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So I decided to drive for uber and I am leasing a 16 Altima S mainly because it was the only car on the lot that had the least amount of miles, was the newest, and looks the best vs say a Camry.
The car is wonderful to drive, has a lot of power, does excellent on gas, and I actually like the feeling of seamless shifts of the CVT transmission. The exterior redesign of the 16 models look sleek and fresh, the chrome accent door handles really make the car look more like a luxury ride compare to other midsize sedans in it's class. The interior is ok, it looks good, but some of the materials are toy grade plastic cheap. The seats are surprisingly quite comfortable coming from a 94 Cadillac Fleetwood.
But this is where the qualities end.
For pretty much a brand new car, the car is smooth and all, but when going over rough pavement, concrete or bad roads, the car injects a high amount of road noise and the impacts of the road very easily into the cabin, the ride is also very bouncy.
Sometimes while driving, if the roads are extremely bad where I live, I actually brace myself for the impacts because the body of the car transmits so much of the roads pounding that the handling of the car is severely affected by it.
I remember renting a 2013 Altima for a trip to Vegas a few years back, and that car had a lot of road noise, more so than the 2016 model that I have, so I am wondering if this is just a Nissan problem with their cars bodies and suspensions not being as well insulated as say other mid-size sedans.
Also coming from a Cadillac, I was quite shocked by how much of the road you feel in this car, in the Caddy, the car just goes over rough stuff without violently shaking or jolting you as much compared to this Altima.
Not sure if this is a new car problem or maybe it's just the way the Altima is or what, but after the lease is up, I am trading it in for something quieter and softer riding. The car is pretty quiet on certain streets, but it's like if it gets on anything other than a smooth road, all hell breaks loose.
Does anyone have similar experiences with the Altima or any other midsize cars?
If it makes you feel better i think the road noise in my Camry is pretty loud. The road noise level to me, is on par with an econo GM vehicle. Most mainstream vehicles are trending toward better handling dynamics which = harsher ride. Also electric power steering takes out some of the natural feel in car handling. You may have to venture into the luxury brand territory to get what you want.
An optioned out mainstream car is near luxury statues today so they have to draw the line somewhere, to get people to value their luxury divisions. Road noise is one of those defining lines between luxury and non luxury. Although I suspect it wouldn't increase the price by much if they used a little more insulation in your non luxury cars.
OP: You are describing how a car responds when its torsional rigidity is compromised in order to meet a cost target. Most low cost cars will have a similar response.
Drive a Lexus 350 or a Mercedes E class and you will find what you are looking for.
However, as an Uber passenger, I wouldn't give a hoot. I'd just want to get from A to B at the lowest cost.
But of even more interest to me, how the heck can you lease any car and build a profitable business model with Uber? It seems to me that a lease would restrict the miles and you would quickly be at the mileage limit.
OP: You are describing how a car responds when its torsional rigidity is compromised in order to meet a cost target. Most low cost cars will have a similar response.
Drive a Lexus 350 or a Mercedes E class and you will find what you are looking for.
However, as an Uber passenger, I wouldn't give a hoot. I'd just want to get from A to B at the lowest cost.
But of even more interest to me, how the heck can you lease any car and build a profitable business model with Uber? It seems to me that a lease would restrict the miles and you would quickly be at the mileage limit.
I went with Ubers lease xchange program that allows drivers to get semi-new or good conditioned used cars for a weekly rate with unlimited miles. Thats the key. I would not have done this any other way since many leases restrict how many miles you can put on the car.
I understand that most riders don't care about the car, just as long as it's clean, good looking and in nice drivable condition. But from a driver's standpoint, if I'm on the road 5-8 hours a day, riding comfort is extremely important to me.
The program seems to only offer Nissans, Toyotas, and Hyundai's. Well at least in my area that's how it is, maybe in other cities, they might offer a mix of domestic and foreign cars.
Speaking of domestic cars, I remember renting a 2013 Ford Fusion a few years ago as well, and that car was much quieter, felt more solid, and it rode much better. I actually really wanted a Fusion or a low mile Camry since I know they ride better than Nissans, but I couldn't find a Fusion at all, and all the 2-3 year-old Camry had over 40-50,000 miles on them already and had dings and scratches on the paint everywhere.
GM and Ford seem to really emphasize riding comfort and noise isolation more than the Japanese automakers in my experience.
The Altima is a tight handling, well-constructed car in many ways, it's just for some reason, the body structure isn't as solid or rigid to absorb harsh road impacts all too well.
I notice the majority of mid-size cars are becoming lighter, and we all know a heavier car is better at absorbing road noise and isolating passengers. In my experience driving older luxury cars for so long that have a body-on-frame, midsize unibody cars can't isolate the occupants as well compared to say an older full-size Cadillac or Lincoln.
There's only so much an engineer can do with an unibody structure as far as making the car ride well under all road conditions. A fully framed car doesn't need as much noise insulation materials in order to cut down road noise, plus the frame of the car does all the work at taking the punishment from the ground below as it doesn't transmit as much vibration into the cabin.
I understand this comparison has been beaten around the block over and over again in other threads, but in this case, and in my experience driving newish midsize cars, they still don't ride that nice and their suspensions and steering components get worn out faster especially if you live in cities with terrible streets conditions.
What I'll do in the coming months is replace the tires with another brand, and maybe increase the sidewall height from a 60 to a 65 series tire to get an extra cusioning effect from the road. This could help for sure. Also, the tires are inflated at a reasonable 32 psi all around. I might take them to 28 psi when cold and see if it makes somewhat of a difference in riding comfort.
If it makes you feel better i think the road noise in my Camry is pretty loud. The road noise level to me, is on par with an econo GM vehicle. Most mainstream vehicles are trending toward better handling dynamics which = harsher ride. Also electric power steering takes out some of the natural feel in car handling. You may have to venture into the luxury brand territory to get what you want.
An optioned out mainstream car is near luxury statues today so they have to draw the line somewhere, to get people to value their luxury divisions. Road noise is one of those defining lines between luxury and non luxury. Although I suspect it wouldn't increase the price by much if they used a little more insulation in your non luxury cars.
Good to know, I was thinking of maybe spraying on some sound deadener to the underbody of the car since it looks like there isn't a whole lot of sprayed on the car at all in the first place from the factory.
Maybe adding some dynamat in the trunk could help a bit, since the Altima uses a plain felt carpet padding inside the trunk, but when you lift the pad, it's bare metal everywhere. What I found interesting is how the car uses felt padding for the wheel wells, it's not bare plastic which is nice.
The road noise vibrations penetrate into the cabin far too easily and say when going over lane dividers, you really feel it in the car. All that vibration is transmitted everywhere making panels in the car creak.
The quality of your tires makes a huge difference, although I don't know how that helps you in a leased vehicle. It doesn't make any sense to buy an expensive set of tires for a car you are going to turn in.
I've got a little plastic car (which I love, by the way) and my son, the mechanic, bullied me into buying the set of tires that he picked out for the car. The tires were much more expensive than I would normally buy, and I couldn't believe the difference in the ride. Those tires were worth every penny.
Then he changed the suspension and that makes a huge difference in the ride. I am no longer getting slapped on the butt every time I hit a pothole.
None of it make the car any quieter, though.
And, by the way, I test drove my little car before I bought it, so I knew what the ride and noise level were like. I also have a very luxurious ride that is virtually silent, but it doesn't get nearly the good gas mileage and it cost more than 4 times as much. It would be welcomed by Uber car customers, but it costs too much to run so you wouldn't make any money.
The quality of your tires makes a huge difference...
This.
When my wife & I travel, we just rent a car rather than put the miles on our own vehicles. We've rented several Nissan Versas (which we like a great deal), a Toyota Prius (really liked), an Toyota Yaris (VERY noisy), a Chevrolte Cruze (mehh...) and a Hyundai Veloster (never again).
The tires make a HUGE difference. Low profile tires tend to be rough and very loud. All-season tires tend to be much quieter.
Have you checked that the tires are not grossly overinflated?
Don in Austin
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