Noisy pebbles

[aerodyn]

I love everything about my new Mustang. However, out of all the cars I have ever driven, it makes the most noise when driving on a dirty road that I have ever heard. Any sand or dirt on the road sounds like marbles hitting the bodywork. I feel like I can clearly hear the impact of each individual grain. I'm not talking about driving on a dirt road or anything, just the leftover debris a few days after the roads dry out from a snowstorm, or light dirt on a little-used rural road.

It is quite distracting to hear when driving over! Am I alone in finding this unusual? Even my Jeep does not make as much noise - or at least, it doesn't get transmitted to the cabin. Never owned a Mustang before, my last sports car was a BMW 3-series, and though that was a few years ago I don't remember it being nearly as loud.

Is it some combination of sticky tires (how sticky can the PP tires really be at 40F?) and little sound deadening?

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[paul123]

...
Is it some combination of sticky tires (how sticky can the PP tires really be at 40F?) and little sound deadening?

my car is not PP

but if I was to take a wild guess, I would say that denizens of CO should not be running stock PP tires in the CO winter

 

[aerodyn]

They seem to grip ok as long as the road is dry, for any reasonable purpose on a public road anyway. I don't intend to drive it in the snow!

 

[paul123]

They seem to grip ok as long as the road is dry, for any reasonable purpose on a public road anyway.

is this objective or subjective? Curious Mustang owners want to know the stopping power of PP summer tires, 60->0 at < 40F. My guess is poorer stopping power = harder rubber = more noise

 

[Chameleon]

I love everything about my new Mustang. However, out of all the cars I have ever driven, it makes the most noise when driving on a dirty road that I have ever heard. Any sand or dirt on the road sounds like marbles hitting the bodywork. I feel like I can clearly hear the impact of each individual grain. I'm not talking about driving on a dirt road or anything, just the leftover debris a few days after the roads dry out from a snowstorm, or light dirt on a little-used rural road.

It is quite distracting to hear when driving over! Am I alone in finding this unusual? Even my Jeep does not make as much noise - or at least, it doesn't get transmitted to the cabin. Never owned a Mustang before, my last sports car was a BMW 3-series, and though that was a few years ago I don't remember it being nearly as loud.

Is it some combination of sticky tires (how sticky can the PP tires really be at 40F?) and little sound deadening?

Bad idea, asking for trouble.

 

[Charles147]

I love everything about my new Mustang. However, out of all the cars I have ever driven, it makes the most noise when driving on a dirty road that I have ever heard. Any sand or dirt on the road sounds like marbles hitting the bodywork. I feel like I can clearly hear the impact of each individual grain. I'm not talking about driving on a dirt road or anything, just the leftover debris a few days after the roads dry out from a snowstorm, or light dirt on a little-used rural road.

It is quite distracting to hear when driving over! Am I alone in finding this unusual? Even my Jeep does not make as much noise - or at least, it doesn't get transmitted to the cabin. Never owned a Mustang before, my last sports car was a BMW 3-series, and though that was a few years ago I don't remember it being nearly as loud.

Is it some combination of sticky tires (how sticky can the PP tires really be at 40F?) and little sound deadening?

I know the sounds. I hear the rocks in all seasons...owner since Oct 2014.

 

[Cueball]

Ford has warning labels about the PP tires below 40 degrees for a reason. Buyer/driver beware.

 

[RobbieFrazier]

Somehow this thread became a bashing/lesson on the use of summer tires in winter temps.

:focus:

Back to the OP's original concern, I can't offer solace or a solution but I notice the same with mine. I cringe constantly. It's like I can hear the paint being sandblasted, but there's so far no major damage to the finish. I have a loud exhaust and keep the iPod cranked up pretty loud, but I still hear it.

I suspect it's due to a lack of sound deadening, but most would complain about the extra weight if Ford were to have added more of it.

 

[50hhh]

Its actually due to the tires being so soft they pick up the smallest rocks or sand. Go outside and feel a Pzero on a 40 degree day they aren't hard at all.

 

[ARS1]

Try driving a new C7 if you think the S550 is loud in gravel you haven't heard anything until you drive a new Vette. It makes your butt hole pucker but it all stays within the wheel wells.

 

[paul123]

Its actually due to the tires being so soft they pick up the smallest rocks or sand. Go outside and feel a Pzero on a 40 degree day they aren't hard at all.

if this is the case, just get A/S. Probably solved

I don't know if feeling tires is a good metric. Ford states PP tires > 40F.

And I imagine that in CO, its less than 40F quite often.

 

[Charles147]

Its actually due to the tires being so soft they pick up the smallest rocks or sand. Go outside and feel a Pzero on a 40 degree day they aren't hard at all.

Go outside and drive on a 40 degree day and you will still hear the pebbles.

 

[dev1360]

It's amusing to me that people act like PP tires will cause you to suddenly spin wildly out of control into a bus full of children and burst into flames if you drive your PZeros in anything 39* or less.

I've driven on R comps in 10* weather. Now that's intresting. But these Pirellis; I can't tell a difference.

By the way, this was in 35* weather, 1.11g sustained, not a spike.

 

[Asharus]

i drove on my stock summers last year until feb 2015. i switched to all seasons only due to the fact that i couldn't get into a parking lot one time when there was about an inch of slush covering it.

otherwise the traction on wet/dry pavement was absolutely fine. and no the tires didnt crack either, and i remember temps reaching the 20s.

 

[rsmustangjr16]

My GTPP picks up all kinds of small rocks and what not when driving down some roads. Shit flys up against the underbody all the time. Tires must be that soft. And, they suck in the cold.

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