Originally Posted by arentz07

True. However, there's still a fine line between "quiet" and "average" IMHO. Cars like the IS and, say, my GTI, Kia Stinger, etc. are pretty much average. Quiet in many scenarios, but over bad pavement or at high speed can get noisy. Then you have cars that are clearly better at handling the rougher stuff - your premium CUVs, your Genesis G80s, Lexus ESes, etc. Obviously the quietest car I have been in was a Rolls Royce Ghost by a long way. That thing rolled over cobblestones like they were welcome mats. Barely any sound from outside.

So with the IS, you're at least getting something average to above average in terms of quietness. However, I do feel Lexus skimped on the wheel well lining compared to some other cars I've driven. My friend's 3-series, for example, even on PS4S tires, is still a lot quieter in terms of road noise than my IS was. So while the IS is decent with wind noise it's going to have more tire noise especially with performance tires.

Originally Posted by E46CT

These readings aren't absolute and should only be considered when compared against other cars on the same stretch of road or when testing against yourself after changing tires. Regardless of using a phone app or a dedicated high-end db meter.

The reading could be 1db or 100db and it's not telling you much other than what your particular device and software and how it measures noise. So don't read too much into your #s.