Cruising speed IS250

[djkenn]

I have owned my IS250 for about five months now, and I use it almost totally for motorway driving. For such a quiet car, it seems unusually noisy at and over 70mph. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I have Michelin Primacy tyres which are due for replacement soon, wondering if these are part of the problem?

Thanks everyone 

[rayaans]

13 hours ago, djkenn said:

I have owned my IS250 for about five months now, and I use it almost totally for motorway driving. For such a quiet car, it seems unusually noisy at and over 70mph. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I have Michelin Primacy tyres which are due for replacement soon, wondering if these are part of the problem?

Thanks everyone 

What year IS250 is it and what trim level? How many miles has it covered? 

Also what kind of noise are we talking? Is it engine noise, wind noise, tyre roar or something else? Also how many revs is the engine holding at that speed? 

Sorry to answer your post with a series of questions but we need more info to assist.

 

[is200 Newbie]

As Rayaans above ....more info

Has it had a new exhaust?

[bobmc]

I've had my IS250 for just over six months now and my driving is mostly town with a bit of A road driving. 

Now I remember being pretty pleased with my new motor when I first got it, but then I had come from an old battered Ford Focus.

Having become used to the fairly quiet drive of the Lexus, the most annoying noise for me is tyre/road noise. On all but the smoothest/newest surfaces, I find the noise quite intrusive. My tyres are currently Dunlop Sport.

I have read others comments that seem to suggest that tyre choice can have a big influence on road noise. 

I'm due to change to winter tyres soon, and I have a set of Vredstein Wintrak Extreme to put on that I'm told are very quiet. So we shall see.

I think also it makes a difference if you are on 17" or 18" wheels, so it might be worth posting which you are running on

 

 

[djkenn]

All good questions.

It's a 2006 250 SEL automatic on 45,000 mi!es.  I just had an Lexus service and safety inspection and they said nothing about the exhaust.

The noise isn't engine noise,from memory it is just under 3,000 rpm at 70, and the noise changes with the road surface so I guess mostly tyre noise. I have read on the forum that the driver and passenger doors can sag and more noise comes in, but I have no idea whether this can be fixed? Or whether door seals fail and can be replaced?

If it is tyees, the problem is that Lexus can't tell me what tyres to fit, they tend to say 'whatever is in stock'' From what I read, tyres have dB noise ratings but these are taken from outside  the car, are somewhat arbitrary, and hard to understand -how much difference does 3db make in reality?

I believe Lexus fitted Dunlop Sport Mass as standard, are European brands like Michelin or Continental harder compounds?

 

 

[steveledzep]

At 70 mph mine's doing about 2,200 rpm, your revs seem excessive at that speed.

In my view tyre noise is generated more by the type of road surface than the type/brand of tyre.

[200h]

11 minutes ago, steveledzep said:

In my view tyre noise is generated more by the type of road surface than the type/brand of tyre.

i have to disagree about tyre brands not making a difference when it comes to road / tyre noise

in june i finally got rid of the oem yokohamas and bought the michelin cross climates even though

on paper they aren't as quiet as the dunlop sport maxx they are so much quieter than the yoko's

 

[steveledzep]

Didn't say they don't make a difference.  I said the type of road surface contributes MORE to the noise.  If it's a noisy concrete road, sure some tyres will be quieter than others, but it'll still be noisy because of the road.

[rayaans]

If its tyre noise for definite then different tyres might help but could be the types of roads you go on.

For example, I hate going down the A180 near Grimsby as its mostly concrete, really loud!

Might also be worth looking into sound deadening options like dynamat or similiar 

[steveledzep]

Appears to be an echo around here.

Duncan, doesn't sound right, nearly 3,000 revs at 70 mph.....is it stuck in 5th gear, not changing up to 6th ?  Try it manually using the paddles to make sure.

[rayaans]

10 hours ago, steveledzep said:

Appears to be an echo around here.

Duncan, doesn't sound right, nearly 3,000 revs at 70 mph.....is it stuck in 5th gear, not changing up to 6th ?  Try it manually using the paddles to make sure.

You beat me to it.

Actually thinking about it 3k at 70mph does sound excessive. For reference, my son's VW Polo 1.4 holds 3k at 70mph and its a 5 speed manual.

Try checking the fuel consumption as well, should give you a vague idea of something being wrong if its too high.

[200h]

i made a note of the rpm in my 300h and it was about 1600rpm @ 70mph

 

[steveledzep]

We're talking about the IS250 here.  About 2,150rpm @ 70 mph.on mine.

[Verbout]

I'm with Steve on this, road surface is the main issue.

We have a brand new road surface near me and at the weekend I drove over it, could hear a pin drop in the car. So the tyres are ok.

<2000 rpm at 70 on my car.

 

[Linas.P]

What about tire pressure? - I haven't seen this one mentioned yet.

I use little higher pressure and under 70MPH is doesn't make difference, but if you get on rough road and over 70MPH, it really feels and sounds horrible. Same actually applies for speeds under 30MPH... as instead of lying over rough surface you touch every single bump. 

[Linas.P]

.

[Dixgas]

This post is relevant to me, my 250 will need a set of tyres soon, currently it on the original Bridgestone which I have found to be quite noisy, I'm thinking of Michelin Primacy 3 what do you guys think?