Toys4RJill

mmarshall

When I test-drove the Continental, the amount of engine noise during low-speed acceleration (non-turbo V6) seemed a little more than what I thought a flagship in this class should have (Steve, when he sampled one, agreed), though it was otherwise commendably quiet in almost all conditions. I haven't sampled the latest Navigator on the road, but it wouldn't surprise me to see it equal the S-class Hush-Factor. The materials that Lincoln in using on the interior of their very latest models, IMO, are quite impressive, and those solid materials probably help absorb more of the sound. Lincoln engineers are also trying hard to overcome the brand's stigma, in the past, of being a so-so nameplate of little more than rebadged Fords with just a little more wood and leather inside.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

mmarshall

In some circumstances, it can actually be unsafe if vehicles are too quiet. There are cases of pedestrians with hearing or vision-impairment being hit because they simply were not aware of some electric or very quiet motor vehicles next to them....or where the direction of what little noise those vehicles make was came from. Of course, the obstacle-avoidance and automatic braking in many newer vehicles is supposed to prevent that, but not all of those systems have been perfected yet.

ArmyofOne

MMarshall, the only thing unsafe about EV's running quieter is the fact that people won't look up from their phones while they walk out into the middle of a busy city street.

And anyway, this thread is about interior noise levels, not exterior. big difference bud.

situman

Were they all measured on the exact same roads? I fail to believe a cheaply made Chevy Malibu can achieve 65db especially with a crappy 1.5t

Oro

The biggest difference in noise I find on any luxury brand since the late 90's is a) tires, and b) road surface. Those two trump design features in any real-world application. Any automag test is just arguing about angels on a pin...

Living near/in/around Seattle or similar, our roads are gooved to shed water. Loud - so a really nice test bed. You can take that Lincoln, put on aftermarket Michelens, and it will sound like an '86 F150. Conversely, I have a 20 year old Acura SLX, with Toyo Open Country AT's, and it is super-quiet. Random harmonics once you take off the factory tires or try different road surfaces.

Sulu

The anti-collision (obstacle avoidance) and automatic braking systems are not there because cars are too quiet. The external noise generator that we are starting to find on EVs and Hybrids is what is being put in place to substitute for the otherwise missing engine noise.

I agree. A car will be quiet on its original equipment tires (which, especially for a luxury car, may have been specially selected for that purpose), but switch to another tire, perhaps from another brand, that has a different tread pattern and/or different rubber compound, and road noise may rise (or it may even drop).

And how would you determine the quietness of a whole brand? It is difficult to measure the quietness of a particular model if it has different trim levels. For example, an ES Hybrid may be quieter than the normal ES, which in turn is probably quieter than the ES F-Sport with different tires and different suspension tuning.

How would you determine the quietness of a brand -- average out the different models available, e.g. IS, ES, GS, LS, RX, NX, etc? Do you average out the quietness of each model by trim level or do you treat each different trim level as a distinct model for averaging purposes?

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Short of Rolls and Bentley, I think Lincoln and Buick probably have the quietest models if you take a medium

jrmckinley

I think this would be interesting and is what I was expecting to be covered given the title of the thread (this thread is more about which brand produces the quietest model). To me, it would be interesting to know which brand has the lowest noise level when factoring in all models they produce. The methodology would never be perfect, but as long as you were consistent in your approach across all brands, it would be interesting to see the results.

Toys4RJill

ArmyofOne

Oh ****, you said the "B" word...

MattyG

Rolls Royce Ghost is supposed to be the quietest, if cost is no object. Sound proofing insulation alone accounts for three hundred lbs of its curb weight. The frequency of the noise and where it's coming from will determine a noisy or quiet vehicle you're riding in. There's tire noise, different road surfaces and noise that travels from the tire contact patch to the rim and to the body.

Apparently the Ghost's right rear seating position is the quietest and according to RR hype, the only sound you should be hearing in it absent of radio or background chatter inside it is the ticking analog clock.

But for a more sensible ride, the LS430 might qualify as quiet. The LS460 has more direct injection clatter at idle apparently. The big Buick and Lincoln sedans should be quiet.

mmarshall

You've mentioned my two favorite brands overall LOL.

Buick's Quiet-Tuning is not just a bunch of ad-hype....in fact, it works, but, in my experience, more so on smooth, non-porous asphalt than on porous asphalt or concrete. Grainy, porous asphalt is becoming more common now because it gets rid of water faster and is less likely to have ice form on it in the winter...but it also increases road noise some.

Well, if you average out all of each brand's U.S.-market vehicles, maybe so...but only because of the Buick Cascada, a small convertible...Lincoln doesn't have any convertibles. The Cascada's fabric top is well-constructed, durable, and well-insulated by ragtop standards...but you can't compare it to, say, the discontinued Verano's roof, which, alone, even apart from all of the rest of the insulation in the car, has five separate layers of insulation. The Lacrosse and Enclave have similar insulation.

The quietest modern car I have personally sampled, BTW, is the Lexus LS460.

Toys4RJill