Love my Prius but not the road noise

Hi all. Have been driving our new Prius for two months and wonder why there aren't more American car poolers using this vehicle to and from work. Great around town.
Not so great on the road, primarily because of the highway noise. Perhaps when I get Bluetooth up and running it will be easier to hear cell phone conversations than at present. I also listen to audio books and the volume levels are markedly different between city and highway driving. A lot of that depends on road surface, of course.
All in all we're happy with the 44mpg average, the interior comfort features, and the smart sliding "cover" over the storage space in which my set of golf clubs snuggly fits and still gives me luggage/computer space!
Just want to say thanks for all the useful info on PriusChat!
Carolmac

The road noise is bad. Toyota skimped on soundproofing to save weight. I think I would have added the 10 pounds. But oh well.

New tires help a little, the stock tires are horrificly loud.

Some peopl have pulled off the door panels and some of the dash and installed some Dynamax or other sound proofing, which they say seems to help alot.

I agree about the tires. When we switched to Micheline MXV4+ Energy tires we noticed a marked reduction in road noise. The road surface makes a big difference too, but there is nothing you can do about that, short of driving on different roads.

Tom

Road noise? 44 mpg? How fast are you going??
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_H*

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Sep 14 2007, 04:10 PM) [snapback]512697[/snapback]</div>

Just keeping up with interstate traffic so I'd guess between 70 & 75 between Texas and Charleston. Nothing more than 5 mph over the limit.
Had the mpg up to 46 at one point but then it dropped the next fill-up after heavy city traffic jams and AC use.
I appreciate the tips about the tires and we'll look into them perhaps after our first service.
Thanks, Carolmac

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(carolmac @ Sep 14 2007, 05:37 PM) [snapback]512779[/snapback]</div>

Driving over 70 on the interstate will kill your MPG, I got about 40mpg on my trip from Illinois to Utah at the start of this semester. I try not to go that fast b/c it isn't worth the drop in my MPG. I try not to be that 'slow' hybrid driver everyone hates, but sometimes I simply don't care and I pay attention to the MPG. My Prius has the Michelin tires (couldn't tell u which ones off-hand and I'm too lazy to go look) on it and I have no issues with road noise. Even when I drive around town with all of my windows down it isn't noticeable to me (and no my music isn't too load to hear it). Also, I have stopped using my A/C which improves my MPG. It's is cooling off here in Provo so I don't need the A/C.

I've had my Prius for about as long as you have and I love it! I bought it from my parents and now I can't imagine buying another car for a long time (maybe a pickup some day for the hauling ability). I love passing other students on the sidewalks when running with the ICE off, I just love the looks from people!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(carolmac @ Sep 14 2007, 12:41 PM) [snapback]512555[/snapback]</div>

Last year the Integrities wailed like a banshee on concrete roads in OH & IN. This year with the tires at 45psi and 15000+ miles on them the awful noise was gone. No noticeable noise on asphalt.