Is there any difference in ride quality between touring vs. non-touring Prius?

Winding Road Magazine test drive of the 2016 Prius. The video notes say it was recorded with in-ear binaural microphones. It says to wear earbuds or headphones and you will feel (and hear) as though you were sitting in the driver's seat. (Or, you can cup your hand behind the speaker on your iPhone or iPad to enhance the sound.)

The driving starts about 3 minutes into the video. Turn up your speaker. See if you notice any tire noise...

 

The road noise there seems to be similar of other cars on their YouTube. I also believe when they are on the freeway, they are on I-5 in LA? That is a pretty noisy road if so. So sure it isn't whisper quiet, but after sampling quite a few of their videos, the Cadillacs seemed to be quietest but all other cars, including Mercedes and BMW had similar sounds

 

Zojja, yes, I believe that's the I-5 freeway in the video. Last year, Toyota had a big media day at the old Marine Corps Air Station, in Tustin. A track was set up to test handling, braking, and all the new collision avoidance features. Then the media was allowed to take the cars out on the freeway and back roads.

You know, it just angers me that Toyota didn't spend another $10 or $15(?) per vehicle, and add more sound dampening material to their most popular selling cars... the Camry, Corolla, and Prius. *Supposedly*, they added an extra thin layer to the floor of the '16 Prius; part of that new "Global Platform." But what about the door panels? The wheel wells? Roof? Nobody expects whisper quiet, but they should at least make an attempt to cut down on some of that cabin noise. Especially in the previous Gen 1, 2, and 3! Those cars are an embarrassment. Cheap plastic, noise, and all kinds of rattles! Toyota has really gotten "skimpy" in the last 10 years.

(Yes, I'm getting 62 MPG. I'm smiling... and wearing ear plugs while driving.)

 

You should come drive in my husband's RAV4 if you want to experience road noise . You can't even hear the radio on the freeway in that car

All I can say is I find it comparable to my Audi A4 so I have no issues.

 

You have the 17" wheels on your Four Touring. Bridgestone Ecopia tires? They are also classified as "low rolling resistance", like my 15" Toyos. You are fortunate. I wonder if the Touring models have more sound insulation than the regular Two and Three models.

(My 2005 Camry was similar to your husband's Rav4. Couldn't hold a conversation while on the freeway. But my sister's 2002 Avalon is very quiet. She'll never part with that car.)

 

Yup, looks to be the same tires.

 

That's my life everyday! It seems like people hate me! I do get looks though by other drivers. The car looks great. But then again, some people don't really like the looks of it either.

 

That's the freeway exit 5 minutes away from where I live! South OC = horrible roads. They've been doing construction at that section of the freeway and the road noise is bad there

 

Please use multi-quotes

That is my experience too. Must be because I am 61 as well.

I love to find a slow moving truck to drive behind so that I have an "excuse" to drive slowly.

I got my plates mailed directly from the dealer. Have not installed them, because I ordered specialty black plates from the DMV.

 

Is there a difference? I'm not trying to call you on it, just curious. I know with our 3rd gen Canadian Touring the steering ratio was a bit tighter, and the turning circle bigger, and the steering felt better, surer. I'm not sure about suspension though.

 

I have a 2014 Avalon Hybrid. I don't have any compliants about the noise level in my Prius, but the Avalon is much quieter.

 

I am going to keep an eye on the customer reviews of the Continental TrueContacts The customer ratings so far are quite favorable, however it is a small sample size so far, 133 reviews and 690,000 miles driven.

 

I only test drove the touring for 5 minutes, but I thought the suspension was better tuned for handling than ride comfort. The handling was only a little better in the touring.

 

In case anyone is interested: I just went and looked at my tires. My Four Touring came with Yokohama Bluearth S34 tires. They are P215/45R/17 87V. They don't seem overly noisy to me, except on bad roads. I feel like there is some kind of "growling" noise at low speeds. It reminds me of the sound brakes make when they should have been changed already and now it's metal on metal. Maybe it isn't the tires, I don't know. But, I thought someone might be interested to know about these tires.

I'm waiting for specialty plates, too. I got mine from the dealer as well (I think we both got ours from Carson?) I went ahead and put the plates on for now, though. Figured I might as well since the new plates won't get here for weeks, I bet. I got my first application turned down. I didn't realize you couldn't replace a letter with a number. :/ Makes sense now, though.

 

I had a plate turned down on my last Prius. Tried Pr1us - to no avail.

 

Any more details? I am curious to go test drive one now.

I upgraded my gen 2 to a touring, and it was a massive difference. However, the differences in Gen 3 were not very large. I thought they had gone away from different components with Gen 4.