2010 Road Noise

Re: 2010 Road Noise Benchmark against Insight/Civic Hybrid/09 Prius

As an Ex Toyota HQ Guy in the Early 90's when we introduced the Lexus the quiet interior was a huge selling point

After driving the 09 Prius for a few thousand miles in the Bay Area Mix of Roads, the Road Noise and Lack of Quality Insulation is the only nit picking I can find to talk about

As Prius moves up a class and starts to get some competition from Honda on the Hybrid Handling, I would hope Toyota could improve the Interior Noise Penetration on rough roads

I guess we will have to see the measured decibal tests from the Magazines. DOes anyone Have stats of the 2010 Honda Insight , 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid and 2009 Prius so we can benchmark the 2010 Prius for Interior Noise at 50 MPH and 70 MPH

 

There seemed to be considerable work on noise supression, there was a slide I saw somewhere showing noise deadening mat under carpets, seats on bulkheads and in the doors.

 

let me hazard a guess that 2010 will be significantly quieter than 2004, despite showroom floor noise

 

I'm hoping it is better insulated, but I will be upgrading the speakers and adding noise dampening materials to the doors anyway. I did my '07 and the sound quality and noise reduction was obvious and worth every penny.

Lee

 

Can you share with us what products you purchased and how you installed the Sound Insulation in the doors in case we need it for the 2010

 

Yeah, I would be interested to learn how effective the insulation is and what the total cost was --- if you don't mind sharing.

 

There are many threads on PriusChat. Do a search to get all the info and links to pictures you will need.

I used RAAMmat and had component speakers replacing the front door speakers installed. Then sealed up the door with Dynamat. Deadening the sound cavity in the doors with these products improve the sound of the audio plus cut down on the road noise.

Good luck,

Lee

 

At the Washington DC Prius connection event if I understood correctly there was significant effort at lowering noise levels on the 2010 model including:

1) noise dampening on the front wheel wells.

2) aerodynamic improvements under the car causing noise reduction

3) larger engine causing lower rpm at hiway speeds (and less noise)

Separately, many Prius owners report lower noise by changing the tires to a few of the Michelin types.

Eric

 

DO you know what MIchelins' users tried that reduced noise and do we know if they had to sacrifice fuel economy ?

 

I use MXV4+ Energy tires in the stock size. Their mileage is the same or slightly better than the OEM tire. Be advised that Michelin no longer makes this tire in the stock size. They have replaced it with the MXV4 Primacy, which is not a LRR tire, but still pretty good.

Many PC members use Nokian WRg2 tires and report no loss of mileage.

Tom

 

I would be interested as well...

 

YEA!

PLEASE Toyota Prius team:
Go to the TireRack All Season survey pages and don't put anything on the 2010 that has less that Excellent reviews for all categories. I could give you a pass to Good on the ice and snow on cars sold where it does not snow, but I notice that most of the tires that don't score 'Excellent' on those are also only 'Good' for hydroplaning and wet traction.

Stop giving car reviewers cause to downgrade the car simply because they ride on cheap rubber. And, save your buyers some money by putting decent tires on the cars to start with so they don't have to:
Suffer with lousy tires until they wear out
or
Buy decent tires to replace the OEMs (anyone want some 2004 Integrity tires, only 8K miles on them!!)

 

The UK car gets Bridgestone Turanza ER30s as the OEM tyre. They seem pretty good. TireRack review only rates treadwear as 'good', though, and they are a summer-only tyre.

No doubt this is why the braking distance is poorly rated by magazines - the OE tyres just don't grip.

 

I find the interior noise of the 2010 Prius to be quite high. With the car off there is good base from the speakers(replaced the OEMs). When the engine is running there is allot of low frequency noise that masks the base region which pretty much wipes out the base. At highway speeds the road noise makes things worse. Allot of noise comes from the dash board, probably through the fire wall and from the wheel wells. Road noise also comes through the floor. No where near as quiet as my old Buick. This makes it difficult to get good sound from the stereo. The Prius needs much better sound proofing. I love the MPG but the interior noise is disappointing. I will have to work on that. Also, the engine roars on acceleration. I used to think this was typical for 4 cylinder cars. Apparently, it still is. Toyota needs to do better in this area.

 

I find the interior noise of the 2010 Prius to be quite low.

 

Amazing how my Gen III V is sooo quiet at low speeds and sooo loud at highway speeds. Cheap (Bridgestone) tires and poor (any?) cabin sound insulation.