wanted to buy a prius - then I drove it....

The GenIIs are pretty noisy on the roads. Edmunds lists the difference in dB at 70mph cruise:

GenII Prius:
dB @ Idle 39.8
dB @ Full Throttle 70.7
dB @ 70 mph Cruise 69.7

Lexus ES:
dB @ Idle: 41
dB @ Full Throttle: 74.6
dB @ 70 mph Cruise: 67.5

Or you can do an extreme install of dynamat like member Tadashi...
Prius noise level (OEM):
Highway (60 mph) - 74 dB
City (35 mph) - 60 dB

Doors:
Highway (60 mph) - 68 dB
City (35 mph) - 57 dB

Doors and Floor:
Highway (60 mph) - 63 dB
City (35 mph) - 52 dB

Doors, Floor, and Ceiling:
Highway (60 mph) - 60 dB
City (35 mph) - 50 dB

 

Thank You! I have been waiting for someone to compare an 06 Camry to the 2010 Prius!

 

I have to disagree . Road noise is definitively a problem with Hondas, but not all of them. My 07 CR-V is indeed beyond acceptable, unfortunately. My 08 Odyssey, in the other hand, is a lot quieter, in fact, quieter than the 08 Sienna because I test drove both many times before buying. I ride in the passenger seat of a 09 accord 1-2 times a week and it's also fairly quiet. Road noise in my previous 05 Civic was intolerable in the HWY, to the point one could not carry on a decent conversation or listen to music without blowing out the ears. A friend of mine just got the 09 Fit and she claims it is a lot quieter than her previous 07 model. So, I think Honda is making progress, and maybe the touchups in the design of the new CR-V will help to reduce the noise level... if not, the 2011 CR-Z, supposed to have a futuristic look, will most likely have that fixed, hopefully for good.

 

I've noticed the car is considerably quieter than Gen II. As a dealer, we have found a significant difference in the road noise if the proper pre-delivery inspection has not been completed. The tire inflation and underbody panel installation may adversely affect the interior cabin noise. You may want to give your local dealer another chance to demonstrate Gen III for you.

 

The Insight and the Civic are compact cars.

The Prius and the Fusion (and the Camry) are midsize cars.

The Insight is much smaller and lighter than the Prius, while the Civic is only slightly smaller -- though both have pretty small cargo/storage areas. The Fusion and Camry are pretty similarly sized, and they both are are much larger outside than the Prius. Inside, all three cars have pretty similar headroom and legroom, but the Fusion and Camry are wider than the Prius.

 

Interesting. My 2010 Prius is almost as quiet as my 07 BMW 328, which is a very quiet car, at least based on my experience. Must be relative to what you are use to...

 

The roads where I live are terrible on average and I still had no problems with noise. Maybe it's the tires on the car they test drove?

 

OK - I take back my :hail:
ound:

 

As someone who lived in the Seattle area for 7.5 years, I can attest to the noisy roads there. I brought my two cars that I bought in WA (350Z and former 02 Maxima) to CA and can tell a huge difference.

Well, besides the measurements others have supplied, yes, car magazines do it but they're not comparable unless driven on identical roads w/identical conditions. If the road gets resurfaced, very worn down, has grooves added, is ground down, etc. the comparisons are meaningless.

In the Car and Driver comparo of a Geo Metro, 2010 Insight and 2010 Prius that people are talking about, C&D listed their numbers (again, you can't compare them to any #s outside this review), I think they screwed up and reversed the Insight vs. Prius numbers. They list the Insight as being the quietest in all 3 measures yet in the review, one of the highs they list for the Prius is "quiet" and the lows for the Insight they indicate "road noise, thrasy when thrashed"

Anyhow, here are the numbers in idle, full throttle, 70-mph cruise (in db) format. Again I think they're reversed the Prius and Insight numbers .

Metro: 46, 79, 75
Insight: 40, 74, 71
Prius: 49, 76, 72

If noise is really that much of a concern for the OP and he still wants the Prius, then changing tires is an option or lining the inside of the doors and interior bits w/Dynamat or RAAMmat is another.