Crosstar noise

[Neil Ives]

I usually have the radio on -just enough to be comfortable and be able to converse with the lady wife as we travel around. It drowns out the engine noise.

The radio or the lady wife ? 

[Lord Voltermore]

I've just got a new noise level  app on my phone that gives  a more steady reading than my previous one.  . I'll try and do a noise comparison test sometime ,under acceleration . But it will be against a Yaris Diesel, which is not setting the bar very high 

The app gives a representative description  of the noise level.  I tried it the other day.  With the engine off its described as "breathing" 10 db background noise .  On a cold morning start up when the engine was at fast tickover this only rose   to  " mosquito."  (20 db)   (30 db = whisper   40 db = quiet library  50db = quiet office   60 db = conversation  70 db = Busy traffic )

I was on my own and found I couldnt safely monitor it on the move.  But when it did go up it was often due to other traffic, not the car. 

[Hicardo]

Yep agreed, the rise in revs for a brief period on hard acceleration is not a problem.  I drive in eco mode and find that as someone else said, if I use just over half throttle I get 80 percent acceleration, and there are what sounds like stepped up-changes in the gearbox as you lighten the throttle squeeze. 

So its all pretty refined the majority of the time.  Most of the journos seemingly have no idea how to drive one of these cars. 

But satisfy yourself that it doesnt annoy you. 

It doesnt annoy me, far from it, I love driving the Crosstar

cheers

[nowster]

... and there are what sounds like stepped up-changes in the gearbox as you lighten the throttle squeeze.

Which has to be artificial as the gearbox has a single fixed ratio.

[Jayt43]

... and there are what sounds like stepped up-changes in the gearbox as you lighten the throttle squeeze.

Which has to be artificial as the gearbox has a single fixed ratio.

It is, but works pretty well.

[Derek cranage]

Thanks everyone.
Why do you need artificial sound, I will asked if that can be switched off
My last car a Merc auto at 70mph was doing 2600 rpm. My wife’s Aygo auto gearbox does 3000rpm at 70mph
The Crosstar engine is at 5000 rpm at 70 mph so it looks as though it is very lowly geared which is going to be noisier
May be I have got spoilt by my last car. Which was the large engined B class Merc at 70 mph there was no engine noise whatsoever
My car will spend around 80 to 90% of its life on motorways. With runs of up to 300 miles a day. I want a small highbred suv type of car that my wife can drive (she is only 4’ 10” tall so it must have a low bulkhead.) My other problem is the passenger seat in the Crosstar is low and not height adjustable but in all other respects if fits what I want apart from the noise. May be the engine compartment can be sound proofed. But that would not solve a artificial noise. I am 80 years old and looking for comfort.

[Saycol]

Not sure where you get 5000 rpm at 70 mph from. I believe the car can reach 100 mph so using your figures it would be at 7000 rpm. I don’t think so!
The Jazz engine operates on what is called the Atkinson cycle which means it is very efficient but throughout a limited rev range so the whole idea is to whenever possible run at the revs giving optimum efficiency and hence petrol consumption.
I would have thought the Jazz Crosstar is doing no more than 3000 rpm at 70 mph. The more technically minded on this forum could probably clarify that for you.

[Worthingmike]

I think that because the jazz is so quiet when the engine is going at more than its normal rev range it sounds loud. The only time I have found in loud was when I was going up a long quite steep hill in Switzerland and the battery was down to three bars and the engine was making a bit of noise but I was doing 70 mph. But I don't think it was making that much more noise when I was going up the same hill in my old Volvo XC60.

[Derek cranage]

Many thanks
The 70 mph 5000 rpm came from a Utube so could be false
I think I have to adapt my driving habits to meet the cars requirements
It’s nice to hear so many positives from existing owners.
As I cannot find any other car that meets my list of requirements so well I will take delivery of it and see how it goes.
I would have liked to go 100% electric but 250- 300 miles a day would be very difficult as I do not believe the charging infrastructure is good enough for long journeys
Again many thanks to everyone

[DERMOT]

@Derek,
I have Jazz and live near M2 outside Belfast. M2 is steep climb, as steep as I have seen in UK.
At 70 it is quiet, at 75-80 it sounds like petrol car changed down to 4th.  No issues speeding up to change lanes. Testing it from day 55 up to 85  with flat out acceleration ( from crawlernlane to outside lane) it sounds like down changing to 3rd,but still plenty of lift.
Get 55mph from summer motorway long cruises at 70 -80

Downhill, the ev light comes on and it cruises down silently at 70.

With 4 up and packed, it will sound like being in 4th up steep long hills.
The amount of battery change at bttm of hill dictates engine revs, so happier on ondulating hills.
The engine noise would be a pain of driving fully loaded or on fast a roads where you need to overtake everything
Like you're 18.

It is excellent on really steep narrow country lanes, as loads of torque so you can crawl around blind corners and accelerate out, and it goes into near silent ev mode passing walkers and dogs.
very smooth for your passenger, seats are comfy (for small car), and auto dipping decent led lamps.

[John Ratsey]

My best guess is that if cruising on level or near level road at 70mph the engine will be running at between 2500 and 3000 rpm and is inaudible. It will need more power if you either accelerate or come to a significant uphill or both at the same time. Initially, it will use some energy from the battery (if more than 3 bars on the gauge) to provide more power but once the battery gets low then the power has to come from the engine and the revs have to increase to provide this boost. As already noted, it's the equivalent to dropping a gear or two on a manual gearbox. There's no tachometer on the dashboard so one has to rely on sound to convey what's happening under the bonnet.

[ColinB]

I'm not a Mk4 owner so have no direct personal experience to offer, just some thoughts.

I think Honda's e:hev concept breaks the kind of direct relationship that drivers are accustomed to between the gas pedal and the power delivered to the wheels. In an ICE car, you put your foot down, the engine speeds up and gets louder, and the car goes faster. In the e:hev hybrid you put your foot down, and the car decides where it's going to get the power from ... engine, battery, or both. That has various implications which at first might seem odd, for example:
1. The car will run the engine as a generator at it's most efficient speed, which may mean it's noisier at a particular speed than an ICE might be (although owners are suggesting that isn't particularly problematic).
2. Statements like "X rpm at Y speed" aren't particularly helpful because there's not a unique relationship between engine speed and road speed (eg it's possible to be traveling at a reasonable speed in EV mode with the engine actually stopped).
3. You may get different noise levels even when repeating a test run over the same stretch of road, because whether or not the engine runs depends on the battery state.

[Jayt43]

I'm not a Mk4 owner so have no direct personal experience to offer, just some thoughts.

I think Honda's e:hev concept breaks the kind of direct relationship that drivers are accustomed to between the gas pedal and the power delivered to the wheels. In an ICE car, you put your foot down, the engine speeds up and gets louder, and the car goes faster. In the e:hev hybrid you put your foot down, and the car decides where it's going to get the power from ... engine, battery, or both. That has various implications which at first might seem odd, for example:
1. The car will run the engine as a generator at it's most efficient speed, which may mean it's noisier at a particular speed than an ICE might be (although owners are suggesting that isn't particularly problematic).
2. Statements like "X rpm at Y speed" aren't particularly helpful because there's not a unique relationship between engine speed and road speed (eg it's possible to be traveling at a reasonable speed in EV mode with the engine actually stopped).
3. You may get different noise levels even when repeating a test run over the same stretch of road, because whether or not the engine runs depends on the battery state.

This sounds pretty accurate. At launch, many motoring journalists only get 1-4 hours with a car, so they're not really considering the "break in the direct relationship" between gas and driven power to the wheels.

It's not that Honda's system is forcing drivers to adapt their style, but e:hev owners - in the pursuit of better gas mileage - are far more agreeable to the concept.

Since taking delivery of my Crosstar I'm absolutely delighted that, even without trying hard, I'm able to achieve between 3.9l and 4.5l per 100km in town.

I have a vehicle which happily sits between the past and the future. And which, for now, IMHO, is the best compromise given the lack of EV chargers outside of Budapest.

My wife's car - which is a diesel - has been a faithful and likeable companion up until now. But on recent drives, now that I can compare against my Jazz, it feels beyond agricultural - which leaves me to believe that I won't even miss ICE cars down the road.

[Derek cranage]

Sorry but I think there. Is a direct relation with the rpm and speed. Above 50 mph the engine is mechanically coupled directly to the wheels and the generator and motor are auxiliary  to the drive.
Below 50 mph it as you say rpm is not related to the speed.
Mpg is not my main concern but I do want to help the environment, I would liked to have gone full electric but the charging infrastructure is not good enough yet. Imagine trying to do 300 mile in a day trip with the heater etc on  and when you do find a charging point that does work will it be occupied for the next hour or two by some one else and then you have to wait while my car is charged. My son has a plug in highbred BMW X3 he does around 50,000 miles a year and he has more or less give up trying to charge it away from home
I think it is a matter of me having to learn to drive to the cars requirements

[shufty]

...EV drive is available at well above 50mph depending on circumstances.
It's seems like you are trying to talk yourself out of buying the car anyway with all your worries about noise.

I don't think the Jazz is the car for 300 miles a day nor is it the car for you.