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.

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