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Road noise in the JX: seems excessive on the highway

27K views 48 replies 14 participants last post by  Flagirl 
#1 ·
I just got back from a test drive and I have to say the one thing I'm the most surprised by is the road noise. I wouldn't have been surprised if I was driving something sportier, but the JX is obviously intended to be comfort-tuned all around.

Around town it actually was actually reasonably quiet, but on the highway both wind and tire noise were unquestionably louder than both my friend's 2011 Ford Explorer (which we drove to the dealership, making back to back comparisons easy) and my sister in law's 2010 Buick Enclave. I noticed I had to raise my voice a good bit to have a comfortably clear conversation with anyone in the middle seat when doing 70 on the interstate.

I guess I just expected a premium priced and premium branded vehicle... especially one that's comfort-tuned and 'all new for 2013' to put more emphasis on noise reduction.

Per the sales person the JX does not use active noise cancelation, and per my own observation none of the side glass is acoustic laminated... not sure about the windshield. I'm surprised they don't bother with ANC - especially since Infiniti apparently already has and uses the technology in some other models. Seems like it'd be a relative inexpensive add on from the factory.

FWIW I drove an AWD with 19" wheels... I suspect the 20" model would be the same if not worse in terms of noise.
 
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#2 ·
wow.... I'm curious what tires were on that particular JX. I have the 18" michelin latitude touring tires and the ride is as quiet as the Lexus GX470 that I traded in whether on roadways or the interstate, and significantly quieter than my wifes 2011 toyota sienna limited.
 
#4 ·
The dealer told me this one had 19" wheels but I just checked the Infiniti website and it appears they only come with 18" or 20", so now I'm unsure which size wheels it had, but I didn't check the tires. Honestly it was really the wind noise that was more of an issue, because at lower speeds it was plenty quiet, which means there wasn't much noise from the tires then, so I doubt increasing to highway speed would make the tires that much noisier.

The Michelin Latitude is a good tire - I have them on my wife's 4runner now and they're also the factory tire on my friend's Explorer... both are near silent in terms of tire noise. If the JX has them as the 18" tire from the factory then I'm guessing what I drove must have had the 20s or else what I was hearing on the highway was just wind noise and 'other' road noise, and not tire noise.

For what it's worth I don't think the GX470 is a particularly quiet vehicle on the interstate. It's fairly quiet around town but I never was impressed with them on the highway. Maybe they're not aerodynamic enough or something. I also test drove a 2012 Sienna (limited) and it was probably the loudest late model vehicle I've been inside in quite a while - I wasn't impressed at all.

I test drove on the interstate and found it very quite compared to the Lexus suv and the Acura Mdx as well ....
I think the current generation Acura MDX is probably the worst riding and least quiet vehicle in its class. I'm not sure which Lexus SUV you're referring to but I think the current generation RX350 is quieter than the JX.
 
#5 ·
I think the Lexus rx is louder then the jx ...? I loved the Lexus rx but as soon as I took it for test drive ...it was noisy for such an expensive car and I ended up with a Toyota Avalon instead, have also had cadillac escalade, cadillac cts -v, a few land cruisers , purchased a M45 and husband got qx56 and we were sold on infinti , now whenever I test drive something I always end up back to infinti ... So glad the jx has come out just got call today that mine is in transit from plant in Tennessee ...I can't wait !
 
#7 ·
Hmm... when I was in the current generation RX350 I felt it was the benchmark for its class in terms of noise and refinement. The Buick Enclave is similarly quiet and the Ford Explorer isn't far off either. The Avalon is a pretty quiet car too, though.

It could have been the road you were driving on as well. I haven't driven any Infiniti vehicles that were loud on the road.
When I first noticed how loud it was on the highway I was on a concrete section of road, so I intentionally kept driving further out on the highway where I knew it transitioned to much quieter asphalt. As expected it did get quieter, but it still seemed to be noticeably louder than my friend's 2011 Explorer which we drove to the dealership on the same sections of highway.

Don't get me wrong... it's certainly not a loud vehicle on the highway. I could unquestionably live with it - it's quieter on the highway than all but one car I've owned to date. I guess I would just call its level of noise on the highway to be 'adequate' and I was expecting it to be more impressive. While the Enclave new Explorer are impressively quiet SUVs, you'd expect a brand new 2013 design Infiniti that was engineered for comfort over sport to be even quieter.

Again, where are the acoustic laminated side windows? GM has been putting those in even their sub-20k dollar cars and getting great reviews on interior quietness on all of their models as of late. That's nothing but a cost cutting move on Infiniti's part.
 
#8 ·
You are the only one so far to complain about the JX noise level. The reviews I've read all claim that it is quiet. I've test driven it and foun dit was quiet, to my standard. I don't know if Infiniti use accustics laminated glass or not, how can you tell? I seriously doubt that Infiniti p[roduce a very noisy car and put it on market. After all it is a luxury model and supposed to be quiet, isn't it?
 
#9 ·
Again, it's definitely NOT a loud vehicle, it's just not as quiet as I anticipated given that I was already used to the hushed noise levels in the new Explorer and Enclave... it's certainly no quieter than those two... if anything it's a bit louder at highway speeds, but of course I wasn't in there with a decibel meter to confirm.

By the way, every last road test I've seen of the JX to date has been of the exact same JX on the exact same roads... I think in South Carolina. Infiniti invited a bunch of journalists out and gave them turns with the same vehicle on the same road course. Many of those reviews noted that the road course Infiniti asked them to drive on consisted of very well maintained asphalt roads. So we should probably wait for truly 'independent' reviews where journalists get to play with the JX on their home turf, rather than on Infiniti's turf.
 
#12 ·
I have about 300 miles on mine have no issues with noise either. I find it to be quieter than my 2009 FX. I wonder if it matters what packages are on the car? I have all options. If one were to get the JX without premium for instance does that change noise levels by any chance?
 
#16 ·
Actually if anything I suspect the more loaded up JX is going to be a little louder. Larger wheels with thinner sidewalled wheels tend to generate more road noise. Many vehicles include more overhead glass/sunroofs, too, which add to potential noise. I wish I had taken better note which wheels the JX I drove had but it was an AWD that stickered around 50k.

Have to disagree as well, went from a Lexus RX to the JX. 200 miles into it, there is no comparison - the JX is one smooth and quiet ride, much better than the RX.
Which RX did you drive previously? The 2010+ RX is a pretty quiet vehicle. The one made 2009 and earlier wasn't anything special IMO.
 
#15 ·
wheeling, I forgot to answer your earlier question. You can tell if side glass is acoustically laminated by putting the windows down partially and examining the top edge of the glass. If it appears to be a normal single pane of glass then it's not acoustically laminated, but if there's very clearly two panes of glass with some sort of material sandwiched between them (it will be to the point where you can trace along the 'sandwich' grove with your fingernail.) then it's acoustically laminated.

With a windshield you can't tell since you can't perform this same test (examining the edge of the glass), but typically when they're acoustically laminated (windshields are generally tri-ply/layer if they're acoustically laminated), they will say it somewhere on the glass. Note all windshields are laminated... so the key word is acoustic, or something to similar affect.
 
#18 ·
Does the windshield glass make that much of a difference? Maybe we are on different levels of noise tolerance. I already find the current Infinitis to be quite enough. I like to hear the engine when I give it throttle. I want to be able to hear when someone honks or yells at me. However I don't think its acceptable to have loud road noise from the tires. I've had high performance tires on a sports coupe before and on concrete highways it was LOUD.
 
#27 ·
Has anyone here been in the all new Explorer or the Enclave for comparison? Since I'm using those as benchmarks it might help us define 'what is quiet'. I'm not saying the JX isn't quiet, I'm just saying it, to me, seemed somewhat louder than those two aforementioned SUVs on the highway, which surprised me.



Which brand/type of tires on are your 20" wheels?
 
#28 · (Edited)
I took a loaded explorer for a test drive, and to me, the fit and finish was not comparable. The explorer had a better ride than I expected, but the leather felt cheap and I was turned off by the way that everything is controlled by the touchscreen. It was not very intuitive, and I could see myself wandering between lanes on the highway fidgeting with the system. I will say that Ford has come a long way, but the new Explorer was not in the same league, especially once price is taken into consideration. As far as road noise, it was comparable to my wife's 2011 sienna: More wind noise, and the stock tires were louder. The explorer I wanted was almost $44K! Also, with the Ford, you get a shorter warranty, a crappy service experience in a dated dealership (at least where I live), and no free loaner car (the salesman mentioned they have a deal with enterprise for $35/day).
 
#31 ·
I do agree the fit and finish and quality of materials (especially leather) is a bit better on the JX than on the Explorer, although the Explorer is amazingly close overall, especially compared to where it was in the 2010 model year (very cheap).

The quality of Ford and Infiniti dealer in your area will definitely make a big difference. We have some really nice Ford dealerships in this area and will give you free loaner cars if your car is going to take more than 90 minutes to complete (per my friend with the Explorer, anyway).

The one thing you said that I definitely have to disagree with is the 2011 Sienna vs the 2011 Explorer in terms of interior noise. When I test drove a 2012 Sienna Limited I honestly found it to be the loudest late model vehicle I'd driven in several years. I specifically remember running over an empty soda can on the road and it sounded like there was a hole in the floor or a window was open because I could hear it as clearly as if I was outside the vehicle. Wind noise wasn't awful but wasn't great, and tire noise was very loud. The Explorer on the flip side is one of the quietest vehicles I've been in to date.
 
#32 ·
I did some reading around on Edmunds since they test interior noise levels of all vehicles they review. Granted, perceived noise levels and actual noise levels can differ since some noises can technically be louder but be less noticeable to humans.

2011 Explorer XLT 4WD
Sound level @ idle (dB) 44.8
@ Full throttle (dB) 74.2
@ 70 mph cruise (dB) 63.8
http://www.insideline.com/ford/expl...o-crew-awd-vs-2011-ford-explorer-xlt-4wd.html
(check out the even quieter Dodge Durango! Impressive!)


2013 Infiniti JX AWD
Sound level @ idle (dB) 40.5
@ Full throttle (dB) 74.3
@ 70 mph cruise (dB) 63.4
http://www.insideline.com/infiniti/jx/2013/2013-infiniti-jx35-awd-full-test-and-video.html

So according to Edmunds the Infiniti is very slightly quieter on the highway at 70 mph. It might just be, like I was saying above, that the type of noise it made stood out more to me.
 
#33 · (Edited)
Tires..... The rubber on the vehicle makes all the difference in the world. If I'm not mistaking the Explorer I drove had Michelin tires. My wifes Sienna came with Goodyear tires that were absolutely terrible. After 15k miles, I swapped them out with Michelin Latitude touring tires, and the ride was considerably quieter.

For comparison, here is the 2011 sienna's results (per edmunds):

@Idle 42.9
@ full throttle 72
@ 70 mph cruise 65.5

As for the edmunds test.... I think the engine revving sound on the JX (due to the CVT) does take getting used to. I do somewhat miss the very subtle engine noise from my lexus when accelerating.
 
#35 ·
Thanks for the added info. I did see an Explorer limited tested by Edmunds that got a 65.0 dB rating on the highway, so it seems the 20" wheels and Hankook Tires (which are considerably cheaper/noisier than the Michelin Latitudes on the 18" wheel Explorers... weird) make the Explorer louder than the 20" wheel JX by both Edmunds and C&D's recordings. So maybe the issue is that I'm comparing my friend's 18" wheel Explorer (w/ Latitudes) to (I'm guessing) the 20" wheel AWD JX.

I also just remembered when I looked at the tire pressure monitor on the JX the tires were all set to 39 PSI. I don't know what the factory recommended setting is, but that does seem high, and if it's high I'm sure it didn't help noise or ride quality.
 
#38 ·
Hey, it's an internet celebrity, Michael Karesh!:D

Thanks for the hands on feedback. I without question agree that the JX is a far smoother and quieter vehicle than the MDX which is not impressive in either regard, though it's also designed and marketed to be an 'enthusiasts' family hauler, too... the JX is far from an enthusiast's vehicle, so in a way I really feel like it's more directly competing with the Enclave and Explorer than it is the MDX, even if the Infiniti name carries an image much more like Acura and well 'above' Ford and Buick.
 
#45 ·
Infiniti never mentions Buick (much less Ford) as a competitor. The Lincoln MKT would make more sense than the Explorer as a competitor if it weren't so unattractively styled. We track which models people compare on my site. The current list on our page for the Infiniti JX:

1. MDX
2. Pilot
3. Enclave
4. Explorer
5. Murano

Five others are spurious--once more people are researching the JX they'll go away.
 
#42 ·
IMO it's quiet enough for most prospective shoppers to be happy with it, but not quiet enough to impress anyone.

We might just have to wait for some independent tests to come out where the vehicle is driven somewhere other than Infiniti's preselected route in south carolina.
 
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