Crikey It’s all beginning to make sense now, The “ extra “ noise is within the cabin and close to your ears ! As opposed to the general Road noise that is unavoidable and Cannot Be prevented !
I don’t use my car for any long journeys so any annoyance will be minimal, Thanks for your Helpful answer,
Lastly just curious about the noises within the Hard top MX5’s, Do any “ drumming ( resonance ) “ occur ? obviously none occurs inside the rag top because it dissipates through the roof lining etc… Ray.
These forums are getting better and better, I’m learning interesting little snippets of valuable MX5 info on these forum pages, ,
I think it’s more reflection than resonance as the interior roof surfaces have no sound deadening material at all.
When the roof is down, I have the impression that the folded roof inside the space has the effect of blocking and deflecting the sound from the drain tubes.
The difference in road noise between roof up and down is quite dramatic.
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This is interesting, I’ve read about the sound enhancement tube into the cabin but didn’t know it’s supposed to give that engine noise enhancement roof down too.
From 2009 NC2 6 speed cars…
- New induction sound enhancer (ISE) on six-speed manual cars amplifies pulse sounds created when the throttle valve opens for a more sporty engine sound This sound is transmitted to the dash panel through the air, but also to the dashboard, the outside dash top and the windshield frame through a special duct
- The sound transmission to the outside dash top creates an even more intense sound when the roof is open
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I think you are right about the hard top giving a degree of sound deadening of the drain’s When down …The noise is inside the cabin When up… so more noticeable because it’s trapped in a confined space… … understood …
The reason I asked about ‘any drumming‘ in the hard top version. Is because I once had a spitfire with a fibreglass after market hard top The noise was beyond a joke. The Drumming got better or worse at different speeds So much so that you found yourself speeding up or slowing down to get out of the speed range that caused the drumming… ,
Of course the MX5 isn’t a spitfire nor is the hard top fibreglass…
The fibreglass on my old spitfire was ‘ on show ‘. So ugly No cladding Etc, …Ray…
I’m learning a bit more every day on here, Are you saying that the newer MX5,s have a tube that Deliberately emits sound from the engine area into the cabin In order to produce a satisfying effect ? And a Drain tube at the rear (near the drivers ear) emits annoying sound‘s from the roadway and undercarriage ?
We have a barking dog next door It’s incessant. So I go out there and make as much noise as I can to annoy the neighbours that own the dog…
My wife says to me…
“ Ray! You do see the irony of what you are doing don’t you “ you are just adding to the noise “
Likewise. If we put earmuffs in to deaden the drain noise we can’t hear the more enjoyable engine noise… A pure catch 22 …
With the nc, it’s only the sport models thst have the sound tube, I don’t know about the ND.
The sound tube terminates in a membrane that acts like a drumskin or speaker cone and transmits sound into the cabin but not fumes.
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I have a 2 litre sport MX5 NC 2007 model. So mine seems to have the noise duct installed !
And there’s me thinking how wonderful my Sports exhaust sounded as I went past other cars Only to now find that the noise I liked listening to was Only in my cockpit and coming through a duct on the dashboard. I feel cheated …Dah …
It would be interesting if you could take a look and confirm that a sound tube is ndeed fitted to your sport model.
It terminates high up on the passenger side of the bulkhead
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Right I have just seen a diagram ( video ) of the noise duct So I will now look for it tomorrow. My MX5;is all tucked up for the night …Let’s you know tomorrow once I have un sheeted it I’m quite intrigued myself with this little revelation. Should the gadget be there on all sport 2 Ltre models or was it an extra etc. thanks for your continued responses … Ray…
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As I said, I believe it was fitted to Sport models.
My Miyako doesn’t have one.
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I must say. It looks the sort of gadget that I would have noticed as I clean my engine bay almost every day. ( sad eh ) I cannot say I have noticed this gadget But I now know exactly where to look Be in touch tomorrow … Ray…
Just been reading up on it 999 It seems that the general consensus is that the NC1 ( my model ) Preceded the introduction of this Noise gadget So,perhaps that’s why I hadn’t noticed it. But will look out of curiosity tomorrow … Ray … incidentally, my car has got one of those K&N air filters. Are they cleanable or do the filaments have to be replaced ? Can any of you help with this query please ? RAY
Cleanable but they need to be oiled, which is controversial as the oil can allegedly contaminate the maf sensor
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Thanks for being so helpful. I will go on the internet and see if a new K&N filter is cheap enough Save messing around with oiling an old one etc… shouldn’t be very expensive ! I also saw a video of how important a maf sensor is to keep clean. We are probably paying through the nose for these cleaning kits. I bet spray on gunk is what it is if the truth was known ! Thanks for your help… Ray
Yours won’t have the sound tube Ray, 2009 onwards models then only the 2 litre 6 speeds.
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Thanks Mick. That’s what I found to be the case, I’m quite pleased with knowing that the noise I hear is not ‘ manufactured ‘ I’m even more pleased that the lovely roar of my Aftermarket sports exhaust is the genuine article… Best regards from Ray in Essex
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Presumably then, you won’t have the blanking plate that I have in my nc2 either.
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Sorry for my lack of understanding here. But what is a blanking plate ?
I’m 80+ years of age and can muster some Dialogue. But cannot master all Internet jargon Nor Many technical terms …like Blanking plate, etc… I’m out of my depth with some of this jargon stuff. Ray… Essex
The blanking plate Ray will be found on NC2 cars (so not yours) All cars from that model run, 2009 onwards were manufactured to have this sound tube fitted (enhanced induction noise) The sound tubes I believe we’re only fitted to 2litre 6 speed models, so if you didn’t have one of those models post 2009 a blanking plate was fitted to the bulkhead hole.
Found something like this below on NC2 models, but it will be the blanking plate, so inlet blocked. Note this is a LHD car but will still be in the same position for RHD models.
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