JeffA3

In fairness the petrol engine in my A3 (1400 cc turbo charged) is very quiet, you can hardly hear it when it kicks in, it is road/tyre noise which spoils the car. As a hybrid it's excellent, I'm just very disappointed overall as I've been an Audi fan for years. I'm even vaguely thinking of other brands hybrids, if I can get the enthusiasm together...

Thanks for confirming my view. The current A3 is definitely a step down in refinement, which I wasn't expecting. I have an A4 Allroad 2020 and it's a much better car, not a lot different in price; I also have a 58 reg A4 convertible and it's a lot quieter re road and tyre noise, and although it's sport suspension it rides better too. I think Audi are mad not to make the more expensive A3s more refined, instead they have skimped on noise insulation and made pathetic savings on features just to keep the weight and cost down.

Thanks Martin. I have in fact changed the tyres to Pirelli Powergy, they were the quietest tyre available for what appears to be an unusual tyre size and speed rating (which is stupidly exaggerated, but the garage wouldn't fit a more sensible speed rating as they said it might invalidate the insurance), and there is a noticeable difference - it is generally quieter. So now I have a spare set of Bridgestones, to go on Ebay. I was thinking of going down to 17" rims with more rubber between the rim and the road and even quieter tyres, but a new set of tyres is one thing, a full set of wheels and tyres is another... And I agree with you about the sound insulation: I also have a 15 year old A4 convertible, 3.2 Sport Quattro etc etc and the ride is quieter than the new A3. It has thick carpets and sound insulation everywhere.

Hi Imran. It's got 18" wheels (no idea what they are called) with 225/40 Bridgestone Potenza tyres. So they are quite low profile tyres, although I haven't noticed a particularly hard ride. But I've never liked Bridgestones, I always change to Michelins as soon as I can, and I've noticed on the A3 (road) to London that some stretches of the road surface are much noisier than others. Which suggests tyres as much as general sound insulation. So I think that the tyres are certainly part of the problem and I'm thinking of biting the bullet and getting low noise ones fitted although I've only done 1200 miles. Thanks for your comments.

I've recently taken delivery of a 45 Tfsi-e S-Competition, the hybrid version. I'm very pleased with it, the electric range easily enough for local use, and very clever switching to and from the petrol engine on the open road. Considering its weight (same as my A4 Allroad) it rides and handles very well too. BUT it's noisy - a lot of road and tyre noise when driving at more than 30 - 40 mph; I'm thinking Audi has skimped on the noise insulation to save weight and probably money. Has anyone else found this? Any suggestions on how to make it quieter? Or is it just me making a comparison with my bigger and much quieter estate car?