For those with Sport and Touring
 

There's been a lot of talk about road and engine noise penetrating into the cabin. It's a sports car, I expect that and even want it to some degree. Does the Bose system have what it takes to hide enough of that to make the car liveable on a daily driver basis?

Dynamat
 

Dynamat bro...............Dynamat.

I've found the car to have a lot of road noise, particularly on concrete expressways. The Bluetooth phone tends to struggle a bit, and I have to speak up/yell for people to hear me at highway speeds due to the road noise. The Bose stereo however is great and easily compensates. If I wanted a quiet car, I'd still have my old Audi A4. The eye-water acceleration and mind-bending cornering of the Z easily compensate for the road noise for me. Every day I go to work, I look forward to the drive over.

I recall reading a thread about sound-dampening materials and many people found their addition didn't do much to help. Particularly, they couldn't dampen the resonating sounds made by debris tossed up by the tires hitting the wheel wells.

So... that means no? :D

I'm in a C55 AMG now so I'm actually looking at coming down a bit acceleration-wise. Cornering... well, let's just say that's the main reason I'm looking at this car, something more engaging & more fun. I was able to test drive a base Z and it was good, just trying to figure out if the stereo can compensate on the daily grind to the office.

more fun
 

If you want more fun........get the GT-R. Cant get much more fun than that.

Looking up the numbers it looks like the Z equals or bests the C55's 0-60 time. Overall, you'll probably feel like you stepped down a few rungs in refinement and luxury but up a few in sportiness and fun to drive. I haven't been disappointed with the Bose stereo at all and can listen comfortably during all types of driving. Most of the time I prefer it off so I can enjoy the sound and feel of the engine.

That's wishful thinking right there.

Ditto Spearfish, Ill bast the stereo after Ive enjoyed hearing the engine awhile. The voice command navigation sometimes needs you to repeat the command on the highway but that's such a small part of owning a Z. I had a friend put it to me this way "if you want a car that's fun to drive and cruise in buy the 650 but if you want a straight up sports car that is for hauling a$$ and is real fun to drive get the Z. Now with the sport touring combo you can have a little luxury in the car. I have that and its very comfortable and has plenty Sport car feel in the cabin. Im glad I went with the Z. Its funny when people ask me about only being able to fit two people in it. I reply that it only fits ONE! LOL

C55 is about 4.7 0 - 60 (with rollout) which is right in line with the Z, but it's the 30 - 50 and 50 - 70 times (real world passing) that it smokes it. 376 lb ft is ridiculous, believe me. I had a WRX before this & had to recalibrate passes when I got this beast, I was on cars too quick. It's almost too much torque, especially in low speed corners. Difficult to feed it in gradually with the throttle tip in and the "tossability" factor just doesn't compare. C55 = autobahn stormer, Z = canyon carver. Canyon carver = fun to me. Z would be a bunch more fun on the coast roads around here.

With the windows up, the Bose system is easily loud enough to hide all road noises!

At 50% volume with the windows down is usually enough to over power wind noise at 80 mph for me as well.

Jay

Thanks, these are exactly the kind of answers I was hoping for.

sports package, regular audio with cheapy mp3 player can drown out the road on normal settings, like the volume on 15 or 20. Hell even drowns out my phone.

I don't even think it's loud for a sports car. I'm glad they skipped some of the sound insulation and kept the weight down.

I personally don't think Sports Package will contribute to road noise much. Even with these wheels and tires, the 370Z is surprisingly smooth and plush without sacrificing the sporty feel and handling. It's quite an amazing difference compared to the 350Z.

Road noise is definitely worse in the 370Z compared to the 350Z and even the 300ZX (barely any road noise, but definitely lots of rattles and squeaks for its old age).

I'm definitely going to opt for some sort of sound deadening in some areas this summer starting with the rear fender well if I can get access to it.

Just bought a bulk pack of Dynamat Extreme 9 sheets and put 7 sheets in the rear hatch area and it cut out most of the road noise. The Bose seems to do a fine job and the bass seams louder sine the Dynamat. Cut out the rocks hitting the fender noise:tup:

I love the sound of my Z and the noise.

I do not have to repeat myself to the navigation system even at highway speed with driver window rolled down.

That being said, road noise is there and will only get worse with time. You should do a lengthy test drive and go home to think about it. Don't buy it right after test driving it.

That's good advice. Road and engine noise aren't necessarily an issue, they go along with owning a sports car and add to the experience. Having owned a number of "high strung" sporty vehicles ('86 MR2, '98 Prelude SH, '02 WRX) prior to my C55, I've learned an appreciation for having a car that's not "always on". Real world driving isn't always a nice windy road & some modicum of tractability & comfort would be nice when stting in traffic on the Bay Bridge every day. (Maybe I'm just getting old.)

Test drives are nice, but not as useful as the experience of those driving the car day in and day out. And no, I'm not interested in the G37S, it's too soft, just want to make sure I'm not going to go completely mad.

Thanks to those that replied. Sounds like I'll be good.

Did you install the dynamat on your own? Also how much do the sheets weigh? It sounds like something I might be interested in

Did the install myself recomend taking pictures so you can remember where everything goes back
Sheets in the bulk pack are 18"x 32" and weight 1.80 each so at 7 pieces in the rear hatch area added 12.6 lbs not much for the benifit

Just out of interest, how easy was this doing it yourself? Was it straight forward enough getting all the trim pieces off?
Do you have any pics of the install to show us please or maybe some pointers?
Thanks

I haven't minded the noise at all so far. But the Bose should do a sufficient job of covering it up if needed.

I thought I was the only one who didn't like the road noise...

But, it seems to only be annoying on rougher surfaces - smooth new asphalt is nice and quite, then it's progressively louder from there.

Guess I'll get me some Dynamat!