Road noise or something else?

[OldPhart]

Greetings from western NY, the land of 2 seasons: winter and road repair season. The car is in hibernation during the winter season. My ‘19 Bullitt has just under 20,000 miles on it and has essentially been a problem free car. The tires look to be in good shape with moderate wear. They should be since it is not driven hard (hint - I’m 81 yrs old). There is no alignment issue. Fortunately for an old guy I have excellent hearing. Unfortunately that’s the reason for this query. I have noticed that I hear a lot of road noise, or at least I thought it was solely road noise until recently. My tires are too noisy for my comfort. I almost always drive with the exhaust set on normal which drowns out some of that noise. I rotated the tires at 7500 miles and they seemed louder so I rotated them back after about 500 miles. Recently I was driving on an asphalt road and approached a section that was repaved last year and thus still in very good condition. I had the driver side window down and was driving around 40 mph. The nose seemed at its peak and as the car moved onto the newly paved section I could hear the tire noise lessen, but I also noticed there was a second layer of road(?) noise that didn’t lessen. Apparently there was a combination of noises and I had previously thought it was all road/tire noise. It is is quite annoying. It’s still apparent at highway speeds, but is somewhat overwhelmed by wind and exhaust noise. Yes, I know I could select sport or track and drown out this noise but that’s an unacceptable solution for me. It’s hard to tell if the noise is from the front or rear of the car. I suppose differential noise is a possibility, but I hope not. Any suggestions before I inquire at the dealership. I am due for inspection this month so I will be taking it in anyway. It’s an “always present” noise, not sporadic, so a test drive at the dealership will reveal it. My fear is they will say it’s normal noise. Is there a sound tube in the engine compartment that could be the problem? Any serious comments would be appreciated… Bruce

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[RowdyRam]

We just took ours on a road trip this past weekend. I noticed something similar and our car has less than 1000 miles on it. To my ear, it sounded almost like a bad wheel bearing. I attributed the sound to the sound tube. I plan to delete it ASAP (was going to do it anyway) and see if that resolves it.

I hope more experienced folks chime in on your issue - just in case it's more than a sound tube that you're hearing.

 

[Illinois Bullitt]

I don't think the Bullitt has a sound tube.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/sound-tube-in-19-bullitt.153047/

 

[Stangomydreams]

If the noise is changing on certain pavement it is pretty certainly tires in combination with pavement type. I've test driven new cars with new tires on new pavement that howl unbearably. Also had some winters on an Acura that howled loudly on same type pavement. If you replace the tires make a point of asking for exchange warranty if unhappy with road noise.

 

[Gnatsum21]

I used to have Nitto 555 G2 tires, and those were pretty loud.

 

[skinnyb]

I used to have Nitto 555 G2 tires, and those were pretty loud.

I second this. I just installed a new summer set (Nitto 555 G2) I got as a package from lmr.com in place of the Michelin Pilot all season 4 and they are extremely loud. The tires are a lot wider and different offset though. I am going to run it and switch back to the Michelin in the fall. If the noise continues, I will investigate further.

 

[cerbomark]

as tires wear they get louder, my bet is on tires. Especially any sport type tire.
20K miles for that sort of tire is when they d be getting louder IMO.

 

[Stangnut]

This is a long shot and I know it sounds weird, but are your vented seats turned on? Those fans can be kind of loud. Some road surfaces will cancel out the sound and others can make it more noticeable.

 

[glockholiday]

Your tires are 4 years old with 20K on them. Get some new Michelins and report back.

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