Interior Noise Over Bumps

[matt9]

Anybody else experiencing some kind of low squeaking noises when driving over bumps? It's defiently coming from the interior and it sounds like plastic on plastic. But it doesn't help that going over even the smallest bumps causes everything loose in the car to vibrate (change, books etc). I drive mainly in Hamilton where the roads are absolutly terrible and make driving in the Mazda not that enjoyable.

I casually mentioned it to a mechanic at a mazda dealer during a regular checkup and they attribute it to the "stiff suspension" of the Mazda 3 and that you can't really do anything about it. I also drive a camry and even a 90 corolla and its quieter over bumps then the Mazda 3. For example, just putting the Mazda book in the glove compartment will cause banging around over bumps. Its quite ridiculous.

Ive only had my car for 5 months and I do love it, but this is just pathetic for a brand new car in terms of "interior comfort".

Any thoughts?

[EvilEric]

I remember reading on this forum or another that the wheel walls are thin so stones that are kicked up bumps, stuff like that are really noticeably heard.

I've also seen people spray this protective rubber to protect against scratches/rust and help soundproof against these things.

I've never had problems with things moving as much as your described when going over bumps. My manual is in the glove box also and no problems.

[matt9]

The problem with the problem is that its hard to describe :/

What I was saying about the manual is this: When I first bought the car, I put the manual in the glovebox (in the large part of it). Every bump I went over, the manual would vibrate (or bounce around), not too much such that it made a noise. I removed the manual and put it into the trunk and the noise stopped.

I don't know if there is ANY solution or the noise is coming from the glove box in general, but I was making a more general observation about the overall interior noise when driving on rough roads with the Mazda3 (which I would say is somewhat poor when compared to the Corolla or Camry).

[EvilEric]

I had the opposite experience with the Corolla where it was Much louder and they tried to tell me that abnormal whirling noise from the engine was to be expected and common place (windows close, car running, i could CLEARLY hear it).

Camary is very quiet and I would say it's more like the Mazda 6 instead of a 3.