Today I took my two week old 2.8QM on a nice drive out to the hills to see the fall colours. I noticed a very pronounced low frequency drone at steady highway speeds in both 4th and 5th gears.

I'm not sure the best way to describe it, but it's almost like the buffeting sound you get when you open the sunroof, or just the rear windows on many cars. In fact, at first I thought the rear windows were open! After I made sure that windows were closed, I became a little concerned. I couldn't locate exactly where the noise was coming from, and there was no vibration coming up from the shifter. I thought it could be the tires, but am afraid it is somewhere in the drivetrain.

Is this normal? Anyone else get this?

Because most of my driving is in the city, with little cruising on the highways during the rush hour commutes, I did not notice this before.

I searched the archives, and there appear to be others who have experienced somewhat similar symptoms but I could not find satisfactory explanations or resolutions.

Any feedback and comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
Neil.

99.5 2.8QM Silver/Onyx

Neil, I think I have noticed the same thing and although annoyed I am not alarmed yet.I got my 1.8T Avant about 6 weeks ago and could swear it didn't make the sound during very early drives.In city driving it appears in 4th gear and seems to be engine/intake related.I turn off the radio and listen closely and can attenuate the noise with the gas peddle.And yet it doesn't seem to do it all the time.Seems it's more noticeable after the engine is really warm.I'm confused but will continue to monitor it.I wouldn't worry.

I have noticed some tire noise in our 1.8Tqms but I attribute that to the dunlop tires on the sport pkg. You don't say whether you have the sport pkg. or not so I'm gonna assume that you don't. It may still be tire noise, but I would expect the non-sport tires to be quiter.

My mother-in-law's chief comment about the A4 was that it was not as quiet as their Lexus.DUH! Audi is not intending to make their cars like tombs (more driver involvement) so we should not be surprised by a slightly less quiet cabin - the A4 is primarily a sports sedan.

Anyways, in summation, if you have the sport pkg., then I highly suspect the tires are the culprit.
Oh yeah, the A4 does have an issue with wind noise around the A-pillar that you may also be hearing.

JohnO

the noise I'm referring to isn't excessive tire noise. I've had other cars where that was very pronounced, but my A4 noise is definitely different - not loud, but an oscillating drone. The A pillar noise is also negligible compared to other cars I've had.