I bought a Ferrari 430 and sold it right away because I could hear the engine at speed.

 

Hey I like the idea! Don't think it's legal though when driving.

It's all in the ears... scream of pain or moan of pleasure, high RPM that is... Vrooom! Vrooom!

 

How about the fact that you can't hear a siren, or a horn, or someone screaming when you run over him?

 

The headphones help cancel out droning noises which are exactly the kind you get when driving on grooved highways at 65mph. You can still hear all the ambient noises--even the screaming--its just more enjoyable.

 

Thank you for all of the replies. I will give it one more attempt this Sunday. This time I will bring my MP3 musics and turn the audio up to the level that I normally would and hit the road at 70 mph.


My co-worker let me drive his Toyota Corolla with high rev engine. The red line is 8,200 hahaha. Impressive to say the least. At any rate, I took it up to 70 and the rpm was right around 4K and the thing have 6 speed M/T. The buzzing was not that bad maybe due to a little bit bigger engine. I think he said 1.8L with whatever Toyota V-TEC equivalent called. I can definitely hear and feels that kicks in.


I am definitely need another car as winter is coming – it is here actually . My RWD is not going to get me anywhere in the snow.


My 2002 Camry is sitting at my office for 6 weeks now. The automatic belt tensioner seized and threw the serpentine belt after 187K highway miles.


I am not sure what to do yet but I need something FWD or AWD soon. Maybe fix it and wait for next generation fit (2013?) and hope the final drive a little taller and/or have 6-speed M/T.


Anyway, I will be going back to the dealer (different one obviously) and try it again this weekend. I really want to like the 2012 fit

 

i think the OP needs to be clearer about what the complaint is about and prioritize how important the factors are in his next car.
1) price
2) cargo space/versatility (hatch/wagon versus a regular car sedan)
3) MPG
4) power
5) MT or other driving for "fun" aspects?

What's with the Fit A/T doesn't have enough power as compared to the MT? Same engine, it's not going to be a huuuge difference.
You can always just step on the gas and it'll drop a gear or two and there you're up to speed.

I take my AT Fit from SF to tahoe, including up the grades to the ski slopes.
Yes, if you want to stay in 5th gear, it'll bog out on the hill climbs at higher speeds, but if you really want to sacrifice some fuel just step on it and it'll downshift.

On the uphill grade from Placerville to South Lake Tahoe, I actually passed a Porsche GT2 going 50mph.
Not at all saying I'd rather have the Fit over the GT2, but this being more due to perhaps due to my familiarity with this road and driving a little more aggressively.

My point is it comes down to most of the time the driver rather then the car, and most of the time you have more than enough car if you actually use all of it anyway (at least on public roads).
Either way, keep test driving cars until you find one you're really happy about.
Maybe take a look at the scion xD too, or a subaru

 

The engine noise is what bothered me. Now that if it was a long trip with my wife the engine noise might actually do me a favor hahaha. I am not worry about mpg anything above 17 mpg and at least fwd is welcome

Road, tires and wind noise did not bother me at all, Fit keeps those noise out really well.

Well, I brought the check book with me because I choose not to carry $20,000 in my pocket going car shopping.

 

Very non scientific but on the drive home I logged 2500 RPM at 70 MPH and 2700-2800 RPM at 80 MPH in my '09 AT.

The '12 Fit's must have a lot of sound proofing cause I don't hear the engine/transmission at all due to the road/wind noise. I am on stock tires.

Not to highjack this thread how much quieter are the Conti DWS vs. the Dunlop's tires?

Schwimm

 

I would say 5-3-4-1-2. I will probably do that for the next few weeks, keep trying. I'm just actively looking for the replacement daily commute car in the past 2-3 weeks.

 

The noise level as measured by an iPhone dropped 3 dB with the DWS at 70. These are 24.9" dia 205/55R16s though.

I am very happy with this tire on this car.

 

I have found my car's exhaust note to be overwhelmingly loud between 3000 and 4500 RPM in 5th gear.... I am either in the far right lane or pulling onto the shoulder on 2 lane highways at just under 60 MPH or cruising at 4500 RPM... I had the same problem with my cargo van due to road noise and used earplugs when driving it on long trips.

 

My wife and I tested a 2010 Fit Sport AT and she promptly crossed it off our list solely because of the road/engine noise. The used car dealer tried to convince us of adding sound insulation for a few hundred bucks, but we didn't believe it would work.

Then we learned about the 2012's increased sound insulation. We tested it and ended up buying a MT Fit sport 3 weeks ago. It's much quieter than previous models, but I admit it's still not the best hwy road trip car. The light nimble handling is fun in the city, but a bit nervous on last week's 600 mile road trip to SF and it's still not as quiet as the Forte hatch or Matrix XRS we tested. And just like my old Prelude, I wish it had a sixth or taller 5th gear for lower rpm cruising. - but it still returned better mpgs than the EPA sticker and that was hand calculated over several tanks driving over long steep mountain grades...

In the end, if you like everything else about the fit, perhaps you can add even more sound proofing and better tires to the 2012 model...

 

Thanks Ed!

Schwimm

 

Does that mean you would like the AT on the highway rather than the MT? Or am I missing something?

 

No. The AT might have slightly taller gears and is possibly a tad quieter on the hwy, but it's not like it will all of a sudden be "mercedes quiet". Besides, I wouldn't give up the more dynamic city driving fun of the MT just to save a decibel or two. What I'm saying is that even the 2012 Fit ain't gonna be the most quiet and comfortable long distance cruiser - that's not it's strength. Then again, you really shouldn't be looking at sub compacts in the first place if quiet and comfort is really an issue for you.

 

The AT is "noisier" than the MT while accelerating. This is due to frenetic, busy, hard-working sound while the MT's sound is deeper, more muted and more relaxed. If that helps.

 

very awesome chart you got there mang

 

agreeeeeeeeeeeed

 

The Fit is an Econo-Box anyway you look at it, I find that the road noise from the tires is far more annoying than any sound the engine makes, regardless of the Rpm.

 

Agreed. Even with an HFP muffler, the road noise is still much louder than the engine or exhaust.