MIC Hardtop Noise : get what you pay for?

[thatspecialbeat]

So, I'm curious . . . . does your level of sound satisfaction correlate to the model being driven and/or the presence of sound deadening?

I'm most satisfied with the doors off. 12 to 16 on the volume depending on the media and my wife is comfortable yelling at me even at freeway speeds.

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[Murraydog11]

I have a basket on top of mine as well. I don't notice any more road/wind noise than any other truck. I crank the B&O up to 18/20, and thing are just fine...

 

[GroovyGhost]

I've driven Wranglers over the past 25 years. Some with hard tops, some with soft. My Bronco has a hard top. I don't have any complaints about sound. It's all relative I suppose.

 

[Sherminiator]

My 2-door Badlands is very loud on the highway but I think it's the roof rails catching cross winds.

My Big Bend with the MIC top and sound deadning on it has a bit of wind noise at 70+ MPH, which I think its partly due to the roof rails.

 

[twyoung1975]

I mean, my 2 door base is loud, but it's still quieter than the Nissan Versa I used to drive.

 

[Scape Goat]

After having driven multiple 2021 Broncos, I will say that having carpet on the floor definitely helps with the road noise. You can absolutely tell the difference between the carpeted Broncos and those with the wash-out floor. The Wildtrak I drove with carpeted flooring was definitely quieter than the Black Diamond Sasquatch I drove with the wash-out floors.

I was worried about this. Was it really that bad? I really wish I could get mgv with carpet floors.

 

[bronco2drga]

2 door base and I don't even notice wind noise. I guess if you're coming from some luxury car to a bronco you may notice. I think it's reasonable to assume anything that has a removable top is going to have some kind of wind noise.

No roof rack.

 

[RagnarKon]

I was worried about this. Was it really that bad? I really wish I could get mgv with carpet floors.

Nah it wasn’t bad in my opinion. But it depends on your tolerance for noise I suppose.

If you are expecting your Bronco have a similar noise level… to… say… a modern crossover/SUV like a Ford Explorer, that just isn’t going to happen. If you are going into it understanding it’s an off-road vehicle and off-road vehicles are naturally fairly noisy, I think you’ll be fine.

 

[MayhemMike]

Wow!

 

[mpeugeot]

2 door base and I don't even notice wind noise. I guess if you're coming from some luxury car to a bronco you may notice. I think it's reasonable to assume anything that has a removable top is going to have some kind of wind noise.

No roof rack.

If you want to call an 2011 F-150 XL or a 2021 Honda CR-V EX-L luxury vehicles... LOL, I guess...

It was significantly louder, even with the stock tires/rims on the OBX (with Lux package). It's just a good thing that I have been able to make progress with decreasing the noise.

 

[mpeugeot]

So, I finally got around to partially doing this today. I tackled the two areas that I believed the majority of my wind noise was coming from, rhe front seal and the seal between the hardtop and the front panels (still need to do the sides - this is a 2 door).

I couldn't find the black rubber tubing so I ended up with 3/4" OD, 1/2" ID clear soft plastic tubing. $1/foot and 10 feet was enough tubing to fill both the front and back seal voids (although it required a bit more pressure to pull the back down than the front.

What a huge difference. There is some minor noise from above the doors, but the front seal wind noise is completely gone - tested at 80 MPH on the Interstate, and it is way more pleasant.

 

[XirallicBolts]

2-door OBX, more noise than I expected but I'm used to a newer Silverado and Flex. Haven't been in a Wrangler to compare. It's also been windy here recently.


It's not an unreasonable amount, I could deal with it for an hour or two, bigger issue is my wife overcompensating and practically shouting in one ear

 

[gryphon1231]

Just took delivery of an OBX with MIC2 hardtop. I am pleasantly surprised by the road/wind noise level. I had not driven a SAS on the highway and was a bit concerned about it after reading many of the posts. I don't think the noise is worse than any other truck I've driven and, on some road surfaces, is actually better than the Camry I was recently driving.

The radio is tolerable at a 7 or 8 on the highway. Conversations, at least with front row occupants, is fine.

It is an OBX. It does have the additional sound deadening. I even have tried the $6 MIC hardtop noise hack, which I'm not convinced did anything, but maybe.

So, I'm curious . . . . does your level of sound satisfaction correlate to the model being driven and/or the presence of sound deadening?

I stand to reassure OBX SAS drivers that all will likely be okay for you in the noise department.

It's a convertible with 35 inch MT tires. High levels of noise are to be expected.

 

[mpeugeot]

It's a convertible with 35 inch MT tires. High levels of noise are to be expected.

I get what you are saying, but, having owned many, many convertibles, 6 plus the Bronco (76 Triumph Spitfire, 90 Geo Metro Convertible, 95 Mazda Miata, 97 Ferrari F355, 98 Wrangler 2 door hardtop, and a 99 Mazda Miata).

The Bronco was by far the loudest with regards to wind noise.

My 33.5" M/T's certainly are noisier than the OBX A/T tires - but not grossly so. The stock OBX tires and even my Milestar Patagonia M/T's were both less noisy than a 2018 Toyota Corolla XLE stock tires (which by all accounts were horrendous). On my particular Bronco, tire noise was never the main problem, it was wind noise. It really did start off as horrific. With subtle tweaks and a few minor attempts to reduce the wind noise, I wasn't happy with the wind noise, but it had improved some. Actually, I was embarrassed to take other people on the highway with me, it sounded like crap.

This latest modification has the noise level approaching levels that are comparable to my girlfriends Honda CR-V EX-L. That's a whole different ball game, and now I don't feel like I need to apologize to others for the noise at highway speeds.

I have a feeling that the noise levels vary significantly from vehicle to vehicle, because people (regardless of their subjective interpretation) are reporting such disparate experiences. An example of this is that before, 10 on the radio (with upgraded speakers) might as well had been off on the highway, for me in order to hear the music at highway speeds it was more like 14-16 with moderate speed compensation turned on.

 

[bronco2drga]

If you want to call an 2011 F-150 XL or a 2021 Honda CR-V EX-L luxury vehicles... LOL, I guess...

It was significantly louder, even with the stock tires/rims on the OBX (with Lux package). It's just a good thing that I have been able to make progress with decreasing the noise.

Haha I drive old beaters so those are luxury to me! 2011, that's brand new!

What have you done to decrease the noise?

There's definitely some wind noise, I think some of it is that gap above the doors where the seals don't meet up to the removable panels, but it's not terrible.

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