All,

I'm considering purchasing a 2015 Honda Fit EX CVT and after reading multiple reviews I'm concerned about road/wind/engine noise. I like everything else I've read about it and yes...I still need to test-drive. That said...what do you think about the noise? Is it a loud car?

Thanks!

 

Try it out and make sure to take it on the highway. I think it depends on what you're coming from - I have an LX and to me it's much quieter than what I used to drive, but if you're coming from a high end recent car you might be disappointed.

On a side note, the engine sounds pretty funny when you are standing next to the car (I don't really hear it that much when I'm inside since the music is always playing) - my husband says it sounds like a golf cart haha. Definitely not winning any "car growl of the year" prizes!

 

I had a 2003 Impreza. For 4-5 years I had performance tires on it. OMG that was loud.

My new EX CVT is super...quiet relatively speaking. I haven't compared the decibels yet. I think my Impreza was nearly 80 based on an app on my phone while I drive to and from work. I will see what the EX is on Monday

 

Compared to any other subcompact, much less even to many compacts, the EX CVT is pretty quiet. The engine loafs along at 2500 rpm at 75 mph (where the 6-speed is near 4,000 rpm). There is no "drone." but it does produce an audible growl over about 3,000 rpm, getting increasingly louder above that (that's pretty much anything over 60 mph on the manual).

The direct-injection produces a light ticking you can hear outside the car, but not inside with the windows up. Definitely not as loud as a VW TDI and nothing compared to our 7.3 liter Powerstroke diesel.

Between the tire tread design and the EX's fender liners, there's very little road noise. This is something usually higher in a hatchback or station wagon where the rear wheel wells are in the passenger compartment instead of in an enclosed trunk of a sedan or coupe.

If anything, there's some wind noise, probably produced by the "fins" or whatever they are on either side of the windshield. It isn't bad. With the radio playing classical music at a reasonable volume, it's unnoticeable. The sunroof in the tilt position doesn't add to the wind noise, but does let outside noises in.

Drive it for yourself and make sure to get it out on the highway.

 

Fitmo makes a good point. I do find the car louder... but I did come from a loaded 2002 Altima. The hatchback comment is a solid one.

On the topic of noise, I do find that the heat/ac fan is extremely loud on the high setting. Makes listening to the radio next to impossible, unless I blare it... which causes fatigue.

Are you folks experiencing this?

 

In the sixties through the eighties, I was a station wagon family guy and this was just an accepted trade-off versus a coupe or sedan. Some of our hatchbacks such as the Escort or Acura GS-R have had a sound-deadening cargo shelf. It would help on the 2015 Fit, although I don't feel the need for it.

I think there's also a trade-off with fan speed. The faster you push the air through, the less time it spends in contact with the AC evaporator or heater core. I seldom run the fan on high speed on many cars because it seems it's past optimal.

While I'm on the subject, I usually choose the dash/floor mix or floor/defrost mix because they are less restrictive and allow more air to be pumped into the cabin to displace humid air. The lower restriction also seems to result in less noise.

 

As others have stated, the CVT is a pretty quiet engine at 80mph. Because it is fairly quiet, your ears will pick up some wind noise at that speed. If you downshift the EX with the paddle shifters a gear or two, you'll be at 4K RPMS and you'll hear what its like driving the manual which pretty much drowns out the wind noise at the cost of overall cabin noise volume.

I took mine on a test drive on the freeway up to 80MPH for several miles to make my final decision and compared to my other cars, it runs pretty quiet. If you can, do the same and know before you commit.

 

Very insightful. Thanks... I hadn't thought of your first point. And the second? it makes a lot of sense. I'll modify my cooling/heating methods, so to speak, and see if I can attain both temperature and.... decibel comfort

 

One final tip and that's I start dialing down the heat as the engine warms up. I could be wrong, but that also seems to improve the air flow. Unless I exhale with my head turned to the left, I seldom have problems with the side windows fogging.

 

About a month ago, I test drove a FIT. 50 mph or so on what was a 'down the country lane' jaunt the dealership uses.


I come from a 2006 Civic EX. 165k miles on it...air cond is out. The FIT was every bit as loud...maybe more. I really need to try it again on the interstate where I drive 75% of the time.


It gave me reason to pause...pause to see what the new HRV is going to be like before I jump.


The Fiance's Mazda CX 5 is more quite for sure.


If 'sound deadening materials' were more easy to install - read: idiot simple - I might be more quick to make a decision.

 

Noise can be a subjective thing, too. Some will be bothered by a certain amount of it where others are not bothered at all. You will only know by test driving it yourself. To my ears, it is quiet.

 

We've (wife's vehicle) driven Chrysler platform minivans since 1998 (now on our fifth), and they've always been noisy around the A-pillar (wind). I'd say the GK Fit is similar, unless you're in a crosswind, in which case it is a bit louder/more noticeable – those strakes along the A-pillar do their job well in low- or headwind situations, but create more noise if the wind is blowing across them. It's not necessarily annoying, just enough to be noticeable. Turn the radio up to "11" and you'll be good to go.

The comment above about the sunroof is accurate, too - you can carry on a conversation with it open, where the Scion tC I was also considering was simply unworkable with the roof open - 'a howling roar' would be putting it mildly.

I opted for the CVT because I make a number of long road trips each year, and, being north of 50 now, prefer a less frantic engine note at 70mph for hours on end. It was a hard decision, as I've always had manuals for my DD, and wasn't even considering an automatic. I miss 'rowing my own,' but not enough to be happy with the fact the CVT keeps the engine noise below awareness thresholds at speed.

Living in the Middle West, I see Winter temps as low as -25° F, but usually more in the -10° or 'warmer' range. I leave the fan off until the blue light goes out, then turn the fan on "1" for about 5 minutes, then to "3" until my feet start feeling warmth. "3" is noisy, but not annoyingly so. Once I start to feel some decent warmth (usually 15 minutes into my commute), I back off to '2,' where the fan noise is effectively below hearing threshold. I have the ducts set to 'feet only,' unless I'm fogging, in which case I set to 'feet/defrost.' I will say that defrost is a bit weak in the Fit, both from the fan and the rear window element.

Given the Fit's pricepoint-to-value ratio, it's quite acceptable.

es

 

This.

It's a matter of realistic expectations.

 

It could be a tad quieter. It seems to me there's a fair amount of reverberated sound reflecting between the windshield and the hard surface of the dashboard. Once my dashmat shows up I'll meter the db's and see what results.

 

The noise level is a relative issue.
Comparative opinions abound. I compared the (wind/road) noise level of the Fit to my own VW Golf. These are two totally different platforms.
It would be equitable to compare the new Fit to a Ford Fiesta.

I will say that the engine noise (or lack of it) of the Fit is just ODD.
I've heard typewriters that made more noise !

 

I HAVE driven the new Fit.
I am not talking about the engine itself. I'm talking about road noise. It is loud. That said...I'm leaning between the Fit and a HRV (want to drive on first)...something else might creep into the picture. But for this price, 'loud' is just to be expected.

 

I drove one and this is basically stepping straight from my 2012 sport.. i found the noise to be ok... pretty comparable with the two... what i didn't like was the wind noise from the sunroof with all different speeds... this was concerning

 

like mentioned before the noise is subjective. i feel the noise off the line is a bit much, but you learn to deal with it. overall, no real issue with noise, just the engine rev from 0 to 30mph

 

my wife has a '15 Odessey and I personally think the wind noise in it is worse than my '15 Fit. That said the engine noise is louder with the CVT during acceleration because the engine is kept in it's sweet spot for power by the trans.

 

My dashmat (black) arrived a few days ago and couldn't be happier with the reduction in engine noise and glare. As I suspected, the hard dashboard and windshield combine to reflect a lot of sound. Only under harder acceleration when the CVT goes into full leaf blower mode is the engine all that loud. Seems like a little less wind noise as well. Road noise about the same.