Back on Track

[Victorofhavoc]

Great... Weather slowly changing and 2 of my rattles/buzzes came back with a vengeance!

The infotainment is buzzing again, and now even on the smoothest of roads. It's much worse than before as well. Loud enough that music at vol 10 does not drown it out. Even worse it makes much more noise under heavier load and mid rpm so I'm back to my dash squealing/rattling under acceleration.

Also, now all of the door glass and both b pillar shoulder strap adjusters are clicking/rattling with any roughness in the road or small bumps.

I can't decide if I should go back to the dealer or just try to fix it myself. I'm not sure the dealer is worth the headache.

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[optronix]

Not sure about your dealer, but as far as I'm concerned, it is absolutely a waste of time and effort for me to let them try to track down noises.

At about 8k miles now, and they're stacking up.

I wouldn't say any of them are catastrophic... but overall I can say that the honeymoon phase has finally ended and the noises are just part of the ownership experience. It is one of the noisier cars I've had for sure...

But also, I will still maintain that if a luxury experience is what you're after, this isn't the car for that... so you can absolutely pine for the silence of your GTI, and I get it- but I still would not exchange a quiet-as-the-grave cabin GTI for this car. Nor anything else at this price point.

All that being said- what HAS actually grown on me in quite a negative way is the torque steer. I honestly don't recall noticing it this much until recently- and I did have the car lowered a few short months ago so that may definitely be a contributing factor. Between the wheels and springs, or maybe just finally getting to me now that I have not been driving it as much and allowing me to notice it more... I'm pining for rear-wheel drive.

I'm not in a rush to move on from it by ANY means... but I have been eyeing the CT4-V Blackwing. HARD. Of course, the way I'd want it spec'd it would cost just shy of 100 grand, so nearly 2x the price point... on a long enough timeline, I may just end up in one.

I'd throw in the dealership experience as another reason on top of torque steer and minor quibbles about build quality as a reason to consider the Caddy over the Integra... but I really don't think Cadillac would offer any better dealer experience than Acura.

I'm typing this knowing I'll be dropping my wife's Macan off at the dealer tomorrow and driving off in another Porsche loaner, with an expectation they will actually correct the noises I'm dealing with on that car.

If only the RS3 was available in manual!... but honestly, probably not a small amount of torque steer in that car either. I noticed some in my S3 but not as flagrant. If manual wasn't a requirement, perhaps an S3 would be a great choice for something around this price point with a higher standard of build quality and better dealership experience... at the cost of some driving dynamics. But I really did love my S3 for what it was- which at the time was a perfect augmentation to a 981 Boxster GTS. I really never should have deviated from that garage setup...

 

[ABPDE5]

Not sure about your dealer, but as far as I'm concerned, it is absolutely a waste of time and effort for me to let them try to track down noises.

At about 8k miles now, and they're stacking up.

I wouldn't say any of them are catastrophic... but overall I can say that the honeymoon phase has finally ended and the noises are just part of the ownership experience. It is one of the noisier cars I've had for sure...

But also, I will still maintain that if a luxury experience is what you're after, this isn't the car for that... so you can absolutely pine for the silence of your GTI, and I get it- but I still would not exchange a quiet-as-the-grave cabin GTI for this car. Nor anything else at this price point.

All that being said- what HAS actually grown on me in quite a negative way is the torque steer. I honestly don't recall noticing it this much until recently- and I did have the car lowered a few short months ago so that may definitely be a contributing factor. Between the wheels and springs, or maybe just finally getting to me now that I have not been driving it as much and allowing me to notice it more... I'm pining for rear-wheel drive.

I'm not in a rush to move on from it by ANY means... but I have been eyeing the CT4-V Blackwing. HARD. Of course, the way I'd want it spec'd it would cost just shy of 100 grand, so nearly 2x the price point... on a long enough timeline, I may just end up in one.

I'd throw in the dealership experience as another reason on top of torque steer and minor quibbles about build quality as a reason to consider the Caddy over the Integra... but I really don't think Cadillac would offer any better dealer experience than Acura.

I'm typing this knowing I'll be dropping my wife's Macan off at the dealer tomorrow and driving off in another Porsche loaner, with an expectation they will actually correct the noises I'm dealing with on that car.

If only the RS3 was available in manual!... but honestly, probably not a small amount of torque steer in that car either. I noticed some in my S3 but not as flagrant. If manual wasn't a requirement, perhaps an S3 would be a great choice for something around this price point with a higher standard of build quality and better dealership experience... at the cost of some driving dynamics. But I really did love my S3 for what it was- which at the time was a perfect augmentation to a 981 Boxster GTS. I really never should have deviated from that garage setup...

Based on all of your feedback, I can't help but think that springs were a mistake. We already know that they alter the geometry in a negative way, and I really doubt any of these manufacturers did sufficient testing re: height, rates, etc. (not to mention changing spring rates probably calls for a damper adjustment, and right now that's not possible). Significant development was spent on the stock suspension for these cars, and the tuning on the DE5 was already done well. I understand the visual appeal, but for driving and performance, I think it's high-end coils or nothing.

 

[StingertimeNC]

I don't really notice anything negative on the track or around town. I can see it being much more of an issue in auto cross though. Lower speeds, tighter corners, etc. Combo of the drop and the lower offset wheels? (which of course I have also) but I just don't drive the car hard in 1st or 2nd gear. 3rd gear and up no big deal.

Or am I just not in tune enough to notice?

I did have a Mazdaspeed 3 and that car was crazy! LOL.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Not sure about your dealer, but as far as I'm concerned, it is absolutely a waste of time and effort for me to let them try to track down noises.

At about 8k miles now, and they're stacking up.

I wouldn't say any of them are catastrophic... but overall I can say that the honeymoon phase has finally ended and the noises are just part of the ownership experience. It is one of the noisier cars I've had for sure...

But also, I will still maintain that if a luxury experience is what you're after, this isn't the car for that... so you can absolutely pine for the silence of your GTI, and I get it- but I still would not exchange a quiet-as-the-grave cabin GTI for this car. Nor anything else at this price point.

All that being said- what HAS actually grown on me in quite a negative way is the torque steer. I honestly don't recall noticing it this much until recently- and I did have the car lowered a few short months ago so that may definitely be a contributing factor. Between the wheels and springs, or maybe just finally getting to me now that I have not been driving it as much and allowing me to notice it more... I'm pining for rear-wheel drive.

I'm not in a rush to move on from it by ANY means... but I have been eyeing the CT4-V Blackwing. HARD. Of course, the way I'd want it spec'd it would cost just shy of 100 grand, so nearly 2x the price point... on a long enough timeline, I may just end up in one.

I'd throw in the dealership experience as another reason on top of torque steer and minor quibbles about build quality as a reason to consider the Caddy over the Integra... but I really don't think Cadillac would offer any better dealer experience than Acura.

I'm typing this knowing I'll be dropping my wife's Macan off at the dealer tomorrow and driving off in another Porsche loaner, with an expectation they will actually correct the noises I'm dealing with on that car.

If only the RS3 was available in manual!... but honestly, probably not a small amount of torque steer in that car either. I noticed some in my S3 but not as flagrant. If manual wasn't a requirement, perhaps an S3 would be a great choice for something around this price point with a higher standard of build quality and better dealership experience... at the cost of some driving dynamics. But I really did love my S3 for what it was- which at the time was a perfect augmentation to a 981 Boxster GTS. I really never should have deviated from that garage setup...

It's funny you mention torque steer in the s3. Every awd driver would argue there's none, but both the rs3 and s3 I found to be pretty "heavy" due to the awd, and since the s3 primarily drives the front, it will cook one of the fronts due to the open diff that's up there. The rear has the haldex diff which does work as a diff. The rs3 does add a haldex in front as well and that helps a lot.

I think the "torque steer" I've felt in this car is fairly mild. The bigger issue I have with it is not the amount of torque steer (because that's honestly quite mild), but rather the engagement of the diff is a bit on the abrupt side. That's what causes some of the jerkiness with power on, but once that jerk is gone, it's not consistently trying to pull away in a particular direction unless it slips again. It might wear in a bit over time, or it might get worse.

My gti had the pseudo-mechanical diff that actuated with pressure like haldex, but also had a mechanical clutch actuation. It honestly cured torque steer unless you were pushing 360whp+. Jeremy Clarkson called it magic in 2014 and bought one for himself as a part time daily, and he's not wrong. It was definitely magic.

You're also absolutely right that this car is more lively than a gti. The gti takes about 10k in mods to get to the same suspension alignment, setup, aggressiveness, and stage of power as this car. At that points it's just as lively and just as capable, but it still feels more numb on steering and brake (the two most important outputs). It also can't stuff anywhere near as much tire and its base aero is nowhere near as good.

I will probably add 40 to 60lbs of sound deadening and vibration absorption material to see if I can tame some of these quality issues.

I looked at the ct4 but backseat was basically useless for a kid carseat or two. That's why I looked at the m3 and ct5, but ct5 insurance are just whacko. The m3 insurance costs were half as much, lol. Honestly, if you don't have kids in carseats, have you considered the m2? It's kind of the modern day e46 m3, and it's setup makes it quite lively. It must be driven at 104% to be fast though. It rewards the ham handed more than the baker. The new one's lower bumper though...

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I don't really notice anything negative on the track or around town. I can see it being much more of an issue in auto cross though. Lower speeds, tighter corners, etc. Combo of the drop and the lower offset wheels? (which of course I have also) but I just don't drive the car hard in 1st or 2nd gear. 3rd gear and up no big deal.

Or am I just not in tune enough to notice?

I did have a Mazdaspeed 3 and that car was crazy! LOL.

See my comment about lsd engagement. I think in autox the lsd engagement would also be far more noticeable due to turn in aggressiveness.

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