I've been driving my 2001 S4 around since I got it last week and I love it. The only thing I've noticed is how much road noise I get in the cabin. I'm sure the aftermarket tires on the car add some degree of noise to the mix but it seems like alot of the noise comes from the drivetrain.

Does anyone else have a comment on this?

 

Could you possibly have a bad wheel bearing? They can get pretty loud when they go bad. With the tires rotated in a timely manner and four good wheel bearings my quattro is very quiet on the highway.

 

It's definately not a wheel bearing. It's a low sort of thrumming sound as I drive. It's noticeable but not excessive while cruising. It becomes much louder if I'm taking a sharp turn (as in pulling into a driveway) which leads me to believe it has something to do with the drivetrain and/or differential.

Coming from a front wheel drive 4-cylinder Acura it may just be that I'm not used to the noise generated by the shear amount of gearing of an AWD Audi. I'm just curious if anyone else has a similar opinion or if I should maybe have the car checked by a mechanic.

Thanks.

 

What kind of tires are you running? If they arent in good shape (cupped/warn), they will cause a ton of road noise.

 

The tires are Falken which are known to be relatively quiet. I really think the noise is from the drivetrain. Again, it's not so loud that I really think something may be wrong, it's just louder than I'm used to.

 

It could be that it's fine and it's just something unique to your car, cuz even though they are factory produced, each car usually develops its own habits over the years. That seems to be the impression I get about your situation. But just as a safety precaution (again, I don't when the last time you had your car checked out was) it couldn't hurt to have it checked before the problem, assuming there is one, gets worse. Especially if it's still under warranty. Then you won't have to pay anything and you can still get some piece of mind.

Just my two cents.

 

I'd take it to your local shop and have your mechanic take a test drive with you. He should be able to distinguish tire noise from a suspension or steering issue.

 

idk a few of my firneds have quatro A4's and A6's and they are quiet

 

i have a quattro, and the only noise i get is a "thunk" when getting into gear, which i hear can be fixed by a snub mount.

 

Ooh....I am embarassed. All this extra noise was the result of a front tire with 3 nails in it!! It was only holding about 20lbs of pressure. Tire fixed, road noise is quieter, problem seems to be solved.