RX Owners - Are any of you experiencing excessive wind noise? When I drive above 60 MPH the wind noise is very noticeable. I've owned numerous cars and SUVs in my life and this is the only vehicle were I have to turn up the radio when I exceed 60 MPH.

Very annoying for a Lexus. Has anyone experienced this and have you had it fixed?

 

Yes, I was also noticing wind noise on my 2010 RX350 the first day I drove it. I then had the dealer remove the cross bar on the roof rails and the RX is much quiter now on the freeway at 65-75mph.

 

I'm convinced that no rails on the FWD 450h model make it the quietest car I've ever owned.

 

Getting mine pulled Friday. Definitely think they're poorly designed given the design targets of the car and I wish they would have learned their lesson from the second gen and made them easy to put on and take off like nearly every other vehicle on the market. Don't know too many thieves that steal roof rack cross bars.

 

+1, can't believe the engineers did not change from the second gen design

 

Car quieter with cross bars off. Also spoke to tech and he agreed Lexus did a poor job on the crossbars.

Buying some Thule RB47 (47 inch... need to confirm) Aero Bars with the 450R Aero feet (fits the RX roof rails). Load weight is increased a fair bit from around 110lbs with the OE cross bars to 165lbs with the Thules. As an added bonus, I can take them off and put them on when I want... what a novel concept.

 

Geez...for wind noise that bad, I would take it back in for a warranty claim.

 

Not sure how they can fix it... we're talking about a design issue. That's like someone in another thread complaining because the engine noise was too loud compared to a V8 in their other car and wanting to take it in under warranty so the car could be made quieter.

Wife has an 08 RX and I can tell you the 10 is quieter... which means every other noise is exponentially louder.

I am curious about the amount of buffeting going on... almost seems like they didn't test the car at the speed limit on interstates... 75mph. Still not sure if it's the sideview mirrors, windshield, combination of the air as it hits the top of the hood and transitions to the windshield or that little lip on the sunroof gasket.

 

A few of friends said the same thing before... In atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel, most of these cars are without those bars or rails... as well as their windows are closed and up...

 

If you tie stuff down on top of your car, nothing you can do. If you don't, test drive a 450h FWD w/o the rails on the highway and you'll give genuine consideration to having the rails removed. It's like it's a different body altogether. There are four small plates on top of mine where the rail mounts would have been so I'm sure they (plates) are available. Check the photo link on my signature and look at the clean lines without them. Plus you'll have about 4 or 5" extra clearance just in case .

 

hi all, anyone has had trouble with windnoise close to the sidemirrors and the tiny triangle A-pillar glass?
I am hearing some rustling whisper from that area around 65 mph onwards.

 

I had the same issue. It's better (and moved) by moving both roofrack crossbars to the rearmost position. We actually use our vehicle as a "utility" so I need them, Moving them has made a definite improvement in perceived noise. If you look at the profile, having the roofrails both at their aft position is nearly the center of the roof, where the air (in theory) has it's highest peak flow above the vehicle. Don't have a wind tunnel so can't confirm, but it makes good conversation.

 

Can the dealer take off the rail also?

 

If you have noise coming from the roof, check the arrows on the underside of the crossbars. The arrows should point to the front of the car.

Yesterday, I had to bring the car to the dealership for warranty work on the crossbars which couldn't be adjusted.
The dealership remove the old cross bars and put on a new pair.
When I drove home, the wind noise from the cross bars were very noticeable at 60mph or higher.
I drove back to the dealership and complained.
I told the service consultant to check if the cross bars were installed backward ??? (I read this in a Toyota RAV4 forum somewhere ).
The tech removed the cross bars and checked the underside.
Lo and behold, the underside of the crossbars had arrows and the arrows were not pointing in the same direction (ie. toward the front of the car).
The tech re-installed and there was no more noise.

 

There are two bolts on each end of the rail that bolts the rail to the roof of the car. If you remove those, you will have eight holes on the roof.