I was about to order my S to supplement our 1971 Austin. However my wife and I were both bothered by the excessive noise level experience while sitting in the rar of an S at about 3500 RPM. We didn't experience the same problem when sitting in the front seats or when riding in the back of the Non-S. Is this problem common to all S's or just the dealer's demo car?

Jim Harirson
jharrison@manapp.com

 

I've never noticed one while sitting in the back of mine and noone's ever complained about a exhaust noise while I was driving. A sunroof rattle is another story...but that was fixed very easily and now there's no more noise. :smile:

 

I know that my Cooper's muffler is different then in your S, but I had a similar problem with the exhaust making a weird, muffled kind of sound at around 3500 RPMs. My mechanic at the dealer replaced the exhaust and the weird noise went away. It turned out one of the baffles in the muffler came loose.

 

How often do you expect the rear seats to be occupied? If often, hopefully no one in the car is taller than 5'8". If not often, this doesn't seem to be a problem serious enough to warrant switching to the Cooper, unless other factors like fuel economy and suspension would have you leaning that way anyway.

 

Get the S. Also, there are silencer mats (DynaMat) that you could put on the metal behind the back seat that could help. Audiophiles do this to most of the metal in the interior.

2c

 

What I was told from the dealer was that there's a plastic vent on top of the rear fold down thingy that's hooked onto the hatch. It's apparently there to give a more aggressive sound to hear inside the car.
But if it's REALLY loud, then there might be something wrong. I kinda like my MCS noise level though. Could use a bit more throatyness to it, but it's all good IMO
Cheers,

 

I have noticed that the noise level increases just a tad bit when the rear seats are folded down, better sound travel i guess, and yeah, you can hear it better in the back seats (your on top of the darn exhaust tips!!!) But its just music to my ears.

Also, I would like to make note that when the engine revs come down from say 3500 to idle, somewhere in between a cool gurgeling sound is made. (i love it!)

 

My teenage daughters say they don't like riding in there for too long because of the low frequency noise.

 

Jim: Seems like what you need to do is to ride in another MCS. Tell your dealer that this is a concern for you (exhaust noise) and I'll be that they'd be willing to find another demo ride for you rather than risk losing the sale. Seems pretty straight-forward.

That said, I agree with those who note that you (or any adult human being) are reasonably unlikely to spend much time in the back seat. The exhaust IS louder back there...and basically, this is a sports car where you're supposed to LIKE the sound of the exhaust. In other words, it's not exactly designed for quiet backseat moments.

 

I get a lot more noise if I have my rear seats down. On the other hand, I have no idea what it sounds like in the back with the engine running. :smile:

 

When I consider how much quieter the Mini is than my previous Miata, it's tough to consider any part of the experience loud. If the shelf behind the rear seats is out, it's louder, but I've had my kids in the back for hours (about a six-hour trip each way) without complaint. YMMV,

Jeff