sharmila19

is there anyone out there who has actually tried this out personally? what is quieter - especially on highways? ES350 vs accord?
Thanks...

Mike728

I was not aware we had this???

Arty101

It's called insulation.

bc6152

Ha! I googled this to see if we had it in the Lexus. Guess we all do...

My wife has a 2014 Honda Accord EX-L and I can tell you that it is much noisier than the ES.

SLH

I think I'm going to live my low-speed noisemaker alone. I regularly drive in parking lots with lots of elderly pedestrians. With my previous hybrid (a 2008 model), pedestrians were sometimes surprised when they stepped backward and touched my car. It seems that some are deaf, but the rest are blind. A little sound might help them.

mspearl95

Just put a baseball card in your spokes. :-)

sharmila19

sorry...what I meant was that is the honda with ANC comparable to Lexus with insulation?

bc6152

All I can tell you is that I have a '13 Lexus ES and a '14 Honda EX-L. The Honda is, by far, more noisy than the Lexus. Engine noise, the CVT trans., and ambient noise.

Arty101

I'm not surprised.

Kijug

I recently purchased a ES 350 UL and I can hear a little tire noise (18"?) but there is zero wind noise. Now, perhaps a new car, more quiet than my previous cars, and the AC is running a little, BUT...I'm very surprised to not hear any wind noise. Very happy about that. Quiet cabin, indeed. I can't speak for the Honda (although my 2003 TL-S was rather quiet, just not as quiet as the ES.)

don1

We have a lot of variation in road surfaces around here and for most there is only a slight amount of road noise in the ES 300h. However, yesterday I hit a patch where the asphalt had been ground in preparation for resurfacing. That was much noisier than I had expected in the Lexus. However with my 2010 Acura TL holding a conversation would have been impossible on that surface. BTW I also have no wind noise but then the Acura didn't either.

SLH

I have noticed here that they seem to use two basic road surfaces around here. A "smooth" surface (with small aggregate) makes hardly any noise. And a "rough" surface (with large aggregate) make a lot of noise. Tire noise is, of course, the majority of the sound, even on the smooth roads.

Several times, they have re-paved a highway with the rough surface, and then built a "sound wall" on each side at a cost of many millions of dollars. No amount of noise cancellation or insulation can keep out that "white" noise. The sound walls just seem to increase the noise level by reflecting it back onto the road.

I am sure that the energy that goes into making the noise comes from fuel. It also must wear tires much more quickly. The cost of that fuel and tires, and those sound walls, must be staggering.

Most of that extra cost could be avoided, by just using the "smooth" surface paving.

(If the smooth paving reduces friction and leads to extra collisions, just give those drivers Darwin awards. ;-)