bertschb

I picked up my new Z06 a couple weeks ago and I'm noticing a strange sound while cruising on the freeway. I'm generally in Tour mode while on the freeway and need to change driving modes to see if the sound changes. Sorry but I haven't tried that yet.

The sound I'm hearing will be tough to describe but here goes...
It's a recurring sound like a steam locomotive would make. Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha. It changes based on speed. It sounds like a patch of glue is stuck to the tires or on a drive belt.

I can hear it with the windows rolled up but of course it's more noticeable with the window down.

I've been sick and haven't been able to look into this much yet but I'm wondering if anybody else has heard this noise. I have about 900 miles on the car and only hear this on the freeway - probably because I'm in Sport mode everywhere else :-)

BOBSZ06

Is this an intermittent occurrence or it does it every time?

bertschb

I hear it every time I'm on the highway.

AJay

Possibly something loose in the wind stream that starts to move when you get up to speed.

b4i4getit

I would not worry about it. It is probably something flapping around underneath. Next time you are at the dealer have them look at it.

Fastmikefree

Do you hear it more clearly when driving along a wall? Try to depress the brake pedal slightly without reducing the speed to see if that noise goes away. If it does, that is totally normal! Just the pads against the rotors.

bertschb

Yes. I actually pulled up close to the center concrete barrier so I could hear it better and it was much more noticeable with the sound bouncing off the concrete.

When I start feeling better I'll jack the car up and see if the brake pads are dragging and also see if anything is loose under the car.

Fastmikefree

I had the same with my C6. Just to be sure I asked my dealer about it and he confirmed that to be absolutely normal. Pads are slightly pushed back when you release the brake pedal but since the surface of both pads and rotors and not perfecly flat, you will still have a contact maintained generating that particular sound.

Enjoy

Phil

davepl

Could it be the Stage 1 aero underbody flap? If that were loose, it might start making noise at speed. Long shot but it crossed my mind, so...

AORoads

I've not seen that description from any other C6 owner, or mine, re a noise that's rhythmic coming from pads and rotors.

spearfish25

The V4 mode definitely makes an audible sound when activated that a sensitive ear can pick up. Do you have an A8? When in the top Info menu icon (when you push left on the right side d-pad, one of the menu screens will tell you instant fuel economy and your cylinder mode. See if the sound correlates to being in V4 or V8.

bertschb

My car is an M7 and I never use Eco mode.

Shysterman69

I just swapped to the powerstop carbon ceramic z26 pads, since install I have not had this issue. I had this same noise with the factory pads and then with the CarboTech pads however the Powerstops came with new hardware, I have a theory that the replacement spring they use is better than the one used at the factory. The "wedge" used on the replacement spring to push the pads back from the rotor looked to be a tad more aggressive than the one from the factory. I have about 600 miles on the car since installing the Powerstops and the noise has not returned. So you may want to look into replacing your pads with the powerstops (I am a huge fan of these pads for street use) or perhaps seeing if they will sell just the hardware. You can do a search for the powerstops here, pads on these cars are the most simple I have ever swapped. 5 mins maybe per wheel and that is taking your sweet time. Good luck!

bertschb

That's funny because I just replaced the front pads with the PowerStop Z26 pads. The back pads haven't arrived yet. BUT, I used the factory springs, not the new ones that came with the new pads. The car had 500 miles when I replaced the pads.

trunks333

Did you fix the noise? I'm getting the same thing. Sounds like something is stuck on the tire and when I press the brake, it disappears.

bertschb

Thanks for reminding me to update you guys. I drove it today and applied the brakes while cruising at freeway speeds and the sound went away so it is something to do with the brakes. Most likely the pads. I still need to jack the car up and check it out. BUT, at this point I'm not worried about it.

Crunch527

Once you get little wear on the pads it will most likely stop...it means you need to drive it more!

3 Z06ZR1

Did you smear the pad grease on the back of the pad before you put it in?

Bill Dearborn

I venture to guess the pads have nothing to do with it. The description sounds like the typical noise you get from two piece floating rotors.

Bill