I've had my 2007 XKR a few months now, I love it. However one thing I find is that the road noise/wind can be quite loud. I know with the 20s on the rear being so wide with low profiles that some road noise will be inevitable however, do the boot rubbers require replacing or is this just the norm for these cars?.

Kev

 

Sorry if it is in your signature, which I don’t see from my phone, but do you have a coupe or ‘vert? That can play a lot into the wind noise, and things to look into.
What brand/model of tires are currently on the car? How old are they? How much tread left?
If you search this forum you’ll find lots of opinions on tires.
Some tires are just noisier than others, but may have other redeeming qualities, depending on how you drive.
Find your current tires on TireRack.com, and see how they are rated for noise and other qualities.

 

I am pretty impressed with my 2012 convertible. It is quieter then a lot of hard top type cars I have driven. Also when I went to the Conti's it improved the ride quality and lowered the noise more. Just my observation.

 

Tires, as others have mentioned, can play a huge role in road noise. I could not stand the noise my Hankook tires made and had to change them. The Nexens I have now much improved the noise.

 

Second that. My R vert. came to me on Conti's with about 50% thread, and she is as quite as my XJ cruising on the highway- TBH very impressed.

 

The Coupe probably has a lot more road noise than the convertible.
Most of the road noise is generated or comes through the cargo area of the car.

On the coupe this is open to the interior space.

I do not notice a lot of wind noise, but I do get a fair amount of road noise.
Where is the wind noise coming from?

 

Remove Fuse 19, use the paddle shifters, and you won't hear any road noise. It's easy to do and, if you don't like the louder exhaust, it's easily reversed. Fuse 19 is in the rear fuse box, in between the rear seatbacks.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...t-note-223990/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...se-19-a-87400/

 

Same here. Bought the car with Hankooks on it. Noise wasn't bothersome but when I changed to my current Yokohamas, it was noticeably quieter.

 

If you think its the rubber seals then its worth applying Gummi Pflege rubber conditioner to the all the rubber sealsto soften them up and give them a longer life. As a bonus it will also reduce the doors freezing onto the rubber too.

 

What to you is 'so wide'?

I have 305's now on the rear and can't here my tyres over the exhaust (no back-box) and stereo cranked.

Were you after a sedate drive in an XKR??

You need to share the rubber you're running and then check their db rating o the likes of my tyres...etc