I have been looking for something specific that soaks up bumps and imperfections on the road and has a very quiet cabin. Not sport tuned because a stiff ride isn’t what I am after. Here is my long list I need to narrow down by driving them but also looking for input and experiences from the community.
Trucks - Tundra or Ram
Cars - Camry/Avalon, Lincoln Continental, Mercedes C300
SUV - Any luxury brand that fits the bill between 40-50k? I have heard good things about Lexus. I haven’t driven many luxury brands so I have no opinion. I did drive a Mercedes GLB250 once but it felt clunky and loud. Should the Volvo XC60 be a contender? I have read most Volvos have a very stiff ride especially their sedans.
I have a 2024 Tundra Limited and the ride is just okay. I had a 2023 Ram for about 5 weeks last year while my truck was in the body shop and the ride was much better, almost like a luxury car.
I have a Chrysler Pacifica Plug In Hybrid. Very quiet, even when using the gas engine. We rented a gasoline Pacifica last week and the engine noise was prevelant! Maybe they are using better insulatiion with plug in hybrids? And I assume EVs will inherently be quieter. So maybe Boston is onto something.
Scratch Tundra, C300, any Volvo, or GLB 250 off your list.
RAM rides great for a truck. A Toyota Crown or most unibody Lexus vehicles will be soft and compliant.
BMW i7 is about as comfortable of a car you can find. If you can find an EQE Sedan with AIRMATIC and Acoustic Comfort Package, that’s pretty great as well. I find EQS to be too soft to the point of motion sickness.
I’d echo this. By time I do 80% of my driving under 30 miles an hour and EVs are just so much quieter. To me they seem overall far superior around town.
If an EV is out for practical or political considerations maybe a PHEV?
As much as I personally dislike my Cadillac Lyriq for personal reasons, it is probably the most comfortable and soft buttery car I’ve ever driven or owned and would be perfect if I was a normie looking for A-Z transportation. For $300 a month, it even looks good and drives itself too.
I can’t think of any good cheap ICE cars that would compare. I can hardly think of any desirable cars on the market in general.
I get how an EV would be quieter. But smoother? Do EVs have some sort of inherent advantage? I assume the lower center of gravity helps w/ sensation of handling more than it does objective measures of handling. And I assume ICE luxury cars have had ride nailed down for awhile now.
Genuine question.
Edit: just realized that some might be referring to “smooth” as in NVH (or lack thereof, w/ no ICE), not just ride quality, specifically.
This 100%! Not all EVs are quiet in the cabin and are not always smoother. Besides no engine noise which is a contributing factor to a smooth ride but not enough to cancel out the rough ride.
An EV isn’t a panacea. I more look at it as all things equal regarding price is the EV or ICE better. On crappy roads, for quiet and comfort you want a luxury barge. Doesn’t matter if the RR or Mercedes Maybach is powered by a V8 or a battery.
But at comparable lease price points today, I think EVs win for quiet/around town performance. An Ioniq 5/EV6 costs about the same/a little less than any mainstream compact SUV and it’s way quieter around town.
I have heard that the Ioniq 5 is a much smoother and quieter rider than the Tesla Model 3. I need to drive it/them both. I want to experience a F-150 Lightening and Mustang Mach E and a EV9 as well.
