Buffetting on the motorway. Htaf do people cope

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

Really hurts my ears.

Think I'm just sensitive. And misophonic.

I routinely drive with the windows down on the motorway, seeing as my aircon is broken, luckily the electric windows work and I don't mind my hair being blown into wild disarray. It's fine so long as the passenger window is down too, but I agree, one on its own is awful.

Definitely needed them down today, it was 22C, so not unbearably hot outside, but the car was parked in the sun all afternoon and boiling inside.

I always have two front windows open at least a couple of inches. Just love to feel the air.
Yes, I have a reasonably new car with air con, but it's not the same.

Do you do much moroway driving LadyB49?

Open windows on the motorway would be a complete no for me. It wasn't 22 degrees where I live MeetOn. It was cold and grey

some cars are worse than others, our current car is 100% worse for this effect than our previous car even though the new one is just an update of the old car brand / make!?

People may not be experiencing the same issue that you expect them to

I hate having the window open in a car at any speed.

I’m not a fussy person but it is the one thing that will make me lose my shit in the car with DH- it makes my ears feel weird.

As a result, I truly do not understand people who get pleasure from driving convertible cars. Madness.

I never experienced this on 2 previous cars, a Honda CRV and a Nissan X trail, both had for 10 years each. However on new Toyota Auris, it is unbearable. I didn’t even know it was a thing!

If Dd puts window down in back seat, there is an immediate deep humming vibration in the ear (on motorway). Neither me or DH have ever experienced it before and we are in our fifties. We were wondering if it was age related! Glad to hear it’s not.

do people open the windows because they have the heater set to "recirculate?"

Well I was expecting a thread about the traffic jamming up for no reason - like buffering when downloading a film, or when Netflix jams up.....

You need three windows open to stop it.

I sometimes open the window - if one of my grubby family members has farted so that I can 'refresh' the air. On other occasions somebody in the car has motion sickness and a blast of air to the face helps them feel a little better. We usually open opposite windows to reduce the noise

Once you go above about 40mph it's more fuel efficient to use the air con anyway

It's more fuel-efficient to use air con than open a window? How can that be??

Once you go above about 40mph it's more fuel efficient to use the air con anyway

Well, I was curious and googled it, and seems like it's a myth.

www.businessinsider.com/car-fuel-efficiency-ac-air-conditioner-on-windows-down-open-2013-9

www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/ac-vs-open-windows/

My son keeps opening his window in the back just enough to make my ears/head feel awful, very difficult to explain to him why I keep telling him to stop it! "When you open the window it makes my ears hurt" doesn't make much sense to a 3 year old!

@foggymist You should be able to stop him winding the back windows down using some of the driver’s electric window controls.

I do this even for adult passengers who I don’t trust not to fiddle

Don't have electric controls for the back windows! 7 year old car with standard spec. He pushes the handle with his foot.

I absolutely can not have windows open when going above about 40 mph

DS had a phase of nudging the window down in the car and enjoyed the awkward scrabble to reach back to wind it up.

The two front windows open an even amount is fine. I like a brief change of air every now and then.

I love the window open, the fresh air blowing in even on cold days.

The weather has cooled down significantly so I don't know why you even want the windows open just now.

I'd be sick if I didn't have actual fresh air rather than recycled air / fake air con. I'd have windows open in the middle of winter if I could. I don't know how people bake themselves in their own recycled breath / farts tbh.

Yes, thinking about it I open both the front windows right down fairly routinely when I get in the car, it's lovely driving with fresh air blasting through and aircon doesn't give the same freshness. I'd still like to have aircon as open windows don't cut it in traffic jams but even when I did have it I used to use the windows quite a lot too.

I also hate the noise made when driving on concrete roads (although thankfully they have resurfaced the motorway near me now) and going over all those joins on the M6 in the West Midlands.

I do a lot of motorway driving. Maybe it is the design of my car (Kuga), but having the windows open hurts my ears and it is very noisy. My car isn't stuffy or full of fart smells either

I haven't noticed this, but I do find the fire alarms in work painful and have to block my ears and look like a muppet when they test them every week. No-one else is bothered by them.

I have mine open because I vape

I have no idea. I find it physically painful.

It was pretty shit travelling this summer as my aircon is rubbish