Anyone know of a website that publishes noise in cars?

[adriver]

Originally Posted by Rynldsbr

I would advise you to grab your phone and Bluetooth, head down to local Ford dealer and Toyota dealer and take a good long highway drive in each. If you carry a lot of stuff, or particularly large stuff, consider where it will all go and what the size/shape of the available space does for your needs.


In reality there can be issues with perception as well. One is US brand and one is import. One carries being green as a badge of honor, the other is blue-collar America.


Then it becomes preference.

My thoughts exactly. Download an app to measure it then go check for yourself. I would think you would have to drive it at the same time of day (such as a loud rush hour) to get the full effect, or if there is somewhere that is just loud, that would be within test drive range of all three, so you could go and get an even comparison. Last resort would be to take a boombox, or large portable radio. Set it to a moderate level 10ft away from the door, and just sit inside and compare the decibal levels of each. If you had someone willing to go with (maybe some kind of bribe ) to go with and walk around the vehicle while you measure it.

Maybe someone else would know better, and I get the car is going to make noise; but at highway speeds, is it more about the noise the vehicle creates, or the noise the vehicle keeps out? (we are talking about 3 small engine hybrids).


If you have the option to choose and its down to three, personally I would go and test drive all three anyways if that's an option. There could be ergonomics, or usefulness of space, or many other factors that may rule one out quickly for you once you get in.

[rbohm]

OP since you have narrowed your choices down to two cars, you have two options here;

1: take each car for a long test drive, including a stint on the freeway, and see if the sound levels are acceptable or not. the drawback here is that you will likely have to take the salesman with you, and listen to him jabber in your ear.

2: rent each car for a week and drive them as you would your new car. this way you can decide if either car works for you or not, and no salesman sitting next to you for a hour or so.

i prefer option two as you get to really bond with the cars in question, and see just how they work for you. best to spend a couple hundred dollars now before you buy to avoid being locked into a not so good choice.