Road Noise

Yes, if the ICE is off the car is very quiet - confusingly quiet, I'd say, once, in the beginning, I left the car on parking without shutting down .
Air conditioning is surprisingly quiet too, even on max speed.

 

I was going to suggest you were, and I mean this kindly, 'supersensitive' but if you find the air blower quiet even on fast setting. Well, that dispels my idea. Perhaps you're just subconsciously comparing various noises.

 

Maybe you're more susceptible to certain frequencies, I know I was with the Gen 3, there was a certain frequency of road noise that I found very tiring on that.

 

You've heard my wife then?

 

She can't be as bad as my mother-in-law, she's like having a rear bearing, drone, a blowing exhaust and stones hitting your windscreen all at the same time.

 

I agree that the various types of pavements can increase/decrease the road and tire noise. It's not too bothersome. I appreciate all the reports posted about the Michelin Defenders and Michelin AS tires. I will consider them in the future.

 

And the speed you're doing. I had someone in the car the other day, there was a long red traffic light. He commented after a minute or so at idle "isn't it quiet". I flicked it into EV Mode and quietly accelerated away gently to rub it in.

At motorway speeds, I don't think it's any quieter than my previous cars which were diesels, what with wind and road - and my CD noise.

 

My rental car this week in Detroit that I picked up today is a 2016 Gen 4 Two. First time I have driven a Gen 4 and I am really enjoying it. However I very much notice the road noise compared to my Gen 2. I suspect the road noise level may be the same as my Gen 2 but because overall the Gen 4 is much quieter, less wind noise, and engine noise is practically non-existent, it seems to make road noise stand out more noticeably. It seems like it is mainly coming from the rear, even though I have the rear seats up. The rental car for some reason is missing the tonneau cover, maybe that is part of the reason as I have heard that the tonneau cover helps reduce road noise a little bit. Another factor is on my Gen 2 I am currently running Michelin Premier A/S which are the quietest and best handling tires I have ever used on my Gen 2, the only downside is there is about a 2 mpg hit in gas mileage. But after ten years of driving efficient tires I decided to splurge a bit this time around. The rental Gen 4 two that I am driving this week has Bridgestone Ecopia.

 

The tonneau cover might be under the boot/trunk floor - there's a place designed for it to go there - mine lives there most of the time.

 

Mine is just a floppy roll-up fabric cover - more trouble than it's worth most of the time. There's a cavity just made for it above the spare wheel.

 

Yes, mine is a vinyl type fabric. It's really useless compared with the type you showed. I had your lift-up type on all 5 or 6 previous hatchbacks. I was told it wasn't available on PRIUS - but just looks like TOYOTA Aust decided on the "useless" type.

 

In the US, it depends on the trim level. The lower trims have the lift-up cover and the higher ones have one like yours.

 

I just sit my mesh one on the cargo floor if I need the extra height.
If the cargo might be messy, I have also placed it behind the front seats. That would not work with rear seat passengers though.

 

Best solution is Increase the JBL volume and start grooving, road noise is gone.

 

...which leads to loss of hearing, which leads to hearing aids, which leads to emphasized high frequency noise.
Been there, done that

 

There is an entire section somewhere in this Priuschat site that had one guy completely insulating his Gen III. He even gave you the results and the difference it made. Can't remember the name, but it was a pretty lengthy install that included photos.