|
It's rubbish. The noise level driving my Z3 top-down is nothing like as loud as the perpetual drone made at all speeds by the Mercedes B200 diesel that I had two cars ago.
|
I'm sure they are correct in their findings. Any time I've driven in a convertible (or hardtop with the windows open) at speed - and speed is an important factor - I've been left with a slight numbness and ringing in my ears for several minutes afterwards. The combination of tyre roar, wind hiss and the engine noise from passing vehicles can peak at very high levels. This can't be good.
Mind you, some people will never take heed of good advice. Probably the same people who wonder why they suffer from severe hearing loss in middle age after years of listening to music with the knob "wound up to 11".
Edited by AlanGowdy on 07/10/2009 at 22:39
|
Yer Wot??
Seriously, while YMMV with model it sounds entirely plausible. My Pug 104 was the first car I owned where normal conversation was possible at M/way cruise speeds. With the glass sunroof out lipreading was the order of the day.
|
|
I've got a Volvo C70 convertible on loan at the moment and made the mistake of driving through the Mersey Tunnel with the roof down recently. The noise was almost frightening!
|
|
|
Hearing loss comes on gradually so one doesn't notice it when you're young and think you can take on the world :)
The inner ear is most unbelievably delicate - ask any Deep Purple or Status Quo member (but you'll have to shout!)
What surprised me, is the amount of noise inside the car on HJ's road test videos - I particularly remember the Mazda 3.
I haven't driven a 'soft top' for years (more's the pity) but I seem to remember them as being very noisy - at speed.
|
This all sounds very plausible. I feel that the noise produced by the air rushing by, almost like white noise in nature, is the worst culprit.
I'm a bit deaf myself, at 52, and attribute this to riding motorcycles in the 1970s when we hadn't heard of ear plugs. Again, the noise from air rushing past, even with a helmet on, was very loud but you didn't really notice it.
All convertible drivers should be required, by law, to wear pink, fluffy ear protectors!
|
The noise in a motorcycle helmet when at speed is loud, as you say, but because it is quite low frequency, it isn't instantly uncomfortable. That's the danger - because it's comfortable, you don't notice it's doing any damage.
I started to suffer from tinnitus not long after passing my bike test, and decided to start wearing earplugs. The tinnitus went away. As a result, I now wear earplugs on the bike every time.
It stands to reason that driving a convertible at speed could cause similar damage.
|
I don't think I have driven enough miles in convertibles to have caused the tinnitus I have enjoyed for about twenty years now. But the upside is that if one buys one as a 70th-birthday present, the noise is less noticeable ...
I avoid driving it on M-ways whenever possible though, at least with the roof down.
Edited by Andrew-T on 08/10/2009 at 11:56
|
|
|
|
>All convertible drivers should be required, by law, to wear pink, fluffy ear protectors!
But that would interfere with their jewellery and expensively coloured hair. On the the other hand, the women might like them.
};---)
|
|
My mother-in-law is always filling my kids with rubbish and old wive's tales about how they'll die if they don't wear a hat in 30 degrees temperatures or suffocate if they open the car windows when it's moving. It really annoys me so I always open my window if she's sitting next to me in the car. She humphs a few times then makes this grand gesture of taking a scarf out of her bag and holding it against the side of her head.
|
|
|
I meant for the men.
All women are congenitally deaf, or at least that is how it appears whenever I speak to them!
|
Dr.Chris, Have you not developed selective hearing for when the other half is talking?
I find my soft top is only noisy on motorways on certain road surfaces, the noise being mostly from surrounding traffics' tyres. Perhaps I am already deaf to the other noise?
|
I find my soft top is only noisy on motorways on certain road surfaces the noise being mostly from surrounding traffics' tyres. Perhaps I am already deaf to the other noise?
Isn't this the case where your hearing gradually deteriorates as you get older - it's just an age thing.
It's the principle used on those gadgets to stop kids hanging around shopping precincts at night. It emitted a loud whistling noise which was irritating to anyone under the age of about 17, but which couldn't be heard by "older" people because their hearing isn't as sensitive as the young 'uns.
Edited by Armstrong Sid on 08/10/2009 at 12:34
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK - perhaps I was a little harsh in saying above that it was rubbish: but I suspect that it's relevant only to people who drive convertibles at speed, regularly and often, with hood AND windows down. It's probably the buffeting as much as the noise that may be bad for one's ears. Unless it's a really hot day, I'm more comfortable in the Z3 at motorway speeds with the windows raised if the hood is down.
One of the few things that medical researchers agree in is that red wine is good for you - but it won't be if you drink it all day every day. Everything in moderation.
|
>>> Everything in moderation. <<<
Including moderation ;-)
|
|
Bad for the top of bald mens heads due to sun damage too.
|
|
I can understand the point and take DP's point re motorcycle helmets though when I am on my bike I want to hear as much as I can, helps in sensing other vehicles intentions through to mechanical issues with the bike.
|
|
|
|
