Causes of Wind Noise and How to Keep the Noise Down by Maintaining Your Door Seals

All cars will generate a certain level of wind noise, which is audible inside the cabin of the vehicle. But there are many causes of wind noise. And there are ways to try to keep it down.

Naturally, when it's windy outside, you'll hear more wind noise inside. Equally so, the faster you drive the more wind noise you will hear.

The design of the chassis will also impact the noise level. The wind will flow along the chassis in different ways depending on the specific car model, resulting in varying types of noise. Large side mirrors may audibly pick up more of the wind. Larger vehicles have a higher surface hitting the wind, thus increasing the wind noise. Having a storage box on the roof adds to the surface hitting the wind.

Then there's the type of windows. Cars with laminated windows will be less noisy than those with standard windows. Those with extra thick glass will be quieter than vehicles with laminated glass.

The overall sound proofing of the vehicle also plays a role. The sound absorption materials used inside the door panels etc.

When looking specifically at the windows and the doors, it is important that they are adjusted properly, so that they fit snugly to the chassis, not letting any wind leak into the cabin. Different makes will have different types and thicknesses of the rubber seals that are placed on the inside of the doors and sometimes also of the chassis. It is important that those seals are intact so that they provide a tight fit when the doors are closed. Maintaining the door seals can be one way to keep the wind noise at bay.

Here is a video that shows you a simple method to clean your door seals to keep the wind noise down in your car.

The guy in the video is doing the cleaning using a silicone lubricant spray of the Liquid Wrench brand.