At least at small street speeds (5-40mph) and maybe even higher (been too busy with traffic for this to register), the vehicle drums constantly at a very unpleasant very low frequency that literally beats the sense out of my skull. I'm wondering what the root cause is so that I can avoid it when I spec the vehicle to buy. So, here's what I think can contribute to it:

• Tires; R19 Pirelli Scorpion Zero at 41 psi front 44 psi rear. That was my first thought when I got hold of this car and heard this sound, but it looks like the pressure is somewhere in the middle between light and heavy load. Could this be the reason?
• Plastic cargo compartment lining - I hope to God this is not the case, I really like it. The sound seems to be present regardless of whether the cargo compartment is empty or loaded, but I thought I'd still mention it.
• Panoramic sunroof.

Anything I forgot?

Interestingly enough, the other vehicle I tried (130 SE X-Dynamic, also with a panoramic sunroof) didn't have it, and now that I think of it it generally felt quieter - I wonder if this may be due to the quality of the sound insulation two trims away from each other?

 

I’ve read a little bit about our Defenders having both an enhanced engine sound, and separately, an active noise cancellation system that both use the speakers and subwoofer to artificially adjust cabin noise. Maybe yours has a fault in one of those two “features”?

 

Do you have the expedition rack? I found the low frequency rumble from that to be really annoying. I do not have a sunroof, so it was literally the metal roof vibrating. A Colorado fairing helped a fair it.

 

I would venture to say it probably is the tires.

 

I have a P300 with no snrf, but I have a rack with a fairing. I don't hear droning at any speeds/rpm. I do hear wind buffeting, but that's not a constant droning noise.

 

I'd say tires as well ... Hmm...