sdman

Has anyone experienced the road noise on Texas roads?

They are using a new type of material to overlay and re-surface their highways which is a

rougher and more porius surface.

Traveled to Dallas on I30 last week and my head is still roaring.

The trip was in a 2010 ES350.

Noticed they are using this type of surface on their State and secondary roads too.

Sam

Tact

iTrader: (1)

We just got back from Tyler, Texas Thursday and took my 2009 ES350. We traveled I40 and I30, and I complained the entire trip due to road noise. As soon as I returned I search threads here to see if anyone else complained about road noise. I don't know if it was the new surfaces on I30, but I40 was just as bad. This was the first road trip in my car, and it might be my last.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

It's the road surface,not the car.Another vehicle will be louder.
I find riding on black top is super quiet.Concrete type roads not so much.

RickC5

Different tires can also make a difference in what you hear. Our 2008 has Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires and it is a exceptionally quiet car no matter what the surface. This is true in Colorado, Utah & Nevada. California not so quiet--their concrete freeways are simply worn out.

However, here in Colorado, road surfaces vary greatly. Some stretches of new(er) pavement are virtually silent, while older stretches that have been patched and/or subjected to chains & studs can get a bit noisy.

FWIW, we traded in a 2010 Honda Accord V6 4Dr sedan with all the options except NAV for our '08 ES. Our reason for dumping the Accord was that it was a terribly noisy car at freeway speeds with a rough ride to boot. Definitely NOT a good road car for long trips. Honda makes very noisy cars in general--they're designed that way according to the dealer. We recently traded our 2010 Ridgeline for a 2008 Lexus GX470 for the exact same reason--too noisy--even after adding $200 worth of Dynamat.

If you're looking for a quieter car than the ES, good luck & open your wallet wide!

Tact

iTrader: (1)

The last trip to Tyler, which was last year, we took our 2004 GX470. I never had a complaint regarding road noise in that car. The roads were the same this trip when we took the ES350. I guess that is the difference in the two rides.

SW17LS

What kind of tires are on your ES? Makes a huge difference. The cars ship from the factory with Bridgestone Turanza EL400s (mine had these), or Michelin MXV4 S8 (NOT the Primacy MXV4, which is a better tire).

If your car shipped with the Bridgestones you really got screwed. The S8s aren't as good as the Primacys but they're much better than the Bridgestones which are loud, especially with rough pavement. I replaced mine with the Primacy at about 15k miles and the difference is huge.

BUT...rough roads will always produce noise...

Tact

iTrader: (1)

Mine have the Bridgestone Turanza EL400s.

LexBob2

I have the Bridgestones on my 2010. My 2007 came with Michelins. IMO they are both decent OEM tires.
I agree that rough roads will be noisy no matter what kind of tires you have.

SW17LS

Thats the problem, and they get worse as they age. Brand new they were okay, but by 15k miles they were REALLY loud. I didn't really realize just how loud they were until I replaced them.

I just looked, Michelin is doing their $70 sale right now:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....andard%20Model

Those are the H rated tires, saves you about $15 a tire over the Vs which are what your Bridgestones are.

You won't be sorry, it will improve the ride and especially noise so much on ALL pavement types its well worth the cost of replacement even if your Bridgestones are still fine.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

I've bought the Primacy's a couple of times before and loved them.
I immediately put them on my '12 and sold the oem S8's which are some higher priced than the Primacy's.
I did get the 'H' rated for the softer ride quality.
H rated tires are rated for a maximum speed of 130 mph. The V rating is the next rating faster, and V-rated tires are good to 149 mph.
So no real safety issue.Just a bit less cornering handling due to a bit softer sidewall which produces a smoother ride.

SW17LS

I've never been able to figure that out...the only reason I can think for the S8's being higher prices is that they come OEM...very weird...when you look at the specs the Primacy is a vastly superior tire in every way...

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

I believe that's the case because many people will want the same tires when they need tire tires thinking that if they came with the car,they must be the best tires for the car.
So the oem tires are over priced.

mlacomb

I am almost to8k on a set of new el400 tires that were installed on delivery of my cpo 08 es. They have gotten notably louder on all surfaces. I will put up with it until they are gone, but will definitely get the Michelins once they are done. They were very quiet when new, but I would say after 4k they got louder.

nevernu

Perhaps some of the noise is related to missing underbody plugs. See Wanderer99's excellent post w pics at
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...art-2-a-2.html

There are 8 plugs, 4 on each side.

oldgrump

If the car has been shipped after the dealer that first took delivery of the car has accomplished the PDI (when the dealer is supposed to install the four bungs in the four shipping tiedown openings) then these four bungs/plugs (the oval shaped ones PN 90950-01259) may be missing........I noticed this on my car a few weeks after I took delivery (it had been shipped from another dealer in another province). The dealer supplied another set which I installed.......can't say I noticed any difference in road noise and I believe that the road surface has more to do with the road noise than anything else (assuming the same tires). The round body plugs should have been installed at the assembly plant, but if missing should definitely be replaced/installed.