I just noticed the front-side glass in our Ford Explorer is laminated to reduce interior noise. Out of curiosity, I looked up an Audi Q5's interior sound levels from a track test and our long-term Ford Explorer. Both are powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4, and the Explorer is quieter in two of our three samples:
2012 Ford Explorer XLT EcoBoostDb @ Idle: 42.6 Db @ Full Throttle: 69.3 Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 62.6
2011 Audi Q5 2.0T quattroDb @ Idle: 43.4Db @ Full Throttle: 70.3Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 61.7
Chief Road Test Editor, Chris Walton @ 9,334 miles
legacygt says:
11:14 AM, 02/ 2/12
I don't now if the Q5 is known for having a serene cabin but I'd say it's pretty good that the Explorer is right there with a luxury CUV in this area.
But where does the laminated glass come into play.? I would imagine that it's most important at speed (@ 70 mph Cruise) whereas the Idle and Full Throttle tests probably better reflect sound insulation in the firewall/dash areas.
half_ton says:
11:28 AM, 02/ 2/12
Those numbers are sooo close. An argument could be made that the difference is imperceptible.
billt9 says:
11:44 AM, 02/ 2/12
That's nice glass. I don't get why lambda is outselling the Explorer. Maybe just the price.
photog02 says:
11:47 AM, 02/ 2/12
@half_ton: Decibels are on a logarithmic scale.
legacygt says:
12:12 PM, 02/ 2/12
@billt9: "I don't get why lambda is outselling the Explorer. Maybe just the price." Maybe because Lamda sales are made up of three models and they have done a decent job keeping the average buyer from knowing they are the same. But the Lambdas aren't cheap so I don't think you chalk this up to price alone. I haven't driven the Explorer but the Lambdas are really solid cars although they're starting to get a little old. If they're not updated soon I'd expect the Explorer to overtake them in sales.
half_ton says:
12:55 PM, 02/ 2/12
@photog02
Back in my younger days I used to be obsessed with custom car audio competitions so I know that + or - one Db makes a huge difference in instrumented testing. My earlier point was in refrence to the average human ear; I doubt most peaople would notice a difference between the two vehicles mentioned. ;)
ptcdawg says:
01:30 PM, 02/ 2/12
Well, the average human can't tell the difference in .3 seconds in zero to 60 either, but many on here consider it life or death in buying a car. :)
emajor says:
04:24 PM, 02/ 2/12
Quiet is good, so yay Explorer. However, I have a hard time seeing much practicality in sound readings for interior noise levels. I've seen very similar published Db readings between cars that sound much much different from each other when you are actually behind the wheel. Isn't there another sound intensity measure that uses a linear rather than logarithmic scale? It would also be cool to know which sound frequencies are prevalent in the cabin.