A little update. My Z (platinum/charcoal touring 6sp manual) is exactly 2 weeks old and I've done 1700 km at the time of writing.

In a previous thread I had reported that my Z is quite loud inside. The aftercare/aftersale lady had been successful in selling me an anti-rust and sound-proofing car package (a part service of the "Defense Pak" that they sell; some sort of teflon underpaint) but road noise from the wheels was still quite noticeable.

1) Roadnoise
Update: Last week I had driven a bit into the country side (York, Northam, Toodyay, for the WA people) and it was a deafening experience. The road surfaces aren't the freshest or smoothest tarmac, and at higher speeds the noise makes your head explode. So... quite unimpressed with that, I complained about this at the 1000 km service, insisting to the "Defense Pak" aftercare lady that the sound-proofing effect of the underpaint is zero. They didn't quite know what to say, but they were nice enough to put on another layer, just to make sure. Well folks, what can I say, the road noise from the wheels and the road is still extreme, and unchanged, from my point of view. Conclusion: Don't waste your money on sound-proofing underpaint. My logic was, the car is quite loud (from having test driven a Track model), so let's put on the sound proofing. Fact is: the car is loud, and stays loud. This is the road/wheel noise, not the engine. I don't mind listening to the engine at all!

Keeping the car on the road
The other thing I noticed: On the "not so good quality" country roads, and slightly, ahem, elevated speeds, you've got quite some work to do to keep the car on the road. It feels like I'm participating in the Rally Australia, because the car seems to want to jump around and it's hard work to tame the beast. It's a white knuckle experience combined with the sound level in a jet fighter plane. Exhilirating! After an afternoon like this, I came home and I was so exhausted from all the concentration, focus, and adrenaline, I fell asleep instantly. z z z z.... (ironically, no pun intended with the z's!)

Now... don't get me wrong. At lower speeds and on excellent tarmac - and luckily there are a few nice roads here in WA with good, quite surfaces - the car is as quiet as the next car in terms of wheel/road noise.

My assumption is that the only way to further combat the problem lies in changing the tyres. I've got the standard 17" Potenza on my Touring.

My question to other Z owners: Do you feel you have elevated road/wheel noise or is this just me... or is it just my Z? I hope not! What else could I do? What do you recommend? Your comments are appreciated!

 

I khow what you mean re the jumping around - my Cougar did exactly the same thing. I believe it is a symptom of firm syspension and I would be supprised if a change of tyres has any effect. (The change from 16" tyres to 17" in the Cougar made it much worse). Certainly 18" rims (according to some reviews and comments from other sites) seem to make the problem worse. The smaller the sidewall of the tyre the firmer it rides and the tyre can absorb less of the bumps.

A different suspension setup would probably cure the problem and if I have the same problem with mine when I get it (8 days and counting) I will see a suspension specialist and get their opinion or just learn to live with it.

 

Yes there is higher road noise, even when driving in the rain the noise seem to come mainly from the rear of the car. I've had my car two weeks and on most roads around Melbourne its fine, the worst ones seem to be the country roads the ones where they spray down the tar then scatter the gravel over it (poor man's tarmac). I think its the trade off for great feel and handling, hard bushes, firm damping and springs etc. Do what I do and carry small ear plugs in the car for long road trips, not the best solution but cheap, I've also installed the luxury boot (trunk) mat it has reduced the noise a little.

 

use dynamat sound proofing

http://www.quietride.com/dynamat.html

 

Just spoke to Lindsay at Daleys 93164911 in Belmont. They specialise in auto soundproofing and can solve the problem (they say).

 

What price did they indicate, ball park???

 

As I'm still a 2nd class citizen (No 350Z yet) I can't get a quote. You could tho.

 

All that sound proofing = weight = reduced performance. Guess it depends on what you want from the vehicle.

 

I can't imagine it would add that much of weight. We're not trying to make the car x-ray proof ;-)

From looking at that dynamat web site, it appears as if with their system, there isn't much weight added at all. But be that as it may, even if the total increase in weight would be 15 kg.... let's see... with me in the car (and for the example's sake, let's assume my more beautiful half or, god forbid, another person that I'm trying to impress is with me in the car).. that brings the total weight to about 1600 kg, and thus the performance loss after adding 15 kg of sound proofing material would be... hmm hmm... less than 1%. Which means, (for example) instead of doing 6 seconds from 0-100 km/h, I would be doing 6.06 seconds. In other words, if the above calculations are reasonably correct and feasible, then the performance loss is indeed insignificant to me, and I'd rather choose to have less noise in my car.

After all I wouldn't want to miss any of the utterances of admiration and appreciation from my passengers (leave alone trying to get reasonable sound from the BOSE which acts the way it does BECAUSE of the noise).

Regarding the *&^% BOSE, my Nissan dealer (or rather my service guy from that dealership) said that Nissan Australia asserts that the Aussie Z's have the improved amp installed and should thus not have the same problems as the first batch of U.S. models. If this is true, I should have a remanufactured Clarion amp in the boot. In fact I went looking for it, but last night in darkness I couldn't get the cover off where the amp sits, so I can't verify this at this point. But if it is true, it would mean that the sh*tass sound I have in my Z is already the improved(!) version, and NOTHING can be done. Of course, if I get to open that cover and find out I've got a standard BOSE amp in there, then watch out, Nissan dealer service dude, because "not happy Jan" is not going to adequately describe the emotion I will display toward you.

Let me know whether you like my Z pics, or whether you find them too big and misplaced here (I know there is a place for these pics, the gallery, but I thought some of the folks here wont mind the occasional true blue Z picture thrown in for good measure)