Tremendous acoustic vibration. Anyone else?
 

Just curious if anyone else is seeing this like I am with my 2016 Fit LX.

At freeway speed, I fully lowered both rear windows, leaving the front windows fully up. I was greeted with tremendous acoustic vibration. Really bad.

Lowering the front windows made it go away. But driving with just the rear windows down was impossible.

Very surprised with this, but there is a first time for everything.

I've seen that in the fit, and other vehicles as well. You just have to play with the openings to find a sweet spot

That happened in my 2008 Fit and in my 2013 Fit also in my wife's 2014 Accord and her mom's 2015 Camry.

Yes, I've heard it and it is very annoying. Our Scion xB does the same thing. These cars are just not designed to be driven with the windows down.

It does not happen in my classic VWs. They didn't have AC, not even as an option, so they were designed to be driven with the windows down. I guess those folk who buy the Canadian DX models will have sonic headaches if they venture below the 49th parallel.

Same issue as OP with my Fit and my Fiesta. Lots of buffeting with only the rear windows open. Instead it reminds me to use the pop up moon roof to get the air flowing nicely.

On the Fit, I can turn off the fan and I still get air flow. On the fiesta, within 30 seconds of powering off the fan, it closes down the fresh air vent, so I have to leave the fan running on low just to keep the vent open.

Why would you do this?

my wife just traded in a 2014 Ford Explorer for a 16 Civic Touring. When my daughter opened a back window on the Explorer at speed the acoustic vibration was almost painful. Cars are built much better than they used to be and this is a result of that. The builds are much tighter and there is nowhere for the pressure to escape other than the open window.

To get the fresh air without the wind noise from the front windows.

I noticed this the first day I bought my FIT as it was a hot July day ... scared the crap out of me and borderline painful!


Do the Mugen style rain guards help with this at all? I've been holding back ordering them and am really curious if they help with air flow.

Funny, '60s VWs were known for being so tight that it was better to open a window slightly to close the door, yet they had no wind buffeting resonance at all.

obviously I have no idea what I'm talking about. I've only experienced this effect on vehicles I have owned built in the 2000s. making leaps of logic should never be attempted three drinks into an evening.

This all has to do with the overall aerodynamic shape of a car. My '64 Beetle never had any buffeting noise, but my '00 New Beetle did, if the sunroof and side windows were set in certain positions. You'll see many sunroofs today have a little spoiler that pops up when "full open," and its sole purpose is to mitigate the buffeting you experienced.

As mentioned above, you'll just need to try different combinations of windows open/closed/slightly open, etc. until you get the desired breeze without the buffeting.

es

can u open the moon roof then? :iough:

i have the car on partial recirculate at all times while i borrow my wife's GK, so unless ure gassy or something should not need the window cracked open..

plus makes ur clothes smell dusty too if ure wearing business casual..going to a nice office building.

:D hahaha, i lol'ed when i read this..

There is no moon roof on an LX.:mad:

It's called science. That's normal for any car.

oops! :eek3: :rotfl:

With the rear windows all the way down, try opening the front windows just a bit. Should take some pressure out of the equation.

The front windows have to be down more than just a bit which defeats the whole purpose.

OK, well, there's no free lunch here. Unless you install a sunroof, no way to quell that vibration with the front windows all the way up and rears all the way down.