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| Honda builds some of the world's best automobiles, combining reliability, fuel economy and sportiness in a way few automakers can match.
It has never been known for quiet interiors, though. Road noise and droning exhaust might not be a problem when you're selling economical small cars, but shoppers considering a top-of-the-line Odyssey minivan for $38,000 or a $48,000 Acura RL luxury sedan have higher expectations.
Honda went to great lengths to make the Odyssey a snug and quiet place for napping 2-year-olds. In addition to a wide variety of sound-dampening materials, the Odyssey -- and the RL -- feature active notice cancellation, a sophisticated audio system that generates sound waves to reduce exhaust noise and engine vibration.
The system works in conjunction with a vehicle's stereo, but it adds a microphone to pick up the noise and electronics that analyze it and generate another sound to neutralize it. The system, which Honda calls active noise control, is standard on the Odyssey EX when trimmed with leather upholstery and the top-of-the-line Touring model. Those two models also feature cylinder deactivation, which shuts off one side of the van's V6 engine to save fuel. Noise cancellation keeps vibrations from the engine's three-cylinder mode from intruding on the passenger compartment. Honda Accord Accessories It's basic physics: You create a sound wave that's perfectly out of phase with the offending noise and they cancel each other out. That's how the noise-canceling headphones airplane pilots and some frequent fliers wear to eliminate the low, droning noise that worms its way into your skull on long flights. Like those headphones, the Odyssey's noise cancellation system still allows you to listen to music and carry on a conversation.
It's hard to say how well the system works in the Odyssey, since there's no off switch. However, the minivan's interior is considerably quieter than the 2004 model, though not as hushed as the Toyota Sienna or Chrysler Town & Country, neither of which has noise cancellation.
No automaker has taken the next logical step and used noise cancellation to reduce wind and road noise yet. I've tested engineering models that do just that, however, so it's only a matter of time. |
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