road noise

I don't, YMMV.

They do have more road noise then some cars, less than some other cars.

Test drive one and decide for yourself. It will be worse on concrete than asphalt, the rougher the concrete the nosier it is so look for a concrete road for your test.

 

It depends on what kind of vehicle you are coming from. I came from a big truck so this is like a town car. If your coming from a higher end car it is going to be more road noise then you are used to.

 

naw, its not bad at all. I have blutooth and conversations are very easy at any speed.

 

and supposed to be quieter than my gen II!

 

If you're coming from a luxury car, it'll be louder. Its about on par with other cars in its class. Its a bit quieter than my last car (Scion tC)

 

I've also heard that the V is louder than the others, since there's less rubber cushioning you from the road. Never compared it myself, though, and it doesn't bother me. The reduction in engine noise sure is nice, that's for sure!

Heck, that might be the main reason for any road noise complaint you might find; there's hardly anything else to be heard, and I feel like road noise is generally more objectionable than engine noise (which you feel is at least tied to your car, and somewhat under your control).

 

Depends on the tires and the roads you drive on.....

I've had 4 different brands/models of tires on my Prius so far and they all change how noisy the car is. The 17" performance tires were the worst followed by the stock Integritys. The db Super E-Spec and Nokian i3s were much less noisy.

Like stated by everyone else, it really comes down to what you are used to in your previous vehicles.

 

There is quite a bit of road noise, so much that the blu logic bluetooth that came with the car (but added at the dock) is worthless. I have been looking into how to dampen the road noise.

 

I've only had the car for about 300 miles and my perception of road noise is minimal compared to my previous Spectra. It also seems quieter than my 05' Tacoma 4D but it's a truck. Compared to the '10 Civic, '10 Insight, and the '11 Sonata, it's probably the quietest. My old IS300 was probably the quietest car I've had.

Now that I'm getting familiar with it, I do notice a bit of road noise. I haven't setup bluetooth yet on my iPhone but judging by other posters, I may not like the results. Overall, I think it is good. Maybe 3.5 stars out of 5?

 

I have zero problems using bluetooth in my car but I do admit to using bluetooth through my Kenwood stereo and not the factory system. Maybe the problems stem from the bluetooth more than the vehicle noise?

 

I am going to second the comment about the road and tires. The Prius is inherently a quiet car. It's not quiet because of sound insulation, it's quiet because it doesn't make much noise. If you drive on a noisy road or noisy tires you will hear it.

Tom

 

I enjoy driving on the highway...and BT works flawlessly while driving. Road noise? Not a problem for me.

 

My 2010 III was the quiestest car I've ever owned for the first 5,000 miles, then the dealer rotated my tires. Now it sounds like I have studded snow tires, and it is NOISEY. Turns out the rear wheels are way out of alignment, and those tires are cupped. I think I've become a believer in yearly alignments as recommended for the Prius by Toyota.

The bottom-line is that the Prius can be a very quiet car if the tires are balanced and the front end is aligned properly. Those who claim it is noisey don't have things adjusted properly, IMO.

 

Or drive on noisy roads. Some road surfaces are a lot louder than others.

Tom

 

But this applies to every car. I have a road near my house that is quite noisy.......even in an Avalon, Lexus LS430, etc..

 

True, but it applies less to cars with heavy sound-proofing. Most luxury cars use copious amounts of sound absorbing materials to eat up road and tire noise. The Prius is pretty light in this area. Adding a lot of extra weight for sound control is contrary to the very philosophy behind the Prius.

While the Prius has some sound deadening materials, most of the quietness of the Prius is inherent: The Prius makes little noise of its own. This is why a Prius is quiet on smooth roads and not so quiet on noisy roads. A good luxury car would be fairly quiet on both, but at the expense of gas mileage. While both would make road and tire noise, less of it gets into the cabin area of the luxury car.

Tom

 

Tom, yeah, i agree. On the road mentioned above by my house, there was a difference, but not a big difference b/w Prius and the Avalon and LS.

 

Agreed.

My previous car was a BMW, so the interior noise level is much higher in my Prius, and took a while to get used to.

I listen to music most of the time I'm driving, so that helps a bit--though the interior noise does interfere somewhat with the sound quality of the music.