Loud in More Ways than One

Maybe your next car can be a 45.8 mpg quiet Camry.

 

The drawbacks to the Camry is that trunk and bland looks. It's weird but I prefer to looks of the Prius over the Camry.

I just wish the Prius was more like the Camry in all the other ways.

 

Yet another installment in the "I wish my Prius were a Camry" saga.

 

Except Camry is ugly! Completely no appeal, absolutely no character. The Prius screams for attention, streamline futuristic shape.

 

If the Prius Hatchback had the isolation found in a Camry, it would probably not be able to give you the 52.6 MPG that you reported. Toyota had a design mission for the Prius... max MPG at a somewhat affordable price with reasonable usable room for 5 passengers and gear. To do that, engineers had to make some compromises. Weight had to be kept at a minimum, so isolation materials had to be kept to a minimum... resulting in some engine noise when it's maintaining speed up a hill.

The engine noise in our Prius is not deafening under load. Now, if Toyota had gone for a really quiet car they would probably have come up with something like the Bentley Continental GT. Under full power it's 6L W12 burble is hardly noticeable and will make that Camry sound like a noisy tin can by comparison. At 5115 pounds, the Bentley will allow almost no noise into the cabin, give you whopping 12.6 cubic feet of load space in the trunk, and yields a whopping 15 MPG EPA combined.

Bentley engineers didn't make many compromises, but at the same time they came up with a car that can't quite get 51 MPG, although it's really quiet and around $200,000.

So, a little noise and you can get 51 MPG. It's all about compromise.

 

Something or a lot of things about the Camry just isn't appealing. Clearly Toyota is aware as they have tried to spruce it up.. body kits, wheels.. etc..

 

Keep in mind that the Camry was refreshed in 2012, while the Prius is basically the same since 2010. Different cars, different missions. Sounds like you bought the wrong car or failed to get a proper test drive in your Prius.

 

It would be interesting if Toyota does come out with a Prius model that has a higher output hybrid motor. That would be a true "Plus Performance" model. Loose a few mpg for performance, that would be perfect in my book. The hatchback feature was crucial for me.

 

I later refresh doesn't mean it's for the better...

 

What tire pressures are you running? Would you willingly take the mpg hit from lower pressures or a higher rolling resistance tire to get your quiet?

 

How long have you owned the Prius G3?... I noticed you have 5899 posts.. and you've just noticed this? I noticed this on my first test drive. Actually on my Persona with 17's, my bet is it's even worse in my car.

 

right.. and you just noticed?

 

Road Noise doesn't bother me.

I've had quieter vehicles, I've had louder vehicles from both a road noise and engine noise standpoint. Right now, I'm driving a 2010 Honda Fit which I love, but admittedly road noise is loud and the 4 cylinder engine can be heard under strain.

IMO so what? It's the nature of the beast. As long as it isn't so intrusive it hinders conversation or can't be drowned out by the stereo, I don't really care. Most road noise,- vehicle noise becomes "white noise" after a while. I know it's still exists on my Honda Fit, but I instantly blank it out.

I'll trade a little ignorable "noisiness" for better fuel economy- any time.

 

I had Goodyear comfort treads on my 2005 II made it much quitter, but lost about 2-3 mpg.