR change out to less sporty "comfort" style tires. Right now I have new tires and am loving the peace and quiet however I can tell already w/ only 200miles on it that it will have the same problem that I have had w/ all of my audis in past..DRONING noise esp at freeway speeds.

Victoryroad

We have had our A7 Prestige with 19" wheels with all-season tires for about two months and it is very quiet. The recent Motor Trend comparison also complained about excessive noise at highway speeds. Our A7 exceeds all expectations in terms of cabin noise, ride, handling/breaking/acceleration at any speed. My perspective is informed by over three years in an 08 A8 most recently. Perhaps you have an out-of-round tire or wheel, although my experience is that dealers' techs have been unable to detect out-of-round tires despite the ease of doing so.

AudiR8A7

Sorry, I completely disagree.

I haven't been around the last few days after getting my A7 because I really wanted to just drive around and get a feel for the car before I came back and said anything. However, seeing this I decided I need to say something.

I do not at ALL think that this car is "noisy" by any means. I'm driving with the 20" wheels and I am pleasantly surprised at how quiet the car is.

The only noise that I ever notice is from the ventilated seats, thats it. Other than that I enjoy driving around with no music on because I love how peacefully quiet it is in the car when driving. Some of the time when I have the car running and I'm stopped somewhere, I double check if the car is even on...its THAT quiet to me.

Now, this may be because I came out of a previously not so quiet car/driving the R8 is LOUD, LOUD, LOUD but I am very pleased to say the least.

b45H1r

Congrats, my wife got hers as well and loves it. I paid special attention to the road noise and found it to be road dependent. But she could care less, she came from a stiffly sprung, really loud X5.

athensga

There is something a bit odd going on. When I drove the dealer demo with 20" wheels and the Sport Package. The road noise was bad, but I ordered one anyway. I was stunned when mine showed up a couple of weeks ago, with the same 20" wheels and the Sport Package, and I have considerably less road noise. Both have Yokohama tires, so I am clueless as to what could cause the difference. Just out of curiosity, is yours one of the early dealer demo cars?

jperryrocks

Audi puts lots of different tires on the same model car. So one brand can be worse than others.

The 20s do make the most noise, and on poor road surfaces, you can hear them roar.

Some folks are more sensitive when it comes to tire noise.

Tires are getting huge on cars these days, and with a large surface of high performance rubber making contact withe the road, it can be annoying.

Just the price you have to pay for style at times. I've gotten use to my summer 19s on my avant and its the largest tire I've ever had on a car. Don't see me going back and I'll probably be rolling on 20s in my next ride if that's an a6 or a7.