Rear window wind noise

[UnbrknCh8n]

Hi all-
I'm new here, so I'm truly sorry if this has already been discussed (but searching the posts didn't reveal this discussion).

Here's the (minor) issue:
I have an '05 SE. When driving 15-55 mph, with the front windows up, if one of my kids "rolls" down a rear window (on either side), I get a funky reverberation in the car. It is a very low frequency "whoop, whoop, whoop" which strikes me as an almost physically sickening harmonic. If I roll my (driver's) window down, it decreases significantly in intensity. Has anyone else noticed this? I've just figured that it is some design flaw, because unless you have kids, it isn't usual to drive with just one of the rear windows down. However, this is a small price to pay for having an enormously fun car!

 

[grommet]

This is documented in a tech article, if I remember correctly... or something very close. Such is life driving a big box. (Or was it the manual... I can't remember.)

 

[sgllr3]

I have experienced this in several different cars, including my '97 pathfinder, and I think my '06 330 i. I believe its just the dynamic physics of wind. I don't really pay much attention beyond adjusting the window height around, if I bother to have them down to begin with.

 

[toddjb123]

Yup - noticed this in all SUVs as well as some other cars. The sickening feeling you get is likely caused by an increase in preasure on your ear drums. With one window down, wind beats inside the car raising the air pressure. If you crack the sun roof or roll down another window to compensate, the pressure has a place to release.

The "woop woop woop" is the air escaping out the single open window. Kind of like pouring liquid out of a small can opening when you don't have the air inlet hole above it. Glug glug glug...

So yeah, you just have to crack any other window in the car to get over it. My Durango actually used to have an air release flap behind one of the rear panels (and a plastic grate). This flap would release the pressure you get when you close the car door to prevent that pop in the ears. We probably have the same thing somewhere....

 

[Freeflytim]

It goes away at 90+. Just hurts really bad getting there.

 

[UnbrknCh8n]

It goes away at 90+. Just hurts really bad getting there.

LOL! Going 90+ with the rear windows down is also a good way to get rid of all the accumulated papers and candy wrappers that my kids so often "forget" in my car!

More seriously, with the windows up, the wind noise is so minimal (and the ride so smooth) that several times I've found myself just comfortably cruising on the highway, only to find that I'm actually going 90-95 mph. Oops!

 

[classicflytyer]

Same thing happens when you open a sunroof on a car or truck. On most cars it starts at ~30mph and gets VERY loud by ~50mph.

 

[Freeflytim]

I set the cruise at 90+!

only to find that I'm actually going 90-95 mph. Oops!