C8 Coupe Topless Driving

[Meldoon]

Curious as to how wind roar in the new coupe will compare to the C7. I suspect it will be different, less, but don’t know, better, worse? Anyone know or have experience in a similar car?

[ZORA 69]

The wind roar will hopefully be lessin the C8 as opposed to the C7, but I do not see how one could possibly, at this time to make a comparison to another car.
I have never driven my C7 Coupe with the top on the car. Living in Florida and avoiding rainy days has worked well so far. But, the wind roar is more than I like.

[John]

We have two individuals who have driven both a C7 and a C8 and report back that the C8 is quieter. Most of the “noise” in my C7 is the tire whine from the rear tires, and the C8 was specifically designed with rear end acoustical damping. Also, it helps that the tires are three feet further away from the seats.

[George]

We have two individuals who have driven both a C7 and a C8 and report back that the C8 is quieter. Most of the “noise” in my C7 is the tire whine from the rear tires, and the C8 was specifically designed with rear end acoustical damping. Also, it helps that the tires are three feet further away from the seats.

That is VERY interesting to me. I'll be really anxious to hear multiple views of just how much quieter the C8 is. Also, how much quieter the all-season tires might be?

[JustOneMore]

We have two individuals who have driven both a C7 and a C8 and report back that the C8 is quieter. Most of the “noise” in my C7 is the tire whine from the rear tires, and the C8 was specifically designed with rear end acoustical damping. Also, it helps that the tires are three feet further away from the seats.

The OE Goodyears on my 2000 FRC got so loud (as they aged) I thought the Corsa mufflers had gone bad. Took it on the interstate & at 70mph engaged the clutch & shut off the motor, didn't quiet it.

[meyerweb]

A big part of the reason the C7 coupe is noisy is that big, open cavern behind the seats. There's nothing between you and the tires, and noise reverberates in large open spaces. The C7 'vert is quieter than the coupe with the top up. The C8 is more like the 'vert in that respect, with the rear end completely closed off from the passenger compartment.

[JB]

Topless coupe driving does often create more buffeting than a convertible at highway speeds.

i couldnt tell if there is a window pane betweenthe passenger compartment and the engine compartment...

i looked and couldnt tell..

if there is an open space fromthe passenger compartment to the engine...i would expect buffeting...wind gets trapped in rear hatch area...

if there is a window pane it could possibly act as a windblocker that we have seen on expensive mercedes convertible SLs andthere could be,less buffeting than a open hatch design...

[Meldoon]

I think there has to be a window.....

[JB]

The rear window vents surrounding the rear window above the engine might also allow wind evacuation to quell buffeting..

these are all things we dont know yet...

maybe someone who was at the reveal can fill us in with regards to this and the avove discussion.

[meyerweb]

I think there has to be a window.....

Yes. It could get unbearably hot inside if the engine compartment wasn't separated. And I suspect there are federal regulations dealing with such, too. Heat, noise, fumes, odors, would all be a problem otherwise.

[Klinn]

Also, how much quieter the all-season tires might be?

Assuming there's no problems with alignment etc, tire noise is often caused by the tread blocks moving around as the tire flexes and contacts the road surface. The all-season tires could be worse. All other things being equal, if you've got a larger number of small tread blocks, you'll get more noise. If the groves between tread blocks are deeper, they'll squirm more and make more noise. An extreme example are those 4x4's with oversize, heavily lugged tires. They make a ton of noise.

On the other hand, I've had competition tires with large tread blocks -- very few grooves in between and those grooves were just barely deep enough to satisfy the law, so they didn't squirm very much -- and those tires were noisy. Maybe because the sidewalls were stiffer than the usual tire? Dunno.

Tire construction and compounds are such a black art. Ultimately I don't think we'll be able to answer your concern until we get some real-world experience with the C8. Which I would be willing to start ASAP.

[John]

There is a window. It is required for fire and other reasons mentioned above. It is acoustical glass, and looks like this (thanks Jag). Sitting in the car, there is significant space between seat backs and the glass (even when I had the seats to their extreme rearward position). Feels nice inside, friendly but not at all confining.

A couple of notes: The seat travel in the C8 is +1” as Tadge stated, and as the roof is 1” higher (distance from the seat cushion to the bottom of the roof), that also adds to the feeling of open space, as does having the distance between the armrests also be greater.

[TOMDOM69]

We have two individuals who have driven both a C7 and a C8 and report back that the C8 is quieter. Most of the “noise” in my C7 is the tire whine from the rear tires, and the C8 was specifically designed with rear end acoustical damping. Also, it helps that the tires are three feet further away from the seats.

with the engine inbetween lol, I think we will be hearing plenty of engine

[JB]

I think that rear window of a roof off targa c8 will act like a wind deflector minimizing a lot of noise in the rear hatchback we have in earlier generations..