Has anyone noticed how freakin loud their 3 is while driving on a road with gravel strewn about?!? I drove my wifes car around last night(civic) and the went to work in mine this morning and noticed how loud each and every tinny little pebble is that bounces off the inner wheel wells. Is it due to the larget 17" rims maybe?? Anything i can do to quiet it down?

 

Yeah i am getting the exact same thing, It might have to do something with the cheap plastic fender things around the wheels. The suff goes behind it and hits the metal around the engine making all that loud noise.

 

yeah i think that happends because of the 17" cause when i had the 16 stock i didnt get that sound now with the 18" i buy i getting it

 

I too was amazed at how much noise was coming through from the wheel wells!

When I bought the car, I sat through the 'extras' routine saying 'no thanks' to the dealer money maker add ons like rustproofing, fabric care, permashine, way overpriced 3rd party extended warranty (I did go with Mazda's own plan - better coverage and cheaper, but had to ask for it specifically), undercoat, etc. Now I'm thinking I maybe I should have gone for the undercoat option, at least in the wheel wells. Thoughts anyone?

I wonder if the tread pattern on the OEM goodyears is playing a part too? Maybe they're picking up more stuff than the tires people have on the other size wheels?

 

Well, the undercoat may help a bit...ive been tossing around the idea of getting some of the rubberized undercoating stuff and giving the wheel wells a good coating.