In today's open thread for COTW, our 2010 Honda Insight EX, sealclubb3r asked, "How noisy is it really? I remember reading somewhere that it was much louder and less refined than a Prius. Is there as much interior noise as in y'alls 370Z?"
Well, here are a few excerpts from my personal notes when I drove a 2010 Honda Insight back-to-back with a 2010 Toyota Prius for a comparison test. I logged 400 highway miles in the Insight.
"Small gas engine isn't quiet, but it's fairly free-revving and not unpleasant to the ear... Insight has moderate wind noise, especially noticeable compared to the 2010 Prius, which doesn't have much at all... Insight has more road noise, but it's hardly what I'd call excessive."
But no need to rely on my possibly inaccurate notes -- I have actual decibel readings to back up my haphazard statements. Join me after the jump.
First, a qualifier: Due to extenuating circumstances on test day, we don't yet have decibel readings for the 2010 Prius. We'll get them for you, just not today.
So our 2010 Honda Insight is quieter than a 370Z. It's also a touch quieter at a 70-mph cruise than a 2009 Prius.
And it's quieter at full throttle than a Civic Hybrid -- probably because you don't have to work its engine as hard. The Insight takes 10.9 seconds to hit 60 mph and does the quarter-mile in 17.9 at 78.2 mph, versus a 13.5-second 0-60 and a 19.3-second quarter at 72.5 mph in the Civic Hybrid.
2010 Honda Insight
Db @ Idle: 44.2
Db @ Full Throttle: 72.5
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 68.8
2009 Nissan 370Z
Db @ Idle: 47.4
Db @ Full Throttle: 83.1
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 71.0
2009 Toyota Prius
Db @ Idle: 39.8
Db @ Full Throttle: 70.7
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 69.7
2009 Honda Civic Hybrid
Db @ Idle: 45.9
Db @ Full Throttle: 76.0
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 68.0
Erin Riches, Senior Editor
gdmstrb says:
03:23 PM, 07/21/09
13.5 to 60 in the Civic Hybrid??? Ouch.
carguy622 says:
03:39 PM, 07/21/09
I didn't realize the Civic hybrid was so slow either.
Honda's aren't noisy per se, the engines sing a nice tune, and wind noise isn't terrible. It's just that every Honda I've been in has let in the wrong tone/frequency of road noise, especially on pavement that is less than smooth.
caheew says:
04:09 PM, 07/21/09
What about the Fit? How does that compare?
eriches says:
05:07 PM, 07/21/09
2009 Honda Fit
Db @ Idle: 42.0
Db @ Full Throttle: 78.0
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 70.4
So the Fit is louder, except at idle.
--Erin Riches
caheew says:
05:14 PM, 07/21/09
Thank you Erin.
sealclubb3r says:
07:55 PM, 07/21/09
Interesting! I just found the Car and Driver article where I read that the Insight was noisy. They say that at "wide-open whack" the engine noise is "downright gritty" and that the car is "a little overeager to transmit road noise". However, their decibel measurements find the Insight to be quieter at idle, 70 mph cruise and WOT than the '10 Prius.
bradyholt says:
08:58 PM, 07/21/09
Decibel measurements will never pick up how nice a sound is, of course. Perception is far more important in reality, as you're driving a car, not a number.
sealclubb3r says:
10:40 PM, 07/21/09
^^^ True. That's probably what the article was getting at.
noflash1 says:
08:41 AM, 07/22/09
My Civic Hybrid isn't too slow. I think we get caught up in numbers too much. In everyday traffic I am out-accelerating most other traffic. Not everyone on the road is doing jack-rabbit starts at every red light.
nf
greenpony says:
08:15 PM, 07/22/09
The government is making 13.5 seconds the new 8.0 seconds anyway, when it comes to 0-60 times.
banhugh says:
07:41 AM, 07/23/09
Who needs numbers (or facts) about a car being loud or quiet.
It's all perception. If we decide, if we believe to believe it is quite then it must be true. And if the majority thinks it so , then it's a fact. Let's vote if the car is quiet.
Damn you numbers, how are we going to count the votes?
warren_w says:
09:26 AM, 07/23/09
Do you guys have the Jetta TDI numbers too?
jbe07 says:
10:17 AM, 07/23/09
After reading the comparison between the Insight and Prius I was left with the impression that the Insight was more a small chamber of echoing road noise than a car, a little disappointed here in that article now. Was it as 'bradyholt' and 'banhugh' put it? Not based in fact but instead purely on perception?