Advantage Of Driving Such A Quiet Car

[Beejay55]

Over the last few days I began to hear an almost imperceptible hum when I was driving. It was almost like the wind blowing through a vent.

The tone changed, slightly, as I accelerated.

Whilst listening to it, cruising at a steady 50mph, I dropped a couple of gears and the noise remained at a constant level. I thought that if it was engine-related, the tone would change as the engine revs increased. It did not, leading to the conclusion the tone of the noise was related to the speed at which the wheels were turning.

This morning I popped the car in to the village garage and asked if they could check the wheel bearings. They have just phoned to say the front, driver's-side, bearing was on the way out. They have ordered a bearing and will fit it tomorrow morning.

Had I not been driving such a quiet car, I might have not noticed it until more serious damage had been done.

[Arcane]

This is the type of ownership experience Lexus should aim to market. Reminds me of the old VW advert where the squeaky ear ring is the culprit and not the car.

[Cotswold Pete]

Brendan,

as you say being so quiet, any noise out of the ordinary is picked up.

I put all my house keys on the car key set the other day. Lasted a day, the tinkling of all those keys drove me mad after the drive to work.

Never had that problem in any other car - it's just too darned serene this blinking LS!!

[Beejay55]

That is exactly what I am saying. As regards serenity - a welcome respite twice a day from the noise of everyday life. I have a 65 mile drive, each way, to work and sometimes drive without the radio on and enjoy the peaceful ride.

[Mybikes a cx500]

That is exactly what I am saying. As regards serenity - a welcome respite twice a day from the noise of everyday life. I have a 65 mile drive, each way, to work and sometimes drive without the radio on and enjoy the peaceful ride.

i quite often do that, go to put the radio on and then realise I'm actually enjoying the serenity

[Ruud]

Even though the engine noise is pretty much zero while driving, I have always found the road noise on the Ls lets it down a bit. There's more road/tyre noise than other executive cars like BMW or Mercedes. Maybe I have always owned one with the wrong tyres fitted :)

[Bluesman]

Even taking into account how bad are roads are I have never thought that road noise has been a problem and when on European roads especially driving Miss Daisy through France its fantastic. I have only ever had Falken tyres on and they have always been good for noise and durability. Mike

[Tulpen]

Rudy,

A agree with Mike.......I think you may need to look at other tyres.

[Ruud]

This road noise experience isn't limited to one Ls. It's pretty much every one I have owned. I'm not saying it's really loud, just more noise than expected. It could be just me though. Maybe it's because other cars have a more noisy engine that drones out tyre noise :)

[runsgrateasanut]

Lets hope it was not the cabin temperature sensor fan you could hear in that quiet environment. In my old S Class it was up in the interior light module and you could hear it sometimes. Perhaps Lexus doens#t have this or is it near the Steering wheel on the dash?

[Cotswold Pete]

This road noise experience isn't limited to one Ls. It's pretty much every one I have owned. I'm not saying it's really loud, just more noise than expected. It could be just me though. Maybe it's because other cars have a more noisy engine that drones out tyre noise :)

Ruud,

I also understand what you are saying, I have been in Mercs that seem to be quieter, even a Honda CRV seemed to be not too bad on stretches of road where the LS seems a little noisy.

Having had two LS's I have found tyres make a difference, the Falkens are good, but the road surface seems to be the biggest factor. Though the LS handles well for such a large car, I assume t his has effect on transmission into the cabin space.

Try driving the A9 from Dunblane to Perth, in some places I suspect even if the LS was wearing silk slippers it would sound like you were driving into Hades.

The oddest thing I have found (and have no idea is this is just me being barking), but at night the same road can sound quieter than it does in the day.

All this makes me wonder if the 460 being nearly two decades further on design is a better car for road noise.

[Slobbo]

I listen to audio books in the car and find it sounds quite harsh at the loud volumes I have to listen at in my VR6 powered Syncro van. LS is low volume and sounds great.

The street knows when I get in when I'm in the van where as the wife complained the other day because she can't hear me arrive in the Lexus.