Tesla Model 3 has terrible road noise
Tesla Model 3 owners have been reporting high levels of road noise. Some drivers are convinced their cars are luxurious, but that’ll just depend on which car they come from. Let’s scientifically prove once and for all if the Model 3 is a noisy car.
When someone uses a decibel meter, these are the numbers at 55mph.
The higher it is, the noisier it is.
Tesla Model 3 – 69.27dB
Honda Civic – 70.48dB
Toyota Camry – 59dB
Toyota Prius – 63dB
“I bet it’s your tires!
i noticed a big difference in which tires are on my Model S.
The standard Continental tires were very loud.
The cheap Hankook tires I have now are very silent :”
Sir, the Model 3 hasn’t been out for that long. I highly doubt someone swapped out the tires for some cheap Hankook tires and gave the Honda Civic some premium Michelin tires.
“I’ll have to test this for myself as I don’t believe that the interior at 55mph is as loud as the dishwasher at my old house which had to be talked over when 15 feet away (it was 70db). The type and condition of road that is driven on will also have a huge impact. Brand new asphalt will be much less noisy than grooved concrete.”
Right, but the Civic vs Model 3 was done on the same road. Whether the tester swapped out the Civic for some Michelin tires is unknown, but ~70dBs aren’t great numbers either way
Here’s the video of it being fairly tested
In this video, decibel is an logarithmic unit, so those bar charts doesn’t give very realistic picture. That’s correct. When something is 1db louder, it’s not a simple tick higher, it’s a lot louder.
If road noise is something you consider high, you may consider something other than a Tesla Model 3.
Many Tesla Model 3 drivers are there for the image, saving the environment, autopilot, or the speed. Road noise is usually not something they were looking to get away from when buying a Model 3.
