Bobzilla's post on sound dampening prompted me to ask this. For the last month I've been driving the Mazda6 that I originally purchased back in 2020 for my older son. 2015, touring trim with 225/45R19 Continentals. Nice car but the tire noise is just abusive.
What cars in a similar category win the (lack of) NVH contest?
I loved my Nedcar Volvo S40. That'd be the '98-04 generation. In the US, they were all 1.9t/auto. Very comfortable compact car, kind of like a Swedish version of the original Infiniti G20. Very quiet for road noise. The exhaust has a turbo, two converters, and three mufflers. I replaced the rear muffler with a Maganflow high flow unit and eliminated the front muffler, and even though I did all that and the stock exhaust was 2.5" it was still extremely quiet. It is based on a stretched CE9A chassis, which means that if you can find parts that fit an Evo III, they'd bolt in. (You can't find parts that fit Evo IIIs) I had Bilstein twin tubes and slightly cut rear Cutlass springs in the front, and V40 springs on KYB AGXs for a Dodge Colt in the rear. The Colt spring seats were lower than Volvo spring seats so I used wagon springs to bring the ride height back up to stock.
Perversely, the S60R that replaced it is shorter in length. It is also around a thousand pounds heavier, but you'll have that. It's a quiet enough car that I could not imagine driving one with a manual trans as there would be no way to judge when to shift except for looking at the tach, and I don't have enough peripheral vision for that.
For reference, teh R is about the same external dimensions as a late model Civic. A little lower and shorter. 3800lb but that includes all wheel drive and a really, really beefy transmission, and sound deadening the likes of which are recounted in saga and song. And I hated leather interiors until I got this car.
I haven't even found a midsized car that has acceptable NVH qualities. The last vehicle I drove that was decent was a Toyota avalon. The two Camrys I test drove recently were atrocious, worse than my ex wifes 2012 Elantra.
Luxury and economy are a rare combination... However, the Lincoln MKZ hybrid is one that intrigues me. What could be the additional sound deadening that makes it a Lincoln combined with a 40 mpg rating???
I have not driven one personally.
A good video review:
Part 1 where the car is parked, going over features
Part 2 where the car is driven
In reply to Nick Comstock :
The new elantra is surprisingly quiet and comfy
My old JCW Mini felt pretty nice/quiet inside and it could be considered small these days. I think your best bet is DIY. Just get a cheapo economy car and spend a weekend doing sound deadening treatments.
My Accord felt noisy to me.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Volvo may be the answer here.
As a Tall, it may check another box at the same time.
I had a momentary infatuation with the C30 that I may need to re-kindle. Anybody know how those have held up over the years?
A newer Volvo wagon would also be pretty cool.. once we stop funding college for the kids.
RyanGreener (Forum Supporter) said:My old JCW Mini felt pretty nice/quiet inside and it could be considered small these days. I think your best bet is DIY. Just get a cheapo economy car and spend a weekend doing sound deadening treatments.
A science project sounds fun but not sure I want to dig into that.
Datsun310Guy said:My Accord felt noisy to me.
I had 2014 and 2018 Accords. They were much more sound deadened than the Mazda6.
I would think you'd want to start with more premium brands and see their small vehicles. Unfortunately that means you'd need to go back 10+ years to a time when you could actually get small offerings from premium brands that weren't CUVs.
Lexus CT200h:
Lexus HS 250h:
Volvo C30:
Buick Verano:
Both of the Lexus models pictured share hybrid powertrains with the Prius. My Ford hybrid has a very similar powertrain and is super efficient and quiet most of the time, but the CVT can do some weird NVH stuff at times while cruising. Maybe adding Lexus refinement would alleviate some of that harshness.
In reply to John Welsh :
Interesting suggestion. Thanks.
..and that dude gave a great review. Subscribed!
I'll see myself out...
OHSCrifle said:In reply to John Welsh :
Interesting suggestion. Thanks.
..and that dude gave a great review. Subscribed!
There was a time where Lincoln did a good job of promoting this Hybrid. What they did was base MSRP for the 2.0turbo and the 2.0hybrid were the same price (maybe not the exact same features standard.) As such, there are a lot of Hybrids out there. Also know that, in theory, the sedan is dead so fewer shoppers looking for a MKZ could/should mean lower prices. Also, Lincoln depreciation has been and still is a real thing. I think the last year for the MKZ was 2020 but a 2013 could be a bargain.
2013 -2016 got the "winged" grille
2017-2020 got the updated grille
I'm not sure if the video above mentioned it but heated and cooled seats were available. I'm not sure if they were standard but I know they were available. Cooled seats would be a nice feature!
In reply to STM317 :
I'm too tall for the compact and mid size Lexus models due to sunroofs.
The Volvo has my interest. Buick is a bit of a wildcard that I had not considered much (like the Lincoln).
In reply to Russian Warship......
Go Berkeley Yourself
Did I edit that correctly?
John Welsh said:OHSCrifle said:In reply to John Welsh :
Interesting suggestion. Thanks.
..and that dude gave a great review. Subscribed!There was a time where Lincoln did a good job of promoting this Hybrid. What they did was base MSRP for the 2.0turbo and the 2.0hybrid were the same price (maybe not the exact same features standard.) As such, there are a lot of Hybrids out there. Also know that, in theory, the sedan is dead so fewer shoppers looking for a MKZ could/should mean lower prices. Also, Lincoln depreciation has been and still is a real thing. I think the last year for the MKZ was 2020 but a 2013 could be a bargain.
2013 -2016 got the "winged" grille
2017-2020 got the updated grilleI'm not sure if the video above mentioned it but heated and cooled seats were available. I'm not sure if they were standard but I know they were available. Cooled seats would be a nice feature!
Apparently they can have separate seat bottom AND back massage as well. I need to drive with the current noise for a while longer - assuming the used car pricing stays crazy for the same "while".
In reply to OHSCrifle :
Can't make noise if it doesn't run.
Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself said:In reply to OHSCrifle :
Can't make noise if it doesn't run.
touché 
I wouldn't suggest it has great "H," (it's just fairly stiffly sprung for a stock car) but the "N" and "V" on our F55 Mini are quite good. I mean, it is effectively a low BMW X2, right?
Actually just markedly improved it further on the full NVH spectrum last week by ditching the stock run-flats for a basic set of BFG all-seasons.
EDIT: Not exactly same category, I know, but this or a Clubman of similar era might be comparable in price, and the Clubman on size? I'm kind of appalled at how low the resale value of ours appears to have fallen, but then it is six years old and has 85k miles on it...
OHSCrifle said:Bobzilla's post on sound dampening prompted me to ask this. For the last month I've been driving the Mazda6 that I originally purchased back in 2020 for my older son. 2015, touring trim with 225/45R19 Continentals. Nice car but the tire noise is just abusive.
*snip*
Can you find someone to borrow wheels and tires from to see if it is just the tires?
My Veloster turbo was very quiet until the tires were on their way out (PS4s). It was smaller than almost everything mentioned in this thread except a mini.
That said, not a premium brand and I suspect with age the NVH becomes much less acceptable.
Noddaz said:OHSCrifle said:Bobzilla's post on sound dampening prompted me to ask this. For the last month I've been driving the Mazda6 that I originally purchased back in 2020 for my older son. 2015, touring trim with 225/45R19 Continentals. Nice car but the tire noise is just abusive.
*snip*
Can you find someone to borrow wheels and tires from to see if it is just the tires?
That sounds like an interesting idea but I'm not sure how to pull that off without going to a solo event or something. Hmmmmm.
Tires are a huge part of NVH; I'd plan on buying a new set from a premium brand for anything you buy.
As far as what to buy--I've found modern VWs to be pretty good. Avoid anything from Infiniti/Nissan. BMW is likely not your answer. Mercedes is always a solid choice. And yeah, Lexus or Volvo is kind of the gold standard here.
My Spark is unbelievably quiet for a sub subcompact.
Tires are huge. I bought some not cheap Generals a few years ago that were great for everything but unbearably loud. I sold them and bought something else
Can confirm. Tires make a huge difference. When my Michelin PSS were new it made the NVH levels in my 07 Civic Si sedan soooo much better. I dread the winter season when I switch to my blizzaks. So much tire noise.
I'll second what Peabody said about the Chevy Spark.. Just got one for my kid, and it's amazing how quiet it is.. that was one of the things about the car that really stood out to me- the lack of noise.. In comparison, it makes my wife's ND Miata sound like you're at a Who concert 
--ccrunner
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