This saga has been very perplexing. Throwing this out there for any BITOG members who may have experience as an audiologist (AuD), sound engineer, after market audio specialist or tire noise expert. Or, a combination of some of those. And current owners of late model Accords or other models who have had issues with Honda's Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) system.
Had been looking for a replacement vehicle for quite awhile in the mid-size sedan area. Accord/Camry/Altima kind of size and economy was the basic idea; nothing fancy required. Read up on them all; nothing made one or the other scream "great car" or "horrible car." Watched some of those side by side comparisons on YT. Test drove them all, including new 2014 and 2015 Accords, as well as a used 2012 one. The post by Char Baby earlier this month about his search and his candidates was similar to mine, but I dragged it out way more. Noise is a known issue in Hondas (we have a 2006 Civic), but I did not detect any huge problem on a road test that included some freeway driving. (Although speeds were always relatively moderate due to traffic.) And, they brag about their ANC system keeping noise down.
Purchased a 2015 Accord LX earlier this month. Drove it 20 miles back to home and it seemed the freeway noise was equal to the '06 Civic; i.e. very noticeable. On the freeway in the Civic, I usally wear a foam ear plug in my left ear to mitigate what I assume is a "ricochet" of noise off the driver's side window. Did not have an ear plug that day, but when I got home my ears were ringing. Still ringing the next morning. Both are still ringing three weeks later. I didn't drive the car for the first week, but then drove it down to pick up plates at the dealer, so pushed in foam ear plugs rated at 30dB in both ears. Figured that should take care of the issue. Nope; ears ringing even worse at the end of the day.
Made an appointment with my GP, just to make sure there wasn't a medical issue. (Pretty sad when you are hoping to be told you have a blob of ear wax.) Nothing. He had me see the audiologist in their medical system. Nothing; the AuD said I have the best hearing of anyone she has tested in her career. I also showed her what I printed off from the net about Honda's ANC. She had no knowledge of it, but guessed that the extra "counterphase" noise coming through the speakers was not helping me, but just adding to the din. Plus, the ANC works best at moderate speed where noise is not a huge problem, and there is no affect at freeway speed where noise is a problem. Then had the dealer disconnect the controller for the ANC, but that also disables the Bluetooth as it shares the mic with the ANC. That was a first for them. Both my wife and I can detect no difference in sound level; some posters on Honda forums report similar results. Others say they can detect an improvement with it on vs. off. But, the car still makes my ears ring, even with ear plugs in both ears. I think it is a frequency issue, not merely too many deciBels (i.e. volume).
Possible causes of the noise suggested include tires. OE tires are Continental ProContact 205/65R16 95H. Honda dealer won't do much there. The local DT guys have been willing to help as much as they can. Would Continental TrueContact be that much improvement? (Yeah, I know, 95T.) Poor insulation on modern cars because of unibody construction, weight savings for MPG, etc, is an obvious problem. Local highly regarded detail shop will mat the entire cabin and claim 20 dB reduction, but $1200; yikes!
Any other thoughts, ideas, suggestions would be appreciated. (No need to suggest giving the car back to the dealer. That is high on my list. The dealer has been very concerned about the issue, and has been willing to work something out as best they can.) A case number has been established with American Honda, but not much they can do.
Thanks,
Don
Had been looking for a replacement vehicle for quite awhile in the mid-size sedan area. Accord/Camry/Altima kind of size and economy was the basic idea; nothing fancy required. Read up on them all; nothing made one or the other scream "great car" or "horrible car." Watched some of those side by side comparisons on YT. Test drove them all, including new 2014 and 2015 Accords, as well as a used 2012 one. The post by Char Baby earlier this month about his search and his candidates was similar to mine, but I dragged it out way more. Noise is a known issue in Hondas (we have a 2006 Civic), but I did not detect any huge problem on a road test that included some freeway driving. (Although speeds were always relatively moderate due to traffic.) And, they brag about their ANC system keeping noise down.
Purchased a 2015 Accord LX earlier this month. Drove it 20 miles back to home and it seemed the freeway noise was equal to the '06 Civic; i.e. very noticeable. On the freeway in the Civic, I usally wear a foam ear plug in my left ear to mitigate what I assume is a "ricochet" of noise off the driver's side window. Did not have an ear plug that day, but when I got home my ears were ringing. Still ringing the next morning. Both are still ringing three weeks later. I didn't drive the car for the first week, but then drove it down to pick up plates at the dealer, so pushed in foam ear plugs rated at 30dB in both ears. Figured that should take care of the issue. Nope; ears ringing even worse at the end of the day.
Made an appointment with my GP, just to make sure there wasn't a medical issue. (Pretty sad when you are hoping to be told you have a blob of ear wax.) Nothing. He had me see the audiologist in their medical system. Nothing; the AuD said I have the best hearing of anyone she has tested in her career. I also showed her what I printed off from the net about Honda's ANC. She had no knowledge of it, but guessed that the extra "counterphase" noise coming through the speakers was not helping me, but just adding to the din. Plus, the ANC works best at moderate speed where noise is not a huge problem, and there is no affect at freeway speed where noise is a problem. Then had the dealer disconnect the controller for the ANC, but that also disables the Bluetooth as it shares the mic with the ANC. That was a first for them. Both my wife and I can detect no difference in sound level; some posters on Honda forums report similar results. Others say they can detect an improvement with it on vs. off. But, the car still makes my ears ring, even with ear plugs in both ears. I think it is a frequency issue, not merely too many deciBels (i.e. volume).
Possible causes of the noise suggested include tires. OE tires are Continental ProContact 205/65R16 95H. Honda dealer won't do much there. The local DT guys have been willing to help as much as they can. Would Continental TrueContact be that much improvement? (Yeah, I know, 95T.) Poor insulation on modern cars because of unibody construction, weight savings for MPG, etc, is an obvious problem. Local highly regarded detail shop will mat the entire cabin and claim 20 dB reduction, but $1200; yikes!
Any other thoughts, ideas, suggestions would be appreciated. (No need to suggest giving the car back to the dealer. That is high on my list. The dealer has been very concerned about the issue, and has been willing to work something out as best they can.) A case number has been established with American Honda, but not much they can do.
Thanks,
Don
