britus

I am considering coming back to the Acura family, and getting a new RL. In my research one of the things that surprises me is the cabin noise and road noise that people seem to mention. Is the vehicle really that loud? I would match rather hear from owners and every day drivers on their impressions. Also those of you that have one, do you still love it after a extendend period of time, or do you wish you had something else.

Thanks

jfprl

The Rl is one of the quietest cars I ever owned and I have had Lexus and Audi before. No regrets here at all. The car is wonderful.

vp911

It is fairly quiet. It isn't as quiet as a LS430, but they are not meant to compete. Go take it for a drive and see how you like it. If you live in a snow region, you will LOVE it in the winter. I am young and had the RL. I sold it and bought the IS350, but let me tell you, the RL is one hell of a car. A hell of a bargain. If I was looking for the same sized car again, RL > *, IMHO

Rexorg

My '06 RL is a very, very quiet car. However, there is a bit of road noise from the tires on concrete highways/interstates, but on blacktop is it tomb like. The ANC cancels out almost all engine and exhaust noise. You only notice the engine under hard acceleration. Listening to the Bose audio system is a delight in the RL. I had a '04 TL, which was also quiet, but the RL is much more so.

Ken1997TL

The only noise I've experienced in my test drives were tire noise and a slight whisper of wind noise around 75 mph. Very quiet overall and competitive in its class.

jftjr

It's a very quiet car... the tires *seem* louder than they should be on concrete surfaces, but honestly I think that's just because the car's so quiet that the tire noise is about all you hear -- and it's pretty muted. The Bose ANC does wonders, and things like AC fans and such are very unobtrusive.

mwm

The RL is a very quite car. I took mine in for service, got a TSX loaner with 8,000 miles on it. After driving the TSX it made me appreciate just how quiet the RL is. My 05 RL which I had for 18 months was just a quite when I traded it in.

britus

MWM,

Did you get another RL or opt for something different?

GoHawks

I've had my '06 for about three months. I enjoy this car more an more each day. It is the quietest car I've ever owned, although it's the most expensive car I've owned.

I agree on the comments mad with respect to road noise on concrete roads, but it is muted and somewhat distant. No squeaks or rattles either. Just an awesome car.

bkw

Compared to my sister's TL and my sister-in-law's G35x, the RL is super quiet. Compared to our old S500 and mom's LS430, the RL comes close, but not as quiet.

The ANC is a pretty sweet feature. Take a TL and RL on a test drive back to back and you'll notice the difference immediately.

mwm

Traded my 05 RL (33,500 miles) on a new 06 in early July.

Rob L

It is decent. Quieter than most cars but it isn't super quiet but then again, my standard to compare is an LS430 (my parents have a loaded 430 and we often car pool work) so compared to it the RL is not all that quiet but it isnt noisy either. Basically, you probably won't find a lot of cars quieter than the RL but of the ones that are, they probably easily best the RL like the LS430 does.

I got to drive a GS300 AWD for a day a few months ago. The RL at idle is quieter (at idle the RL is almost LS430 like) but at highway speed the GS300 AWD is IMO quieter than the RL.

Dr. Colorado

Had mine for over 1 year. Lakeshore silver 2005. Got the gun metal aluminum A-spec rims and Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires and the wheel/tire noise has never been an issue. Super quiet, especially compared to the 350Z I owned before. Not that the ANC matters, most of the time you should have the 300 W Bose audio cranked up anyways IMO No regrets about owning the RL, when I traded in the 350Z I desired more space and cargo room so the RL made sense. Now I have a used Element to take to the beach as my 2nd car so there are times when I miss having the sporty 2 seater, especially since I'm a bachelor. I'm not sure what you're marital status is or if you have kids. It's all good though, just demo the Hands Free Link to check the surf report or say "CD play disc 2 track 6" and the chickies are stoked. I'll keep the RL for another 2-3 years until the Skyline GTR/new M3/new NSX/new Lexus convertible comes out and go through the utter joy of car hunting once more.

bobwied

Not to break ranks too much, but I think the car is relatively loud for a car in this class. Almost all the noise comes from the tires, and is highly dependant on the road surface. I drive almost exclusively on blacktop roads. When the roads are in new or repaved condition the car is very quiet. But when the roads have a lot of exposed aggregate in them the road noise seems pretty loud to me.

britus

thanks for all the responses, i am going to test drive Monday. I have two kids 7 and 3 and am hoping the back will be big enough for the times they are in the car. Wife has an XC-90 to cover most of the time, as I will be trading my 04 Suburban in. I am looking forward to getting back to a car but will miss the ease the Suburban handles everything.

CrazyBabyDoc

I agree with most of the previous posts.

The RL interior is quiet except for tire noise which is noticeable in part b/c everything is so quiet. But some would argue you shouldn't hear tires in a 50k lux auto. It makes a little engine and exhaust tone if you hammer it but it's pretty underwelming . . . almost Lexusesque.

Having said that . . . is there such a thing as an Acura that doesn't have more than its share of tire noise?

bluemule

I agree totally. It is, afterall, a Honda product, and Hondas are noted for road noise, as frequently noted in most of the Honda/Acura reviews I've seen. I'm not particularly bothered by it, but it is particularly noticeable on certain roads...trying to understand cell phone calls can be difficult at times.

'05RL, delivery June, '05, 40,000 plus miles.

Rob L

Pretty sure the back will be fine for kids 7 and 3.

I'm 6'-6'1" and the back is fine for me so unless your 2 kids are freaks of nature I am going to guess they will have plenty o' space.

JMikeF

This is my experience, too.

UW RL

I agree that the tire noise is there. I think the tires are a little louder than my old 2000 TL Continenetal Extreme Contacts. I am not too bothered by it, however, as I know that I will change the tires in the future when I go with A-Spec wheels. But overall the car is really quiet.

jftjr

Frankly, I don't like how quiet Lexus and their ilk are... I like to hear a car some when I drive it. Especially when it makes good noises like the RL does.

The tires are a little loud, and there's other things about them I don't like. Definitely considering changing to Pirellis or Dunlaps around wintertime -- in my experience they're somewhat quieter.

But I put the amount of tire noise in the RL at the "nitpicky" category. It's nothing that doesn't disappear completely with the radio on at say 1/4 volume...

Ken1997TL

Bob: Noticed you're in Oregon as well, I've found that to be quite true of every Honda and Acura I've owned. Our cars tend to have large wheel wells which just make tire noise more prominent. The Oregon roads dont make this much better either with their rough surfaces.

eddieboyeddie

we purchased an rl with the teck package, after having bmw / lexus / jeep / etc, we feel this vehicle is quite, even the road test we have read say how quite it is, with performance tires it is louder, here in the bay area the roads are terriable, maby it is the teck package with the run flats tires are quite, turn the radio on and it is even more quite, funny how people have put this car down, lexus 330 is not a better vehicle, after reading the rl body on there web site this vehicle is better built than my 530i of which has many problems and a lot of road noise, but you will never here a review to that effect

Rob L

I personally like to hear the stereo in all the clarity (especially with low volume passages like classical) rather than tire noise, other cars and wind noise but to each their own.

britus

Thanks for your response. You are the person I wanted to hear from. I am looking at both vehicles you mention, the rl and the 530i. Since you have had a 530i how do you compare the two and do you like the rl as much or better? I love the 5 but as a previous RL owner I love my prior reliability and of course all the goodies the new body acura comes with. What I would love is the 5 body with the inside of the acura lol, I am just not completely sold on the exterior of the rl yet.

thanks,
Md

poncekim

I want to resurrect this thread to get some more input from all the new owners we have here(especially the ones who've upgraded from a TL).

I've been thinking about upgrading from a TL to an RL for a long time. Main reason I want to upgrade is to have a quieter ride. I really like my TL, but wish it was quieter. Will I be happy with the noise level of the RL? The posts seem to indicate the difference will not be dramatic.

Any other thoughts from the new owners?

SC924RL05

I traded up from an o4 TL to a 05RL. Yes it'sa big difference, but I did have to get use to the RL. After 23K I can honestly say my RL is everything I could ever want in a car. It took me a while to come to that, because I was crazy about my TL, but for the money, you can not beat the ride, control, toys and joy for driving of a RL.

i_mobile

I came to my 06 RL from a 05 TL, and I can say the difference in noise level is quite evident. I was on the phone just yesterday (through the BT connection) with one of my friends, and he was wondering if maybe the call was dropped, because he could not hear a thing when I stopped talking. That wasn't the case when I had the TL.

eddieboyeddie

Reply, we went from the tl to the rl, big difference, not even the same car, my wife purchased the vehicle after driving same and noted how quite the interior is also the feel of the vehicle is night and day compared to the tl, too bad not enough people here in the bay area are so hooked on there bmw and merch, even my friends with merch and bmw notice how enjoyable this vehicle is

eddieboyeddie

we went from the tl to the rl, big difference, not even the same car, my wife purchased the vehicle after driving same and noted how quite the interior is also the fel of the vehicle is night and day campared to the tl, too bad not enough people here in the ay area are so hooked on there bmw and merch, even my friends with merch and bmw notice how enjoyable this vehicle is.

jftjr

The vehicle isn't loud, at all. I think people tend to notice the tire noise more than they would otherwise (along with any squeaks or rattles) just *because* the cabin's so quiet, that those noises seem that much louder.

Clearly, Acura could have put quieter tires on the car OEM... but for whatever reason, they didn't. That aside, however, I don't think the car's at all loud... it's just that certain people are annoyed by certain noises against the super-quiet background.

It's like farting in a church, instead of a stadium.

lumpulus

I actually think it's TOO quiet, as I'd like to hear the engine more.

neuronbob

I upgraded from a 2004 TL and the cabin is much quieter. I can hear the engine when I accelerate, but that's about it. I have a minor dash rattle already. But it's my fault, the dash was taken apart for the iPod install.

The tire noise is noticeable on any concrete roads. I am hoping this will improve (for a while, anyway) with the Toyo Proxes 4 I've purchased for my A-Spec wheels.

lumpulus

Anything is better than the OEM POS Michelins Honda puts on most of their cars. I wish they would switch to Dunlops.

black label

I've been through this many times with people and it all deals with your perspective.

For a $50000 luxury car, it is a little louder than some would expect.
For a car that handles as well as it does it is actually very quiet. The car has relatively aggressive tires that put a lot of rubber to the road which will always increase noise.

Intersting point on the vehicle is the "active noise cancellation". There are 2 plastic pieces on the head liner, one in the front (just behind the moon roof control) the other in the back (near the rear window). These are the microphones that monitor road noise. If you put your finger over one, you will hear a lot of extra noise (mostly low end rumbles). This is very noticable at highway speeds, but you can hear a difference at idle as well.

Long story short, go drive one and decide for yourself.

black label

The PAX tires are quieter than the standard Michelines, I have had extensive seat time in both and it is noticable.

Ken1997TL

In terms of noise and ride comfort, the Dunlop tires I had were the BEST.

Mike_TX

Unbelieveably, a few months ago we had 3 cars in the garage that all were shod with Goodyear Eagle RSA's (Maxima SE, Infiniti M45, Caddy CTS), and now today, we have 3 cars in the garage all shod with Michelin Pilot MXM4's (RL, TL and Caddy STS). What are the odds of that?

Now, if you want some LOUD tires, just waddle on down to the tire store and get yourself some RSA's. Jeesh. Wore well, but louuuud.

My experience with the Michelin MXM4's, OTOH, has been good. I had them on a Bimmer 540 a couple years ago, and the wife has over 12,000 with them on her STS so far. These tires seem to have good wet and dry traction and are so much quieter than the GY's that I consider them "quiet".

Thing is, there are some coarse-textured stretches of road out there that are gonna make almost any tire scream, and the sound-deadening in the car is all that stands between you and it. Maybe I haven't been on any really loud pavement in my RL yet, but so far it strikes me as really quiet, so it seems to me to have a good dose of sound-deadening.
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NJ06RL

Looks like the Michelin Pilot MXM users on Tire Rack don't like our OEM RL tires very much. Pretty poor reviews compared with the Dunlop SP 5000. And the Dunlops seem to be cheaper too.

Been driving on these MXM4s for 2 months now. I guess they're OK and I would not attribute noisiness of the car to tires because that can be changed easily by the owner ( at a cost).

I'd be thinking about noise in terms of the engine. I find my 06 RL pretty quiet, perhaps too quiet. Which is why I don't use the manual option much - I used to shift with a stick shift in my old car partly using engine note and how hard the car seems to be pulling based on the drivers feel of where you are in the torque curve. Really cannot do that effectively in the RL because the engine is very quiet even when I hit 4000 or 5000 revs in first or second gear. Maybe I'll learn in time, but it will not be by listening to the engine's note.

Like Lumpulus above, sometimes wish I could hear the RL's engine more. Which means it's pretty quiet right now.

eddieboyeddie

The vehicle is pretty quite, have a 530I and it is noiser than the RL, wife pruchased the vehicle after driving a e350 & gs350, she felt the RL was more refined than the other two and is proud how quite the vehicle is on the interior at 80 MPH.