If you want quite buy a Cadillac. It's a sports car so expect some noise......which is GREAT!!!!

 

Why don't you try test driving one? Why rely on the opinions of others? Find out for yourself.

 

 

don't ride with me or half of the forum...


seriously....if you want quiet don't buy anything except a stock Vette...


Have fun..

 

I'll add to Pewter99's comment and say don't ride with me or 3/4 of the forum members. Get rid of the run flats and with a couple DIY, low-cost projects you can quiet the car down to your liking.

 

I have a 99 coupe and have achieved approximately 15 bB noise reduction. 3 dB is about one click of radio volume so I play the radio with 5 clicks less volume.

My case is unusual in that my wife is very hard of hearing and conversing with her with any background noise is impossible. My 99 C5 was not noisy--neither listening to the radio nor conversations were not a problem (except with my wife).

Here's what quiets my car:
1. I custom fitted some memory foam to the flat area behind the seats, around the rear tire wells, directly behind the seats, and under the floor mats. 8 to 10 dB reduction. This was a test before buying quieting material but it worked so well I covered the exposed foam with a new rear carpet (~$100 at Ecklers.com) and a couple of new towels ($20 at Target)matching the carpet color. I got the memory foam at Overstock.com.

Accidental quieting items:
2. Surprisingly, installing cosmetic exhaust extenders quiets the deep exhaust notes considerably. Without them, I think the exhaust noise hits the bottom of the rear storage area causing a resonance. Pushing the exhaust exit a couple of inches rearward seems to direct the sound more rearward and eliminates the resonance. ($100 at Ecklers.com)
3. Michelin tires. Got about 3 bB just from new tires. ($1400)
4. Sweetshooter gun treatment. This was another surprise. Sweetshooter.com sells an additive orginally designed to protect black powder guns. It's actually a dry lubricant developed for space applications. I tried it to increase mileage (5% improvement = 1 mpg) and reduce wear but was surprised the engine was immediately less noisy under normal driving. I just tried the transmission treatment and noticed a slight noise reduction. ($55 + $20 at Sweetshooter.com with SASS discount.)

Please take this information with a large grain of salt. I have no scientific evidence proving any of this works but I did try my best to measure the effects. I have a standard course (actually my route to work) with expected speeds. I routinely run this course for a week following each oil change trying to maximize mileage. I use the same course with a Radio Shack sound meter to measure noise. E.g., a particular section at 55 mph has shown a drop from ~75 dB to ~60 dB.

If you have normal hearing, the 99 vette is not noisy but you can make the C5 quieter. Even with my noise reductions, acceleration still has a wonderful sound.

 

If noise is your main concern, then a Corvette is not for you. Most of the people here have longtube headers with high flow cats and straight pipes so you are asking the wrong group of people about quiet.

As far as Corvettes go, I have had Coupes, Hardtops and Convertibles and the Coupes were probably the most quiet, but not by much. Personally I think that a stock C5 Corvette is pretty quiet without losing the old Corvette personality. But I also drive Jeeps so quiet soft rides are not a big concern to me.

 

The Corvette is NOT a Cadillac' it's a low-slung, performance/sports car. That being said, last weekend I installed an insulation kit in the cargo area and the cockpit, to include behind the seats. It was a lot of work, especially solo, but the difference in road/tire noise is worth the time and expense. If you want a Corvette, then you will find ways to have it and reduce noise. I still get some wind noise in my '04 Coupe, but it's not too bad, and I'm looking at ways to reduce that. Go for it; you won't regret it!