Road noise

[cwa107]

It seems a number of people find thier Pilots to be noisy on the highway - even with replacement tires.

How do you feel about yours?

[robottik]

I guess I can live with the tire noise or even the wind noise that is inherent with the boxy shape of an SUV.

But I do find the wind noise at the door seals annoying. It occurs at high speeds and on very windy days.

[krygny]

... between road, tire and wind noise. The only one that's exclusive to the vehicle is wind noise. I find the Pilot to be fairly quiet, even though I've always had the crossbars. Of course, you have to be on a smooth asphalt road to hear the quiet. Even new concrete has a bit of a "whine" to it.

Some of the state parkways here on LI still have their origonal roadbed (from the 1930s or 40s) - concrete with bluestone agregate which has become exposed over the years. MAN is it noisy, especially if you're along side a pickup or SUV with coarse tread tires.

[cwa107]

Originally posted by krygny
... between road, tire and wind noise. The only one that's exclusive to the vehicle is wind noise.

I guess what I'm talking about is just noise in general at highway speeds. All of those factors come into play to make a vehicle either noisy or quiet. I think the degree of sound-deadening also has a significant impact on the amount of road noise. I also think that some are more sensitive to it than others.

[BigDogDad]

Originally posted by cwa107

I also think that some are more sensitive to it than others.

I think that line about sums it all up. I don't think the Pilot is noisy at all, but then again I have no problem riding with the windows down and the sunroof wide open!

[Spaceentity]

I traded in my 2000 Acura 3.2TL in for my 2004 EX-L and I have noticed the wind noise, especially when I try to use my cell phone. BUT! the Acura was rated as one of the most Quietest Auto made.
Have been in too many SUV, but I believe that others in the same price range would be about the same.

[cwa107]

Originally posted by Spaceentity
I traded in my 2000 Acura 3.2TL in for my 2004 EX-L and I have noticed the wind noise, especially when I try to use my cell phone. BUT! the Acura was rated as one of the most Quietest Auto made.
Have been in too many SUV, but I believe that others in the same price range would be about the same.

Could it be those Crossbars? I've heard that even the dealers have installed them backwards before.

[Sunday Rider]

I find it rather quiet. But then I was coming from a 2000 Explorer. The only bother is a rattle in the dash that happens at the strangest times. It sounds very quiet after I took the snow off too.

[rmppetro]

I find that there is an acceptable amount of road noise on my 04 Pilot. I’ve driven other vehicles on business trips (SUV’s). For instance: I drove a 05 Nissan Pathfinder from PA to upstate NY (about a 5 hr. drive I81) on business. I must say, this vehicle handled very nicely. Good acceleration, steering, interior conveniences’. My 2 biggest complaints for this vehicle were interior room and road noise.

Driving my 04 Pilot for about a year then driving the Pathfinder for 5 hours, I felt a little cramped, not bad but I could deal with it. My big complaint was road noise. I was driving with 4 other people, one of them owned a 02 Infinity QX4 (upscale of the Pathfinder). She stated that there was much more road noise in the Pathfinder then her QX4.

Several weeks later on another business trip to NY, I drove a 05 Trailblazer (yuk). It was very quite vehicle as long as you stayed under 25 miles an hour on a flat road. When you started going up a hill or wanted to pass another vehicle, the engine noise became horrific and I felt like I had to stand on the gas pedal to get this vehicle to go. The whole time I was driving this Trailblazer, I had to remind myself that I was driving a mid size vehicle that could seat only 5 people and I was not driving a Chevy Tahoe, the handling and road noise for this size vehicle was terrible.

I guess after driving my 04 Pilot for a year, I am spoiled. I did over a year of research before purchasing my Pilot and found that of all of the vehicles that I tested, the Pilot was just about right in the middle and far as road noise. (Tested MDX. XC90, RX330, Highlander, Explorer, Mountaineer and the Pathfinder). For the 04 year, only the Pilot had everything that I was looking for: Nixed the Explorer for cost, interior room, and road noise, did not test drive - Rendezvous lack of acceleration (Car and Driver, & Consumers) and track record, didn’t even consider a Trailblazer (mostly for GM’s management style, Honda has always been loyal to its customers, GM has always, repeat, always been loyal to its investors), Volvo CX90 (track record and price).

In the mid size SUV category as far as least road noise were: the Lexus RX330 (price and seating for 5), followed by the Toyota Highlander (interior room and drivers seat comfort), the Acura MDX (price). The Pilot came in 4th place as far as road noise.

I guess you could get better performance tires on the Pilot to squelch some of the road noise, but in my opinion, that would counter act on some of the reasons why I got an SUV. Not that I am going to take a $35,000.00 vehicle in to the woods and knock down trees, but I wanted a vehicle that I could drive at night without being blinded (prior car was a Saturn), and a vehicle that I could feel confident with during the winter time. Also, I keep my vehicles for 10 – 12 years and usually put in excess of 185,000 miles on them. I can put up with a little road noise for the quality, price, and durability of a Honda Pilot.

[05whiteEX-L]

Where you are sitting in the suv matters too. In front there is less road noise because of the isolation of the front tires from the cabin. But if you sit in back (like your friend with the QX4 did) and are over the rear wheels you will definitely hear more road noise. Plus the sound kind of reverberates in the cargo area.

[rockman19762001]

I find the Pilot to be quiet for CAR/SUV, now if this was a Cadillac Coupe De Ville I would be concerned. It is quieter then our Chevy Trail-Blazer S-10 that it replaced. A good set of street only tires will cut some of the road noise. Getting away from that blocky offroady/street tire that are nosier.